Michigan Covered Bridges - Holz Brucke

The Covered Bridge was built in 1980 in downtown
Frankenmuth.  9/24/2019 dwm photo

Holz Brucke means covered bridge in German, so what else would you call the largest wooden bridge in Frankenmuth, Michigan?

According to the "Little Bavarian Blog," while this is a new bridge, its heritage is solid thanks to a construction company with 10 bridges on its resume.

Milton Graton & Sons, other projects are in New England.

Like earlier covered bridges, this was built with commerce in mind; the Zehnder brothers own a couple of downtown restaurants and owned land across the Cass River.  

Holz Brucke connects the two sides of the Cass River.
9/24/2019  dwm photo

Their need was to get customers from their downtown places to the other side.

Since the bridge was finished, the Bavarian Inn was built as a compliment to a number of tourist attractions in the German flavored city.

There are a lot of Mossner names in the Frankenmuth phone book.  

I met my paternal grandfather's sisters nearly 30 years ago, so I likely have some relatives in the area, even if they are of the "shirt tail" variety.

The Holz Brucke is a two lane bridge with sidewalks on
either side to handle the crowd of visitors. 9/24/19 (dwm)

The setting, downtown in a small town that traces its roots to immigrants from Germany, is perfect.

While the downtown has shops you might see in any tourist destination, the authenticity of its heritage prevails in creating an atmosphere of gemütlichkeit is enjoyed. 

And if, like me, you are really just their for the bridge, its 239 feet, two sidewalks, and multiple points to take pictures - make it worth the stop.

Tomorrow, in a new blog, I'll write about the town's holiday store.

Blogger's Note:  This is the first covered bridge blog in a while, but it is the first of a series that should stretch into 2020, a new one every Thursday!