Alf-Bullay Doppelstockbrücke (Double-Decker Bridge)
Straddling the Moselle in a graceful steel arc, this Victorian engineering marvel is unlike any bridge you've crossed before — trains rumble overhead while cars pass below, all framed by terraced vineyards and glassy water. Built between 1875 and 1878 as part of the strategic Kanonenbahn military railway, it remains Bullay's most iconic landmark and one of the most photogenic structures in the ent
An Engineering First
The Alf-Bullay bridge holds a singular distinction: it was built as Germany's first double-decker bridge, carrying the Koblenz–Trier railway line on its upper chord and Landesstraße 199 on its lower chord simultaneously — a feat of Prussian ingenuity that still impresses structural engineers today.
The 314-metre-long, six-span steel truss bridge was conceived as part of the so-called Kanonenbahn — the cannon railway — a military-strategic line running from Berlin all the way to Metz in France. Crossing it by car, with a train thundering just metres above your head, is a genuinely spine-tingling moment.
Gateway to the Prinzenkopf Tunnel
Immediately after the bridge, the railway disappears into the 458-metre Prinzenkopf tunnel bored directly through the mountain, neatly bypassing the great Zell loop of the Moselle. Standing on the riverbank and watching a train vanish into the hillside seconds after crossing the water is pure theatre.
The bridge also marks the start of the themed Kanonenbahn hiking trail, an 8.5-km route linking Bullay with Alf, Briedel, Pünderich, Zell and Reil, with information boards along the way explaining the history of the cannon railway and its two companion lines.
Best Viewpoints
For the classic postcard shot — bridge, vineyards, river all in one frame — cross to the Alf side and look back from the riverside path, especially in the golden hour before sunset when the steel lattice glows amber.
Alternatively, hike up towards Haus Waldfrieden on the Prinzenkopf trail, where a mid-slope viewpoint delivers an elevated perspective of the bridge arching across the shimmering Moselle below.
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