The "Stone Bridge" was constructed from 1135 to 1146 in romanesque style. The bridge was originally built with 16 supporting arches giving it a total length of 330 meters. The 16th arch is now no longer visible as it was eliminated with the building of the ‘Salzstadel‘ on the city-side of the bridge. The arches have a width ranging from 10 to 17 meters and are equipped with steel icebreakers on the up river points of the pillars. Originally reinforced with stone in the river bed, the pillars are now supported by cement to create the legendary ‘regensburg danube whirlpools’. In the 13th century, the bridge was equipped with 3 fortifi ed towers. The ‘black tower’ which was located on the ‘stadtamhof’ side, was surrounded by a mote, a few smaller towers, and had a drawbridge connecting it to the north. These were torn down after heavy damage from the war in 1810. The middle tower was already unstable after ice impact in 1784, and had been removed. The only remaining tower today is the ‘bridge- or Schuldturm’ on the city or southern side. This tower is decorated with two clocks and painting depicting the 30-year Battle.Legend has it that the cathedral builder and the bridge builder had bet each other who would fi nish their projects fi rst. As the the construction of the cathedral began to progress much faster, the bridge builder decided to make a pact with the devil in order to win his bet. Although the devil did help him to win his bet, the bridge builder had to promise the devil the fi rst 3 souls who would cross the bridge, and thus could not celebrate his victory in full fancy. However, a hooded monk wisely advised him to send 3 animals over the bridge fi rst; 2 roosters and a dog were thus the fi rst to cross the bridge. The devil was so furious that he had made a huge hole in the stone railing which could be seen for many years.