The Cathedral Bridge was unable to handle the increasing rail traffic imposed by the inauguration of the Köln Hauptbahnhof.

The president of the Railway Directorate Cologne, Paul von Breitenbach, started planning the construction and handed over this work to his successor Rudolf Schmidt in 1906.

The railway engineer Fritz Beermann headed the project; under his direction Friedrich Dirksen worked out the designs.

In addition sculptor Louis Tuaillon made the equestrian statues of Friedrich III and, during his lifetime, of Wilhelm II, which were placed on the left (west) bank of the Rhine (see pictures below).

On 6 March 1945, German military engineers blew up the bridge as Allied troops began their assault on Cologne.

After Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945, the bridge was initially made operational on a makeshift basis, but soon reconstruction began in earnest.