The Rügendamm was the first fixed crossing over the sound of Strelasund, for both the old Bundesstraße 96, the Stralsund–Sassnitz railway and a combined footpath and cycle path.

Rügenbrücke is the name of the three-lane viaduct completed in 2007 exclusively for motor traffic, between the village of Altefähr on Rugia Island and the Hanseatic and world heritage town of Stralsund; as part of the concept to turn the B96 and European route E22 into a ring road.

The bridge was built to replace the aging Rügendamm, which will remain in service to provide a rail link and serve local traffic to Dänholm island.

The first, structure BW 1.1, is 327.5-metre-long bridge made of pre-stressed concrete with ten sections and a twin prestressed beam slab girder as the superstructure.

An architectural feature is the B 96 approach road section with its two pairs of Y-supports, which enable the large column spacing of 72 metres at constant height.

The railings of the approach bridges have 0.70-metre-high inside walls with laminated safety glass panels as wind deflectors and spray shields.

32 harp-shaped, diagonally tensioned steel cables suspend the two main openings from the drop-shaped pylon.

The railings of the new Ziegelgraben Bridge have a 1.5-metre-high (4.9 ft) inside lining with laminated safety glass as a wind deflector.

Both structures have a 10-section, single-cell pre-stressed box girder superstructure and are anchored on bored pilings made of cast-in-place concrete.

The railings of the Dänholm bridge are designed with a 0.70-metre-high (2.3 ft) internal lining of laminated safety glass as a wind deflector.

Filled with 225,000 m3 of earth, the ramp sides have sheet pilings covering an area of 20,690 m2, that runs up to the junction of the crossing with the transport hub of Altefähr.

From here a regular ferry service evolved; around 1000 or 1100 herring was already being traded here and, during excavations on the island of Rügen, even Arabic coins were found.

In particular, the ferry village of Stralow (stral means 'arrow' in Middle Low German and Slavic) developed rapidly.

In 1293 Stralsund became a member of the Hanseatic League and the movement of goods between the island of Rügen and the mainland grew in importance and scope.