From Mühlhausen to America, from a vision to a milestone in engineering history.
John A. Roebling was born in Mühlhausen, Thuringia, in 1806. As a young engineer, he left Germany and emigrated to America, where his ideas, determination, and pioneering work would transform the art of bridge building.
Today, his name is inseparably linked with some of the most remarkable suspension bridges of the 19th century, above all the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the world’s great landmarks of engineering.
But the Roebling story is about much more than bridges. It is a story of emigration and new beginnings, of innovation and entrepreneurship, of family and courage, and of the connections between Germany and the United States.
One of these connections remains very much alive today: Mühlhausen and Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, which John A. Roebling helped to establish after his arrival in America, are connected by a friendship between the two towns. More than 190 years after Roebling crossed the Atlantic, his story continues to bring people together on both sides of the ocean.
Roebling Builds Bridges invites you to discover John A. Roebling’s life, his roots in Mühlhausen, his journey to America, his engineering achievements, and the remarkable legacy of the Roebling family.
Discover the man, the bridges, and a story that continues to connect two continents.