On 23 October 1956 a popular uprising broke out in Hungary. This uprising was crushed by Soviet troops on the 5th of November. Over 200,000 Hungarians fled abroad. The "BRIDGE OF ANDAU" was for many at that time actually the last possible way to freedom.
The recently deceased American bestselling author James A. Michener was on site as a reporter at the time. A little later he wrote a book about these dramatic events with the title "DIE BRÜCKE von ANDAU". This was, Michener writes, perhaps the least important bridge in Europe. The whim of fate alone wanted it to become one of the most important bridges in the world for several weeks.
In the local chronicle of Andau you can read about these events:
On Sunday, November 5th, the roar of the tank engines and the rattling of the tracks of the armoured vehicles approaching the state border could be heard again. The population held its breath and wondered what would happen. The fire fighters went to the border and marked it with red-white-red flags... In the next few days the first refugees arrived. From day to day the stream of refugees swelled. Thousands of them came from all over Hungary via the Einserkanal to Andau, to the freedom of the West.