Hitler often made sudden visits to Linz to inspect the progress of his bridge and to discuss his plans for the "New Linz" with his architects and Gauleiter Eigruber.

Hitler is reported to have not been pleased with the appearance of the bridge, probably because it was not grandiose enough and lacked ornament.

This photo shows Hitler and Eigruber leaning on the granite cladding of the bridge. The granite for the bridge - and for the Fick buildings on the south end - came from quarries all over Central Europe including the granite quarry at Mauthausen near Linz. Mauthausen became notorious as one of the most brutal concentration camps in the III Reich where thousands of prisoners were worked to death to provide material for Hitler's architectural extravagances.