The Weidendammer Bridge is a 73-metre-long (240 ft) bridge where the Friedrichstraße crosses the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. It is notable for its ornate wrought iron railings, lanterns, and Imperial eagles.[1]

Weidendammer Bridge
Weidendammer Brücke (de)
Weidendammer Bridge in 2006
Coordinates52°31′20″N 13°23′17″E / 52.5222°N 13.3881°E / 52.5222; 13.3881
CarriesMotor vehicles, trams, pedestrians and bicycles
CrossesSpree
LocaleBerlin (Mitte)
Characteristics
Total length73 m (240 ft)
Width22.5 m (74 ft)
Longest span38.5 m (126 ft)
History
DesignerOtto Stahn
Opened1896
Location
Map
Padlocks engraved with the names of lovers, locked onto the wrought-iron railings of the Weidendammer bridge
The bridge in 1881, in the background the New Synagogue
Weidendammer Bridge, 1897

History

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In 1685, a wooden drawbridge was built on the site in the course of the creation under Elector Frederick William I of Hohenzollern of a new western suburb of the city, Dorotheenstadt. Named after nearby willow (Weiden) trees on the riverbank, it was demolished for a cast iron construction erected in 1824, one of the first in Central Europe. Too small after the exponential population growth of Berlin as the capital of the German Empire, it was again replaced by the current bridge built between 1895 and 1896.

 
Wrought iron imperial eagle on the Weidendammer Bridge

During the Battle of Berlin, the Weidendammer Bridge was one of the few Spree crossings that had not been destroyed. On the night of 1 May 1945, a Tiger tank from the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division Nordland spearheaded an attempt to storm the bridge to allow hundreds of German soldiers and civilians to escape across it.

Lovers are known to lock padlocks engraved with their names onto the wrought-iron work on the bridge, and at times, these locks are removed by the authorities.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "The Weidendammer Bridge". anesi.com.
  2. ^ "In Love in Berlin – Love Padlocks on Berlin Bridges". Visit Berlin. Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2012.

52°31′20″N 13°23′17″E / 52.52222°N 13.38806°E / 52.52222; 13.38806