Viaduct over the Ruhr River between Herdecke and Hagen Vorhalle, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)

"The Ruhr region. Anyone who wants to get to know a magnificent region will find rich satisfaction here; for everything that can adorn a serene landscape can be found here, all within a few hours' drive: a lovely valley crowned by serene mountains, knights' castles and ruins, fertile fields and fragrant meadows, and, at the same time, flourishing industry and trade."

J.F. Wilhelmi, 1828

Bridge in a forest near Winterberg, North Rhine - Westphalia (Germany)

Sauerland, mein Herz schlägt für das Sauerland,

begrabt mich mal am Lennestrand.
Wo die Misthaufen qualmen, da gibt’s keine Palmen.
Sauerland, mein Herz schlägt für das Sauerland,
vergrabt mein Herz im Lennesand,
wo die Mädchen noch wilder als die Kühe sind.

Sauerland, my heart beats for the Sauerland,

bury me on the banks of the Lenne.

Where the dung heaps smoke, there are no palm trees.

Sauerland, my heart beats for the Sauerland,

bury my heart in the Lenne sands,

where the girls are even wilder than the cows.

Chorus of song Sauerland

by band Zoff

Viaduct over the Ruhr River in Witten, North Rhine - Westphalia (Germany)

Nothing but walls. Without grass and glass
the street pulls the pied belt
the facades. No track hums.
The pavement always shines water-wet.

If a man strikes you, his gaze hits you cold
to the marrow; the hard steps haunt
Fire from the towering steep fence,
his short breath still clenched

Poem of Paul Zech about the Ruhr valley

Schlossbrucke over the Ruhr River in Mulheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)

May makes everything new,
Makes the soul fresh and free.
Leave the house, come out!
Wind a bouquet!
Sunshine shines all around,
The fields and groves are fragrant:
bird song, horn sound
Sounds along the forest

Lyrics from May makes everything new

from Hermann Adam von Kamp, 

poet from Mulheim

Müngsten Bridge over the Wupper River near Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)

From Monday, free travel over the Müngstener Bridge. The work was demanding and involved a lot of effort. But the construction workers, who have been working flat out in two shifts over the past three weeks, made progress on schedule when replacing the 28 roller bearings on the Müngsten Bridge . "It's looking good - next Monday from 4 a.m. the Müngsten Bridge will be open to train traffic again," says Deutsche Bahn press spokesman Dirk Pohlmann. "Everything is going well."

Reinische Post, July 25, 2015

Bridge over a canal in the Kurpark of Bad Salzuflen, North-Rhine Westphalia (Germany)

"If you have found a quiet bench in a quiet park and sat down, be sure you had a very profitable day!"

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Viaduct over the Ruhr River in Hardecke, North Rhine - Westphalia (Germany)

Wohl fand ich der Reize mehr nirgend schier

Und Becher- und Sangesgetöne,

Doch immer zog es zurück mich nach dir,

Mein Ruhrtal, mein einziges schöne.

Nowhere else did I find the charms
and sounds of cups and songs,
but I was always drawn back to you,
My Ruhr valley, my only beautiful one.

Extracted from Pfingsten im Ruhrtal

by Heinrich Kampchen

Bogenbrucke over the Rhine-Herne Canal in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)

Was seh' in der Ferne ich blitzen?
Vom Kirchturm die Spitzen!
Die Heimat ist nah!
Was hör' ich hier in der Menge?
Vertraut sind die Klänge!
Mein Freund wir sind da!

What do I see flashing in the distance?

The tops of the church tower!

Home is near!

What do I hear in the crowd?

The sounds are familiar!

My friend, we are here!

Beginning of Gelenkirchen
song by Georg Kreisler

Bridge over the Erft River in Bad Munstereifel, North Rhine - Westphalia (Germany)

Auf einer Bank, am Strand von einem kleinen Fluß
in meiner Stadt, sein Name lautet Erft
Dort sitze ich und höre seiner Wellen Ruf
Du sollst nicht grübeln, lebe oder sterb.

On a bench, on the shore of a small river 

in my town, his name is Erft 

There I sit and hear its waves calling 

Don't worry, live or die.

Lyrics of Erft

Song by Hubert Jost

Sonnborner Bridge over the Wupper River in Wuppertal, North Rhine - Westphalia (Germany)

“Kaiser Wilhelm showed his keen interest in modern transport by appearing at the inauguration of the suspension railway in Elberfeld, this completely new means of transport.... For those who have not seen the colossal chariots gliding elegantly and quietly through the air, it is difficult to appreciate the excellence of this new means of transport"

News World Journal, October 1900

Friedrich Ebert Bridge spanning the Rhine River in Duisburg, North Rhine - Westfalia (Germany)

"Without democracy there is no freedom. Violence, no matter who is using it, is always reactionary."

Friedrich Ebert

Niederrhein Brucke crossing the Rhine River in Wesel, North-Rhine Wesphalia (Germany)

 I cannot divine what it meaneth,

This haunting nameless pain: 

A tale of the bygone ages 

Keeps brooding through my brain:

The faint air cools in the gloaming,

And peaceful flows the Rhine, 

The thirsty summits are drinking 

The sunset's flooding wine;

Fragment from the poem Lorelei,
Heinrich Heine translated by Mark Twain

Hohenzollern Bridge across the Rhine river in Cologne (Germany)

Cologne Cathedral, constructed over more than six centuries, has an exceptional intrinsic value and contains artistic masterpieces. It is a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe.

Cologne Cathedral described as

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Müngsten Bridge over the river Wupper between Solingen and Wuppertal (Germany)

Somewhere among the 934 456 rivets holding the iron bars of the bridge, there is a rivet made of pure gold, covered with several layers of paint . It is not known if it remains on the bridge or has been discovered in some of the maintenance jobs.

Legend of the Mungsten Bridge

Old Hohenzollern Bridge over the Rhine River in Cologne (Germany)

Guerra a la guerra por la guerra. Vente.
Vuelve la espalda. El mar. Abre la boca.
Contra una mina una sirena choca
Y un arcángel se hunde, indiferente.
Tiempo de fuego. Adiós. Urgentemente.
Cierra los ojos. Es el monte. Toca.
Saltan las cumbres salpicando roca
Y un arcángel se hunde, indiferente.
¿Dinamita a la luna también? Vamos.
Muerte a la muerte por la muerte: guerra.
En verdad, piensa el toro, el mundo es bello
Encendidos están, amor, los ramos.
Abre la boca. (El mar. El monte.) Cierra
Los ojos y desátate el cabello.

Rafael Alberti

Hohenzollern Bridge across the Rhine river in Cologne (Germany)

Desde el arco ojival de la portada

Hasta en la flecha que en lo azul palpita

cada cosa en su fabrica suscita

el ansia de emprender otra cruzada

Mole de encaje y de ilusion

cascada que baja de la boveda infinita

surtidor hasta Dios se precipita

escala de Jacob, fuerza encantada

Tiene tanto a la vez de piedra y nube,

su pesadumbre formidable sube

en la luz con tan ágil movimiento,

que se piensa delante a su fachada

en alguna cantera evaporada,

o en alguna parálisis del viento.

To the Cologne Cathedral

Juan Lozano y Lozano

Zoobrucke over the Rhine in Cologne (Germany)

"Beneath me flows the Rhine, and, like the stream of Time, it flows amid the ruins of the Past"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Rheinkniebrucke crossing the Rhine River in Dusseldorff (Germany)

Sobre el Rhin, en la noche, lleva el agua una boca

y la boca una voz y la voz una lágrima

y una lágrima recorre por todo el Rhin dorado

donde ya la dulzura de Lorelei no vive,

una lágrima empapa las cepas cenicientas

para que el vino tenga también sabor de lágrimas.

Sobre el Rhin, en la noche, lleva el agua una lágrima,

una voz, una boca que lo llena de sal.

Toda la primavera se ha llenado de llanto

porque el río la cubre de saladas raíces

y las lágrimas suben al árbol lentamente

hasta brillar encima como flores de hielo:

pasa la madre y mira la lágrima en la altura,

pasa el hombre y su largo silencio ha florecido:

y el prisionero desde su martirio conoce

lo que la primavera le dice desde el aire. 

Pablo Neruda

Severin Bridge over the Rhine River in Cologne (Germany)

Instead of that sermon Shakespeare stated,
        Since the day its choir,
        Which all admire,
    By Cologne’s Archbishop was consecrated.
        Ah! THAT was a day,
        One well might say,
To be marked with the largest, whitest stone
To be found in the towers of all Cologne!
        Along the Rhine,
        From old Rheinstein,

The people flowed like their own good win.

...

Excerpt from A Legend of Cologne

Bret Harte

LONGEST CABLE-STAYED BRIDGE IN THE WORLD FROM 1959 TO 1069

Swing bridge over the Rhine River in Cologne (Germany)

Ô Rhin, sais-tu pourquoi les amants insensés,
Abandonnant leur âme aux tendres rêveries,
Par tes bois verdoyants, par tes larges prairies
S'en vont par leur folie incessamment poussés ?

Sais-tu pourquoi jamais les tristes railleries,
Les exemples d'hier, ni ceux des temps passés,
De tes monts adorés, de tes rives chéries,
Ne les ont fait descendre et ne les ont chassés ?

Alfred de Musset