Bridge over a creek in the Vercors Massif, Isére (France)

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"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end…"

Edward Abbey

Covered Bridge over the Tauber River in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria (Germany)

...
In Rothenburg ob der TauberHab den schönsten Traum ich geträumt,
In Rothenburg ob der Tauber,
Das von grünen Wäldern umsäumt.
Vorüber, vorbei
Sind Jugend und Mai,
Die Erinnerung ist mir geblieben.
...

Lyrics from In Rothenburg ob der Tauber

by Ernst Neubach

Rathaussteg (Town Hall Footbridge) over the Reuss River in Lucerne (Switzerland)

‘Swiss cities remind me of the kid at high school who’s great at sports, has perfect hair, the best girlfriend, and the teachers all love him. He’s just too perfect.’ 

Rick Steves

Roman Bridge over the Gilao river in Tavira, Algarve (Portugal)

Oh meu ardente Algarve impressionista e mole,
Meu lindo preguiçoso adormecido ao sol,
Meu louco sonhador a respirar quimeras,
Ouvindo, no azul, o canto das esferas
- A marcha triunfal dos mundos pelo ar. –
Para te adormecer, Deus pôs-te perto o mar,
....

Beginning of the poem O meu Algarve

by Joao Lucio

Waterloo Bridge over the Thames River in London, England (United Kingdom)

Dirty old river

Must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night?
People so busy
Make me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright

From the song Waterloo Sunset,

by The Kinks

Tyrs Bridge over the Elbe River in Decin (Czech Republic)

"Joy is not achieved by conquering oneself . All that remains is the awareness that one has not surrendered."

Miroslav Tyrs,

after whom this bridge is named.

Ponte della Vittoria (Victory Bridge) over the Adige River in Verona (Italy)

“Le sue magnificenze conosciute
saranno ancora, sì che ‘suoi nemici
non ne potrai tener le lingue mute.”

"His magnificences will still be known, 

so that you will not be able 

to keep his enemies’ tongues mute."

In The Divine Comedy

by Dante Alighieri, about Verona

Alte Brücke (Old Bridge) over the River Main in Würzburg, Bavaria (Germany)

 Unwilling stays the throng

To hear the minstrel's song;

Yet cease I not to sing,

Though small the praise it bring;

Even if on desert waste

My lonely lot were cast,

Unto my harp, the same,

My numbers would I frame;

Though never ear were found

To hear the lonely sound,

Still should it echo round;

As the lone nightingale

Her tuneful strain sings on

To her sweet self alone,

Whiling away the hour

Deep in her leafy bow'r,

Where night by night she loves

Her music to prolong,

And makes the hills and groves

Re-echo to her song.

Poem of Konrad von Wurzburg

Henkersbrücke over the river Kocher in Schwabish Hall, Baden-Wurttenberg (Germany)

Ich bin ein Musikante
Und komm' aus Schwabenland ;
Wir sind auch Musikanten
Und komm'n aus Schwabenland
Ich kann spielen auf meiner Trompete ;
Wir können spielen auf uns'rer Trompete
I am a musician
And come from Swabia* land;
We are also musicians
And come from Swabia land.
I can play on my trumpet;
We can play on our trumpet

Folk song from Swabia

Pont de Bergues over the Leman Lake in Geneva (Switzerland)

It is the sacred hour: above the farLow emerald hills that northward fold,
Calmly, upon the blue the evening star
Floats, wreathed in dusky gold.
The winds have sung all day; but now they lie
Faint, sleeping; and the evening sounds awake.
The slow bell tolls across the water: I
Am haunted by the spirit of the lake.

...

From the poem Lake Leman

by Harold Muro 

Elizabeth Bridge over the Danube River in Budapest (Hungary)

As I was returning home for the last time

the wars had just ended,
And in entangled and ruined Budapest
Many shops were left breadless and empty.
Crouching on train-roofs I brought you potatoes,
While the sack was filled with millet already;
Stubborn me, I had got a chicken for you,
But you were nowhere to be.

...

In a poem by Attila Jozseff

Ponte Vecchio spanning the river Arno in Florence, Tuscany (Italiy)

During World War II, unlike all the other bridges in Florence that were blown up by the Wehrmacht, the Ponte Vecchio was not destroyed by the Germans during their retreat. It was due to an express order from the Führer, Adolf Hitler who order to respect the venerable bridge. 

The legend about the Ponte Vecchio was not destroyed in World War II.

Ponte dei Salti over the Verzasca River in Lavertezzo, Ticino (Switzerland)

Tra le vallate del mio bel Ticino
non vo' scordare la Valle del Sole.
In essa vivono belle persone
l'innamorato canta così
O bella bleniesina
sei della Valle del Sole.
Fra tante belle, tra tante stelle,
tanto carina sei tu

Lyrics from "O bella bleniesina"

old Tesino song

Aquitaine Bridge over the Garonne River in Bordeaux (France)

 La Garonne vient boire la ville

Elle boit Bordeaux

Les murs et les gens

Les rues et les fous

Les chiens et les vents

Les foncedès, les suicidés.

S’y jettent

S’y sacrifient

Donnent un goût amer

À la Garonne

Empoisonne l’océan

Avec son amertume

Avec les morts qu’elle a bus

La Garonne, song by Tony Gerannno

Sanchaji Bridge over the river Xiangjiang in Changsha, Hunan (China)

For three years exiled from the court, cooped up in this place;
through the ages only leaving behind the sorrow of this wanderer of Chu.
In autumn grasses alone, searching after the passage of others;
in cold woods, empty, seeing the sun slant in time.
The Han Wen Emperor has wisdom, yet his mercy is slight;
the waters of the Xiang are pitiless -- if one paid homage who would know?
In a lonesome, silent landscape is one's place to fall and settle;
pitying you: for what reason must you go to the end of the earth?

Translation of poem 

In Changsha, Passing by Jia Yi’s Residence

by Tang dinasty poet Liú Chángqīng

Stadtbrücke (City Bridge) over the Salzach River in Salzburg (Austria)

 
"As a reminder and warning. In Salzburg, more than 230 gipsys fell victim to the National Socialist racial policy. Imprisoned in the so-called "Maxglan Gypsy Camp", they were forced to do forced labor as part of the Glan Regulation. In the spring of 1943, they were deported to the extermination camps."

Plaque in Stadtbrücke,

about gipsy slaves who worked

in the construction of this bridge 

Covered Bridge across the Danube River near the Beuron Monastery, Baden-Wurttenberg (Germany)

"Fascinating between love of light and brightness in the Baroque and monastic austerity in the Beuron style, inspiring lightness, seriousness and devotion."

Tutilo Burger, archabbot of Beuron,

Wilson Bridge over the Radbuza River in Pilsen (Czech Republic)

Pilsen! The city dawns
Barefoot on the trunks
Black moss in the interior of compressors
About the oily metal forests
A cough is whispered
A hundred thousands arms has already stood
It has grown by a tool
A worker flashes in the astronomical pool
A worker, a worker.

Translation of Plzen

by band Umbrtka

Vittorio Emanuele bridge over the Po River in Turin (Italy)

Torino occhi aperti non tradirmi mai
Torino strade dritte tu mi perderai.
Torino non è soltanto una canzone
Torino è un grande coro di persone

In the lyrics of Torino,

by Antonello Veneditti

Ponte Pietra (Stone Bridge) crossing the Adige River in Verona (Italy)

Sleeping all alone
You wake up with a bottle in your hands
No sound of serenade 'cause we both know we lost our game
I was always high on loving you
Before the romance turned to drama
Like Romeo and Juliet once before
We are lost in Verona

Lyrics of Verona

by Koit Toome

Gravestenenbrug over the Spaarne River in Haarlem (Netherlands)

Wie boogt met zulk een' drang van reden

Op Haarlems dapper krygsbeleid?
Wie roemt myn braave Letterkloeken
En Schilders, wydberoemd van naam,
Alom op vleug'len van de Faam
Met lof gevoerd in 's waerelds hoeken?
Wie pryst op zulk een' zoeten trant
Myn schoonte en welgelegen stand?

Poem by Peter Langendijk

Railway Bridge over the Gaoping River between Kaoshiung and Pintung in Taiwan

Tailing the dusk
Quietly creeping up from behind to enfold me, wrap around me
An incomplete moon hangs lonely in the sky
Reflected in the reed-tangled bed of the stream
The surface of the stream as clear as the glass in a mirror
With now and then a floating wisp of white cloud
And the shadows of birds crying softly as they skim the water ….

From the poem Solitude

by taiwanese poet Chou Meng-tieh

Kivgireniyat (Humpback) Bridge across the Trevnenska River in Triavna (Bulgaria)

At the highest part of the bridge there is the relief of a pitcher. Some say that it was a visual reminder to the people from the neighbouring, and rival Gabrovo, to wash their hands before entering refined Triavna. According to another version, it was the other way round – the pitcher warned the inhabitants of Tryavna to wash themselves before venturing to Gabrovo.

Legend

Faller-Klamm Bridge over the Sylvenstein Lake near Lenggries, Bavaria (Germany)

Exposed on the mountains of the heart. See, how small there,see: the last hamlet of words, and higher,
and yet so small, a last
homestead of feeling. Do you recognize it?

Translated from a poem of

Rainer María Rilke about german Alps

Pont de Pianella over the Porto River in Ota, Corse du Sud (France)

"La Corse est un petit continent,
l'Europe est une grande île."

Jacques Dutronc