Karl Theodor Bridge over the Neckar River in Heidelberg (Germany)

“Why are you staring at me?Haven’t you seen the old monkey in Heidelberg?
Look around and you probably will see –
more monkeys like me!"

Poem from Martin Zeiller,

about a statue in Heidelberg Bridge

Painting of the River Qiantang Bridge in Hangzhou, Zhejiang (China)

Great waves roll up like snowbanks white
The river extends till lost to sight
Jewels and pearls at the Fair on display
Satins and silks in splendid array

Poet Liu Young about Hangzhou

Jacques Cartier over the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

"The great river which flows through and waters the midst of these lands of yours, which is without comparison the largest river that is known to have ever been seen."

Jacques Cartier about St Lawrence River

Painting of the Pont du Gard near Nimes, Gard (France)

 

"The way in which the stones of the Pont du Gard are laid is not only a triumph of technical skill, but shows a vigorous belief in law and discipline."

Kenneth Clark

Legions Bridge across the Vltava River in Prague (Czech Republic)

 “Prague does not have its name for no reason - in truth, Prague is a threshold between the life on Earth and Heaven, a threshold much thinner and narrower then in any other places…”

Gustav Meyrink

Japanese Bridge in Giverny Garden (France) in an illustration by Lena Anderson

“I noticed that the lilies were nothing but blobs and blotches of paint. But when I stepped away again, they turned into real water lilies floating in a pond–magic! ‘How could he know how to paint like that?’"

From Linnea about Monet 

in Monet's Garden book

Kreisviadukt near Brusio, Graubunden (Switzerland)

The friendly cow all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple-tart.

        She wanders lowing here and there,

        And yet she cannot stray,

        All in the pleasant open air,

        The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Teufel Valley Viaduct (Teufelstalbrucke) near Hemsdorf, Thuringia (Germany)

"From a traffic perspective, the bridge wouldn't have been necessary. Because the valley ends two kilometers to the south. It's possible that the bridge was built purely for prestige reasons."

Engineer Uwe Vonhoff

Pont Saint Michel over the Gave de Pau River in Lourdes, Hautes Pyrénées (France)

"We are inspired by the Commission comprising wise, holy, learned and experienced priests who questioned the child, studied the facts, examined everything and weighed all the evidence. We have also called on science, and we remain convinced that the Apparitions are supernatural and divine, and that by consequence, what Soubirous saw was the Most Blessed Virgin. Our convictions are based on the testimony of Soubirous, but above all on the things that have happened, things which can be nothing other than divine intervention."

On 18 January 1862, 

the Bishop of Tarbes Betrand Severt Laurence

Laufen Bridge over the Rhine River between Laufenburg (Germany) and Laufenburg (Switzerland)

The image of the frontier is probably one of the oldest images of mankind, and it is not surprising that we should find it hard to get rid of.

Kenneth E. Boulding

Olowianka footbridge over the Motlawa River in Gdansk, Pomerania (Poland)

The residents and guests of Gdansk often threw gold coins into the Neptune fountain "for luck". When there were so many coins that the fountain stopped working Neptune struck them with his trident and shattered them into thousands of small gold flakes. The water in the fountain turned into a sweet liqueur. The town innkeepers filled barrels with the golden drink from the fountain all night long. Only the owner of the inn "Under the Salmon", decided not to rob Neptune. In the morning, it turned out that the barrels of greedy merchants contained only pure water, and the cellar of the modest innkeeper was filled with tanks of Goldwasser.

Gdansk legend

Chains Bridge spanning the Danube River in Budapest (Hungary)

"Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of Hunnic ruler Attila.. Attila went in the city of Sicambria in Pannonia, where he killed Buda, his brother, and he threw his corpse into the Danube. For while Attila was in the west, his brother crossed the boundaries in his reign, because he named Sicambria after his own name Buda's Castle.

Legend of Budapest origin

Rainbow Bridge over the Anahulu River in Haleiwa, O'ahu Island, Hawaii (United States)

 Haleʻiwa, the sunlight is bright on your shore,
Your gentle people call to me, come home once more.
In the mist of the morning and all through the day,
The sun is dreaming in Waialua Bay.

Coming home, coming home,
I'm coming home, Haleʻiwa.
Wait for me, pray for me,
I'm coming home to you!
...

Haleiwa song

Bridge over the Herengracht canal in Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Amsterdam Nights, opiate dreams
I lay my head on your lap
In the backseat of the car, of the car
We’re lovers in the parking lot, hmm
So puff puff, red eye, blazing right?
We inhale the nights, truth and
Exhale the smoke of love, of love
So we gonna drive, gonna drive
Gonna drive into the night
Midnight sky, you and I...

Lyrics of Amsterdam Nights

Ray Lozano

Somesville Footbridge over the Somes Creek in Acadia National Park, Maine (United States)

 
To say that Acadia National Park is a beautiful place is kind of a misnomer. The park is actually a series of beautiful places, all housed on different parts of Mount Desert Island, the Schoodic Peninsula and other islands along the coast of Maine.

John D. Rockefeller

Bridge over the Viamala Gorge near Thusis, Graubunden (Switzerland)

 
“I perceive the gloomy magnificence of the Viamala as a reflection of my own nature”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Unversity Bridge over the Sile River and Porta Santo Tomaso Bridge in Treviso, Veneto (Italy)

 
Dardano, progenitor of the Trojans founded the city of Eugania in the region of Veneto. To defend it, Dardano built four fortresses, the largest of which took the name of Tusino, commanded by Montorio, the presumed progenitor of the Collalto family. Montorio put the statue of a girl with three heads at the entrance of the main city gate. Each head had three faces and this led to the word Tusino being altered to Tre-visi.

Legend about the founding of Treviso

Tower Bridge crossing the Thames River in London, England (United Kingdom)

"Three unique and valuable institutions the British have that we in America have not: Magna Carta, the Tower Bridge and Alfred Hitchcock."

Benjamin Crisler

Painting of the Yudai Bridge over the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang (China)

The West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou, comprising the West Lake and the hills surrounding its three sides, has inspired famous poets, scholars and artists since the 9th century. It comprises numerous temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens and ornamental trees, as well as causeways and artificial islands. These additions have been made to improve the landscape west of the city of Hangzhou to the south of the Yangtze river.

West Lake Cultural Landspace of Hangzhou

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Bormannsgrundbrucke over the Malter Dam in Dippoldiswalde, Saxony (Germany)

"Swimming is now permitted again in the Malter Dam in the Eastern Ore Mountains. The town of Dippoldiswalde, which is responsible for the reservoir, announced that the reservoir has "very good water quality." This was confirmed by water samples taken by the health department of the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district. The tests revealed no indications of a risk of microbial contamination at the swimming areas, it said."

MDR News on 24 july 2024

Park footbridge in Bad Mergentheim, Baden-Wurttenberg (Germany)

Let, O world, O let me be!
Lure me not with what love giveth,
Make this heart of mine content with
Its own joy, its own grief!

What grieves me, I know it not,
It is some unheard-of thorn;
Yet through my tears I will see
The warming sunlight come the morn.

Poem by Eduard Moerike,

poet from Bad Mergentheim

Pont Perriere over the Thiou river in Annecy, Haute-Savoie (France)

We fell in love tonight

And this is all we know

We turn off the lights

For a last touch and go

And we go back in time

We go back in time

On our way to Annecy

On our way to Annecy

...

lyrics from Annecy

aong by Kazy Lambist

Footbridge over the river Liuxi in Heqiao Ancient Town, Zhejiang (China)

The bright moon rises over the river.

The moon reminds me of my love who is deep in the mountains.
He is the moon walking across the sky
Do you hear me singing your name by the river?

Lyrics of a Chinese Folk Song

Bridge in the Parnon Mountains, Peloponnese (Greece)

 

The oleander plant is named after Leander, who swam the Hellespont nightly to see his lover, Hero. A tragic version of the myth suggests that Leander drowned while swimming, and Hero later drowned herself.

Greek myth 

Ohashi Bridge over the Sumida River in Edo, ancient Tokyo (Japan) painted by Vincent Van Gogh

"All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art…"

Vincent Van Gogh