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

"It is impossible for me to forget your beautiful country where I have learned so much. My stay in Heidelberg is nothing now but a beautiful dream. How I’d wish I could repeat it!"

Allama Iqbal, Indian philosopher

Old Bridge over the Nahe River in Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany)

Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it.

Indian proverb

Painting of the Augustus Bridge over the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

"The World Heritage Committee decided to remove Germany's Dresden Valley from UNESCO's World Heritage List due to the building of a four-lane bridge in the heart of the cultural landscape which meant that the property failed to keep its "outstanding universal value as inscribed."

UNESCO Archive, 25 June 2009

Bastei Bridge in the Saxon Switzerland National Park, near Dresden (Germany)

"Here, from where you see right down to the Elbe from the most rugged rocks, where a short distance away the crags of the Lilienstein, Königstein and Pffafenstein stand scenically together and the eye takes in a sweeping view that can never be described in words."

Augusto von Goethe

about Bastei

Loschwitz Bridge over the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

An der Elbe Strand
Liegt mein Heimatland,
Lieb's von ganzer Seele;
Aber meine Kehle
Ist zu Haus am Rhein,
Dürstet nur nach Wein

German song

Bridges over the canals of the Speicherstadt (Warehouse City) in Hamburg (Germany)

En Hamburgo los antiguos almacenes portuarios de ladrillo tienen la escala desmedida de un Nueva York gótico. Hay puentes industriales de hierro custodiados por estatuas de bronce. Un tren elevado pasa por encima del puerto. El agua del río Elba es de un color verde profundo.

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Hangman's Bridge (Henkersteg) across the Pegnitz River in Nuremberg, Bavaria (Germany)

...
¿mi vil oficio
querrás que siga,
que te maldiga
tal vez querrás?
¡Piensa que un día
al que hoy miras jugar inocente,
maldecido cual yo y delincuente
también verás!

 End of the poem

El Verdugo (The Hangman)

José de Esprocenda

Steinerne Brucke (Old Stone Bridge) over the Danube river in Regensburg, Bavaria (Germany)

“I have devoted many a day to the inexhaustible fascinations of this city. I wish I could devote a year to them, a decade or a lifetime“.

The poet Werner Bergengruen

about Regensburg.

Bastei Bridge in the Saxon Switzerland National Park, near Dresden (Germany)

"What depth of feeling it pours into the soul! You can stand here for a long time without being finished with it. It is so difficult to tear yourself away from this spot."

Carl Heinrich Nicolai

about Bastei in 1801

Obere Bridge over the Regnitz River in Bamberg, Bavaria (Germany)

According to legend the bishop of Bamberg did not grant the citizens any land for the construction of a town hall. This prompted the townsfolk to ram stakes into the river Regnitz to create an artificial island, on which they built the town hall they so badly wanted.

Legend of the Town Hall of Bamberg

Holzbrucke over the Rhine River between Bad Sackingen (Germany) and Stein, Aargau (Switzerland)

The river nobly foams and flows,

  The charm of this enchanted ground,

And all its thousand turns disclose

  Some fresher beauty varying round:

The haughtiest breast its wish might bound

  Through life to dwell delighted here;

Nor could on earth a spot be found

  To nature and to me so dear,

Could thy dear eyes in following mine

Still sweeten more these banks of Rhine!

Poem to the Rhine River

Lord Byron

Old Bridge over the Lahn River in Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse (Germany)

A tax collector sent to Limburg was so bad received by neighbors that one of them threw a curse. As a result the collector froze and his head is still visible on one of the stones of the old bridge over the Lahn.

Legend of the Old Bridge in Limburg

Blaues Wunder (Blue Wonder) over the Elbe River in Dresden (Germany)

How many died? 
Who knows the count?; 
In your wounds one sees the ordeal; 
Of the nameless who in here were conflagrated;
In the hellfire made by hands of man

Memorial plaque about

the Bombing of Dresden 

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

Loschwitz Bridge or Blue Wonder over the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

According to local legend, the Blaues Wunder (blue wonder) is miraculous in many respects. Firstly, its original colour was green but then it changed to blue for no apparent reason. Secondly, it was due to be blown up by the Nazis in 1945 when two brave Dresdeners removed the ignition lines and saved it from destruction. Thirdly, as scientists found out in the 1990's, it should not have held the weight of the tram which had been running over the bridge for decades.

Legends about the Loschwitz Bridge

Bridge over a creek in The Black Forest near Menzenschwand, Baden-Württemberg (Germany)

THE soul of man

Resembleth water:

From heaven it cometh,

To heaven it soareth.

And then again

To earth descendeth,

Changing ever.

Down from the lofty

Rocky wall

Streams the bright flood,

Then spreadeth gently

In cloudy billows

O'er the smooth rock,

And welcomed kindly,

Veiling, on roams it,

Soft murmuring,

Tow'rd the abyss.

Spirit Song over the Water

Goethe

Hochbrucke (High Bridge) crossing the Kiel Canal between Osterronfëld and Rendsburg (Germany)

Carl Theodor Bridge (Old Bridge) over the Neckar River in Heidelberg (Germany)

Enterrar quiero mis cantos,

quiero enterrar mis quimeras;

féretro insondable quiero,

inmensa fosa necesito.

Ha de guardar muchas cosas,

el ataúd bajo tierra;

quiero que tenga más fondo

que el tonel de Heidelberg,

Buscadme féretro duro,

de planchas fuertes y espesas,

aun más largo que el gran puente

que hay sobre el Rhin en Magencia.

y buscad doce gigantes

de más vigor y más fuerza

que el enorme San Cristóbal

que hay de en la iglesia de Colonia.

Que lo arrojen al profundo

seno de la mar inmensa.

Heinrich Heine

Hochbrucke (High Bridge) crossing the Kiel Canal between Osterronfëld and Rendsburg, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)

Dramatic collision within seconds: On their already short crossing a transporter bridge is collided with a freighter. The result: two injured. The train service is interrupted. The transporter bridge over the Kiel Canal near Rendsburg on Friday morning with a freighter collided. Here the Fährführer was seriously injured, the police said. The man was hospitalized. The only passenger, a police officer after the service on the way home, suffered minor injuries in the collision in the morning darkness. He could also be brought about another ferry to safety.

 Die Welt

January 8th, 2016

Footbridge in the Technical University of Kaiserlautern (Germany)