Three Countries Bridge across the Rhine River between Huningue (France) and Weil am Rhein (Germany)

“Urban planning and architecture have a strong influence on our well-being.”

Dietmar Feichtinger, designer of this bridge

Rheinkniebrucke over the Rhine River in Dusseldorff (Germany)

The scouring of the canvas against gravel
and now and then the saturated sound
of ships and trucks passing without her.
It grows dark in my tent on the Rhine,
where everything is drying to be saved:
Thyssenhaus, Königsallee, Krimhilde,
but even more the nameless hitchhiker,
suddenly a heavily painted woman hunting
for gold and revenge in this wakeful night.
In excessive rains of regression, she floods
all my banks again, drowning me
in a score of lust. Sucking her mark.

Poem Dusseldorf

Albert Hagenaars

John Frost Bridge over the Rhine River in Arnhem, Gelderland (Netherlands)

This is the bridge for which John D. Frost fought leading the soldiers persistent and brave in an advance where freddom was sought went a bridge too far which they tried to save the bridge is now with his name proudly wrought

Memorial Plaque in John Frost Bridge

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

Pfaffendorfer Bridge over the Rhine River in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany)

"The Pfaffendorf Bridge needs to be completely renovated, and in some cases even replaced. Otherwise, the bridge will be completely closed - that's the clear message from the civil engineering department...The Pfaffendorfer Bridge, one of the main traffic arteries in Koblenz and a historic bridge over the Rhine, is being rebuilt. The old bridge, which opened in 1953, will be demolished and replaced by a new one in an expected five-year construction period."

Rhein-Zeitung, March 25, 2013

Mittlere Bridge over the Rhine River in Basel (Switzerland)

Rivers, like clarions, sing to the oceans about the beauty of earth, the cultivation of fields, the splendor of cities, and the glory of humans. Of all rivers, I love most the Rhine.

Victor Hugo

Old Oberkassel Bridge over the Rhine river in Dusseldorff (Germany)

"Rhine. The river that, somewhere out there, has broken free"

Lauren DeStefano

Kurt Schumacher Bridge over the Rhine River between Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Rhineland-Palatinate and Mannheim, Baden-Wurttenberg (Germany)

 

Hier ist die Stelle, hier liegt der Stein,
Hier nahm mein Liebstes hinweg der Rhein,
Der Freude, der Liebe goldensten Hort,
Hier flog die Lust des Lebens mir fort.

Here is the place, here lies the stone

Here my love took away the Rhine, 

Of joy, of love's most golden hoard, 

Here the joy of life flew away from me

Poem Der Stein in Rheim

by Ernst Moritz Arndt

Severinsbrucke over the Rhine River in Cologne (Germany)

 

"Technology must be connected with ethics and aesthetics"

Fritz Leonhardt,

architect of this Bridge

Deutzer Bridge over the Rhine River in Cologne (Germany)

 

"The bridge has such a crazy attractiveness that you can't resist and you just have to go there once a year,"

Volker Zander, musicien,

about Deutzer Bridge cavity as a music hall

Hohenzollernbrucke spanning the Rhine river in Cologne (Germany)

 Smooth the bricks under her feet

The curl of her hair on the curve of her cheek
Kneeling she looks up at me
The old, dark cathedral towering over the street
All we can smell and all we can see
Every cafe on the long, winding street
Suddenly all of the children will sing
An afternoon song for the sky opening
...

From the song Köln,

by Corey Kilgannon

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

Wooden Bridge over the old riverbed of the Rhine in Ketsch, Baden-Wurtemberg (Germany)

"Le Rhin est le fleuve dont tout le monde parle et que personne n’étudie, que tout le monde visite et que personne ne connaît, qu’on voit en passant et qu’on oublie en courant, que tout regard effleure et qu’aucun esprit n’approfondit.Pourtant ses ruines occupent les imaginations élevées, sa destinée occupe les intelligences sérieuses ; et cet admirable fleuve laisse entrevoir à l’œil du poète comme à l’œil du publiciste, sous la transparence de ses flots, le passé et l’avenir de l’Europe."

Victor Hugo, about the Rhine

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 over the Rhine River in Cologne (Germany)

Rheinkohle statt Gold 
Die Fische und die nackten Nymphen 
Sterben im romantischen Wasser aus 
Über die Brücke fahren nur Trauerzüge 
In Särgen wird das letzte Gold geschmuggelt 
Der Osten exportiert seine Frühsonne 
Aurora ist kein Frauenname mehr 
Doch paßt er gut für eine Aktiengesellschaft 
...

In a poem by Yvan Goll

Hohenzollern Bridge over the River Rhine in Cologne (Germany)

Lovers in Cologne

On the Hohenzollern bridge 

Locking their love locks

Forever mine

Throwing the key

Into the Rhine

Love never dies

Fragment of Love Locks lyrics,

Nits band

John Frost Bridge over the Rhine River in Arnhem (Netherlands)

- What do you think?

- Well, as you know, I always felt we tried to go a bridge too far.

Dialogue in film A Bridge Too Far

about the capture of this bridge in World War II

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

Rheinfallbrucke crossing the Rhine River in Schaffhausen (Switzerland)

Halte dein Herz, o Wanderer, fest in gewaltigen Händen! Mir entstürzte vor Lust zitternd das meinige fast. Rastlos donnernde Massen auf donnernde Massen geworfen, Ohr und Auge, wohin retten sie sich im Tumult?

Hold your heart, oh traveller, tightly in mighty hands! Mine nearly descended, shivering with pleasure. Restless thundering masses thrown upon masses, ear and eye, whither can they save themselves in such an uproar?

Poem to the Rhine Falls

Eduard Morike

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