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On September 7, 929, East Francian King Henry I seized and burned the capital of the Slavic Hevelli tribes. The date is celebrated as the birthday of Brandenburg (German for Burned Castle).
1000 years later, on September 7, 1929, the city celebrated the Millennium with the dedication of a new bridge across river Havel, connecting the two parts of town, Altstadt (old town) and Neustadt (new town). Fittingly, the bridge was named Jahrtausendbrücke or Millennium Bridge.
At the end of World War II, in April 1945, the bridge was blown up in a futile attempt to stop the advance of the Soviet army. The original plaque celebrating the inauguration of the bridge and the city's Millennium got lost in the inferno. When the bridge was rebuilt in 1947, a new plaque was installed at the middle of the bridge. It reads:
Built at the 1000th birthday of the city in 1929
Destroyed by Hitler's Madness on April 29, 1945
Resurrected in peaceful labor
on October 4, 1947.
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Inauguration of the bridge in 1929 (Source: Wikipedia)
Millennium Bridge Plaque
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