Weidendammer Bridge - Berlin, Germany
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 52° 31.328 E 013° 23.284
33U E 390635 N 5820335
This triple arch cast iron bridge carries Friedrichstraße across the River Spree.
Waymark Code: WMZGT2
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date Posted: 11/10/2018
Views: 8
"The Weidendammer Bridge is a 73-metre-long (240 ft) bridge where the Friedrichstraße crosses the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. It is notable for its ornate wrought iron railings, lanterns, and Imperial eagles.
In 1685, a wooden drawbridge was built on the site in the course of the creation under Elector Frederick William I of Hohenzollern of a new western suburb of the city, Dorotheenstadt. Named after nearby willow (Weiden) trees on the riverbank, it was demolished for a cast iron construction erected in 1824, one of the first in Central Europe. Too small after the exponential population growth of Berlin as the capital of the German Empire, it was again replaced by the current bridge built between 1895 and 1896.
Wrought iron imperial eagle on the Weidendammer Bridge
During the Battle of Berlin, the Weidendammer Bridge was one of the few Spree crossings that had not been destroyed. On the night of 1 May 1945, a Tiger tank from the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division Nordland spearheaded an attempt to storm the bridge to allow hundreds of German soldiers and civilians to escape across it.
Lovers are known to lock padlocks engraved with their names onto the wrought-iron work on the bridge, and at times, these locks are removed by the authorities"
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As well as road traffic the bridge also carries trams across the river.