river – Seite 3 – bruecken_schlag

Old Bridge in Heidelberg, Germany

This was a completely unexpected find in the mess that is my photo archive. I had completely forgotten about it. Almost two years ago, I went for an interview for a scholarship in Heidelberg. It was a bit of a crazy trip for just one day from Berlin, and I didn’t get to see much of the famous city with its romantic castle ruins and gorgeous old town – but I did go down to the Neckar river to see this beauty of a bridge.

Its official name is Karl-Theodor-Brücke, but it is most commonly referred to as Alte Brücke, the Old Bridge. It’s a baroque bridge, but it reminds me architecturally of the medieval Ottoman bridges in the Balkans, like the one in Visegrad in Bosnia and Hercegovina – only the material, the red sandstone found in the Neckar valley, makes it stand out. The barren trees reaching into this shot gave it an eerie feel that I remember quite liking, but I also would love to come back and see it in the summer when everything must be green and ever so much more picturesque. But Heidelberg in the warmer months is surely flooded with tourists, so this winter flair held its own charm for me.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Bridge in Gauja National Park, Latvia

Oktober 13, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 2 Kommentare

Granted this picture doesn’t tell you much about where this bridge is or what it is surrounded by. But it illustrates one of my favourite things about bridges: the view you have from them. Last summer, my long trip took me to the three Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Although my friend and I travelled in August, there was no guarantee for sunny weather, and so we visited Latvia’s Gauja National Park, with its enchanted forests and fairytale fortresses made from red brick, in the rain. This is one of the bridges that lead across the river Gauja in the park. It is a simple bridge in not the best of shapes, but standing there looking at the nature around me was magical, as it is to me on almost any bridge.

There were misty views of steaming trees and a very low cloud cover. The river was red – people say it’s not the rust, but healthy minerals, but it looked suspicious to me nonetheless. I wondered if it was always this colour intensive or if the storm that had been through in the night had churned up the clay on the ground. I stood in my travel gear, everything on me that I needed at the time, on a bridge connecting two river banks, looking at all life had to offer me in that moment. I was cold and my jacket was damp because the humidity in the air was so high, it was a bit as though the rain had just stopped and now swayed there midair. And I was happy.

I f you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Varadin Bridge in Novi Sad, Serbia

Oktober 6, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

After a lot of bridge posts about Western and / or Northern Europe, today I am taking you back to my beloved Balkans and some summer sunshine while autumn has turned wet and grey in Berlin. This is the view from Petrovaradin fortress onto the city centre of Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city. To the right in the picture you can see Varadin Bridge crossing the Danube river. If you want to go to the fortress, you will most likely cross this bridge. From the bridge you have a gorgeous view of the old castle walls sitting majestically on a hill above the city. From the fortress you have this beautiful outlook onto the city.

Novi Sad is the centre of the Vojvodina. Vojvodina is an autonomous province in Serbia, just like Kosovo is considered to be one by the Serbians (who, as you may know, have not recognized Kosovo’s independence). It is also one of the many multicultural areas in Eastern and Central Eastern Europe – easily recognizable by the fact that it has six official languages: Serbian / Croatian, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian and Ruthenian. I think especially the Hungarian influence on the city is quite noticeable in the architecture and the cityscape. It is one of the areas in which gaps between cultures are simultaneously made visible – via prejudice and exclusion – and bridged – in the necessity to live together in one space.

I f you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I love in places that I love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Bridges in Nottingham, England

September 22, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 4 Kommentare

Today I bring to you a bridge cluster, if you will. I am enjoying how in this picture the two very different bridges are at a right angle, leading up to each other, connecting not only two river banks, but also each other. When I visited Nottingham in June and Andrew took me back to the train station, we had a little bit of time to kill before my train left, so we ventured away from the station and found this spot. I don’t remember where exactly it was, just that the stone bridge and the modern steel one in combination with the red brick warehouse and the dodgy and dirty looking water reminded me of home, of Hamburg’s granary city and its feel of trade and hard work. How that is changing now the port city with its modern architecture and posh restaurants and bars is coming about there…

I have written about it before: Nottingham is not the prettiest or most enchanting city I have been to. But it had its very own and individual flair. In many ways I like the coolness and the distance with which the city met me. It was honest and down to earth. I took the picture in June, but it looks just like Berlin looks now in the autumn weather that I see when I look out of my window. It seems to be saying: „I don’t care if you think it’s summer. I’m doing whatever the hell I want.“ I wish I could be a little bit more like that sometimes.

I f you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Latin Bridge in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina

September 1, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

Today’s bridge brings you back to that country that has my heart and to a historical place for all of Europe.

This is Latin Bridge, or Latinska ćuprija, in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. The river that runs under it is the river Miljacka, so beautifully besung by Halid Bešlić in the song of the same name that I have mentioned in this post about the Sound of Bosnia. The bridge is one of the typically Ottoman structures you see so often in the Balkans – with their several arches and curvy elegance and playfulness. The bridge is even part of the coat of arms of Sarajevo, albeit quite stylized.

To be honest, although it may be the prettiest bridge over the Miljacka River, Latin Bridge didn’t impress me much at first, and I found the Miljacka to be shallow and narrow. But then it came to me that in this very spot, few metres from where I took this photo, archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb called Gavrilo Princip in 1914. Many of you will know that this is considered one of the, if not the decisive moment that started World War I. This is typically Bosnia. It keeps surprising you with amazing facts and, I have no other words, a pretty fucked-up history. If there ever was a country that made me understand that things aren’t always what they appear to be at first glance, it was this one.

I f you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Wabash Avenue Bridge in Chicago, Illinois, US

August 18, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

I have asked my friend about five times how to say the name of the street that runs over today’s bridge and I cannot for the life of me remember it. WAY-bawsh? WAW-besh? Wah-BOSH? Who cares, really. Maybe I should just refer to it as Irv Kupcinet Bridge, its other name that it takes from a famous Chicago journalist.

The picture is taken from Michigan Avenue in sight of many of the famous architectural marvels of Chicago downtown. Although I was in a way taken by the skyscrapers from the beginning, I am honestly ambivalent about their „beauty“. Are they really beautiful? Or are they just – stunning? impressive? awe-inducing? I don’t think one could speak for all of them in general. I absolutely adore the Jewelers Building, the pretty one on the left in the picture with its tower rising out of the base and its pretty cupola. It reminds me weirdly of the Palace of Culture in Warsaw – Stalin’s gift to the Polish people. Strang seeing a building reminiscent of socialist architecture in the United States!

The bridge almost disappears inmidst the canyons of skyscrapers, but I hope it has not escaped your attention that it is on there, crossing the Chicago River. Because the river branches out, it looks like the letter Y on the map (with a lot of good will, admittedly) – and the Y is an important symbol of the city that shows up on public buildings, street lanterns, and gully covers. In a city so appreciative of its river, bridges must play a role, too. And I think they make a wonderful counterbalance to the architecture that is reaching for the skies. They ground the city.

I f you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Bridges in Spreewald, Germany

Juli 29, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

About a hundred kilometres southeast of the German capital, the beautiful Spreewald, or Spree forest region, offers a lovely daytrip destination for Berliners. Here, the Spree river runs in many tiny reaches through deep green forests. There is an uncountable number of bridges around due to all the different waterways. My Bridges on Sundays post may come to you on a Monday this week – but it has more bridges than it usually does!

There are your regular ones like this one in the Schlosspark, palace park, of Lübbenau, with its gently curved bannisters that to the right go on to pass into a wooden fence. Those crisscrossed fences are very typially German to me and they are called Jägerzaun, hunter’s fence.

There are several of these bridges in Lübbenau that elevate above the water as though they were made specifically to make viewing platforms for curious visitors.

And there are also your tiny wooden footbridges that are really just there to help you get dry-shod to the other side of a creek or a swamp.

The intense green colours and the fresh air were a true treat. If only there hadn’t been so many mosquitos! I will write more about the Spreewald daytrip soon, surely – so stay tuned to learn about what Sorbians are and why I must absolutely come back to this place.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Bristol Bridge in Bristol, England

Juli 21, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

Before I read up on this bridge, I didn’t think it was all that spectacular. Sometimes doing your research will open open up new worlds for you (even if it is just on wikipedia).

This is Bristol Bridge over Avon river in the harbour of Bristol. It dates back to 1768 and is name giver to the Bristol Bridge riot of 1793, a protest against acts that included new tolls and the tearing down of houses close to the bridge. This reminded me of people today fighting for participatory and democratic city planning. Living in Berlin and close to Tempelhofer Feld, an amazing area constantly threatened by being filled with luxury flats that no one can afford, this is a very acute and important topic for me.

The second interesting piece of information I found was that the word Bristol is derived from a Saxon word that means „Place of the Bridge“. Much like my beloved Mostar, the name of which means „Bridgekeeper“, this is thus the second town I have been to that carries a bridge in its name. All of this prompts me to want to go back to this enchanting city. I liked it much with all the waterways and the steep hills and the beautiful architecture. I am sure there is much more to discover there.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Bridge in Peja (Peć), Kosovo

Juli 7, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 2 Kommentare

Today’s bridge is nameless and broken.

Peja is one of the larger cities in Kosovo, located in the West of the country close to Albania and Montenegro, in close proximity to the Prokletije mountain range. You can see it in the background of my picture, and I think the mist that covers the mountain tops adds to the idea that is in their name – Prokletije means the „cursed“ mountains. I wish I had been able to see more of the beautiful nature around, and the monasteries that are part of the UNESCO world heritage. I have written more about Kosovo in general in this post.

While I found Kosovo to be fascinating, rich in culture, full of beauty and culinary delights (I have forgotten the names of all the dishes, but I absolutely LOVED Albanian and Kosovar cuisine!!), there was no denying its burdensome recent history. Bullet holes in walls and houses in ruins were to be seen everywhere. What I found interesting was that while usually media show the supression of Kosovar Albanians, I here came across the bombed out Serbian neighborhoods and came to understand a little better that victims and perpetrators are not necesarily easily identified. This destroyed bridge was one of the sights that made me painfully aware of Kosovo’s past.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

Legion Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic

Juni 30, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

What bridge do you think about when you think about Prague? Karlův most, Charles Bridge, certainly. Today I chose to show you its lesser known neighbour, Most Legií, or the Bridge of Legions, which is just as much worth noticing!

Legion Bridge crosses Vltava River south of the Castle Hill, and you have a stunning view of it when you stand on the bridge. But I like the bridge especially for its style. Finished in 1901, I find it to be decisively art nouveau, especially the arches lined with stones in almost black and white. I read that it is also neo-baroque. Now I don’t know enough about art history to explain where that comes in, but I find the bridge to combine a certain aesthetic severity and playfulness. Now that is a wide gap to bridge, and it’s done beautifully here.

I was in Prague six years ago and it recently crossed my mind again as one of those places that I really need to go back to, because when I went, frankly, I did not yet know how to travel. I don’t think I saw half as much as I would today. When I realized that, I came to think about what a different person I was back then and what a strange thing time is. And I thought about all the places I have yet to discover and rediscover, and all the things I have seen and haven’t written about yet. I’m grateful that this world will never cease to provide me with inspiration – if nothing else is, that much at least is certain.

If you have read My Mission statement, you know why I love bridges. To me they are the most universal symbol of connection, of bringing people together and overcoming anything that may seperate us. I want to present to you pictures of bridges that I really love in places that I really love on my blog every Sunday. If you have a picture of a bridge that you would like to share with my readers as a guest post, feel free to contact me!

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Schlagwort: river (Seite 3 von 7)

Old Bridge in Heidelberg, Germany

Bridge in Gauja National Park, Latvia

Varadin Bridge in Novi Sad, Serbia

Bridges in Nottingham, England

Latin Bridge in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina

Wabash Avenue Bridge in Chicago, Illinois, US

Bridges in Spreewald, Germany

Bristol Bridge in Bristol, England

Bridge in Peja (Peć), Kosovo

Legion Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic

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