Bridges – Seite 4 – bruecken_schlag

Lombardsbrücke in Hamburg, Germany

The last bridge of 2013 was one in Hamburg. It only makes sense that the first one in 2014 should be too. After all, Hamburg is home, and as such unmatched. Besides it prides itself in the fact that it has more bridges than Venice 🙂This is Lombardsbrücke in the very city centre of Hamburg. The bridge marks the line between the Outer and the Inner Alster, two artificial lakes formed by the River Alster that define the cityscape of Hamburg. Where other cities have a market square – Hamburg has water. It has spoilt me forever that way with its hanseatic beauty. Even the day I took this picture, when it was almost too cold to hold the camera straight and it kept drizzling, the look of the low-lying boat drifting slowly into the arches and on to the Outer Alster put a smile on my face.

The best thing about this bridge is not its architectural beauty. It is the view from on top of it across the Inner Alster onto all the important landmarks of Hamburg. And this view includes the street lanterns with their cast-iron bases and their five-branched candelabras. When I come home to Hamburg by train, I cross over Lombardsbrücke between the main station and the last stop Altona. When I look out the window and see this, I tear up almost every time. There is no more iconic view of my city.

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!

Train Station Blankenese in Hamburg, Germany

Dezember 29, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

Quite likely you will see this picture and think to yourself: „Why in the world did she choose *that* bridge?!?“ It’s not pretty or remarkable in any way, I guess. But it means a lot to me, which is why I thought it fitting to be the last bridge in 2013.

This is the metro station close to my parents‘ house in Hamburg. Most of my adventures started from here. When I was in primary school, I would take my dad’s hand in the morning and walk with him to the train station, across this very bridge, he would descend to the platform to take a metro to his office, and I would walk a bit further to school. I often went to pick him up in the evening when he came home from work, too. We would make little poems about the plants, trees and bushes we discovered on the way between the station and our house (my dad is a passionate gardener).

When I started high school I took the metro for two stations from here myself in the winter – in the summer I went by bike. As I grew older, I would go on the metro to the city center of Hamburg more and more often – first for shopping or to go to the cinema, later for going out at night in the infamous Reeperbahn red light district. Even my five month backpacking trip through Central and South Eastern Europe started at this very metro station on this bridge. It has been the beginning of so many things. And now, when I come home to visit my parents and I cross over it again, it is always crossing back into my childhood and coming home.

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!

2013 in Bridges – A Review

Dezember 22, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / Kommentare deaktiviert

My blog is all about bridges. If you follow me, you know that I put a picture of a bridge up on every Sunday in the category „Bridges on Sundays“. Quite a few of them have been from my archives, but there were also many I found this year – ever since I have started self-hosting, which I have just over a year now, I have been looking for bridges even more carefully than before. I will give you my favourites in a review of my year 2013. If you click on the bridge’s name above the respective picture, the link will redirect yo to the full post on the bridge.

1. Oderbrücke, Frankfurt (Oder) / Słubice, Germany / Poland

I didn’t make it to Poland as often as I’d liked this year, but I did cross this bridge between Germany and its Eastern neighbour twice. This bridge makes me reflect history and appreciate living in a unified Europe today. And it makes me realize that I love Poland. A lot.

2. Karlshöhe in Stuttgart, Germany

In the post about this bridge I talk about my yearly meet-up with my three girls from grad school, and how we have crossed into adulthood together and on the way passed several bridges and overcome various obstacles. Friendship is such a valuable thing.

3. Bridges in Nottingham, England

In this picture, I see two bridges working together to make up a system of connections – a traditional stone bridge to the left and a modern steel one straigth across. There is not just „the“ one bridge to cross in life. There is bridge upon bridge upon bridge.

4. Abteibrücke in Berlin, Germany

This is the bridge to the so called Isle of Youth in the Spree River. When I posted the picture, I hadn’t even crossed it yet. I have now, and I regretfully say that I haven’t become more youthful to my knowledge. But maybe I am just so youthful altogether that I didn’t realize 🙂

5. A Bridge in Spreewald, Germany

I found this to be a nostalgic bridge that seemed to me to bridge gaps between different layers of time. Still now I think it is a romantic place, as is the entire Spreewald which is full of bridges spanning the small canals.

6. Bridge at South Pond, Chicago, Illinois, US

I keep using this picture, but I have to say I love it because I know that I was so truly and deeply happy in the moment it was taken, and I think that shows in my smile. This was on my big trip this year, to Chicago, and the pictures shows how that city connects greenery and urbanity beautifully to create a whole.

7. Bridge at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, US

The small bridge at Graceland cemetery, a large, quiet and peaceful place in Chicago, seemed to me to be magical, enchanted, spellbound even. It led onto a small island where time seemed to stand still, and conversation with the deceased seemed to be possible.

8. Ponte Luís I in Porto, Portugal

Ponte Luiz I in Porto may have been the prettiest and most impressive bridge I came across this year. The resemblance with the Eiffel tower is not entirely coincidental, as you will be able to read in the post. It was majestic, and made me fall in love with Porto.

Which one of my Bridge discoveries from 2014 do you like best? Did you come across a beautiful bridge in 2013 that I should put on my Bucket List? So you have any plans of crossing bridges – literally or metaphorically for the up-coming year?

Bridge at Klein Kasteeltje in Brussels, Belgium

Dezember 15, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 1 Kommentar

This is the first time I really went out of my way in a city to see a bridge – I have gone to cities specifically for the purpose of seeing a bridge (Visegrad, most notably!), but I haven’t made a huge effort inside of a city I went to anyway. Bridges usually just came to me – but not this one. After all, Brussels is not at all centered around water. But there is the Charleroi-Brussels Canal, and it does have a few bridges. There is one a bit to the South of this one that looks exactly the same. I can’t find either of them to have a name, but I very much like the view across the canal into the red brick Klein Kasteeltje. If I understand the Dutch wikipedia article on it correctly, this used to be a casern, then was a jail for prisoners of war after World War II, and today is a home for asylum seekers – what a crazed history for a building.

On my way around Brussels I have slowly made my way towards the canal. I am in no hurry, I’ve got time on my hands, and while it is cold, it is a beautiful day. So many people are out and about frequenting the Christmas Market, and I have time to linger and look at all the things I happen to find noticeable – the comic strips drawn on house walls, or the glass stained windows of churches, or the bilingual street signs. I have enough peace and time and quiet for thoughts to surface that are completely random. That is what travel does to you, and I notice once more that lonesome strolls taken in foreign cities are vital for my well-being.

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!

Thielenbrücke in Berlin, Germany

Dezember 8, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 1 Kommentar

From the big wide world last Sunday, I am coming back home to Berlin with my bridge today, and to one of the golden autumn days of September.

This is Thielenbrücke, Thielen Bridge, named after a Prussian Secretary of State for Employment in the 19th century. It crosses the Landwehr Canal between the districts of Neukölln and Kreuzberg.

I do love the canal. I love it for walks in the spring, for long nights in the summer on its banks with friends and too many beers, for the trees that line it colourfully in the fall and for its bridges that I rush over in the bitter cold of winter. Thielenbrücke is not outrageously exciting, it’s covered in graffiti, and probably most Berliners aren’t quite aware that it exists. But it’s been around for nearly a hundred years and it’s a part of the city’s history, which is always so inconspicuously strewn about here. In this photo, the juicy green grass, the yellow tree leaves and the playful light on the water make for a very typical Kreuzkölln autumn atmosphere. I know winter has only just started, but I’m already excited for the warmer seasons in Berlin to come around again.

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!

Ping Tom Memorial Park Drawbridge in Chicago, Illinois, US

Dezember 1, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 2 Kommentare

Back to the summer, back to sunny weather and back to the travel life – back to Chicago. On my very last day in Chicago, Jesse took me to Pilsen for the best Mexican food I have ever had in my entire life (and that from someone who lived in El Paso, Texas for a year!) and to enjoy a bit of Chitown’s Latino side. On the way back home, we stopped by the Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown and sat by the Chicago River for a while before taking a boat downtown. We were in sight of the bridge – not a spectacular one, although I liked the little hut that was on top of it and wondered what that was for. It was a mild August day, and the sun was glistening on the water. Children were playing nearby. It was peaceful.

But then, all of a sudden, the bridge started moving! It hadn’t looked like a draw bridge to me, but the entire body (including the little hut) started moving upwards along the steel constructions on the sides. After coming to stillstand, it remained silent for a while, then a train passed over it and when that was gone, the bridge came down again. It was the weirdest looking thing to see the little house on the bridge rise up and sink down again. I imagined that, when I was a little girl, I would have wanted to live in a house on a bridge that moves up and down. I think I still do.

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!

Ponte Luís I in Porto, Portugal

November 24, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 2 Kommentare

It has been quiet on the blog this week because my decadent three day get-away to Porto left me with a lot of work to catch up on. But I am happy to present you today with one of the beauties I found while fuelling up on sun and energy in Portugal’s sun. This is the Bridge of Luís I, king of Portugal between 1861 and 1889. While Portuguese kings are usually referred to by the title „Dom“ and the bridge should be called “ Ponte Dom Luis I“, our tour guide told us that rumour has it the „Dom“ was dropped when the king didn’t show up for the opening of the bridge in 1886. Spiteful! If you think that the metal structure seems familiar, you probably associate it with the Eiffel Tower – and yes, Gustave Eiffel did do some work on bridges in Porto. Just not this one. This is his partner Téophile Seyrig’s work who is often not given credit because Eiffel is just the more glamorous and well-known name.

I am fairly certain that I will have to put up more pictures of this stunning bridge because I took about 50 of it. I find it fascinating how the metro goes over the top and cars go over the lower level, and how the bridge connects once more not only two river banks, but two different cities. What you see on the other side is not Porto anymore, but Vila Nova de Gaia. I love the majestic gate that carries the bridge’s name, and the filigree of the steel structure. And this isn’t even the only beautiful bridge over the river Douro in Porto. It certainly was the city for me in that respect.

If you have readMy 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!

Footbridges in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

November 17, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 6 Kommentare

This may be more of a crossing than an actual bridge. But since it gets people drily across a body of water I’ll count it. Plus, I love the picture. This is what the footbridges look like in Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia – that fairytale place of waterfalls and water of greenish blue colours you didn’t yet know existed. You walk barely just above the water surface on planks, and plants in different shades of green entwine around the planks and seem to reach out to you, wanting to draw you towards them and underwater. The water is gushing underneath your feet. It feels like you could actually walk on water.

One of the best travel decisions in my life was most definitely coming to Plitvice Lakes in April – off-season. Even in the cool Spring weather it was already fairly well visited, and I cannot even begin to imagine what it must look like in summer. Or maybe I just don’t want to imagine. The only thing that saves the place from a complete tourist overload is probably the fact that you are not allowed to swim in the turquoise – no, emerald – no, myrtle – pine – shamrock – good lord, I just cannot decide on a good word to describe the incredible colour of the water. The footbridges blend in so well that they are hardly noticeable – and yet they allow for the visitor to get to the points where the view will be most amazing. Plitvice might not be a secret anymore – but it doesn’t matter, it is a must see for anyone who goes to Croatia.

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!

Old Bridge in Heidelberg, Germany

November 10, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 2 Kommentare

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!

Motorway Bridges in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina

November 3, 2013 / bruecken_schlag / 4 Kommentare

How is it that mist can be so sad and depressing when it’s outside my Berlin window, but so beautiful when it is covering the forests stretching over a Bosnian mountain?

When I was in Sarajevo, my couchsurfing host took me around town in his car. I am not even sure from where I took this picture, I am just fairly sure that somewhere in it there is the border between the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska (Serb Republic) – the two entities that make up the country we know as Bosnia and Hercegovina.

The motorway in the picture goes East from the capital toward Serbia. They must have had a lot of fun building it, with its strange bridge constructions passing over the valleys. Take into account that after the war in the 90s a lot of Bosnian mountains are still mined until today and you have to be quite careful to trod off the beaten path, and then look at this elaborate system of bridges and tunnels – quite a masterpiece.

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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Kategorie: Bridges (Seite 4 von 8)

Lombardsbrücke in Hamburg, Germany

Train Station Blankenese in Hamburg, Germany

2013 in Bridges – A Review

Bridge at Klein Kasteeltje in Brussels, Belgium

Thielenbrücke in Berlin, Germany

Ping Tom Memorial Park Drawbridge in Chicago, Illinois, US

Ponte Luís I in Porto, Portugal

Footbridges in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Old Bridge in Heidelberg, Germany

Motorway Bridges in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina

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