Matter of the heart - a photo on Flickriver

            Love locks at the Hohenzollern Bridge, which crosses the Rhine, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Some background information:

If you take the pedestrian bridge across the river Rhine, which is part of the Hohenzollern Bridge, thousands of love locks inevitably strike your eyes.  These love locks are attached to the barrier between the railway tracks and the pedestrian way.  Couples in love fix them there, swear eternal love to themselves and finally throw the keys into the Rhine.

This tradition is expected to have its origin in Rome. For quite some time it’s the custom of lovers there to fix padlocks to the central bridge lantern of the Milvian Bridge (in Italian: Ponto Milvio) and throw the keys into the Tiber afterwards. So from there this tradition may have spread all over the world.

Now, let me get back to the love locks at the Hozenzollern Bridge. They were counted in October 2013. This counting lasted 30 hours and amounted to more than 155,000 love locks. Some years ago German Rail wanted to remove the love locks, because the company was afraid that they might lead to an overloading of the bridge construction.  But as they had also already become a popular sight and attracted many tourists, detailed studies were made.  These studies have shown that the love locks are no danger for the bridge construction, even though their total weight was recently estimated at 15 to 20 tons. Howsoever German Rail and the city of Cologne have the written evidence now that it’s no problem, if couples in love attach even many more love locks to the Hohenzollern Bridge in the future.

By the way, even world-famous celebrities like the American singer and songwriter Pink or the Welsh classical singer Katherine Jenkins (together with her ditto well-known boyfriend, the Welsh television presenter Gethin Jones) have already attached their love locks to the Hohenzollern Bridge. However Pink’s love lock was removed some hours later by fans using a bolt cutter.

The Hohenzollern Bridge has a total length of 409.19 metres (1,342.5 feet) and crosses the river Rhine at kilometre 688.5 in the city of Cologne. It is the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany, connecting the railway stations Köln Hauptbahnhof (in English: Cologne Central Station) and Köln Messe/Deutz (in English: Cologne Trade Fair/Deutz).

The bridge was constructed between 1907 and 1911 after the old bridge, the Cathedral Bridge, was demolished because it was unable to handle the increasing traffic. It was named after the German imperial dynasty of Hohenzollern and inaugurated by emperor Wilhelm II on 22nd May 1911.

During World War II the Hohenzollern Bridge was one of the most important bridges in Germany. Although it was under consistent daily airstrikes by the Allies, the bridge was not badly damaged. However German military engineers blew up the bridge when Allied troops began their assault on Cologne.

After the war, reconstruction was quickly organized and by 8 May 1948, the Hohenzollern Bridge was accessible by pedestrians again. Over the next eleven years the bridge was improved and by 1959 finished completely. Originally, the bridge was both a railway and street bridge, however, since its reconstruction it is only accessible to rail and pedestrian traffic.

The city of Cologne has a population of nearly 1.1 million residents and hence is Germany’s fourth largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich) and the largest city in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine River in the western part of Germany.

The town was already founded and established in the first century AD, as the Roman Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium in the Ubii territory. Subsequently it became the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and the headquarters of the military in the region until it was occupied by the Franks in 462. 

During the Middle Ages the town flourished as it was situated at one of the most important major trade routes between east and west in Europe. In medieval and renaissance times Cologne was one of the leading members of the Hanseatic League and one of the largest cities north of the Alps. During the High Middle Ages the city had already more than 40,000 residents and hence was the largest settlement throughout the German-speaking world. 

During World War II Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany. The bombing reduced the population by 95% and destroyed almost the entire constructed area. With the intention of restoring as many historic buildings as possible, the rebuilding has resulted in a very mixed and unique cityscape.

Today Cologne is a major cultural centre for the Rhineland. It is home to the world-famous Cologne Cathedral (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), more than thirty museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archeological sites to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The Cologne Trade Fair hosts a number of important trade shows such as Art Cologne, imm Cologne, Gamescom, and the Photokina. Not least Cologne is also famous for its gay community, which is one of the largest throughout Germany (only outclassed by the Berlin one) and for its large and kinky Christopher Street Day parade.

Taken in: Deutschland / Nordrhein-Westfalen / Köln / Altstadt-Nord (show map)

Taken on: September 12, 2014

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2014 « less

Sets appears in: • Rest of Germany 2014 - 2025

Groups appears in: • Germany • European Vacation more » • Germany, Deutschland • Cities of Europe • City of the World (Post 6 & Comment 3 Please) NEW • The concept is Europe « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, f/3.2, 1/200 sec, 7mm, ISO 125 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Lens:	5.0-100.0 mm
Aperture:	f/3.2
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	7mm
ISO:	125
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
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