The Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne is one of the must visit locations when you're in the city. It connects the River Rhine, west and east. On the west side, the bridge is just a short walk away from the Cologne Cathedral and the main central train station. And on the east side there's the Koln Messe/Deutz Station, another main station, and amongst other buildings, the Cologne View where we shall visit in a minute.
The bridge is 400 meters long, building started in 1907 and it took 4 years to complete. This impressive bridge survived the war, but ironically the Germans blew it up themselves in 1945 to stop the Allies using it to cross the River Rhine. Today, 1500 trains pass by each day, making it Germany's busiest railway bridge. Cars are not allowed across the bridge, just trains, and pedestrians and cyclists, great for a lovely stroll across the Rhine.
The view from the west end of the bridge is very impressive. The three arches make it look like the bridge is playfully hopping across the river.
Apart from the architecture, the love locks on the bridge are the other most iconic feature. They fill up every little space on the railings. It's estimated there are around half a million locks here. I can't imagine how heavy they are and it makes you wonder how strong this bridge must be to take the extra loading of the locks as well as the rambling of the the 1500 trains that pass by every day.
I had a lot of fun taking a close look up of the locks, reading the messages and trying to find the oldest one. Nearly all the locks had a date engraved on them, I wonder where and when people get it done? I didn't see any stalls around. I mean getting an engraved lock isn't on the top of your list of things to prepare when you go on holiday. Kudos to those for being so well planned. Anyway, the earliest one I found was 1972, that's 52 years ago!!!
Trains run across the bridge frequently during my stroll, and you can feel the rumble as they past just on the other side of the railings where the love locks are. It feels so odd being so near to a moving train. So near yet so far, probably for the best to be honest.
When I got to the other end of the bridge, the view was equally impressive as I looked back. Here you get a better view of the train and pedestrians on the bridge at the same time. The two towers on the left is the Cologne Cathedral.
Cologne View
My next stop is the Cologne View or the KölnTriangle as it is known in German. You can't miss it after you cross the Rhine, just keep walking straight ahead. This is a 29 floor high office block with a restaurant on the 27th floor and an observation deck on the roof top.
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It costs 5 euros to enter and you can get the tickets on the ground floor. Once you go through the turnstile you catch the elevator to the 28th floor and walk one flight of stairs up to the observation deck.
As you enter the observation deck, there is 360 degree views from the top of the tower. Although it's only a little over 100m tall here, short by comparison to other viewing platforms in major cities, the view was quite amazing. In particular, one can see the arches on top of the Hohenzollern Bridge here. I mean you can see at at ground level, but you don't get the full impact of it.
There's glass panes all around, if you look carefully at the photos, you can see the reflection in it. I didn't mind the glass panes too much, it was either that or tall railings. At least with glass panes, you can get a clear photo without railings photo bombing your photos.
For those unfamiliar with Cologne, which I guess most tourists are, there are markings on the window indicating the major landmarks. That's really useful because you learn a lot more about the city. The whole area up here is pretty small, around 400 square meters. If you were to walk non stop it would take you less than a minute to walk around. I think I spent about 20 minutes here, absorbing the view all around before I headed back down to explore the rest of Cologne.
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Wow, it's a beautiful place and a nice tourist attraction. It reminded me of the woman's bridge in Buenos Aires, which also has love locks.
I think these padlocks affect the weight of the bridge structure. In this case, they have decided to remove the excess weight in order to have the bridge stable.
It's nice to see new places and also learn a little, thank you for all the valuable information you share @livinguktaiwan
Have a nice weekend 🙂✨
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I read the authorities don't think the weight is anything to worry about yet so they have left the locks there, I reckon if they did remove them, it may be to make way for new ones, but I think that will be quite a time away as I saw people were being very creative and hanging their locks on locks like making a chain
I understand! It is something symbolic that is worth staying there, I think.
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People who cross this bridge on foot or on a bicycle will surely be awestruck by its beauty and by passing over it. I wish that someday I too would pass over this bridge.
It's certainly a very unique view, with the River Rhine on one side, and the love locks and beautiful bridge on the other side.
Wow! That's a lot of engraved love locks! My first thought was how heavy it must be with all those locks 🧐, but it's so cute! Iconic, indeed.
I first saw these love locks when I went to Czech years ago, and now I seem to see them at a lot of places in Europe. I wonder how it all started...
So these love locks are something like people lock their love bonds? I mean for what purpose people place locks on the bridge.
It is normal to see a bridge but those locks were making it real adorable... Like you said the bridge must be so strong.
You explored cologne beautifully...
I'm not sure how the love locks started. Maybe as a symbol for their love bonds like you say, to mark the occasion with something that will last forever. It's actually very meaningful.
Yup. It is..
I know the bridges over the river Seine in Paris have their locks removed frequently and rightly so because there would be no space left because those bridges are far shorter than this one. Plus having free space means the shops who sell the locks have a frequent stream of tourists buying the locks. Maybe the lock cutters are the retailers themselves because that would make more sense.
That's a great entrepreneurial thought!!! I wouldn't be surprised to be honest.
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Wow, how beautiful. I love the padlocks all together. Here in Portugal we also have it in Aveiro, but there aren't that many and they aren't that close together either.
I nearly went to Averio the other week, but didn't have time. Are the locks on the bridge there as well?
Yes, Averio is beautiful. I highly recommend 😃
1972! So cool.
I love bridges. I wonder how many were blown up due to various wars over the many years of humans being assholes?
Bridges are so important, you have to do it to protect yourself from baddies as well 😌
Haha yes!!
Although goodness was just reading about the Baltimore Bridge... Sheesh!
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@livinguktaiwan An interesting story.
Just breathtaking
Lovely views of the city from the top and I always think Germany builds good looking bridges, some fantastic ones I remember from Hamburg when I worked there. The hardware stores must be making a fortune !!!