Locked Bridge

In the past year, a new custom has cropped up and become surprisingly common on Cologne’s Hohenzollern Bridge (Germany): Lovers hang a padlock, often with their names engraved, on the bridge (in particular the fence separating the foot walk from the railroads, although I’ve seen some on places where they probably should not be), lock it and throw the key in the Rhine, as a sign of love that won’t be released. This idea is stolen from the Ponte Milvio in Rome, where the same thing has been going on for a while now. Despite being very, very recent, an amazing number of locks has already assembled here.

DB, the government-owned railway of Germany and owner of the bridge, was not too amused, and threatened to take a bolt cutter to them. That caused quite a public outcry, so for now and as long as they do not impact operational safety for the trains, they won’t be removed.

I did see quite a few keys that, probably thanks to insufficient throwing power, did not reach the river, and instead landed on the bridge supports slightly below the foot walk. I do wonder what this, as well as keys that may have fallen on ships passing below, means for the couples’ futures.

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