The Golden Bridge (german: Goldene Brücke) is a 19th-century pedestrian bridge located in the in the borough Stadtmitte of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany. The heritage-listed structure is the city's oldest pedestrian bridge. It bridges the

Düssel The Düssel is a small right tributary of the river Rhine in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Its source is east of Wülfrath. It flows westward through the Neander Valley where the fossils of the first known to be Neanderthal man were found i ...

dammed up there to ponds and crosses a sightline, which once extended over approximately between

Schloss Jägerhof The Schloss Jägerhof, formerly also called ''die Vénerie'' (French for hunting), is located at Jacobistraße 2 in Düsseldorf-Pempelfort, near the city centre. It was built between 1752 and 1763 by order of the Prince-elector Karl Theodor. At ...

and the Church of St. Andreas. During the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...

, Düsseldorf was occupied by French troops during 1795. The area of the old Hofgarten was occupied by the troops and fortifications built. In 1804, the landscape architect Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe developed a new layout for the area. This saw the Nördliche Düssel, which flows through the Hofgarten, being dammed forming two lakes. In 1809, the narrowing at the boundary of the two lakes was connected by an arched pedestrian bridge. In 1820, the handrails of this original bridge were painted with gold-bronze which gave the bridge its name. In 1845, the original bridge was replaced with the current bridge, a flat-decked structure to a design by the architect Anton Schnitzler. The steel substructure is partially painted in gold in keeping with its name. The current handrail was installed in 1951. The Golden Bridge was last renovated in 2015. When work started, it was realised that a more complex renovation was needed than had been anticipated, which delayed the reopening to pedestrian and bicycle traffic until June 2016.

References

{{coord, 51.22818, 6.77896, format=dms, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title Monuments and memorials in North Rhine-Westphalia Bridges completed in 1845 Buildings and structures in Düsseldorf Urban planning in Germany Pedestrian bridges in Germany Bridges in North Rhine-Westphalia