Braník Bridge (), also known as the Bridge of the Intelligentsia () is a reinforced-concrete rail bridge with a pedestrian path in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, crossing the

Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague. It is com ...

river from Malá Chuchle to the border of Braník and Hodkovičky. The bridge is 910 metres long and 14 metres wide. As a part of ''Branická spojka'' (the Braník Branch Line) the structure links the Prague–

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

line to the Nusle–Modřany branch line. The walkway links the

Braník Braník (sometimes inaccurately called Bráník) is a district and cadastral area in Prague, Czech Republic, located in the south of the city, on the east bank of the Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a ...

district to the Malá Chuchle district.

History

The bridge was planned as a part of the Prague Rail Bypass. Work began in 1949 and the structure was finished in 1955.

Name

The bridge is commonly known as the Braník Bridge after the

district. However its unofficial name, the Bridge of the

Intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

, is more popular with older residents of the city. After the communist coup d'état of 1948, Czechoslovak intelligentsia were forced to work as labourers. Large numbers of

intellectuals (lawyers, philosophers, teachers, etc.) worked on the bridge, giving it its unofficial name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branik Bridge Bridges completed in 1955 Bridges over the Vltava Bridges in Prague Pedestrian bridges in the Czech Republic 1955 establishments in Czechoslovakia 20th-century architecture in the Czech Republic de:Brücken in Prag#Branický most (Most inteligence/Brücke der Intelligenz)