VIII. Gay Games Cologne 2010

Cologne for lovers – the Hohenzollern Bridge

Cologne as a city for lovers? Paris counts as a city of lovers, and in earlier times honeymoons were spent in Venice. But recently Cologne has also found a weighty meeting point for lovers - weighty in the true sense of the word: the Hohenzollern Bridge, which crosses the Rhine directly at the Cathedral and connects the Central Railway Station with the station in Deutz. The neo-gothic bridge was built between 1907 and 1911 and fits the style of the gothic Cathedral. Since the end of the Second World War, it has been a railway bridge with three tracks and one section which is reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge is 410 metres long and is dedicated to the imperial dynasty of the Hohenzollerns. On each side of the bridge 2 large equestrian statues of the last 4 Prussian kings (which Cologne also belonged to) flank the bridge portals. For safety reasons, the pedestrian and railway sections are separated by a fence which, in recent times, loving couples have hung padlocks onto, declaring their everlasting love. Quite often the names of the lovers are affectionately engraved on the padlock. So that the happiness really lasts, the keys are traditionally thrown into the Rhine - a romantic token of affection that allegedly comes from Italy.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenzollernbrücke
http://www.myvideo.de/watch/6632231/Koelner_Hohenzollernbruecke