Oberbaum Bridge

Story

Between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, a bridge crosses the Spree. Two red towers rising from the water like a fortress gate. This is the Oberbaum Bridge.

But let me tell you why it's called Oberbaum Bridge. Back in seventeen thirty-two, Berlin wasn't fancy.

A heavy wooden trunk covered in metal spikes dropped across the river every night. To stop smugglers.

In eighteen ninety-four, Berlin wanted something beautiful. Architect Otto Stahn copied the towers from Prenzlau, a medieval city north of Berlin.

He built it like a medieval castle. Red brick. Gothic arches. Crests from eight Brandenburg cities on the walls. A bear for Berlin. An eagle for the state.

In nineteen oh two, the first U-Bahn train crossed. Nineteen passengers. From here to Potsdamer Platz. Berlin's oldest subway line.

Then April nineteen forty-five. The Germans blew up the middle to stop the Red Army. The Red Army crossed anyway.

The bridge sat broken through the Wall years. Then in nineteen ninety-two, Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish architect, put steel between the old red towers.

It reopened on November ninth, nineteen ninety-four. Exactly five years after the Wall fell. The spiked tree is gone. But the gate still stands.