Most Piaskowy has already survived being blown apart. During the 1945 siege of Festung Breslau, German defenders mined it, and Soviet artillery fire set off the charges in late April. German engineers restored a temporary crossing during the siege, but postwar rebuilding replaced nearly all of the nineteenth-century structure.
The main lattice girders beside you are the historic elements that remain. This iron bridge was built in 1861 and is Wrocław’s oldest surviving iron bridge. Stand still on the pavement and notice how little room the bridge has to spare: its roadway is less than six and a half metres wide, yet it carries two directions of road traffic and a two-way tram route.
Electric trams have crossed here since 1893. This is the southern piece of Wrocław’s oldest Oder crossing, beginning the historic route north from the medieval city; the Młyńskie bridges continue it beyond the island. Long before this metal span, canons who owned Wyspa Piaskowa charged tolls here as early as 1149.
The bridge takes its name from that island. This spot also marked the starting point for measuring the Wrocław mile: 6,700 metres to Psie Pole.
