Most Siennicki, Gdańsk

Most Siennicki is a bridge over the Dead Vistula, joining Gdańsk to Port Island. Follow the deck’s sweep across the water and notice the tram tracks woven into this busy route. Before this crossing existed, a ferry near Gęsia Karczma carried people over the river.

The bridge opened on the eighth of June nineteen twelve, after nearby fortifications were removed, and it was then the largest drawbridge on the Baltic. Its early design included a lifting span and operator towers at the eastern end. Trams began crossing here in July nineteen twenty-seven, bringing passengers towards Stogi beach.

The bridge suffered severe wartime damage, then a rebuilding in nineteen forty-seven made it a fixed crossing without the moving section or operator houses. Freight traffic from the port later placed heavy strain on it. Between nineteen eighty-six and nineteen eighty-nine, it was dismantled and rebuilt as a slimmer bridge designed for thirty-tonne loads. The pillars and abutments are listed in Gdańsk’s municipal heritage register.