Seventeen tonnes of love locks were taken away when this bridge underwent its major 2019 restoration. For years, couples fastened named padlocks here and threw their keys into the Oder; the extra weight led to a ban on the practice, and city services now remove newly added locks. Its affectionate nickname is the Bridge of Love.
Most Tumski’s present two-span, riveted steel structure dates from 1889, replacing a wooden crossing between Cathedral Island and Sand Island. It is reserved for pedestrians. Earlier bridges at this spot existed from at least the twelfth century, marking the divide between the city’s jurisdiction on Sand Island and church jurisdiction on Cathedral Island.
A surviving account describes a disaster involving a Palm Sunday procession crossing here in 1423. Until 1945, this was Dombrücke. The bridge suffered major damage during the siege of Festung Breslau, and marks from gunfire and fragments still remain on some elements.
It has been listed as a historic monument since 1976. While you are standing still, notice the hand-operated gas lamps nearby: they are historic lamps that still work. Near the Sand Island bank, sandstone figures of Saint Hedwig and Saint John the Baptist have stood on neo-Gothic plinths since 1893.
