Muntsluis (bridge 1) on the Muntplein over the Singel was one of the first bridges to be officially named
If you ever visited Amsterdam before 1985 you would be forgiven for thinking you were in the wrong location when looking for Muntsluis. Until 1985 there was an island tram stop in the middle of the bridge with four tracks, two in each direction. Don’t worry though the area is still well served by public transport and tram stops have been relocated into neighbouring streets.
At the turn of the twentieth century Vijzelstraat was designated by the municipality of Amsterdam as an exit road from the city center and that was predicted to result in more traffic. So the northern facade of the street was demolished and rebuilding took place far behind the old building line widening the road. In 1938/1939 the bridge was widened to a design by Piet Kramer. Kramer (will be a name you come to know in the following posts as he was a prolific architect in Amsterdam) designed a bridge in an elaborated form of the Amsterdam style. There were seats on the north side and processed natural stone and motifs in the brick.
Architects
1915: J.M. van der Mey
1939: Piet Kramer
