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Kees Fensbrug: Bridge 49 and the Man Who Looked Out at His Own Bridge
A Fixed Arch Bridge on the Keizersgracht, Connecting the Hartenstraat with the Reestraat, Named on the First Anniversary of Its Namesake’s Death Most bridge names in Amsterdam are chosen at a distance from the people they honour. A committee meets, a proposal is submitted, a gazette records the decision, and the name is installed on…
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Marten Toonderbrug: Bridge 48 and the Bridge That Took Thirty Years to Find Its Name
A Three-Arch Bridge on the Keizersgracht, Connecting Wolvenstraat with Berenstraat, Named After the Creator of Tom Poes and Olivier B. Bommel Bridge 48 has had a more complicated naming history than almost any other crossing in this series. For years it was informally known as the Felix Meritisbrug, after the Enlightenment building beside it. In…
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Bridge 47: The Unnamed Crossing at the Theatre’s Edge, Seen on Six Centuries of Maps and in the Light of a Famous Fire
A Fixed Bridge on the Keizersgracht, Connecting the Huidenstraat with the Runstraat in the Heart of the Nine Streets Bridge 47 carries no official name and has never carried an informal one. It has appeared on city maps since 1599, been painted by at least two significant Dutch artists, and been photographed as the backdrop…
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Bridge 46: The Bridge That Collapsed in the Night, and the Sculptor Who Worked Around the Corner
An Arch Bridge on the Northern Quay of the Leidsegracht, Spanning the Keizersgracht, and the Memory of Amsterdam’s Greatest Baroque Sculptor Bridge 46 is the bridge that fell down. Not in the so so distant past, not in some undocumented catastrophe, but on the night of 11 to 12 November 1894, when the middle arch…
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Steenhouwerijbrug: Bridge 45 and the Stone Cutters Who Built Amsterdam’s Golden Age
An Arch Bridge on the Northeastern Quay of the Keizersgracht, Spanning the Leidsegracht, and the Memory of the City’s Most Important 17th-Century Workshop Bridge 45 sits directly across the Keizersgracht from Bridge 44, the two crossings facing each other from opposite quays where the Leidsegracht meets the canal at its widest point. Where Bridge 44…
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Bridge 44: The Bridge That Once Bore the Name of Amsterdam’s Bell Founders, and Nearly Lost Its Arch to a Neighbouring Collapse
An Arch Bridge on the Southwestern Quay of the Keizersgracht, Spanning the Leidsegracht, with Two Terrace Moorings and a History Written in Bronze Bridge 44 occupies a precise and beautiful position in the Keizersgracht’s southward run. The bridge is a fixed bridge in Amsterdam-Centrum. The arch bridge is situated in the southwestern quay of the…
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Bridge 43: Piet Kramer’s Leidsestraat Masterpiece, Where Trams Still Run Over Fabeldieren
A Rijksmonument Fixed Bridge on the Leidsestraat at the Keizersgracht, Carrying Trams 2 and 12 Across One of Amsterdam’s Busiest Shopping Streets Bridge 43 has carried more trams, more cyclists, more shoppers, and more tourists than almost any other crossing in Amsterdam’s canal belt. It sits in the Leidsestraat where it crosses the Keizersgracht, one…
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Bridge 42: The Unnamed Cycling Bridge at the Gateway to Amsterdam’s Antique Quarter
A Fixed Bridge on the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat at the Keizersgracht, Once Named After the Cyclists Who Crossed It Bridge 42 carries no official name and, since July 2016, no informal one either. Until that date it was known, at least to those who kept close track of Amsterdam’s bridge geography, as the Wielrijdersbrug: the Cyclist…
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Johanna Borskibrug: Bridge 41 and the Woman Who Saved the Dutch State Twice
Piet Kramer’s Most Distinctive Vijzelstraat Bridge, at the Keizersgracht, Facing the Building She Helped Create There is a bridge in Amsterdam that carries a Roman joke. The four natural stone columns at the corners of Bridge 41 bear the inscription “SPQA,” a wry adaptation of the Roman “SPQR,” Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and People…
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Bridge 40: The Southern Face and the Final Word in Stone
An Arch Bridge on the Southern Quay of the Keizersgracht, Spanning the Reguliersgracht There is a particular satisfaction in writing about Bridge 40 after Bridges 38 and 39. Together the three bridges form one of the most complete architectural compositions in the Amsterdam canal belt, and Bridge 40 is the element that closes the composition.…
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Bridge 39: The Northern Face of Amsterdam’s Most Famous Canal Junction
A 20th-Century Arch on the Northern Quay of the Keizersgracht, Spanning the Reguliersgracht There is a word in Dutch architectural heritage documentation that requires careful handling: “naadloos,” meaning seamless. The Dutch Wikipedia article on Bridge 38 uses it to describe the relationship between Bridges 38, 39, and 40 at the Keizersgracht/Reguliersgracht junction: their quay walls…
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Bridge 38: The Unnamed Arch at the Heart of Amsterdam’s Most Photographed Canal Junction
An 18th-Century Stone Bridge Where the Reguliersgracht Meets the Keizersgracht, and the Memory of a Mayor Who Built and Profited From the Canals He Ordered Dug Bridge 38 carries no official name and, since July 2016, carries no informal one either. It sits precisely at the point where the Reguliersgracht crosses the Keizersgracht, the junction…
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Bridge 37: The Unnamed Tram Crossing That Was Once Amsterdam’s Water Gauge
Discover Bridge 37 (Brug Zevenendertig) in Amsterdam. Located where the Herengracht meets the Amstel, this historic bridge offers iconic views near the Blauwbrug.
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De Lucas Jansz. Sinckbrug: Bridge 36 and the Surveyor Who Drew Amsterdam Into Existence
The Last Bridge Over the Keizersgracht, at the Western Bank of the Amstel There are bridges in Amsterdam that mark endings. Bridge 36, the Lucas Jansz. Sinckbrug, marks one of the most significant: it is the final crossing of the Keizersgracht, the point where Amsterdam’s widest inner canal finishes its long arc from the Brouwersgracht…
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De Hendrick Jacobsz. Staetsbrug: Bridge 35 and the City Carpenter Who Built Amsterdam’s Canals
The Last Bridge Over the Herengracht, at the Western Bank of the Amstel Bridge 35 and Bridge 36 are neighbours in the most precise sense: they stand side by side on the western quay of the Amstel, separated by barely fifty metres of cobbled waterfront, each spanning the mouth of one of Amsterdam’s two great…