Magere Brug

The Magere Brug, 2016

The Magere Brug (English: Skinny Bridge) is a bridge over the river Amstel in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It connects the banks of the river at Kerkstraat, between the Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht.[1]

The central section of the Magere Brug is a bascule bridge made of white-painted wood. The present bridge was built in 1934. The first bridge at this site was built in 1691 as Kerkstraatbrug and had 13 arches. Because this bridge was very narrow, the locals called it magere brug, which literally means "skinny bridge". In 1871 the state of the bridge was so bad that it was demolished and replaced by a nine-arched wooden bridge. Fifty years later this bridge also needed to be replaced. Architect Piet Kramer made several designs for a steel and stone bridge, but the city decided to replace it with a new bridge that looked the same as the previous, only slightly bigger. In 1934 the bridge was demolished and replaced by a redesign made by Piet Kramer. The last major renovation was in 1969. Until 1994 the bridge was opened by hand, but now is opened automatically.

Use of the bridge has been limited to pedestrians and cyclists since 2003. It is however opened many times a day in order to let through river traffic. The boats used for sightseeing tours are low enough to pass underneath the bridge when closed. The bridge is decorated with 1,200 light bulbs that are turned on in the evening.

A story told to tourists about the origins of the 1691 version of the bridge is that it was built by two wealthy sisters who lived on opposite sides of the Amstel river and wanted to be able to visit one another every day (and were presumably too busy, or not in good enough health, to go the long way round via another bridge, of which there must surely have been at least one). In one variant of the story the sisters, although wealthy, were not quite wealthy enough to afford a bridge of adequate width for general use and so built a very narrow bridge, hence its name. In another variant of the story the sisters' last name was Mager, hence the bridge's name (rather than from its narrowness).[2] However, all these stories are based on fantasy and folk tales. Recent research of city archives revealed that the name has its origin in the fact that originally a broad and monumental stone bridge was planned in Amsterdams prosperous Golden Age, but that the economic setback of the year 1672 forced the city council to build a cheap and meagre bridge instead. [3]

The bridge can be seen in a number of films, including the 1971 James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever.

References

  1. ↑ Magere Brug (Skinny bridge) on I amsterdam
  2. ↑ Magere Brug page on amsterdam.info
  3. ↑ De Grote Uitleg van Amsterdam (in Dutch), J.E.Abrahamse, Thoth 2nd print 2011. ISBN 978-90-6868-491-9

Coordinates: 52°21′49″N 4°54′09″E / 52.36361°N 4.90250°E / 52.36361; 4.90250

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