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 Belly Ache Bridge - Bauchschmerzenbrücke; Brandenburg, Germany
N 52° 24.566 E 012° 33.244
33U E 333634 N 5809392
Brandenburg's most famous pedestrian bridge.
Waymark Code: WMA4AY
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 11/14/2010
Views: 10
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River Havel flows right through the 1,000 year-old town of Brandenburg, and for over 100 years, there has been a pedestrian hiking trail at the southeastern side of the river. There were plans in the 1920, to build a road along the river but they never left the planning stage. Later, the city declared the entire right river bank a park, called the Heinrich-Heine-Ufer. It remained pristine until this day and the part gravel, part cobble stone trail is probably the oldest hiking trail in town.
About half way, the trail crosses the medieval city wall. In the dark ages, there used to be a moat in front of the wall, but after the town expanded across its original border, that little canal fell dry. However, In 1893, a handful of local businessmen turned the former moat into a small trench, connecting the river and the city canal further east. Taking advantage of a slight difference in water level, a water mill was built along that trench. It was called the Mustard Mill since it ground mustard seeds.
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People soon demanded a bridge over the trench, which was called Pumperkanal. Legend has it, that there was first a normal, flat bridge. but one night, the drunk miller at the mustard mill opened the wrong flood gate and flooded the canal with vinegar. From that, the bridge got such a bad belly ache, that id bend upwards and never came down again.
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A sign at the bridge cites a poem, telling the mustard-belly ache story.
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Well, that's the legend. In truth, the business owners along the canal demanded a max headroom of at least ten feet for any bridge to keep the canal navigatable. Many ideas, like that of a draw bridge didn't fly and eventual it took 29 years, until a bridge was finally built in 1922. Originally it was named after its donor, councilor of commerce Gottfried Krüger, but everybody in town only knows it as the Belly Ache Bridge.
Pumperkanal
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Trail Name: Heinrich-Heine-Ufer
Approximate Length of Bridge: 15
Obstacle: Canal (see detailed description)
Trail Type: Other(You must specify in the description)
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Visit Instructions:
Photos are encouraged, but not required.
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