Nusle Bridge

The Nusle Bridge is indeed one of Prague’s many modern icons of architecture. Celebrating its fortieth anniversary in 2013, this newcomer is perhaps not one of the ancient historical sights yet, but it has been integrated as part of Prague’s lovely charm.

The Nusle Bridge is called Nuselský most in Czech. It is, in basic definition, a pre-stressed concrete viaduct, housing the country’s main highway and subway tracks. The Nusle Bridge passes over the entire Nusle in Prague 4. It spans the Nusle valley, being a never-aging Prague attraction. Although many in Prague may complain this to be a bit of an eyesore, the Nusle Bridge has settled itself as a landmark of Prague. With a structure measuring up to 43 meters in height, 485 meters in length and 27 meters in width, this bridge is, without a doubt, an impressive structure in itself. The subway was installed just a few years after the completion of this bridge, and an important section of the underground trains runs directly beneath the bridge itself.

This bridge has received some interesting historical attention, which is very different from the typical attractions seem in Prague. In the year 2000, pictures of police-resisting protesters against the IMF/World Bank Summit at the Nusle Bridge was published publicly and received global attention.

There is a fascinating and dark side of the Nusle Bridge. Because of its height and perfect position, this bridge had become an ideal spot for people to commit suicide. This happened so often that the bridge even attained the name of “Suicide Bridge”. To put a stop to all these tragedies, a high chain linked fence had been placed around the sidewalk of the bridge in 1997. Ten years later, a strip of polished metal was added, to make the bridge impossible to climb.

If you are interested in knowing about the everyday aspects or the more modern side of Prague, this is the place for you. Or perhaps, if you have a fascination towards the darker aspects of life, you may want to check out the sidewalk and see how secured it actually is. Either way, make sure to put Nusle Bridge on your list of places to go to on your next trip to Prague!

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