A Piece of the Bridge

The Adolphe Bridge, known to everyone in Luxembourg City as the New Bridge, has been spanned the Pétrusse Valley since 1903. It connects the Old Town with the Gare district, 150 metres long and 40 metres high. For nearly a decade after its construction, it was the largest bridge with a concrete arch in the world.

Now you can own a piece of it. The NGO Guides and Scouts for One World is selling original balustrade pillars from the bridge's last renovation, which ran from 2013 to 2017. During that work, the 500 pillars installed in the early 1960s, crafted from French Pierre d'Euville stone, were replaced with new ones made from Luxembourg sandstone from Ernzen. The bridge was widened, the balustrades repositioned, and the old pillars needed a home.

The National Roads administration gave roughly 200 of the surviving pillars to the Scouts. At €175 each, they have sold out.

Marie-Anne Werner, a long-time Scout member, recalled what the bridge has witnessed over the years. As a child, she saw the Charly train crossing it and the old trams. When the circus came to town, the animals arrived by train at the station and then walked to the Glacis. She remembered seeing elephants and giraffes on the bridge. She also stood near it as a child when Prince Jean and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte got married, waving from the sidelines.

The bridge was wrapped in scaffolding for four years during the renovation. A temporary blue bridge was erected alongside it, which became a fixture of the city skyline in its own right. Since 2017, the bridge has been accessible from below as well, with a path for pedestrians and cyclists running through the arch.

The nickname New Bridge distinguishes it from the Passerelle, the Old Bridge, which opened in 1861. The New Bridge got its name when construction began in 1900. It was named after Grand Duke Adolphe of the House of Nassau. The name stuck, and more than 120 years later, it is still the New Bridge.

The proceeds from the pillar sales will fund one or more educational projects in Africa or South America. So a piece of Luxembourg history, crafted from French stone, replaced with Luxembourg sandstone, is now scattered across gardens and homes, funding schools somewhere far away. The pillars that once held the balustrade of the New Bridge will end up as plant stands, coffee tables, and decorative pieces. There are worse fates for a stone.

They are sold out now, of course. You should have moved faster.