Adolphe Bridge, the great stone arch over the Pétrusse

If Luxembourg had to pick one postcard, plenty of people would pick this. Adolphe Bridge crosses the Pétrusse valley on a double stone arch that, when it was finished in 1903, was the largest of its kind in the world. The tourist office notes that it drew attention from abroad at the time, and the government portal calls it a postcard star. What I like most is that, more than a century on, it still does a full day’s work as a bridge, with trams, cars, pedestrians and a cycle bridge hanging underneath.

A record in Luxembourg stone

It was built between 1900 and 1903, in the reign of Grand Duke Adolphe, who laid the first stone on the town side himself. Adolphe, who reigned from 1890 to 1905, was the first grand duke of the house of Nassau-Weilburg, the dynasty still on the throne. Hence the bridge’s name, although it was also known as the Pont Neuf, the new bridge, to tell it apart from the Passerelle, which from then on became the old bridge.

The design was the work of French engineer Paul Séjourné, an authority on large arches, and Luxembourg’s Albert Rodange. Around two hundred workers built it, and all the stone came from Luxembourg quarries, chiefly Gilsdorf, Ernzen, Dillingen and Verlorenkost. The double arch spans 85 metres, or 84.65 according to the tourist office’s article on the city’s bridges, and stands 42 metres above the valley. Total length is 153 metres.

Trams, trains and a thorough overhaul

The bridge was born with rails. The Charly, a narrow-gauge line to Echternach named after Charles Rischard, the public works minister of the day, ran across its deck. The line closed in 1954, and the city tram that also used the bridge stopped doing so in 1964.

Between 2014 and 2017 it went through a full renovation. The structure was consolidated, the width increased from 16 to 18.70 metres, the pavements were widened and the deck was prepared for the modern tram, line T1, which now crosses between the Gare and the centre. There’s more in Luxembourg tram.

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What’s the bridge underneath?

This is my favourite part. During the renovation, a 154-metre bridge for cyclists and walkers was slung beneath the deck. According to the government portal it’s the first in the world suspended in that way under a bridge, and it links the Gare with the upper town away from the traffic. It’s free, and it gives you a view of the arch and the valley that nobody on the top deck gets. If you’ve arrived by train, say from London via Brussels, this is the most rewarding way to walk from the station area into the old town. It takes you off the main road, over the valley and straight towards the Ville Haute, with your first proper look at the fortress city on the way.

Where to see it best

From below. The Pétrusse valley, with its park, paths and re-naturalised stream, is the bridge’s natural viewing platform. From there you see the whole double arch framed against the city. From the bridge itself, looking towards the upper town, the cathedral spires and the Gëlle Fra column on Place de la Constitution rise above the ramparts.

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National Day fireworks

The bridge is a national symbol too. Every 22 June, on the eve of National Day, part of the fireworks display is launched from it, during an evening with the changing of the guard, a torchlight procession and street parties. In 2027 the eve falls on Tuesday 22 June. If your trip coincides, book your hotel early; the full programme is on Luxembourg National Day.

In the context of the city

Adolphe is one of the capital’s three great bridges, alongside the Passerelle, close by over the same valley, and the Red Bridge over the Alzette. I compare them, together with the railway viaducts and the small bridges of the Grund, in bridges in Luxembourg City.

What I wouldn’t do is simply cross it by car or tram on the way to the station, which is the easy option and the least rewarding. It deserves ten minutes on foot at the parapet and another twenty down in the park. That’s not much time for one of the monuments that best sums up the city.

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