Tumski Bridge

Tumski Bridge (Cathedral Bridge) is a two-span steel, riveted bridge in Wrocław, built in 1889 over the northern arm of the Oder, between Ostrów Tumski (Cathedral Island) and Piasek Island. It connects Katedralna Street with Najświętszej Marii Panny Street and stands on the site of an earlier wooden bridge. Until 1945 it was called Dombrücke.

A bridge on the border of two jurisdictions

Structures on this site had existed since at least the 12th century and marked the boundary between the city's civic jurisdiction on Piasek Island and the church's jurisdiction on Ostrów Tumski. The bridge was repeatedly destroyed and repaired; an account survives, among others, of a disaster involving a procession crossing the bridge on Palm Sunday 1423. Over the following centuries it functioned mainly as a wooden king-post truss structure with one drawbridge span, and by the mid-19th century it was already a trapezoidal truss structure with a fixed deck.

Steel structure from 1889

The length of the present steel bridge is 52.19 metres, with the deck 6.84 metres wide. The Gerber-system truss structure was manufactured at the Piła Ironworks on the Kłodnica Canal near Gliwice and transported by barge, then assembled by the G. Ruffer works. The finishing work was carried out by Gustav Trelenberg's metalwork studio, and the stonemasonry was entrusted to the firm Granit und Quarz. The shape of the structure was modelled on the winning design from a competition for a bridge in Mannheim, adapted to two spans.

Figures and lamps by the bridge

On the bank of Piasek Island, on tall neo-Gothic pedestals, stand figures of St Hedwig and St John the Baptist since 1893, carved from sandstone by Gustav Grunenberg. Historic gas lamps, still operated by hand, also survive by the bridge. Motor vehicle traffic across the bridge is forbidden without a permit; the bridge serves pedestrians.

Major renovation

The bridge underwent a major renovation in 1945, when the most severe damage from the siege of Festung Breslau was removed, though traces of shelling remain on some elements. A further major renovation took place in 1992, and in February 2020 a general overhaul of the structure was completed, during which the stone piers were cleaned and repaired, the roadway was modernised and a new coating was applied to the steel structure. The bridge has been entered in the register of immovable heritage sites.

Nearby

Tumski Bridge lies on Ostrów Tumski, right beside Wrocław Cathedral of St John the Baptist and the Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław. On the other side of the Oder, towards the city centre, await the Panorama of the Battle of Racławice and the Market Square with its town hall.

Practical information

• Address: Most Tumski, Wrocław, Stare Miasto, between Ostrów Tumski and Piasek Island.
• Accessibility: the bridge is intended solely for pedestrian traffic; motor vehicle traffic is forbidden without a permit.
• What to expect: a steel structure with historic gas lamps and figures of saints at the approach from Piasek Island, and a viewpoint over the cathedral and the Oder.