Historic sites
a steel bridge from 1889 connecting Ostrów Tumski with Piasek Island, today accessible only to pedestrians
Historic sites
historic suspension bridge over the Oder from 1910, supported on two masonry pylons with a granite facing
Historic sites
a listed water tower with a viewing gallery at a height of 42 metres and a view towards Ślęża and the Karkonosze
Places with character
a road cable-stayed bridge on the A8 motorway, with Poland's tallest pylon at 122 metres
Places with character
five bridges over the Oder and its canals, one of which was moved to the river Oława after rebuilding
Places with character
steel suspension footbridge over the Oder, linking the Great Island with the Siedlec-Rakowiec estate
Places with character
a post-war bridge over the Oder from the 1950s, today a road and tram crossing in the city centre
Places with character
a pair of steel bridges over the Oder, right by the University of Wrocław
Historic sites
a Neo-Gothic station with a preserved platform hall from 1857, one of the few of its kind in Poland
Places with character
a historic arch bridge over the Stara Odra connecting Plac Grunwaldzki with Park Szczytnicki
Places with character
a pair of bridges from 1916-1917 next to a new crossing from 2023, connecting Sępolno and Zalesie with Swojczyce
Historic sites
a two-part crossing of the Oder from 1897, with granite piers and clinker-brick arches
Historic sites
a 19th-century brewery complex in Ołbin, now being converted into a residential and service complex
Places with character
two crossings over the Widawa from the 1950s and 1970s, built on the site of the pre-war Annabergbrücke bridge
Places with character
a reinforced concrete arch bridge over the Widawa from 1951, on the site of a crossing collecting tolls since 1266
Places with character
a cable-stayed bridge over the Oder from 2004, linking Popowice with Osobowice as part of the inner ring road
Places with character
a 45-metre walkway joining the towers of St Mary Magdalene's Cathedral, woven together with a legend of a cursed Wrocław woman
Places with character
a reinforced concrete crossing over the Dobra from 1995, successor to a steel bridge from the 1970s
Places with character
Places with character
bridge over the channels of the former St Clare's Mills, connecting Wyspa Słodowa with Wyspa Bielarska
a university museum with free admission, open to outside visitors on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Places with character
the narrowest bridge in Wrocław, a steel structure from 1913-1917 over the Flood Canal
Places with character
a bridge over the Outflow Canal with a history going back to 1917, in its present form since 2017
Places with character
four road bridges over the Oder's canals, two from the First World War and two twins from 1984
Industrial heritage in Wrocław: bridges over the Oder, a station with its train shed, a water tower and a brewery. See what was built of iron, steel and brick.
The city lies on the Oder and its canals, so most of its technical monuments are bridges: steel, concrete, suspension and cable-stayed, from different eras. There is also a station with a preserved train shed, a water tower, a former industrial brewery and a hydroelectric power plant complex. Below, look for what you like to see.
The Tumski Bridge of 1889 is a steel structure linking Piasek Island with the cathedral. Today it is open to pedestrians only, and until 1945 it was called the Dombrücke. The Grunwaldzki Bridge of 1910 is a riveted-steel suspension bridge resting on two clinker-brick pylons faced with granite, and it is entered in the register of monuments. The Peace Bridge of 1959 stands on the site of the Lessing Bridge, destroyed in 1945.
By the University of Wrocław stand the University Bridges, two steel bridges from the 19th century, rebuilt in the 1930s. The Szczytnicki Bridge is a three-span arch bridge from 1888-1890 linking Grunwaldzki Square with Szczytnicki Park. The Zwierzyniecka Footbridge of 1976 is for pedestrians and cyclists: a steel, five-span cable-suspended structure on the site of a former ferry crossing that worked until the 1960s.
Exceptional is the Witches' Bridge, which joins the towers of St Mary Magdalene's Cathedral at a height of 45 metres. It was mentioned as early as 1459, soon after both towers were completed.
The Rędziński Bridge is a road cable-stayed bridge, part of the A8 motorway, with the tallest pylon in Poland at 122 metres. It crosses the Oder and the whole of Rędzin Island, where the historic Rędzin Locks stand. In May 2010 a flood swamped the building site. The Millennium Bridge opened on 29 October 2004 and links Popowice with Osobowice on the inner-city ring road. One of the youngest is the Olympic Bridge, a 700-metre crossing opened on 23 December 2023 on the Great Island Avenue and named after the nearby Wrocław Stadium. Its working name was the East Bridge.
A big hydraulic engineering project of 1912-1917 left Wrocław several bridges over the Navigation and Flood canals. The Bartoszowicki Bridge is a steel three-span structure from 1913-1917, the narrowest bridge in the city, lit at night. The Bolesław Chrobry Bridges consist of an old pair from 1916-1917 and a new one from 2020-2023. The Jagiellonian Bridges form a similar group: two older bridges from 1916-1917 and two parallel ones from 1984. The Zaleski Bridge of 1912-1917 is actually a culvert that carries the Czarna Woda under Śniadeckich Street.
In the north you will see the Warsaw Bridges: five bridges, three from before the First World War and two from 2006-2008. In the Kleczków district stand the stone-and-brick Osobowice Bridges of 1897, entered in the register of monuments. Over the Bystrzyca stand the Marszowice Bridge from 1900, the Średzkie Bridges (four bridges in one line) and the Ratyn Bridge, rebuilt in 1971. Over the Widawa lie the Bolesław Krzywousty Bridges from 1953 and 1978, the Widawa Bridge and the Polanowice Bridge from 1960. Over the Ślęza in Klecina stands the Kleciński Bridge from 1962-1967, built on the site of an old medieval crossing, and over the Oława the reinforced-concrete Żabia Ścieżka Bridge from 1931. The Strachocin Bridge links Strachocin and Swojczyce and has had its present shape since 2017. The Pawłowice Bridge over the Dobra is a reinforced-concrete crossing from 1995, 23.85 metres long. Such modest bridges show how road-building technology changed over more than a hundred years.
Wrocław Główny is the largest railway station in the city: a historic neo-Gothic building with a train shed from 1857, one of few in Poland with the shed preserved. It holds the Premium category in the PKP classification. You can see the platform shed even on a quick change of trains. In Borek stands the water tower on Wiśniowa Avenue from 1905. It is about 62 metres tall and has a viewing gallery at 42 metres, but it is currently closed, so look at it from outside.
In Ołbin the Piast Brewery (formerly Brauerei Pfeifferhof) is a post-industrial complex now being converted into a residential and service estate. Within the Southern Hydroelectric Power Plant stands a reinforced-concrete industrial bridge from 1922, but it is an internal road of the complex and cannot be visited.
With the Tumski Bridge, then the Grunwaldzki Bridge: both are in the centre and show well what steel structures looked like at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Rędziński Bridge, 122 metres high, part of the A8 motorway.
Not at the moment. The viewing gallery at 42 metres is currently closed, so you see it from outside.
Ordinary bridges are part of the public space. Not every site is accessible, however: the bridge in the Southern Hydroelectric Power Plant is closed to visitors. For a wider list, see industrial heritage across the region.
