The Devil’s Bridge
The predecessor of the Devil’s Bridge—a simple footbridge—has been around since 1531.
If you want to cross to the other side of the Mark River, you’ll need to do so here—via the Devil’s Bridge. But don’t worry: despite the name, nothing bad will happen to you here. The predecessor of the Devil’s Bridge—a simple footbridge—has been around since 1531. Back then, it was called the Ginneken Bridge. But where did the “devil” come from? Well, there are different stories about that.
According to one tale, the devil made a deal with the city: “I’ll build the bridge in one night, and in return, I get the first soul to cross it.” The townspeople then sent a dog over the bridge. That’ll teach the devil!
In the second story, “devil” was mostly use…
If you want to cross to the other side of the Mark River, you’ll need to do so here—via the Devil’s Bridge. But don’t worry: despite the name, nothing bad will happen to you here. The predecessor of the Devil’s Bridge—a simple footbridge—has been around since 1531. Back then, it was called the Ginneken Bridge. But where did the “devil” come from? Well, there are different stories about that.
According to one tale, the devil made a deal with the city: “I’ll build the bridge in one night, and in return, I get the first soul to cross it.” The townspeople then sent a dog over the bridge. That’ll teach the devil!
In the second story, “devil” was mostly used as a curse word. Swearing by God was taboo, so people cursed using the devil instead. And you can easily imagine that plenty of cursing happened here. The bridge used to be quite high to allow boats and barges to pass underneath. But merchants and their horses struggled—sometimes mightily—with the steep incline of the bridge. Devilishly difficult indeed!
This text has been translated using AI.