Koningshaven Bridge (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Koningshaven Bridge (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Nicknamed “De Hef”, the Koningshaven Bridge was built as a vertical-lift railway bridge at the port of Rotterdam. Now a national monument and no longer in use, in film, it is forever unforgettable for its depiction in the 1928 short documentary THE BRIDGE by Joris Ivens, which not only portrays the traffic around the bridge on rail, street and water, but in particular the impressive moment when the 52-metre-long lift part moves up 45 meters for ships to pass underneath.
This historic monument, now unemployed, was an example of advanced technology while De Hef also symbolised modern society. At a certain time, this film managed to give a positive, concrete answer to many vague yet urgent questions. THE BRIDGE was made in an era amidst a movement which undertook the sharpest resistance to the murderous drudge of commercial large-scale industry. It became both a battle-cry and confession of faith.