Bridges on the Vistula are Tczew's special attraction. The first was built in 1851-1857 and it was a road bridge.
The development of the railway network in Prussia in the 1840s and plans to build the Royal Prussian Eastern Railway necessitated the construction of two important rail and road bridge crossings in Tczew on the Vistula and Malbork on the Nogat. The outstanding engineer Carl Lentze was commissioned to design and build both bridges.
Lentze, after making two study trips, designed a six-span beam bridge structure with parallel lattice walls. Five pairs of towers were placed on the supports, and both entrances to the bridge were accentuated with portals in which heavy iron gates were installed, protecting the bridge from destruction. The towers and portals were built of yellow clinker brick in the neo-Gothic style.
Tczew, photo: Magda Kuchta
The bridges were severely damaged during World War II hostilities, both in 1939 and 1945. As a result of post-war reconstruction, only three spans from 1857, two from 1912 and two pairs of towers have survived from the original Lisewski Bridge, while the second bridge was completely rebuilt.
