Old Bridges in Tczew.
The road bridge was the first one to be constructed, between 1851 and 1857. At the time, with its 837 metres’ length, it was one of the longest bridges in the world (and the longest in Europe). Originally, the bridge had ten towers and two gateways – today only four towers remain. The other, railway bridge, was built between 1888 and 1890, when one bridge was no longer sufficient.
Currently the length of the bridges is 1052 m. Originally, both bridges were shorter than today, because the bulwark was closer to the river. In 1912, the embankments were moved toward Lisewo village. Then the bridges were extended and additions to the common gate were built. Both bridges have all the possible design and technical solutions used in the art of building bridges in the nineteenth century.
On 1 September 1939, the bridges were destroyed by Polish sappers in order to prevent the German Army from accessing the city from the other side of the Vistula River. The bridges were rebuilt in 1940 and destroyed again in 1945 by the Germans. The final reconstruction of the bridges took place between 1958 and 1959.