Locals call the cantilever truss bridge that connects the Dresden suburbs of Blasewitz and Loschwitz the blue miracle. Built in 1893 without the support of river piers, it is the kind of German engineering tour de force that could rightly claim a place in the British Museums current Memories of a Nation exhibition, were it not impossible to transport.
However, in recent years the blue miracle has lost some its sheen. The blue paint has faded to a dull turquoise (the grey misery is a common jibe), and a 2013 inspection revealed a persistent problem with rust and erosion due to the 25,000 cars that pass over the bridge every day. Local author Uwe Tellkamp, a winner of the German Book Prize, has even called for cars to be banished altogether, as on Venices Rialto bridge.
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