Waldschlößchenbrücke
The Waldschlößchenbrücke is an arch bridge over the Elbe that connects Dresden's districts of Neustadt and Johannstadt; it opened on 24 August 2013.
What it is
The bridge is about 636 metres long and about 24 metres wide. The river span with the arch is 148 metres long.
Waldschlößchenbrücke is the city's name for it; the city publishes no English name.
History
The planning approval for the bridge dates from 2004. A citizens' referendum held on 27 February 2005 was the basis on which the city built the bridge.
Building began in 2007 and took six years. The bridge was opened on 24 August 2013, with a ceremony and a two-day bridge festival.
The Free State of Saxony contributed about 127 million euros to the cost of the bridge.
The World Heritage listing
UNESCO inscribed the Dresden Elbe Valley on the World Heritage List in 2004, as a cultural landscape. In July 2006 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee placed the Dresden Elbe Valley on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Committee's decisions of 2006 to 2009 name the bridge project as the reason for the danger listing and for the later deletion. The city's statement of June 2009 says the Committee held the World Heritage title and the bridge to be incompatible.
In June 2009, at its session in Seville, the Committee decided to delete the Dresden Elbe Valley from the World Heritage List. Its decision said that a new nomination of Dresden's heritage could be envisaged.