Venta Brick Bridge

Kuldīga, Latvia

The clay brick bridge across the Venta built in 1874 is one of the longest of this type of bridge in Europe. The bridge was built according to the road standards of the 19th century (500 feet long and 26 feet wide) so that two carriages could pass each other. The bridge was repaired in 1926 after it was damaged by the Germans during World War I.

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Address

Baznīcas iela 36, Kuldīga, Latvia
See all sites in Kuldīga

Details

Founded: 1874
Category:
Historical period: Part of the Russian Empire (Latvia)

More Information

www.latvia.travel

Rating

4.9/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Valdas Ozelis (17 months ago)
Yra ka pamatyti tikrai gražu.
Phibappé Tengelgren (2 years ago)
Walked from Kuldiga bus station to the waterfall and took like 25 mins. It's a very clam city and it's quite nice. Upon arriving the river and the bridge over, will see the waterfall full view. It's the widest waterfall in Europe but it's quite short in terms of the height. But still it's a nice place to spend a half day along with the city. We went also close to the waterfall from the side next to the venta rumbas, many teens were there to play with the waterfall.
Manuela Heinze (2 years ago)
Eine sehr schöne alte Brücke, die, zwar kleiner, aber entfernt an die Karlsbrücke in Prag erinnert. Der Breite Wasserfall ist ebenfalls sehr sehenswert, allerdings durch die Trockenheit in diesem Jahr wenig imposant. Ich stelle es mir jedoch unglaublich schön vor, im Sommer dort unterhalb Baden zu gehen. Wir waren am 24.09.2018 dort und es war leider schon kalt und regnerisch.
Szymon B (2 years ago)
Nice place, old-stylish bridge. Especially interesting and lively during St. John's night.
Mateusz Matula (2 years ago)
Must see :)
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In 1151 King Konrad III ended a dispute over who should inherit Cochem Castle by laying siege to it and taking possession of it himself. That same year it became an official Imperial Castle (Reichsburg) subject to imperial authority. In 1282 it was Habsburg King Rudolf’s turn, when he conquered the Reichsburg Cochem and took it over. But just 12 years later, in 1294, the newest owner, King Adolf of Nassau pawned the castle, the town of Cochem and the surrounding region in order to finance his coronation. Adolf’s successor, Albrecht I, was unable to redeem the pledge and was forced to grant the castle to the archbishop in nearby Trier and the Electorate of Trier, which then administered the Reichsburg continuously, except for a brief interruption when Trier’s Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg had to pawn the castle to a countess. But he got it back a year later.

The Electorate of Trier and its nobility became wealthy and powerful in large part due to the income from Cochem Castle and the rights to shipping tolls on the Moselle. Not until 1419 did the castle and its tolls come under the administration of civil bailiffs (Amtsmänner). While under the control of the bishops and electors in Trier from the 14th to the 16th century, the castle was expanded several times.

In 1688 the French invaded the Rhine and Moselle regions of the Palatinate, which included Cochem and its castle. French troops conquered the Reichsburg and then laid waste not only to the castle but also to Cochem and most of the other surrounding towns in a scorched-earth campaign. Between that time and the Congress of Vienna, the Palatinate and Cochem went back and forth between France and Prussia. In 1815 the western Palatinate and Cochem finally became part of Prussia once and for all.

Louis Jacques Ravené (1823-1879) did not live to see the completion of his renovated castle, but it was completed by his son Louis Auguste Ravené (1866-1944). Louis Auguste was only two years old when construction work at the old ruins above Cochem began in 1868, but most of the new castle took shape from 1874 to 1877, based on designs by Berlin architects. After the death of his father in 1879, Louis Auguste supervised the final stages of construction, mostly involving work on the castle’s interior. The castle was finally completed in 1890. Louis Auguste, like his father, a lover of art, filled the castle with an extensive art collection, most of which was lost during the Second World War.

In 1942, during the Nazi years, Ravené was forced to sell the family castle to the Prussian Ministry of Justice, which turned it into a law school run by the Nazi government. Following the end of the war, the castle became the property of the new state of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). In 1978 the city of Cochem bought the castle for 664,000 marks.

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