Hohenzollern Bridge (Hohenzollernbrücke), Cologne

The walkways on both outer edges of the bridge are public, free and open around the clock, shared by pedestrians and cyclists. This spot is on the south walkway, beside the two eastbound long-distance and regional tracks, so ICE, Intercity, Eurostar and regional trains leaving Köln Hauptbahnhof pass within a few metres, behind the tall steel grille fence that separates the walkway from the tracks. Looking west along the bridge, eastbound trains come towards you off the station throat with the twin spires of Cologne Cathedral, about 550 m (1,800 ft) away, standing directly behind them; looking east, they head towards Köln Messe/Deutz and the KölnTriangle tower. Westbound trains run on the middle tracks, one pair further away, and the S-Bahn uses the northern pair on the far side, where the north walkway gives the closest view of it. The bridge is one of the busiest pedestrian routes in the city, so expect a steady stream of walkers, tourists and bicycles. Köln Hauptbahnhof is a few minutes' walk from the western end.

This is the heart of Cologne. The bridge's three steel arches span 409 m (1,342 ft) of the Rhine, with Cologne Cathedral and the glass hall of Köln Hauptbahnhof at the western end and the Deutz bank, with the KölnTriangle tower and the stepped Rheinboulevard, at the eastern end. River barges and excursion boats pass underneath, the walkway fences carry many thousands of padlocks left by couples since 2008, and the equestrian statues of the Hohenzollern rulers the bridge is named after stand at its ends. It is noisy, crowded and entirely urban.

The bridge was built between 1907 and 1911 and opened on 22 May 1911, replacing an earlier crossing, with four railway tracks and a road. On 6 March 1945 German engineers blew it up as Allied forces approached Cologne. It reopened to pedestrians on 8 May 1948 and was fully rebuilt by 1959, this time without the road: since then it has carried only trains, pedestrians and cyclists. Between 1985 and 1989 new spans were added on the north side for the S-Bahn Köln, bringing the total to six tracks; German Wikipedia notes that they were welded, light enough to carry ballasted track and therefore quieter, and were designed to match the original arches. Couples began attaching love locks to the walkway fences in 2008.

Germany's busiest railway bridge, with six tracks and more than 1,200 trains a day by the lower published count, is also a free public walkway with Cologne Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in line behind the tracks. Few places anywhere combine this density of long-distance, international, regional and suburban traffic with such a landmark, a few minutes' walk from a main station.