A new-old bridge and across to Podgorze, Jozefinska street.

During my reading at the Municipal Museum in Cracow I found out that at the location of an old bridge over the Wisla they built a new one. Some existing evidence of the old bridge got incorporated into the new structure. This I had to see. Off to the river near Pilsudski bridge I went.  

There are a whole series of bridges across the Wisla. This newest one is for pedestrians and cyclists only. There are 2 separate walkways that are side by side, separated by pipes. Here I am standing on one side and photographing the other side. Beyond this bridge is the Pilsudski bridge for cars and pedestrians.

The name of this bridge is "Kladka Bernatka". Kladka means lock in English (as in the ones to lock up your bikes). I am not sure about the reference to Bernatka. It may refer to an order of monks since in Polish the letter "o" is next to Bernatka (o=ojcow or monks). Why locks hung on the sides of the bridge? Not sure how it started, but it is now a tradition to hang a lock there symbolizing your faithful union in marriage. Here is a close-up.

 

Here is a photo that gives you an idea about the number of locks already hung there. Don't worry. There is still room for your lock on there!

Here are 2 other photos of the bridge - one at sunset and one from underneath.

Contemporary art! Clearly the 2 walkways are visible.

The "old" part of this Kladka bridge is the brick pillar that supports it on land. This brick was part of a pre-existing bridge. It was the oldest bridge with a brick pillar in Cracow across the Wisla. It was built between 1844 and 1850. It was slowly dismantled starting at an unspecificed date and ending in 1936. It was called the Podgorski bridge because it led to the Podgorze district. Here is a sign confirming this.

Here is a photo of the old bridge foundation.

I do not know when the Kladka bridge was built. It is new to me since being in Cracow 6 years ago.

Walk across the bridge from the Kazimierz side and you end up in Podgorze. Here is the view over to

Podgorze.

Walk a little ways to the left and you will see a rock with a sign on it confirming that you are in Podgorze.

Go a little further and you will find Jozefinska street.  Here you will find several important buildings from WWII. 

Here is an employment office used by the Germans to send Jews away to forced labor camps. It also served as a hospital for the chronically ill and recovering patients. The sign helps explain this.

It was this building-now a music school.

This next building was an old Jewish hospital during the war. When the Germans liquidated the ghetto, they killed all the patients.

This pink building was that hospital.

Here was a sign about a Jewish Social Self - Help Organization's building during the war. They collected money to help those in the ghetto. 

The sign also mentions a day care center a few doors down for children ages 6-14. They were all murdered by the Germans during the ghetto liquidation.

Here is the self-help organization building.

Lastly I believe this neglected building (#17 Jozefinska street) was the headquarters for the Jewish ghetto police (or "OD" - Ordnungs Dienst). These were Jews who worked for the Germans to maintain order in the ghetto.  There was no sign on the building, but I had written down that it was #17 Jozefinska. A Polish friend explained to me that the things the Poles want to forget are not labeled (as to not keep these places or people in mind). Perhaps that is why there is no sign. I just wonder whether the guy I saw looking out the window of his apartment there knows the history of that building.