by November 1900Pontoon Bridge
Greetings from Novi Sad on the Danube, 1900
The river is crossed by a bridge of moored barges rather than a fixed structure, with laden cargo boats tied along the near bank and the church spire rising above the rooftops on the far side. A small chapel stands alone near the water's edge at lower left. The printed heading reads Gruss aus Neusatz a. Donau, greetings from Neusatz on the Danube, beside a handwritten signature reading Geiszler Robert.
Published by Gustav Kunst
About this place
Before any permanent bridge stood here, Novi Sad and Petrovaradin were joined by a wooden pontoon bridge laid across the Danube on oak floats. Crossings of this kind were used from the late seventeenth century, and the first standing bridge dates from 1788; it was known as Hagen's bridge after the officer, Baron von Hagen, who designed it on the model of one at Mannheim. It was laid each spring by the pontonier unit stationed at Petrovaradin and taken up again before the first ice, and its middle section could be drawn aside to let river traffic through. Carts paid a toll while anything carried by hand went free, residents of the two towns crossed without charge, and the season opened every year with a handshake between the mayor of Novi Sad and the commandant of the fortress. The bridge was removed for the last time in 1918, when work began on the permanent crossing that became the Prince Tomislav bridge.
On the card
Gruss aus Neusatz a. Donau. / Verlag von Gustav Kunst, Kamenitz. / 900 20/XI. / Tisztelettel Geiszler Róbert
Greetings from Novi Sad on the Danube. Published by Gustav Kunst, Sremska Kamenica. Dated 20 November 1900. With respect, Robert Geiszler.
- Date
- by November 1900
- Coordinates
- 45.25463, 19.85729
- Source
- National Széchényi Library - postcards
- Credit
- National Széchényi Library
- Licence
- Public domain
- Size
- 2324 × 1546 px
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