Magere Brug

Landmark · Amstel (Centrum)Amsterdam,Netherlands

The last wooden double drawbridge on the Amstel in central Amsterdam, rebuilt in 1934 in the old shape and still lifted for passing boats.

The Magere Brug is the last wooden double-leaf drawbridge left on the Amstel inside the city centre. A narrow bridge has crossed here since the 1690s, and magere means thin: the first one was too tight for two people to pass. The two halves of the deck still lift for boats too tall to go under, and there is no timetable for it. After dark the outline is picked out in small lamps. The one you walk on dates only from 1934. Piet Kramer of the city's bridge department built it after a temporary iron bridge had served for five years, and the council chose to rebuild in wood rather than modernise. The river is the reason to stand here. The Amstel is far wider than any canal in the ring, and it still works, carrying water off the polders south of the city and through the centre to the IJ. The lock gates a short way upstream, built in 1673, control that flow, and river water was once let through them at night to rinse the canals.

Worth knowing

Good to know

It costs nothing and never closes — cars have been off it since 2003, so the deck belongs to people on foot and on bicycles, which is what makes it bearable to stand on.
Shoot from the quay, not from the bridge — the profile only works side-on, and both banks give you the full span with the counterweights and the chains in the frame.
Winter mornings on the deck are exposed — the Amstel is wide and there is nothing upwind of you, so the wind crossing the bridge bites noticeably harder than in the streets behind.

Things to do

1
Stand mid-span and face upstream
Walk to the centre of the deck and look south, away from the city centre. The Amstel opens out much broader and straighter than anything inside the canal ring, and the lock gates and the next bridge line up ahead of you. The scale of the water is the whole point of the stop.
2
Wait for a boat to be let through
There is no timetable, so treat it as luck rather than a plan. When it happens the two halves of the deck rise from the middle on their chains, everyone stops on both banks, and it is over in a couple of minutes. Stand at the barrier line and watch the counterweights drop.
3
Come back once the lamps are on
At dusk the outline of the whole span lights up and doubles on the water. Go down to the quay on either side, because the reflection is the picture and it needs the surface still. Wind on the Amstel breaks it up, so a calm evening matters more than a clear one.