Mánes Bridge

The bridge, built in the style of Czech cubism and modernism, is named after Czech painter Josef Mánes.

The Mánes Bridge is the ninth bridge over the Vltava River in Prague. In its place was once a ferry to a fishing village. The construction of the bridge was preceded by the interconnection of the Old Town with Klárov by an iron suspended footbridge. The construction of the bridge itself began in 1911 and was carried out by the firm of Ing. Kress and Bernard. The designers of the bridge were František Mencl and Alois Nový and architects Pavel Janak, Vlastmil Hofman and Mečislav Petrů also worked with them.

The bridge is built mostly of concrete and partially of reinforced concrete. It has four vaulted spans, measuring 186.3 m in length and 16 m in width. It was opened for transport in 1914, but was only fully completed in 1916. In terms of art the bridge is characterised by the influence of Czech cubism and modernism. On the pillars we find figural motifs from the life of Vltava swimmers by sculptors František Bílek, Josef Mařatky and Jan Štursa. On the Old Town side are fountains with gargoyles and on the Lesser Quarter side the coats of arms of cities and countries.

At first, the bridge was named after the successor of the Austrian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and from 1920 it was named Mánes. The statue of Josef Mánes stands in the park on the Old Town bridgehead. It is by sculptor Bohumil Kafka and architect Josef Havlíček. The Mánes Bridge was reconstructed in the 1990s.

Since 2009, a walk of fame of Czech classical music has grown on the bridge, which is decorated with brass stars of Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů.