then ……

….. and now

The city is repairing and repainting the bridge at the centre of Nyhavn and, in preparation, all the padlocks attached to the railings will be removed. According to the newspaper Politiken there are or, as the locks on the railings on one side have gone already, there were over 5,000 locks. Apparently, the locks removed will be retained for a while, if any couples want to retrieve their locks, but any left unclaimed will be incorporated in an art work.

Theses locks are now such a problem that, after the repair work is finished, attaching locks to this bridge will not be allowed.

I've always wondered if these people throw the key into the harbour after fixing the lock to the railings …… well to be honest - what I wonder is why people still do this.

For the first couple - whoever they were and where ever they were - attaching that first lock to some bridge somewhere, was an imaginative and, I guess, a romantic gesture. But being just one couple of 5,000 - and that’s just here on this bridge in Nyhavn - then it's a bit like telling someone that you love them so much that you would do anything for them and go to any lengths to prove your love so you've been down to the nearest garage and got a bunch of flowers from the bucket outside.

I can't remember seeing anyone here down on one knee to propose so it can't be that a lock on this bridge marks a specific link to this specific place and a specific romantic event.

Do the Casanovas of today buy these locks in bulk or do they sneak back with a spare key and retrieve the lock for the next conquest?