For now, Copenhagen has its own version of the Ponte Vecchio …. even if it is only painted onto a tarpaulin.

Nyhavnsbroen - the bridge at the centre of Nyhavn - is being restored by Københavns Kommune … ironwork parapets on both sides are being stripped of old paint, repairs made and sections replaced and then the iron repainted in a stylish dark grey that has a deep sheen rather than gloss finish.

Nyhavn - or new harbour - was constructed in the 1670s but the first bridge across the centre was not built until 1874 and was in wood and the present bridge only dates from 1912. For those first two hundred years it was the tall masted sailing ships that came into the harbour to load and unload goods that were the priority and any bridge would have been an impediment.

The new harbour is a wide canal that runs back for about 420 metres from the main harbour so, on foot, it was relatively easy to go up to Kongens Nytorv - the large market square at the top of the harbour - and back down the other side if you wanted to get from one quay to the other.

In fact the two sides were rather distinct with city merchants in houses and warehouses on the north side and Charlottenborg - a royal palace - and the naval ship yards of Bremerholm - now Gammelholm - on the south side. There was probably little need to move from one side of Nyhavn to the other.

Toldbodgade, running away from the harbour on the north side, dates from the 1670s, when the area was established, and several timber-framed buildings from that period survive in that street, but Holbergsgade, running away from the harbour from the south end of the bridge, was only a main through road from the 1870s onwards when the dockyards were finally closed and the area was laid out with new streets and new apartment buildings so it was only at that stage that a bridge over Nyhavn became necessary.

The bridge was renovated in 1960 and then again in 1993. In the current work, the side towards the main harbour was repaired first and now the substantial scaffolding - erected to protect the workers and to contain dirt and water as the ironwork is pressure cleaned - has been moved to the inner side towards Kongens Nytorv although there the painted tarpaulin does not fit quite so well.

It has become popular to fix padlocks to the bridge with the names of couples scrawled on them in felt tip but following the cleaning this will no longer be allowed as the situation had got completely out of hand … over 5,000 locks were removed before repairs could start.

The scaffolding on the side towards the main harbour was dismantled over a Saturday so that it could be moved to the inner side for work to start there on Monday. By 10am on the Sunday morning the first new love locks on the new paintwork had appeared. Crazy.