2022/10/07

Designs projected on the Oberbaum Bridge during the yearly Festival of Lights in Berlin, Germany

© John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

The double-decker Oberbaum Bridge is one of Berlin's most beloved and iconic landmarks. For centuries the Oberbaum Bridge connected the two districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg until they were separated by the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1989. The first bridge at this spot was built in the 1700s, although the current road-and-rail Oberbaum was constructed at the end of the 19th century. It remains an important symbol of unified Berlin, and a prominently featured landmark in the city's annual, weeklong Festival of Lights, which begins today. The international festival, now in its 18th year, transforms Berlin's buildings and landmarks with artful displays of light, as colors, patterns, and images are projected onto structures across the city. Here we see the Oberbaum all lit up for the 2020 festival—a far cry from its Cold War days. Despite growing concerns about an energy crisis in Germany this winter, Berlin's Festival of Lights will go on as planned in 2022, though in a scaled-down version, according to officials at the city government.