Kromlau Azalea and Rhododendron Park

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Kromlau Azalea and Rhododendron Park is an 80-hectare landscaped park in the village of Kromlau, near Weißwasser in eastern Saxony, Germany, close to the Polish border. It was created in the 19th century on the grounds of a former feudal estate by Friedrich Herrmann Rötschke and was nationalized after World War II. Today the park has no admission fee (parking may have a small charge) and is known as an English-style landscape garden with many ponds and lakes.

The park’s most famous feature is the Rakotz Bridge, also called the Crab’s Bridge or Devil’s Bridge. The 7.8-meter-long, 6.5-meter-wide bridge was built in 1860 to form a perfect circle when reflected in the water of Rakotz Lake. The inner arch radius is 2.2 meters and the outer radius 3.4 meters, with abutments 3.6 meters high and side weights 2.0 meters. It uses basalt columns sourced from distant quarries. Although renovated in 2018–2019, the bridge is closed to crossing to protect visitors and the structure.