State-of-the-art light for the Old Bridge in Heidelberg

Since 2008, the Old Bridge in Heidelberg has been shining brightly every evening. Modern LED contour lighting emphasizes the classic shape and ensures homogeneous illumination of the parapet area.

This bridge is world famous: The Old Bridge spans the Neckar in Heidelberg.
The building, officially named Karl Theodor Bridge, connects the old town with the opposite bank. The bridge, built in 1788 under Elector Karl Theodor, is one of the most famous sights in Heidelberg, along with the castle. The structure is 200 meters long and consists of nine barrel vaults with spans between 8 and 22 meters. The bridge is made of rubble masonry with a red sandstone cladding. It is one of the last great examples of classic bridge construction, before the new building material cast iron became dominant in the 19th century and bridge construction became a purely engineering task. The building, which was completely rebuilt after the Second World War, was extensively renovated in 2008. For the first time, those responsible at Stadtwerke Heidelberg also decided to have the imposing building fully illuminated. Previously there was only simple street lighting for traffic on the bridge. The requirements for the new lighting were very high: an energy-saving solution with the most delicate lights possible was sought. The lighting system had to be installed in accordance with the strict specifications of the monument protection guidelines and a pre-installed plug & play solution was also sought.

Those responsible entrusted the renowned Heidelberg design and planning office LDE Belzner Holmes with the lighting planning and concept as well as the lighting design. The desired effect of the new lighting was, among other things, the homogeneous illumination of the parapet area. The planners were looking for a lighting solution that generates a warm white of 3000 Kelvin in addition to the requirements already mentioned, which allows the optimal color rendering of the old sandstone of the bridge. The light inserts should be easy to replace at any time in the event of a failure. A value of less than 10 watts per meter was required for the electrical output and the cable routing (cable harness) had to be in the luminaire profile system with an adapted RAL color.

After careful consideration of different solutions from different providers, it was finally decided to use a specially adapted LED profile system from FLASHAAR®® LEDLight. The lighting system delicately follows the contours of the bridge construction. The particularly high requirements of monument protection when installing the lighting systems required great planning skill. Thanks to intensive planning and preparation, the employees of Stadtwerke Heidelberg were finally able to install the Plug & Play ABH LED profile system in the autumn in the shortest possible time. Today, the Old Bridge in Heidelberg shines in a very special light night after night and enchants both residents and guests of the romantic city on the Neckar.