The Deux-Rives garden and footbridge

The Deux-Rives garden: a cross-border park between Strasbourg and Kehl

A footbridge spans the Rhine, linking the two halves of the park, jointly built by Strasbourg and Kehl and frequented by cyclists and walkers.

The idea came with the 50th anniversary of the Council of Europe in 1999, and a literary and artistic project project designed by Michel Krieger at the Pont de l’Europe, the bridge over the Rhine connecting France and Germany.

The park was completed in 2004 and covers a large area of 150 hectares stretching to the banks of the Rhine, on either side of the river and providing a natural passage traversing the frontier.

A symbolic footbridge spanning the Rhin

True to the spirit of cross-border cooperation, after the German landscape architect Rüdiger Brosk was chosen to oversee the design of the garden, France's Marc Mimram was given the task of designing a suspended footbridge over the Rhine, for pedestrians and cyclists. An outstanding piece of modern architecture, with its system of suspended cables, the footbridge provides a fitting climax to the cross-border garden, a symbol of cooperation between two countries whose history has been marred by conflict. The decks of the bridge meet in the middle to form a platform, where people can sit down and enjoy the wonderful view along the Rhine. The footbridge provides the link between the two halves of the gardens, blurring the border and opening the way for free passage between the two countries for cyclists and pedestrians alike.