Love lock

For articles with similar names, see Lovelock (disambiguation).
Love padlocks by night on Butchers' Bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

A love lock or love padlock is a padlock which sweethearts lock to a bridge, fence, gate, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love.[1] Typically the sweethearts' names or initials are inscribed on the padlock, and its key is thrown away to symbolize unbreakable love. Since the 2000s, love locks have proliferated at an increasing number of locations worldwide. They are now mostly treated by municipal authorities as litter or vandalism, and there is some cost to their removal. However, there are authorities who embrace them, and who use them as fundraising projects or tourism attractions.

History

The history of love padlocks dates back at least 100 years to a melancholic Serbian tale of World War I, with an attribution for the bridge Most Ljubavi (lit. the Bridge of Love) in spa town of Vrnjačka Banja.[2] A local schoolmistress named Nada, who was from Vrnjačka Banja, fell in love with a Serbian officer named Relja. After they committed to each other Relja went to war in Greece where he fell in love with a local woman from Corfu. As a consequence, Relja and Nada broke off their engagement. Nada never recovered from that devastating blow, and after some time she died due to heartbreak from her unfortunate love. As young women from Vrnjačka Banja wanted to protect their own loves, they started writing down their names, with the names of their loved ones, on padlocks and affixing them to the railings of the bridge where Nada and Relja used to meet.[3][4]

In the rest of Europe, love padlocks started appearing in the early 2000s.[5] The reasons love padlocks started to appear vary between locations and in many instances are unclear. However, in Rome, the ritual of affixing love padlocks to the bridge Ponte Milvio can be attributed to the 2006 book I Want You by Italian author Federico Moccia, who made a film adaptation in 2007.[6][7]

Notable locations and controversies

One of many purpose-built iron trees on a bridge across the Vodootvodny Canal in Moscow completely covered in love padlocks.

In several countries, the local authorities and owners of various landmarks have expressed concern and tried to have the padlocks removed:

Love padlocks in Algiers have been removed by youths
Love padlocks on Pont des Arts, Paris
Love-locks in Suseong Lake, Daegu, South Korea

Legends and superstitions

On some locations the padlocks have been given almost legendary or superstitious character:

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Love padlocks.
  1. Enulescu, Dana (1 March 2007). "Rome mayor in 'love padlock' row". BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  2. Rubin, Alissa (27 April 2014). "On Bridges in Paris, Clanking With Love". New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  3. "Most ljubavi". Vrnjacka Banja (in Serbian). www.vrnjackabanja.biz. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  4. Ogrizović, Slobodan (22 April 2009). "Vrnjačka banja, najveće lečilište u Srbiji". B92 (in Serbian). Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  5. 1 2 Long, Louisa (6 June 2011). "Love-locks return to the bridges of Paris". The Independent. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  6. Ian Fischer (6 August 2007), "In Rome, a New Ritual on an Old Bridge", New York Times, retrieved 9 August 2010
  7. Demetri, Justin (2008). "The Bridge of Love in Rome". Life in Italy .com. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  8. « Où sont passés les cadenas du pont des Arts », Les Nuages Bleus, 20 July 2010.
  9. Urquhart, Wendy (9 June 2014). "'Lovelocks' collapse Paris bridge rail". BBC News (BBC). Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  10. "Paris Falls Out of Love With the Padlocks on Its Bridges". The New York Times. 21 September 2014.
  11. Rubin, Alissa J.; Breeden, Aurelien (1 June 2015). "Paris Bridge's Love Locks Are Taken Down". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  12. Geoff Manaugh (11 October 2013). "Picking the Bridge". The New Yorker.
  13. Stolarz, Sarah (2 September 2009). "Cologne Gets a Lock on Love". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  14. "Love locks". Cologne.de.
  15. "Forth Road Bridge lovelocks raise £10,000". scotsman.com.
  16. Aboelsaud, Yasmin (6 January 2011). "Accidental locks of love on Wild Pacific Trail". Westerly News. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  17. Hempstead, Doug (13 February 2013). "Inscribing couple's names on locks big deal on Ottawa's Corkstown Bridge". Ottawa Sun (Canoe Sun Media). Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  18. "Florence tries to stamp out locks of love". Italy Mag. 1 May 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  19. "Where's the love? Council removes 'love padlocks' from Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge". thejournal.ie. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  20. Alger : le pont "d’amour" redevient le pont des "suicidés" Algérie focus.2013-09-10
  21. Missous, Naila (24 September 2013). "Algeria's controversial bridge of love". Your Middle East (Your Middle East). Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  22. "Romantics secure their love locks". Toowoomba Chronicle. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  23. "Love locks to be removed from National Carillon footbridge in Canberra". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  24. "Melbourne love locks: Council cuts padlocks off Southgate footbridge to save structure". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  25. "Uncustomary Art – Baltimore Love Lock". Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  26. "Lovelock Nevada". loverslock.com.
  27. "Auf ewige Liebe – Welt – Tagesspiegel". tagesspiegel.de.
  28. "Schwanenwikbrücke". hamburg-travel.com.
  29. Hall, Kalea. "BIG LOCK encourages Canfield fairgoers to share fair love". Vindy.com. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  30. "Cliff Walk Commission to discuss future of 'love locks'". Providence Journal.
  31. David Tarczynski. "Passion Locks". Passion Locks.
  32. Chang Jui-chen (2009). "'Wish lock' phenomenon attracts youth to Fengyuan". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  33. http://inspiringtravellers.com/montevideos-locks-fountain/
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