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Fab
Five
Lovebirds aresymbolicallysealing their loveall over theworldwitha relativelynewtrend
involving ‘lovepadlocks’ tosymboliseandexpresstheir loveforeachother. Sweethearts
lock a padlock, typically engraved with their names or initials, to a bridge, gate, fence
or other similar public fixtures, and they key is disposed, presumably as an allegory of
‘unbreakable love’.
Hohenzollern Bridge, Cologne,
Germany
The
most common place for love padlocks
in Germany is the Hohenzollern Bridge
in Cologne. The bridge crosses the Rhine
River in Cologne, a city in Germany well
known for its cultural and art scene.
Unlike certain places in the world where
love padlocks are regarded as vandalism,
Cologne embraces the custom, even
getting a mention on the city’s official
website. The padlocks add raw artistic
character to the bridge since most of them
are elaborately designed with engraving,
home-made stickers and colourful paints.
Experts estimate that the padlocks along
the railings on the Hohenzollern Bridge
now weigh over two tonnes.
Mount Huangshan, China
In
Asia, the love padlocks can be found
along the serene path leading to Mount
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) in China.
Thousands of love padlocks are locked to
the chain fences that barricade the rocky
path and the mountain cliff. The lovers
who walked the path have been locking
their love for each other for years that there
is hardly any unutilised space left. The
keys to the locks are thrown to the foggy
valleys underneath, with no possible way
of recovering them, perfectly serving the
initial purpose of the custom, that is, for
two souls to be locked together forever.
Lock It Up!
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