Zoobrücke, Steel road bridge in Cologne, Germany

The Zoobrücke is a steel structure spanning the Rhine with a length of about 600 meters, connecting the Cologne districts of Deutz, Neustadt-Nord, and Mülheim. The bridge features a functional design with a broad deck that accommodates multiple lanes of traffic flowing across the river.

First proposals for a Rhine crossing near the Innere Kanalstraße date from 1953; the city council approved construction in 1962 and chose Gerd Lohmer's design from 16 competition entries. Work began on 9 July 1962 under the name Nordbrücke, and a reader competition in a Cologne daily gave it the name Zoobrücke on 22 February 1963. The final steel section was placed in 1965, and the bridge opened on 22 November 1966; the left-bank link to the Nord-Süd-Fahrt followed on 27 April 1975.

The bridge owes its name to a readers' competition run by a Cologne daily newspaper, which in 1963 chose "Zoobrücke" because Cologne Zoo lies about 200 metres from the left-bank ramp; until then the project was called Nordbrücke. In 2000 the New York artist Serge Spitzer placed 100,000 Kölsch beer glasses inside the steel structure, and visitors walked a narrow 600-metre path through it wearing hard hats.

The bridge carries three car lanes, a cycle path and a footpath in each direction, so walkers and cyclists cross on the outer walkways beside the roadway. The steel structure is light and vibrates noticeably under traffic. The left-bank ramp stands about 200 metres from Cologne Zoo, and the Rhine cable car passes diagonally over the deck.

In 2000, visitors could walk inside the steel box girders for an installation by New York artist Serge Spitzer, who placed 100,000 Kölsch beer glasses along the structure; helmets were required on the roughly 600-metre path.