Marienbrücke, Footbridge in Schwangau, Germany.

Marienbrücke is a steel footbridge over the Pöllat Gorge in Schwangau, directly behind Neuschwanstein Castle. Its flat walkway with metal railings on both sides rests on a lattice truss structure below, anchored to rock on either side. The bridge connects to a tall pointed tower on the left and leads toward the right, with trees partly obscuring both ends.

King Maximilian II first commissioned a wooden structure here in 1845 to help hikers access the gorge. The current iron bridge was built in 1866 to replace the aging timber crossing with something more durable.

The bridge is named after Marie of Prussia, mother of King Ludwig II, who ordered the iron structure in 1866. Its walkway deck dates from that construction, while the trusses were replaced during the 1984 restoration; the railings survive in their original form. From the deck, visitors look down on the Pöllat falls and across to Neuschwanstein's towers.

Most visitors reach it via a walking path that starts from Hohenschwangau and heads uphill for a while. Wear comfortable shoes and allow plenty of time to reach the bridge without rushing.

The bridge was built without extra support pillars, which was remarkable for its time and showed new building methods. This allowed the structure to sit above the gorge without heavy foundations disrupting the landscape.