Bunte Brücke, Road bridge in Minden, Germany

Bunte Brücke crosses the Weser floodplain between central Minden and the railway station, offering four traffic lanes and dedicated bicycle paths. The bridge spans the flat landscape and connects both banks with wide roadways for daily traffic.

A stone tablet found in the old bridge's foundations in the late 19th century records that Albartes Schreiber and Johann Hensick built the first bridge over the Weser floodplain in 1622, as builders of the city of Minden. Flooding in 1797 destroyed four arches, and in 1799 and 1800 five new stone piers were built from Porta sandstone taken from the Jakobsberg and Wittekindsberg. The piers were reinforced with Porta sandstone in 1874 and with Solling sandstone between 1911 and 1915.

The name comes from the Low German word 'buten', which meant outside when the structure stood beyond the old fortress walls. Today it connects the center with the station district and forms part of everyday city life.

The bridge carries around 18,500 vehicles each day and serves as one of the main connections in Minden. Cyclists use the dedicated paths on both sides of the roadway.

The 2011 reconstruction was the first across the Weser floodplain built without Porta sandstone. The construction material shifted after centuries of local tradition to modern materials.