This is the second bridge built over the Danube River in Bratislava which joined the city centre with the newly built housing complex of Petržalka. Created by architects Jozef Lacko, Ladislav Kušnír, Ivan Slameň and a stress analyst, Arpád Tesár, from the Slovak University of Technology, the project was awarded only fourth place by the jury, however, it was this elegantly bold, suspended structure that was chosen for construction. This stamp shows an often reproduced drawing created by the architects as part of the project. While the automobile seen in this picture can surely be classified as antique, the bridge continues to captivate us with its bold modernism.
Architects planned an inclined, double pylon, set on the right bank of the Danube opposite the castle hill, which holds the deck supported by suspension cables and has a disc-shaped café on top. The café was originally named Bystrica and is now called UFO. The bridge is 448 meters long between supports, making it the longest single pillar bridge in the world when it opened. Steel for the project was produced by ironworks in Vítkovice and the cables were imported from Austria.
     Construction of the bridge became the centre of attention for top politicians, which is also shown by the fact that it was named after the Slovak National Uprising. Although it was renamed to New Bridge (Nový most) after 1989, the original name returned in 2012 as two newer bridges were built over the Danube in the meantime.
The foundation stone was laid on 6 December 1967, by then major of Bratislava, architect Milan Hladký. However, at the opening ceremony on 26 August 1972, the ribbon was cut by a delegation led by Gustav Husák and Jozef Lenárt. Hladký and Lacko had fallen into political disgrace by then and, although the bridge is Jozef Lacko’s most significant architectural masterpiece, he was only a spectator at its opening. The SNP Bridge has become an iconic structure of Bratislava and when a Construction of the Century survey was conducted at the end of last century, it swept to victory.
                                                                                                                                                                                     Matúš Dulla