The Count de Smet de Naeyer Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in Ostend, our premier seaside resort. And yet hardly anybody calls the bridge by this name. Everyone in Ostend knows the bridge as 'Titty Bridge'. Where does this unusual name come from? And where did the naked breasts disappear to?
A Flemish mystery: why are no naked breasts to be seen on Ostend’s ‘Titty Bridge’?
Colin Clapson
Published:
Arrive in Ostend by train and you are driven under it. If you take the bus or tram to the East Coast, you drive over it. You can also cross it by bike or on foot, and you can park your car on it for free. The Count de Smet de Naeyer Bridge or the 'Tettenbrug' (Titty Bridge) is an important bridge in this seaside town.
The bridge was commissioned in 1905 and named after the then finance and public works minister and later Belgian prime minister, Paul Joseph de Smet de Naeyer.
Leopold II, the then king, wanted that bridge to connect the old Mercator docks with the new docks and the Spuikom flushing reservoir. De Smet de Naeyer approved the plans to greatly expand the port of Ostend. In return, the bridge was given his name.
City guide Marc Loy regularly takes tourists there. "People's imagination is endless," he laughs. "But there is only one true story. The bridge was built to a design by architect Alban Chambon. Chambon was originally a sculptor, of French origin, and it was he who commissioned a number of other sculptors to create sculptures to decorate the various pylons of the bridge."
"On both sides of the four bridge pylons statues of women with bare breasts appeared. That was all the Ostenders needed to name the bridge the 'Titty Bridge'."
So where did all the naked breasts go?
The bronze statues of half-naked women only stood on the bridge pylons for a few years. What happened to them, Erwin Mahieu can explain. He is a collector and passionate about the history of Ostend and nearby Bredene.
"During Great World, the Germans removed the statues from the bridge. In 1916, they were in great need of copper to make extra ammunition. The bronze statues had a large copper content. No piece of copper was safe from the occupying forces."
"Anyone who had copper in their possession was obliged to hand it over. Otherwise they were fined or had to go to jail. The Germans even demanded all the front doors handles and knockers. At the houses of Ostenders who didn't willingly hand them over, the Germans simply unscrewed them from the doors."
But what happened to the naked women of Titty Bridge? According to Erwin, there is no doubt: "the German occupiers simply loaded the bronze statues onto a train and took them to the smelting furnaces in Germany to make them into shell casings for bullets and grenades."
Will naked breasts never return to Titty Bridge?
For over a century, 'Titty Bridge' has been without its naked breasts. Will this ever change? "If there were ever a plan to bring back those busty statues, I would certainly be in favour of it," shouts Mayor Bart Tommelein.
"We could have a word with the heritage people and get replicas of those statues made. We are a city that is choc-a-block with culture and we respect our heritage. Of course, everything depends on the price tag, but if we can bring back those boobs from times of yore, I think that would be a great idea."