Have you heard of love locks? I’m not sure the first time I encountered them but I’m pretty sure it was during our trip to Berlin. During our trip to Munich, as we trekked out of the U-Bahn towards the zoo, we crossed over the Spree and the bridge was covered in them.
So what is a love lock, you ask? It’s a regular padlock that a couple locks on to something as a symbol of their love. Sometimes couples write their names on the lock. Sometimes they get them engraved.
I’m not a girly girl and I’m not always the most outwardly romantic. But I think love locks are pretty neat. They’re not terribly common in the United States. For our first wedding anniversary, I found Lock-itz, an online shop in the US that engraves them and I had one made for my husband for the anniversary of our first date. Now it graces the mantel of the fireplace in our living room. I’m not sure I could ever bring myself to lock it on somewhere far away.
I did have the idea though that it could be a neat travel souvenir to get an engraved love lock in each city we travel to.
Have you attached a love lock to a bridge somewhere?
Photo by dbarreda.
I find a lock to be a terribly unfitting symbol of love. Especially if the lock is used as they do here in Europe where they lock it to a bridge and the throw away the key. Sound more like imprisonment than something to cherish.
Hi Kai, thanks for your comment. It really got me thinking and inspired part of my follow-up post: http://www.reverberations.net/2014/08/love-locks-revisited/