Love locks are considered worldwide as a means to express the durability and beauty of the love of two partners. Most frequently, they can be found on bridges and gates in romantic places. The locks are provided with the lovers’ initials and then hung on metal bannisters. The lock key is often symbolically thrown into the river. For many, it is a new trend, but, in fact, the tradition is more than a century old.
Love locks as a big problem
People in love often need to express the eternity of their love in a way that damages their surroundings, be it their names’ initials carved in trees or rocks or the love locks hung in romantic places. What happens to the love lock after several years? It usually corrodes or becomes an ugly waste. In some famous places, love locks have literally destroyed many bridges, and instead of beautiful ornaments, they have become waste, which, by weighing many tons, disrupts bridge structures and needs to be removed continuously. In France, for example, the famous Pont des Arts was so overloaded with love locks that it had to be evacuated because the love locks weighed 45-65 tons.
A beautiful and stylish solution
To ban such a long tradition would be cruel, and, thus, many cities have devised an elegant solution that would allow lovers to continue using locks of love without damaging famous bridges or other places. Their answer is love lock sculptures, i.e. artistic constructions, which are adapted for hanging locks. When this idea first appeared, it became a great inspiration that began to spread throughout the world.
One such place is the town of Nový Bor, in the Czech Republic, where an art sculpture in the shape of a heart can be found. The statue is called “The Heart of Love, Peace and Happiness”. Its author is the local artist Pavel Danys, and he created the Heart together with 11 people. It is a beautiful inspiration for all the cities where a large number of love locks are a problem.
Credit: leakshare, needpix
