On April 2, 2025, the 378th birthday of Maria Sibylla Merian, the Maria Sibylla Merian Bridge was festively unveiled in Amsterdam. The bridge connects the busy Middenweg with Park Frankendael, a leafy and rural area surrounding a seventeenth-century country estate.
The bridge was built in 2000 based on a design by the architectural firm Sant en Co of Edwin Santhagens and is only accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. Biologist Etje Hulzebos submitted a request to the municipality for naming the bridge, and this was honored by the mayor of Amsterdam. The Maria Sibylla Merian Society owes her a great debt of gratitude for this laudable initiative.
The newly installed nameplate was unveiled on the bridge on the sunny afternoon of April 2 by Merian specialist and initiator of our society Florence Pieters. This took place in the presence of many members and interested guests, listening to speeches and enjoying drinks.
The city of Amsterdam could not have found a more suitable location to pay tribute to Maria Sibylla Merian considering the connection between urban activity and the nature-abundant surroundings that invite to contemplation.