The origin of the city of Maribor is closely linked with the crossing over the river Drava. Thus the greater part of the town’s old history rotates around the river Drava and the bridges over it. Many merchant routes lead through the town, so that the bridge represented in peaceful times a source of income, in times of war it was the cause of different dangers. Today’s Old Bridge, built between the years 1906 and 1912, was one of the most beautiful bridges in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.