SSHUW The Last Penny

Last Stuver.
The Laatste Stuiverbrug spans the beginning of Sneek's waterway connection with Leeuwarden, the Swette. The first bridge was built in 1661 and from that time until about 1845 has been called "Minse brug", where that name comes from is not known. The design of the current bridge, anno 1887, is by J.Ph. Hogendijk. He designed the bridge as part of a series of 10 cast-iron bridges in Sneek. In the 1960s, these characteristic bridges were demolished to make way for modern variants or fixed bank connections. The old bridges could not handle the increasing traffic volume and were too expensive to maintain. The Last Stuiver Bridge was retained because of the limited amount of traffic across it. In 1797, the bridge's name was changed to Last Stuiver Bridge. The bridge probably bears this name because it was the last bridge where boaters had to pay a penny bridge fee to enter the city of Sneek. However, historians claim that the name may also come from an inn called the Jagershuis which stood next to the bridge. Skippers could spend their last penny here and the inn would be called De Laatste Stuiver. The inn did not exist for long and therefore this theory cannot be confirmed. At that time, the bridge was the only obstacle to get by boat from the city canal onto the Swette (formerly called Leeuwardertrekvaart).