Thursday, 05 March 2015
Love Locks have their roots all the way back to Serbia during World War One and there’s no getting away from the fact that they are rising in popularity. In most cities you’ll now find a collection of padlocks attached to bridges, benches and other areas with declarations of love stamped on them.
But are they a symbol of romance or a modern form of graffiti?
A Sign of Love
The rise in popularity of love padlocks really started in Europe in the early 2000’s and is thought to be attributed to the book I Want You by Federico Moccia. Since then millions have been put in place by romantics all around the world.
Many do it as a way of declaring their love. Some do it as a way of leaving a memento while travelling. Others leave them in memory of love ones who have died.
Popularity has risen to the level that there are hundreds of companies who now specialise in selling only love locks with unique messages engraved on them. Also in some cities like Moscow the local authorities have set up special areas for love locks as they embrace the new craze.
There is no denying that the sight of a bridge festooned with padlocks in various colours and sizes is an impressive sight, however there are others who would disagree.
Culturally, Economically and Emotionally Damaging
Love locks also have many critics following high profile cases of bridges in Paris and Ireland being so overloaded with padlocks that the weight was affecting the structural integrity of the bridges. In Florence the city council removed over 5,000 love locks as they felt they were causing aesthetic and structural problems. It could also be argued that special love lock areas in Moscow mentioned above are the authority’s way of controlling the problem.
Recently nolovelocks.com launched a valentine’s campaign to spread awareness of the negative side of love locks through tweets with the hash tag #nolovelocksday. They wanted to stop the spread of love locks specifically in Paris. They feel that the hanging of love locks on the “historic monuments and public spaces of Paris is vandalism that damages the city and hurts the people of France—culturally, economically and emotionally.”
They asked that ‘tourists act responsibly’ and stop the spread of padlocks throughout the city.
So where do you sit on the love locks craze? Is it a simple gesture of love or a public menace? We’d be really interested to hear what you think on this issue, tweet @lockshopdirect with your thoughts.
Author: Paul Young
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