[1] A first wooden bridge to Spree Island at the site is documented in the 13th century, then the second river crossing parallel to the Mühlendamm causeway in the south.

When the Brandenburg elector Frederick II Irontooth chose Berlin-Cölln as his residence, he had the City Palace erected on the island from 1443 onwards, suspiciously eyed by the citizens.

Under the rule of Elector Frederick III, in 1691, plans for a new construction were designed by Johann Arnold Nering in a Baroque style, consistent with the adjacent Palace.

Five vaulted arches, richly decorated, spanned the Spree waters; bearing the equestrian statue of "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg by Andreas Schlüter, which was ceremonially unveiled in 1703.

The equestrian statue had already been evacuated in 1943; it was later rediscovered in Lake Tegel and installed at its present site in front of Charlottenburg Palace.After the war, a provisional reconstruction was carried out according to plans by Richard Ermisch; nevertheless, the damaged remnants had to be removed in 1952.