6 museomag   04 ‘ 2016 
the making of pont adolphe – 
the (short) movie 
young actor fábio godinho stars in the film of the new exhibition at 
the musée drÄi eechelen 
© 
éric 
chenal 
When you step into the exhibition Pont Adolphe 
1903, you immediately hear a man‘s voice, soon 
realizing it is talking about the bridge. Towards 
the end of about the first half of the tour, you 
reach the spot where the voice comes from: a 
short, 18-minute-long film that is being projected 
in a constant loop onto the walls of the exhibition 
space. It tells the story of the planning, building 
and impact of the Adolphe Bridge, and it has one 
single star: Fábio Godinho, the Portuguese actor 
brought up in Luxembourg, who is pursuing a 
career as actor and theatre director in both France 
and Luxembourg. 
Can you tell me a little about how this project came 
about? 
I was asked by Mr. François Reinert from the Musée Dräi 
Eechelen if I was interested and available to participate 
in a film about the Adolphe bridge for an exhibition on 
that subject. The invitation itself came later from the 
agency that actually produced the film. 
What were your first thoughts on an exhibition 
about a bridge? 
I confess that I didn’t imagine how interesting this 
exhibition would be. Construction sites are not 
necessarily everybody’s thing, and many are annoyed 
because of the traffic disruptions (I say that at the 
beginning of the film). But it is about so much more! 
The bridge really changed the city and how people 
lived in it. It was like a revolution! 
In the film you are the narrator but you also play 
several roles. How many and which exactly? 
I get to play the Grand-Duke, the photographer 
Bernhoeft (who consistently photographed the 
construction), a peasant and an engine driver. 
That is the dream of every boy! You actually got to 
blow the engine’s whistle. But where does a train fit 
in all this? Wasn’t the bridge just for cars? We know 
that the tram will cross it in the future… 
Yes, there was a train from the very beginning (and 
later a tram). It was a very famous train, Charly, that 
linked Luxembourg City’s train station with Echternach. 
So the Adolphe bridge changed the city as well as its 
connection to Echternach. 
So you drove of the train to what would become 
your future hometown in Luxembourg, long before 
your parents came to live here! In the film, the 
train is an animated image and you also appear 
Fábio Godinho as Charles Bernhoeft, photographer to the Court