I recently noticed the interesting designs of manhole lids. It seems that most old, European city seems to showcase a coat of arms or symbol on the manhole lid (Unfortunately, I did not find fun manhole designs in Brussels, Amsterdam, or Vienna.) Here is a living collection of manholes from the places I have explored and links to the sites where I learned about the history.

• April 8, 2022, Budapest: At the top of the crest is the crown of King St. Stephen, the first King of Hungary. Diving the emblem is a line representing the Danube River. Above the line is a single tower symbolizing Pest, and below the line is a triple tower symbolizing Buda.

• March 26, 2022, Brugge: I’ll admit most of the coats of arms I have seen look the same. I could not find the Brugge coat of arms on a manhole, but I noticed this crowned “b” throughout the city.

• March 5, 2022, Karlovy Vary: The city is named after its founder, King Charles the IV, who was the first Bohemian King to beome Holy Roman Emperor. The image on the manhole looks like the Bohemian lion taking a bath. Fun fact, Karlštejn castle, Charles Bridge (Karlův most), and Charles University are named after Charles IV.

• February 25, 2022, Český Krumlov: The rose in the middle is of the castle pillars is either from the crest of the Lords of Krumlov , who inhabited the Krumlov Castle first, or from the crest of the Rosenburgs, who inherited the castle after the Lords.

• February 15, 2022, Kutná Hora: “The crowned Bohemian lion (right) indicates that the town belongs to the Bohemian kingdom while the rising black eagle (left) is meant to represent the authority of the Roman Empire; the crossed mining hammers held by the lion and the eagle and the King’s crown express the status of a royal mining town. The Hussite chalice was added to the coat-of­ arms during the reign of King George of Podebrady.”

• February 6, 2022, Prague: the Lesser coat of arms was created in 1462 with the help of the Austrain emperor. After the Thirty Years War, “[Roman] Emperor Ferdinand III alters the coat of arms so that the “Lesser” version has an arm with a sword in front of the portcullis gate”

• February 4, 2022, Munich: The “Münchner Kindl” is young monk dressed in black holding a red book, and it is unknown if the book is a bible or a lawbook.

• February 2, 2022, Kitzbühel: The center is the symbol for KitzSki, the ski resort of the town. There is not much history behind the symbol, but you can read about the history of the 120-year-old resort here.