De Hef is the popular name for the decommissioned railway lift bridge over the Koningshaven in Rotterdam, which separates Noordereiland from the Feijenoord district. The official name is Koningshavenbrug, and the two bridge sections on the banks date from 1878. The middle section was originally a swing bridge. However, this was a considerable obstacle to navigation. Several ships got stuck in the narrow passage; in 1918, the German ship 'Kanderfels' even sailed completely against the pillar. This last accident was the deciding factor for the construction of a lift bridge to replace the swing bridge, which was designed by engineer Pieter Joosting and opened on 31 October 1927. This bridge was the first of its kind in Western Europe. Joris Ivens made an avant-garde film about De Hef titled The Bridge in 1928. This film, among others, made Ivens internationally famous. In 2007, Oscar van Dillen wrote his String Quartet 2 as a piece of music to accompany this silent film. Arij de Boode and Pieter van Oudheusden wrote De Hef, biografie van een spoorbrug (1985, with a foreword by Joris Ivens). On 14 January 1933, Lou Vlasblom plunged from the lift bridge. A fortnight later, Jan Tabbernee jumped from a point 6 metres higher than Vlasblom. Tabbernee landed wrong and did not survive the dive. In 10 May 1978, the lift bridge was struck by the ship the 'Nedlloyd Bahrein' during its maiden voyage from the Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard where it was built. For several we