We have synthesized novel, fully soluble ethylene-bridged para-phenylene ladder polymers, The synthesis of our ladder poly(dihydrophenanthrene)s (LPDPs) was achieved via an aryl-aryl homocoupling according to Yamamoto followed by a polymer-analogous pinacolization with SmI2. The resulting, strongly fluorescent polymers were characterisized by NMR, UV/ Vis- and PL measurements.