St. Mang's Fountain

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The St. Mang fountain on the church square of the St. Mang Church in Kempten.

The St. Mang Fountain (rarely Mangbrunnen ) is a in 1905 by sculptor Georg Wrba executed, covered with a canopy fountain on the St.-Mang-Platz in the St. Mang Church in Kempten (Allgäu) . The Art Nouveau fountain with its life-size bronze sculptures is a listed building .

history

The city of Kempten praised 1905 a competition for a new fountain made. A design by Georg Wrba (1872–1939) emerged victorious from this competition. In order to find a suitable location on the church square, a 1: 1 model of the fountain made of wood was built on castors. It was pushed back and forth on the church square until the most suitable place was found. Every position of the model was documented photographically. The current location was chosen in the corner by the church tower of St. Mang in order to keep enough space free for markets and other events.

Georg Wrba received the title of professor in recognition of this work .

description

The fountain, financed from the legacy of Christian Marco Calgèer (1819–1898), a merchant and patron from Kempten, shows Saint Magnus von Füssen , who is venerated as the “Apostle of the Allgäu”. Deviating from the traditional depiction of the saint as a monk, Wrba's sculpture shows him in a short robe as a young man, as a “Christian Siegfried ”. In one hand he holds a crucifix, the other is raised in a gesture of blessing.

The cross vault of the canopy resting on four columns above the Magnus sculpture is painted with dense tendrils and four coats of arms, the former German coat of arms and the coats of arms of Bavaria, Augsburg and Kempten. In addition to flowers, the following animals can be seen in the tendrils: squirrels , jays , great tit , green woodpecker , chaffinch .

Around the large fountain basin, bronze sculptures of animals with riders are posted on the pillars of the canopy . In addition to three real creatures ( deer , hind and ibex ), a unicorn attracts attention. The boys who ride the animals symbolize the four elements; one has human feet , the other bird's claws , fins or hooves . Under the animal heads there is a mascaron carved in the stone . A jet of water flows from the mouth of these masks into a small basin.

  • hind

  • deer

  • Capricorn

  • unicorn

  • Painted canopy over the figure of the saint

  • Night lighting

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Birgit Kata: The Erasmus Chapel showroom in Kempten (Allgäu) . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2011, ISBN 978-3-89870-706-0 , p. 26 .
  2. ↑ Calgeer plant. A green oasis in the middle of the city for 100 years. In: www.all-in.de,  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. May 26, 2010 (accessed November 16, 2011)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.all-in.de  
  3. ↑ St. Mang Square. In: www.neukamm.de (accessed on November 16, 2011)

Web links

Commons : St. Mang's Fountain  - Collection of Images

Coordinates: 47 ° 43 ′ 31.3 "  N , 10 ° 19 ′ 11.1"  E