Ascrap well
The Aschrottbrunnen is a fountain in the center of Kassel . The monumental fountain was donated by the Jewish industrialist Sigmund Aschrott in 1908 and destroyed by National Socialist activists on April 9, 1939 . After the war, the fountain basin was converted into a flower bed and fountain. The artist Horst Hoheisel redesigned the fountain in 1987 on behalf of the city in the form of a negative form sunk into the ground as a memorial.
The historical fountain
Sigmund Aschrotts Foundation
In the period from 1905 to 1909, the new Kassel town hall was built. In 1908 the industrialist Aschrott donated a well for the forecourt. Corresponding to the monumental facade of the town hall in neo-renaissance style , the fountain was crowned in the middle by a 12-meter-high sandstone pyramid that cited the formal language of the Renaissance. The fountain was decorated with floral ornaments and four heads of rams spouting water. The design came from Karl Roth , the architect of the town hall.
Destruction in 1939
During the National Socialist era , the fountain was defamed as a "Jewish fountain" and finally smashed on April 9, 1939 by a group of Kassel citizens. A short time later, an expert opinion on the supposed symbolism of the fountain was commissioned by a " Talmud researcher ". He believed to be able to recognize Kabbalistic numerical mysticism and symbols of Freemasonry . The rubble was then removed and the well-preserved basin was converted into a flower bed. The Gauleiter of Hesse, Karl Weinrich , spoke out against the preservation of the well basin . He wanted to use the area for parades and marches, as this was previously not possible due to the tram tracks running alongside. In the post-war period there was no reconstruction and the basin was used as a fountain .
The memorial
In October 1984 a discussion began about a worthy use or redesign of the mutilated facility. The basis was an ideas competition organized by the “Association for the Rescue of Historical Monuments in Kassel eV”. In 1986, the Kassel municipal authorities decided to redesign the facility based on Horst Hoheisel's proposal. In the course of 1987 the design by the Kassel artist Hoheisel was realized. Although the work was created during documenta 8 , it is not an official documenta contribution. The newly created facility was inaugurated on December 8, 1987. A year later a memorial plaque was set in the ground in front of the fountain.
The executed design is the negative form of the original well sunk into the earth. The water now falls into the funnel-shaped imprint of the pyramid. The twelve meter long top of the pyramid penetrates into the groundwater. The former pool border is loosely grouped around the facility, which functions as a memorial to the persecution of Jews in Kassel. A model of the fountain has been in the Yad Vashem Memorial since 1998 .
First, a replica of the former well was poured out of concrete, which was then lowered into the ground upside down. The concrete sculpture, which weighs around 30 tons, rests underground on a base area of just 12 cm × 12 cm. The plan of the old basin is taken up again by a circumferential water channel, from which six channels lead into the center of the fountain. The water rushes into the interior of the pyramid under walkable metal grids. Only when you enter the facility can you see it as a fountain. Horst Hoheisel says:
- The actual monument is the passerby who stands on it and thinks about why something was lost here.
- (cited n. Ref : Crushed story)
literature
- Horst Hoheisel: Aschrottbrunnen. Frankfurt a. M. 1998
- Horst Hoheisel, Andreas Knitz (ed.): Ground history / art as a detour. Weimar 1999
- Leopold Boxan (Ed.): Aschrottbrunnen. o. O. 1998.
Web links
- Internet presence of H. Hoheisel
- The Ashrott Fountain (Kassel.de)
- Information about the new building
Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 44 " N , 9 ° 29 ′ 32" E