Basel fountain
The Swiss city of Basel is rich in fountains . There are currently around 200 public fountains that are operated and maintained by IWB (Industrielle Werke Basel). There are also over 120 fountains in the playgrounds of school buildings, state properties or in private gardens. Many of these fountains have a historically valuable meaning and are under monument protection . All wells in which the water flows from a well tube have fresh drinking water; that is - with three exceptions - practically all of them.
This list contains fountains which have a connection with the history of Basel or whose construction or uniqueness deserve a special mention.
Fountain story
In the Middle Ages , the townspeople drew their water from sod wells and hole wells (local springs emerging in the urban area, which were captured and the water of which was fed into pipes to drain into a well). The oldest known Basler Sodbrunnen is the one on the Münsterplatz. It dates back to around 300, reached a depth of around 20 meters and was used to supply the residents of the cathedral hill with drinking water.
In the 13th century, a total of 13 springs emerged in the center of the city of Basel, which were used for 18 public fountains. There were also 13 private hole wells, which also obtained their water from springs. In order to be able to provide the higher parts of the city with running well water, the Augustinian Canons of St. Leonhard, founded in 1135, directed spring water from its estates towards Allschwil to its monastery before 1265. The first well, later called Spalen well, was the result of a joint effort between this monastery and the city. The water was led into the city through wooden pipes, called Teucheln ( Deicheln ). A year later, the Münster well was built, which - starting from a spring in Binningen - supplied the residents of the cathedral hill with drinking water. In the course of the following centuries, other well works such as the Riehener Werk, the Steinenwerk, the Gundeldingerwerk and the St. Alban -brunnwerk were built. The Brunnstube of the St. Alban-Brunnwerk still exists; the water from the spring flows into the Kneipptret fountain on St. Alban-Rheinweg.
As recently as the 1850s, there were over 500 public and private fountains in the city; around 220 were connected to wells, around 30 were fed by local springs and over 250 were sod wells, with which the groundwater was brought up. Due to the rapid population growth, hygienic problems arose, which is why a system of drinking water supply was introduced in 1866 - which was very advanced at the time. For this purpose, spring water was directed from Grellingen to Basel and at the same time an appropriate sewage network was provided. Little by little, all wells were connected to this new pipe network, and private households also received a pressurized water supply . As a result, the wells lost their original function as water dispensers; however, they continue to shape the cityscape.
Significant fountains
- Fischmarktbrunnen (Basel) - A Gothic fountain built around 1390 on the Fischmarktplatz.
- Carnival fountain - this fountain, created by the artist and iron sculptor Jean Tinguely , has been rattling, squeaking and bubbling in front of the city theater since 1977 .
- Urban fountain - fountain built in 1448, which is decorated with a statue of St. Urban .
- Spalenberg Fountain ("John the Baptist") - the largest niche fountain in the city from 1839. It has been decorated with a mural by the painter Nima Donzé since 1921 .
- Basilisk Fountain - Around 30 fountains with Basel's heraldic animal , the basilisk . This type fountain was created in 1884.
- Samson and Delila Fountain - the fountain stands on Barfüsserplatz and was built in 1843 and crowned in 1878 with the Old Testament lovers Samson and Delila .
- Elisabethenbrunnen - A fountain built in 1875. It is crowned with a 1.5 m high statue of St. Elisabeth .
literature
- Markus Fürstenberger (text), Pitt Rüegger (woodcuts): Basler Brunnen. Explanations with colored woodcut illustrations of 40 Basel fountains. Helgestuube, Hergiswil 1994, ISBN Hergiswilg
- Beat Trachsler: Basel fountains from old and new times. GS, Basel 1998.
- Christiane Widmer, Christian Lienhard: Basel and its fountains. BwieBasel Edition 01. Spalentor Verlag, Basel, 2016.
Web links
- Basler Brunnenführer - All fountains in the city of Basel
- Image database of the city of Basel: fountain
- Basler Brunnen on altbasel.ch
- https://h2o.do/ch-bl Fountain map of Basel based on OGD and civil society crowd services