Eisenbarthbrunnen

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Eisenbarthbrunnen in Magdeburg

The Eisenbarthbrunnen is a fountain in Magdeburg's old town .

It is reminiscent of the German craft surgeon , surgeon and star engraver Johann Andreas Eisenbarth ("Doktor Eisenbarth") who worked near the fountain in the early 18th century . The fountain was created by the Stuttgart sculptor Fritz von Graevenitz and unveiled on June 9, 1939 as a gift from the former Mitteldeutsche Landesbank to the city of Magdeburg.

history

The reason for the construction of the fountain was an extension of the Landesbank. The extension to an existing old building resulted in an area seen as a blind spot at the transition between the buildings . In order to break the monotony of this place, those responsible at the bank came up with the idea of ​​building a three-dimensional work of art there, or even cheaper, because of the acoustic stimuli that then existed, a fountain.

Since the extension also includes the place where the house Zum Güldenen Apfel , from 1703 the home of Doctor Eisenbarth, was once , the plan with the fountain was made to honor the famous doctor.

House sign of the former home of Doctor Eisenbarth Zum Gülden Apfel

The Mitteldeutsche Landesbank commissioned Fritz von Graevenitz with the design and execution. In 1938 von Graevenitz presented sketches and models, which were completed in 1939.

Despite the extensive destruction of Magdeburg's inner city by air raids in the Second World War , the fountain and the bank buildings leading to its construction and the difficult urban situation of the location were preserved.

layout

The fountain is dominated by a tall, slender limestone pillar on the top of which there is a figure below life, representing Doctor Eisenbarth. A small jet of water pours out of a pipe from each of the four sides of the pillar into an octagonal stone trough. The eight outer sides of the trough are decorated with bronze plaques, four with inscriptions and four with reliefs.

Figure of Doctor Eisenbarth on the fountain

The Eisenbarth figure realistically reproduces the historical personality in historical costume and in the advertising scene typical of Eisenbart. At the same time, the artist wanted to emphasize the general type of Gernegroß by clearly emphasizing the characteristic situation , who may also have been part of Eisenbarth's character. The fountain can also be used as a symbol for a constantly flowing torrent of speech, which is also said to Eisenbarth.

The inscribed bronze plaques reproduce the Eisenbart song , which made a decisive contribution to the doctor's lasting fame.

The other bronze plaques depict four scenes from the life of Doctor Eisenbarth. In addition to his entry into the city of Magdeburg, also Eisenbarth in the consultation , Eisenbarth during a dental operation and the healing of Colonel von Graevenitz in Stargard .

With the last panel, the artist Fritz von Graevenitz created a memorial to an ancestor. In fact, on February 7, 1716, King Friedrich Wilhelm I instructed the Magdeburg government to send the oculist Eisenbarth to Stargard as quickly as possible . Colonel von Grabnitz from Borck's regiment , who was in Stargard , had a damaged eye and was supposed to be healed. The colonel later led a Magdeburg infantry regiment and was in command of the Magdeburg Fortress .

The order to design the fountain gave Fritz von Graevenitz, who himself suffered an eye disease during the war, the surprising opportunity to get involved in his own family history. Fritz von Graevenitz describes in detail the creation of the first bronze plaque when Eisenbarth moved to Magdeburg in his essay The Third Dimension . The boards were originally supposed to be designed only in silhouette. In the course of the work on the first board, however, a three-dimensional representation of space resulted.

Bronze was chosen as the material for the figure and the panels , which contrasts darkly with the surrounding light stone walls, but at the same time does not absorb the light, but reflects it back. In addition, the lively, richly articulated forms of the figure can be better carved out.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ernst von Niebelschütz, The work and its creator in Der Eisenbarth-Brunnen in Magdeburg , page 17 f.
  2. ↑ by Niebelschütz, page 21
  3. ^ Fritz von Graevenitz, The Third Dimension in Der Eisenbarth-Brunnen in Magdeburg , page 27 ff.
  4. ^ Fritz von Graevenitz, The Third Dimension in Der Eisenbarth-Brunnen in Magdeburg , page 27 ff.
  5. ↑ by Niebelschütz, page 21.
  6. ^ Fritz von Graevenitz, The Third Dimension in Der Eisenbarth-Brunnen in Magdeburg , page 27 ff.

Coordinates: 52 ° 7 ′ 57 ″  N , 11 ° 38 ′ 25 ″  E