Carnival fountain (Mainz)
The carnival fountain in Mainz is located on Schillerplatz at the corner of Schillerstrasse and Ludwigsstrasse . The monument is intended to symbolize the foolish season . After three years of construction, it was unveiled on January 14, 1967.
Benefactor
In 1963 the city of Mainz asked industrialists from Mainz to participate in the foundation of a new Carnival memorial for the city, which was still marked by war damage. The beverage company Eckes AG from Nieder-Olm under Ludwig Eckes followed this request.
competition
After a competition, a jury headed by the painter and sculptor Ewald Mataré selected the design by the well-known Munich artist Blasius Spreng from among 234 proposals . The design was the result of a collaboration between Spreng and the Mainz architect Helmut Gräf .
layout
The carnival fountain is an almost nine meter high tower-like structure made of bronze, which is provided with more than 200 bronze figures and allegories . Father Rhine , the monk , the fool with his attributes , the harlequin and the man with the board in front of his head , the cat, Till Eulenspiegel , the buffoon and the city goddess Moguntia , the purse washer , vaganten , Schwellköpp or buffoons and jugglers are just a few the motifs that are strongly related to the history of the city of Mainz and Carnival . Also vine tendrils and Weck, Worscht un Woi are represented.
The man riding backwards on a donkey with its tail in hand illustrates a punishment of honor of centuries past. The fools guild in Rottweil imposed this punishment on men who let their wives beat them. The paragraph mark serves to clarify the penal character.
Overall, the tower of fools stands at the top of the fountain, the circumference tapers towards the base. The symbolism should indicate the unstable world of happiness of fools. This also expresses that the joy of life, which is to be symbolized by this monument, is something constant. The fountain also symbolizes the Mainz Cathedral that was "turned upside down" during the carnival season . This can be seen particularly well from the west side of Schillerplatz with a view over the Carnival fountain to the cathedral.
The fountain is framed with a round basin made of red sandstone designed by Helmut Gräf. The Carnival Fountain, together with the Schiller Monument on the opposite side, delimits Schillerplatz with other smaller works of art related to Carnival, old trees and large flower beds. The acceptance of the fountain in the Mainz population is high.
Donkey rider
The monk with the three Ws
The purse washer
Competitive model
In December 2008, the 1:10 scale, around 60 centimeters high and 13 kilograms heavy bronze competition model from the estate of Spreng, who died in 1987, stood together with a bundle of sketch material, photos, development plans and the artist's correspondence with Ludwig Eckes and Lord Mayor Jockel Fuchs on the Internet platform Ebay with an entry-level bid of 4800 euros for sale. At that time, state monument curator Joachim Glatz expressed the hope that the Mainz Carnival Corporations would jointly bring this important piece into the city for the Carnival Museum.
See also
- List of monuments, fountains and sculptures in Mainz
- The liberation monument stood in the same place from 1930 to 1933.
literature
- Michael Jacobs: Exudes timeless magic. In: Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, January 18, 2017, p. 11.
- Ludwig and Peter Eckes (editors): Sparkling Mainz joie de vivre - The Fachtnachtsbrunnen. Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag, 2017.
- Hans-Valentin Kirschner: Fool's thoughts. Self-published, 2004.
- Rudi Henkel: three-part series in the general newspaper Mainz
- Part 1: Sparkling Mainz joie de vivre - 33 years of Fastnachtsbrunnen, January 22, 2000, p. 15.
- Part 2: Fools hustle and bustle in the Mainz dream - figures of the carnival fountain.
- Part 3: With cock feathers and a rooster helmet - At the carnival fountain there is a lot to discover / gods and spirits.
- Hans-Jörg Jakobi: Secret Fastnachtsbrunnen. Edition Erasmus, Mainz (1994) 1999, ISBN 3-92513133-7 .
- Mainz; Quarterly magazines for culture, politics, economics, history: two times eleven years of carnival fountain. Hermann Schmidt publishing house, Mainz 1989.
- Klaus Mayer : Meditations around the Mainz Carnival Fountain. Publisher Krach, 1972.
- Karl Schramm : The Carnival Fountain in Mainz . Verlag Hans Krach, Mainz 1969, ISBN 3-87439010-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lutz Röhrich : Lexicon of the proverbial sayings. Freiburg 1994, p. 393ff.
- ↑ Carnival fountain under the hammer. (No longer available online.) Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz , December 18, 2008, formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 5, 2012 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 52.9 ″ N , 8 ° 16 ′ 5 ″ E