Goose Man Fountain (Nuremberg)

Goose man fountain, by Pankraz Labenwolf

The Gänsemännchenbrunnen is one of the oldest fountains in the city of Nuremberg . The fountain is located north of Nuremberg's main market in the St. Sebald district . The name Gänsemännchen refers to the cast bronze fountain figure, which shows a farmer with two geese under his arm. In relation to the Nuremberg fountain, most of the copies were made of the goose man fountain. Famous lovers of the fountain are Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and King Ludwig II .

The fountain in detail

The ore caster Pankraz Labenwolf made the goose male bronze figure at the time of the Renaissance , around the year 1550. As a template, he used a wooden model by the carver Hans Peisser , which is currently in the Fembohaus City Museum in Nuremberg. The bronze fountain figure with two geese under his arm is modeled on a farmer, presumably in the costume of the garlic country north of Nuremberg at the time . The fountain has a stocky shaft . Above it is a renewed chalice-like sandstone basin, in the middle of which the goose man is on a pedestal. The bowl is of a with rosettes occupied wrought iron framed grille. The water drains through the two goose beaks and two pipes that are attached to the base of the figure.

Recently a suggestion was made for the identity of the fountain figure: Philip Melanchthon. The hypothesis states that the fountain was built in honor of Philip Melanchthon, who was responsible for establishing the first urban education system in Nuremberg immediately after the introduction of Protestantism by the city in 1525. On May 23, 1526, Melanchthon gave a speech at the market prominent citizens and officials of the city who inaugurated the first public school in Nuremberg in St. Egidien. The inauguration took place on the feast day of the Annunciation. In earlier years the feast day was celebrated in the market, but these have now been banned because of Protestantism. In the past, the choirboys sang from the graduals of St. Lawrence (two huge illuminated books) on these feast days. On the page with the songs to be sung on the feast day of the Annunciation, a group of geese can be seen at the bottom of the illuminated page. The geese represent the choirboys. In those days the cantor or director of the choir was also the teacher for the youth of Nuremberg. Hence the geese represent the students of Nuremberg and the statue represents Melanchthon holding his young students and leading them into a new era of Protestantism. The geese can also represent the two great books that were once brought to the town square but have not been needed since Protestantism. These large and imposing books were a symbol of Nuremberg's independence, and Melanchthon can also be seen as a symbol of independence from the old church. [1]

Location

The fountain used to be on Gänsemarkt, today's fruit market . After the Second World War he was moved to the courtyard of the new town hall building, behind the town hall , Hauptmarkt 18 .

Replicas

In Nuremberg there is another fountain with the goose man figure at Wilhelm-Spaeth-Straße 47. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who got to know the fountain while visiting Nuremberg, ordered a copy of the figure made of baked clay. A replica of the fountain is at Hohenschwangau Castle . In Weimar , a scaled-down cast was set up as a goose man's fountain opposite the Schillerhaus . In Meiningen is located in the Georgstraße another replica of the fountain. Further copies of the goose man's fountain can be found in Bad Boll on the grounds of the Kurhaus and in Lucerne on Hirschenplatz.

See also

• List of fountains in Nuremberg
• Art and architectural monuments of the city of Nuremberg

literature

• Günther P. Fehring, Anton Ress: The city of Nuremberg. Munich / Nuremberg 1977, ISBN 3-422-00550-1 .
• Elke Masa: Free sculptures in Nuremberg - sculptures, monuments and fountains in the public space of the city . Neustadt / Aisch oAdJ ISBN 3-87707-479-0

novel

• Jakob Wassermann : The Goose Man Berlin 1915

Web links

Commons : Gänsemännchenbrunnen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• History of origin and copies of the fountain at nuernberginfos.de
• Stadtmuseum Fembohaus: Showpiece of the month October 2009 - Hans Peisser: The cast model for the goose man's fountain

Individual evidence

1. ^ Günther P. Fehring, Anton Ress: The city of Nuremberg. 2nd edition edited by Wilhelm Schwemmer. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, ISBN 3-422-00550-1 , p. 260.

Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '17 "  N , 11 ° 4' 39.7"  E