Hygieia fountain (Karlsruhe)

The Hygieía fountain in front of the entrance to the Vierordtbad (2011)

The Hygieía fountain in Karlsruhe was created by Johannes Hirt between 1905 and 1909 and donated by Wilhelm Klose , which is why it is also referred to as the Klose fountain in predominantly older literature.

The fountain is located in front of the Vierordtbad and takes up the motif of Hygieía , which is already shown in the gable above the entrance to the bath. Hygieía is the goddess of health in Greek mythology , from which the word hygiene is derived.

The bowl fountain is made of bronze . On the pedestal in the middle, Hygieía is the only one dressed and holds a jug from which water flows in her left hand and in her right hand a snake (attribute of her father Asklepios ) whose mouth spits water. The goddess is flanked by young men on both sides next to the base. At the corners of the base, gray herons spew water, and water pours into the fountain from a dozen fish heads. The originally gilded inscription on the base under Hygieía reads: Flow pure and bright / source of health (front) and give the strong courage / sick fresh blood (back). Two boys and two girls sit on the edge of the round fountain bowl. Everyone takes a dip in the water that Hygieía donates; it is supposed to symbolize the healing effect of water. The water falls from the fountain bowl into a round bottom basin. Before the redesign of the fairground in 1981 - the fountain is on the edge of the square - this basin still had one step.

Due to its artistic value, the fountain was not melted down during the two world wars. In 2011, a model of the fountain was discovered in the garden of the listed Loschwitz Villa at Schevenstrasse 27 in Dresden . The model was probably created in 1906 to present the design to the people of Karlsruhe and to avoid controversies such as the construction of the Stephanienbrunnen (1905). The model is about 90 cm high, made of copper and functional.

In 2013 the fountain was not in operation and a fountain figure was missing. This stolen bronze girl was found in a forest near Bellheim . There she was placed on the main road and "in the name Mirror Bach mermaid christened" because its origin was not recognized until the end of the year. Because of a missing finger and further saw marks, it is assumed that it should be sold as scrap metal in pieces .

The Hygieia-Brunnen is a cultural monument according to § 2 Monument Protection Act ( DSchG BW ). The European Well Society guarantees the basic maintenance of the well in need of renovation through a well sponsorship; the maintenance obligation lies with the Karlsruhe horticultural authority. The well is operated by a circulation system.

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  Girl on the south-eastern edge of the fountain

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  Boy at the northeast edge of the well

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  Hygieía in the middle of the fountain flanked by two young men

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  Girl on the northwestern edge of the fountain ("Spiegelbachnixe")

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  Boy on the southwest edge of the well

literature

• Claudia Pohl: Art in urban space. Sculpture guide for Karlsruhe. (= Lindemanns Bibliothek , Volume 22.) Info-Verlag, Karlsruhe 2005, ISBN 3-88190-399-2 , p. 151 f. (Chapter 5. Place and place: Festplatz and surroundings; 374 pages; limited preview in Google Book Search)
• Gerhard Kabierske: 18 Hygieia fountains. In: Heinz Schmitt (ed.): Monuments, fountains and free sculptures in Karlsruhe 1715–1945. (= Publications of the Karlsruhe City Archives , Volume 7.) Badenia-Verlag, Karlsruhe 1987, ISBN 3-7617-0264-7 . P. 460 ff.
• Die Kunst, Monthly Bulletin for Free and Applied Arts , OCLC 224461554 , Volume 35, p. 534. ( The cited page is available in the Internet Archive ) (Contemporary publication in which the work is highly praised.)

Web links

Commons : Hygieia-Brunnen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The Hygieia fountain in the fountain information system of the European Well Society Section Karlsruhe
• Hygieia-Brunnen (Karlsruhe) in the Stadtwiki Karlsruhe
• Image of the stolen figure as a "Spiegelbach Nixe " on naturfoto-suedpfalz.de (Photo: Karl Verlohner)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Die Kunst - Monthly Bulletin for Free and Applied Arts . Volume 35, p. 534.
2. ^ European Fountain Society eV Karlsruhe section: Karlsruher Brunnenbrief 1/2009 (PDF, 836 kB), p. 7 (2.7 One hundredth birthday of the Hygieia fountain).
3. ^ ^{A b} European Fountain Society, Karlsruhe section: Karlsruhe fountain letter February 2011 (pdf, 1.5 MB), p. 4f (model of the Hygieia fountain rediscovered in Dresden).
4. ↑ ^{a b}  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , BzK online - Südweststadt. (The text is largely identical to the Karlsruhe Brunnenbrief February 2011.)  
5. ↑ Stolen fountain figure: girl is now returning . City newspaper. Official Journal of the City of Karlsruhe, Volume 68, Issue No. 5, January 31, 2014. (Printed as a supplement (there on p. 3) to Der Kurier (Volume 51, Issue Karlsruhe No. 5, January 31, 2014) and online at presse.karlsruhe.de)
6. ^ The Hygieia fountain in the database of cultural monuments of the city of Karlsruhe
7. ↑ Well information system

Coordinates: 49 ° 0 '7.6 "  N , 8 ° 24' 8.8"  E