Lady Justice Fountain (Dresden)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lady Justice fountain based on a painting by Bernardo Bellotto (1752)
Altmarkt, corner of Badergasse around 1885, with Justitia fountain in front of the Renner department store

The Justitia Fountain was a historical fountain on Dresden's Altmarkt , which existed with multiple modifications from 1478 to 1888.

history

In front of the old town hall on the north side of the Altmarkt, a wooden water trough was set up next to the pillory and court bench in 1478. It was the first fountain in the city.

In 1542 Caspar Voigt von Wierandt received the “gracious concession” from Duke Moritz to branch off a 5-inch pipe from the Hochplauen pipe water and to move it to this trough on the Altmarkt. The associated tube house stood in front of the St. Marien pharmacy.
In 1653, instead of the water trough , Christoph Abraham Walther created a sandstone fountain with the figure of Justitia with scales and sword. Next to the figure stood a watchful crane with a ball as a symbol of caution and vigilance. Provincial coats of arms and the inscription Senatus Dresdensis 1653 were placed in relief on the curved walls . It was Dresden's first monumental fountain.

For centuries, the fountain was the only public water supply in Dresden, but at annual fairs it was often used as a collecting basin for rubbish and as a storage place, so that the decline continued, which was not significantly changed by a renovation in 1750. After the figure of Justitia had crashed, the then city building officer Eichberg received the order in 1839 to renew the fountain. Altogether three sandstone pillars were erected instead of the figure until 1841, granite steps now lead to the fountain.

Nevertheless, these were also weathered again after 40 years: In 1881 the Tiedge Foundation made an offer to renew the statue, but the council refused. However, the situation means that in 1882 the council dealt with it again. After obtaining cost estimates for various design variants, it was finally decided to remove it, especially since the fountain was located in the planned axis of the König-Johann-Strasse to be newly built between Altmarkt and Pirnaischer Platz.

Despite the fact that the fountain had become a symbol of the city, its demolition was decided in 1887 and carried out in the spring of 1888, whereby during the demolition it turned out that a preservation of parts was impossible.

literature

  • Detlef Eilfeld, Jochen Hänsch: The Dresden fountain book - water in its most beautiful form. Volume I. SV Saxonia Verlag, Dresden undated (2014). ISBN 978-3-939248-87-3 , pp. 30-34.
  • Fritz Löffler: The old Dresden - history of its buildings . EASeemann, Leipzig 1981, ISBN 3-363-00007-3 .
  • Stadtlexikon Dresden A-Z . Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1995, ISBN 3-364-00300-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eilfeld, p. 30.
  2. ↑ Eilfeld, p. 31.
  3. ↑ Eilfeld, p. 32.
  4. ↑ Eilfeld, p. 34.
  5. ↑ Löffler, p. 38, p. 283, p. 302, image no. 378

Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 59 ″  N , 13 ° 44 ′ 17 ″  E