Market fountain (Lübeck)

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Market fountain on an illustration from 1874

The market fountain was a fountain in Lübeck's old town , inaugurated in 1873. The water system supplied the residents with drinking water until the 1920s, when it was removed in 1934.

history

Until well into the 19th century , representative fountains were not part of the traditional repertoire of urban planning in Lübeck. Only in the wake of the founding of the empire in 1871 did a need for lavish decoration of public spaces develop.

The neo-Gothic particularly accommodated the newly emerging need for jewelry , as this historicizing recourse to forms of the Middle Ages , which at the time was considered the first epoch of German greatness in the historical understanding of the time, symbolically established a connection to the newly established empire. For the city's decision to build a representative fountain on the central square of Lübeck, the market , which is partly characterized by the Gothic town hall , a corresponding historicizing design was an option.

From a tender went architect Hugo Schneider emerged victorious. For a fee of 4500 thalers (total cost 8842 thalers), Schneider personally took on the implementation of his design. The sculptural decoration in the form of four monumental sculptures was made by the Aachen sculptor Wilhelm Pohl .

A fountain was built in the market from French limestone , the base of which was formed by a water basin in the shape of a four-leaf clover , surrounded by four richly decorated two-armed lanterns on high stone plinths and a wrought iron grille. In the middle of it rose a square pillar, which initially carried the collecting basin of the fountain, then above it the statues of Adolf II von Schauenburg , Heinrich the Lion , Emperor Barbarossa and Emperor Friedrich II , all of which were of decisive importance for Lübeck's early days. A tower loomed above the statues, leaning on the shape of the tops of Gothic cathedral towers, crowned by a Lübschen double-headed eagle . On March 22nd, 1873, the 77th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the completed market fountain was inaugurated.

While the fountain was seen by some as a stylish addition to the market ensemble, others criticized the building at an early stage, which made it impossible to get an unobstructed view of the town hall from any point in the market. After the First World War, acceptance of the fountain, which was increasingly perceived as an overloaded, pseudo-historical and old-fashioned structure, waned. In addition, the limestone used proved to be not resistant to aging; the originally light surfaces turned black, the material decomposed and individual parts broke off. The statue of Frederick II even lost both hands.

In an attempt to simplify the fountain, which no longer even carries water, to make it appear less obtrusive, decorations that were perceived as exaggerated were removed in 1929, including the surrounding stone pillars and lanterns. In 1931, building director Hans Pieper and the city museum director Carl Georg Heise drew up an official report on the Siegesbrunnen and Marktbrunnen. It found that both were mere superficial imitations of older styles. The final verdict of the expert opinion was: “Both fountains must have an artistic value, measured by the standards of our time.” With regard to the market fountain, it was also determined that it was a dead structure, the necessary space of the relatively small market square useless occupies ... it is a duty to the traffic to remove the market fountain.

Based on this report, the market fountain was demolished in 1934 by a resolution of the Senate. The four statues were preserved and are now in different places. Heinrich the Lion stands in the box house on Schildstraße , the three other statues and two lions holding the coat of arms, which also come from the fountain, adorn the facade of Erasmusstraße 14 in Freiburg im Breisgau .

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