Market fountain (Mainz)
The market fountain in Mainz is a renaissance fountain on the market . It was donated in 1526 by the Elector Albrecht von Brandenburg and was probably created in the workshop of the Mainz sculptor Peter Schro . The market fountain is one of the first architecturally designed decorative fountains of the Renaissance and is considered the most important of its kind.
history
The reason for the foundation of the fountain for the Mainz population were two events: On the one hand, the founder, the Mainz Elector and Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, celebrated the happy end of the German Peasant War in his royal seat. There had been unrest there in April 1525 and 31 articles of the insurgent population were passed, which the city administration and the cathedral chapter had to approve in the absence of the elector. After the military uprising of the peasant uprising, however, the Mainzers submitted to their sovereign again on July 1, 1525 without further action. With the inscription on the representative market fountain, Albrecht also honored Emperor Charles V and his victory at Pavia over Francis I , whose capture is also mentioned.
The fountain, which Albrecht expressly donated to the Mainz population, was initially designed as a draw well and became an important source of fresh water in the city center. In 1767 it was converted into a pump well. In 1889, the market fountain was moved to the northeast side of the square for the first time and later added a Madonna figure as the upper end. During the Second World War , the market fountain was walled in and survived the bombing of Mainz without major damage. As part of the redesign of the cathedral area and the establishment of a large contiguous pedestrian zone, it was finally returned to its original location in 1975, near the cathedral houses .
architecture
The market fountain is a three-pillar fountain made of red sandstone . The round fountain trough, to which two flat steps lead up, is structured by the three pedestals of the pillars with flat relief . These carry a triangular-shaped surrounding entablature on which there is also the donor's inscription. Above the entablature is a figuratively richly decorated and openwork crown made of light sandstone. A pillar canopy forms the end of the fountain . The so-called “market flag” with the coat of arms of the sovereign, who acted as protector and judge of the market, originally sat on it. Today there is a statue of the Madonna that was added later. This was created in 1890 by the Mainz sculptor Valentin Barth and put on after the first relocation of the market fountain. On this occasion, a comprehensive restoration of the upper parts of the fountain took place, most of which were replaced by copies made of yellow sandstone. The inside of the pillars and the trough have also been redesigned. The signature of the restorer can be found in an inscription on the edge of the pool: VAL. BARTH, SCULPTOR / MOGUNTINUS, / NOVAVIT ET PERFECIT / MDCCCXC.
The fountain was probably created by the sculptor Peter Schro , a student of Hans Backoffens , who died in 1519 . Between 1520 and his death in 1544, he created numerous Renaissance sculptures in Mainz and in the Rhine-Main area, including many grave monuments. Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg had already employed him as an artist. On his behalf, he made two consecration tablets and an extensive cycle of figures in the collegiate church in Halle . Peter Schro's son Dietrich Schro made the grave monument in Mainz Cathedral erected only after the archbishop's death .
Image program
The image program of the ornate market fountain reflects the glorification of the city lord and the victory of the God-given order against rebels. For example, the picture of a drunken farmer with a red rooster is overwritten with the words O BEDENK DAS END . Allegorical symbols such as the skull or the hourglass also warn the viewer. There are also a number of other symbols such as symbols of justice that stood for the politics of the sovereign, floral ornaments and arabesques .
At the top of the fountain, mythical creatures hold the coats of arms of the founder: two personal coats of arms of Albrecht von Brandenburg with Hohenzollern and Brandenburg emblems as well as coats of arms with the emblems of his three (ore) dioceses of Halberstadt , Magdeburg and Mainz . Also shown is the cardinal's hat that Albrecht received in 1518. Further coats of arms can be found in the three corners of the fountain. In each corner there is a putto on a ball and presents a large coat of arms. The western of the three wears small armor and presents the shield of the cathedral chapter in the style of the Renaissance. The other two coat of arms holders were renewed in the 18th century and show a dragon, the heraldic animal of Elector Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach-Bürresheim , in a baroque cartouche shield on the Mainz wheel to the south . Under him, the market fountain was renovated after lightning struck Mainz Cathedral on May 25, 1767 and the fire also caused damage in the immediate vicinity.
In the niches of the pillars stand the two city saints Martin von Tours and Bonifatius as well as Ortisei as the source patron.
Donor inscription
The donor's inscription is in the crossbar of the triangular entablature. In spite of the fact that the fountain is dedicated to the people who do not know Latin, it is written in Latin. This translates as:
“ Receive what Albert, the Prince, gave to his citizens whom, as the zealous protector of the Venerable, he loves heartily and will always love, so that they may reward love with love. At the time when Emperor Charles V, always a member of the empire, defeated the King of the French at Pavia, captured him himself and destroyed the unfortunate peasant conspiracy in Germany, Cardinal Albert, Archbishop of Mainz, used this fountain, which had decayed through age Have the use of its citizens and descendants restored. In 1526. "
See also
Web links
literature
- State Office for Monument Preservation Rhineland-Palatinate (Ed.): Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Volume 2.2 .: City of Mainz - Old Town. in: Monument topography of the Federal Republic of Germany . Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 1997 (3rd edition), ISBN 3-88462-139-4
- Rolf Dörrlamm, Susanne Feick, Hartmut Fischer, Hans Kersting: Mainz contemporary witnesses made of stone. Architectural styles tell 1000 years of history. Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 2001, ISBN 3-87439-525-1
- Stefan Heinz: O Bedenck the end - The Mainz market fountain. A contribution to the Memoria Albrechts von Brandenburg. In: Andreas Tacke (Ed.): Continuity and caesura. Ernst von Wettin and Albrecht von Brandenburg (series of publications by the Moritzburg Foundation, Art Museum of the State of Saxony-Anhalt 1). Wallstein-Verlag, Göttingen 2005, pp. 264-349.
Individual evidence
- ^ Rolf Dörrlamm, Susanne Feick, Hartmut Fischer, Hans Kersting: Mainz contemporary witnesses made of stone. Architectural styles tell 1000 years of history. P. 110.
- ^ Horst Reber: From the art of the Renaissance and Baroque in Mainz. In: * Franz Dumont (ed.), Ferdinand Scherf , Friedrich Schütz : Mainz - The history of the city. 2nd Edition. Philipp von Zabern Verlag, Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2000-0 , p. 1102
- ^ Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Volume 2.2 .: City of Mainz - Old Town. in: Monument topography of the Federal Republic of Germany . P. 264
- ^ Translation by Fritz Arens , quoted from: Horst Reber: From the art of the Renaissance and the Baroque in Mainz. In: Franz Dumont, Ferdinand Scherf, Friedrich Schütz (Hrsg.): Mainz - The history of the city. P. 1100
Coordinates: 49 ° 59 '58.1 " N , 8 ° 16'26.8" E