Mohrenbrunnen (Freising)
The Mohrenbrunnen is a fountain in Freising (Upper Bavaria). It was created around 1700 by the Munich sculptor Franz Ableithner in the Baroque style. The client was the Freising Prince-Bishop Johann Franz Eckher von Kapfing and Liechteneck .
Inspired by the Andreasbrunnen erected in 1697 , which also comes from Ableithner's workshop, the art-loving bishop commissioned a marble fountain for the space in the middle of the cathedral courtyard in front of the Freising Cathedral . Based on the coat of arms of the Hochstift Freising , which has shown a crowned Moor's head since the 13th century, Ableithner created a stocky, 2.10-meter-high Moor statue that spouts water from a cornucopia . The figure was set up in the middle of a wide basin and, in addition to representing the episcopal taste in art, also served as a horse drink.
In the turmoil of secularization and the dissolution of the bishopric, numerous buildings and objects associated with episcopal rule were destroyed. The Mohrenbrunnen was demolished and ended up as rubble on a dump belonging to the Einsele brothers' stonemasonry. It was not until 1869 that the Moor figure reappeared during clean-up work after the company had been sold. The right hand with the cornucopia had broken off, the figure badly contaminated. The stonemason Franz restored them and sold them to the city for 60 guilders.
The City of Freising's magistrate did not initially find a suitable place for the Mohren, as the monument to Otto von Freising was erected at the original location in the cathedral courtyard in 1857 . Therefore, the Mohrenbrunnen was set up in the municipal gymnasium, today's Luitpoldanlage. At the suggestion of the local beautification association, it was moved to its current location below the Domberg on the right bank of the Moosach opposite the Altöttinger Chapel in November 1901 . An artificial limestone rock formation was created as a substructure for the figure .
In 1993 the marble figure was replaced by a copy made from Istrian limestone by the sculptor Wilhelm Breitsameter . The original has since been exhibited in the Diocesan Museum in Freising .
literature
- Wolfgang Grammel: The Freisinger Mohrenbrunnen. Freising 1999.
- The Freising Mohrenbrunnen.pdf
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 23 '52 " N , 11 ° 44' 35.3" E