Neptune Fountain (Bremen)

Neptune Fountain in Bremen

The Neptune Fountain on the Domshof in Bremen is a work of art by the sculptor Waldemar Otto that was erected in 1991. It is one of the few modern Neptune fountains .

The fountain

The fountain is located in the city center of Bremen on the Domshof , in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral and town hall . It is oriented so that it looks between these two buildings towards the House of Citizenship . The base in the form of a superellipse has a size of around 4 × 6 meters, a height of around 3.5 meters and consists of a base made of green granite from the Swiss Andeer and a group of figures made of bronze . In the base, which rises three steps above the surrounding level, a flat basin is embedded in the center. In it stands a massive table-like platform that contains the water fountains and carries the main characters. The long sides of the base are flanked by two granite blocks that serve as benches.

The fountain was financed by donations and funds from the Wohnliche Stadt Foundation. The implementation was voted on in 1990. The residents of Bremen were able to choose between three drafts, and there was also the opportunity to express their personal opinion on the proposals in a book that was displayed.

The group of figures

Rear view of the fountain

Detail of the fountain - Triton, son of Poseidon

The group of figures in the fountain shows various figures from Roman and Greek mythology . In the middle stands the sea god Neptune (Greek Poseidon ), who rides over the waves on his horse-drawn carriage and stretches his trident upwards. The carriage itself is indicated by a granite block that rises above the fountains (i.e. above the water level), only Poseidon himself and the team of horses are sculpted in bronze, with the two horses spraying water from their nostrils every now and then , only the heads are sculpted.

On the side of the car you can see Triton , son of Poseidon, who with the help of a shell - which he blows like a fanfare - can stir up or smooth the waves. At the edge of the pool sits the aged Nereus , father of the Nereids (the sea nymphs). The fourth main character at the back of the fountain is Proteus , the prophetic and form-changing sea god, half of whose shape is covered by a half-cylinder, which symbolizes a transformation that has just been initiated. There are also some smaller figures, such as sea nymphs on the edge of the platform and fish on the bottom of the pool.

The central figure of Poseidon, but also that of Proteus, are designed in the shape of the torsos typical of Otto . In addition, both figures, which look massive when viewed from the front, appear from a different perspective as open shells and, in the case of Poseidon, an inner structure made of metal struts - similar to a skeleton - can be recognized.

Works by Otto in Bremen

From Otto came from Bremen a. a. still encounter (1976) in Vegesack , mass sport (1979) on the boulevard of the University of Bremen , the sculpture Zurschicht (1983) in Gröpelingen , Great Hephaestus II (1991) in Schwachhausen , Great Bacchus II (1992) in Hemelingen and Agamemnon in Bremen - Center on President-Kennedy-Platz .