Holzmarktbrunnen (Hanover)

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The fountain on the Holzmarkt in front of the Leibnizhaus
A circle of cobblestones marks the older, unexplored well underground
Details on one of the copper-powered pools

The Holzmarktbrunnen (also: Oscar-Winter-Brunnen ) in front of today's Leibnizhaus on Holzmarkt in Hanover is a listed work by various artists.

history

The unexplored precursor well

A few meters before the Holzmarkt fountain, an older fountain was discovered by chance at the Holzmarkt: In connection with the reconstruction of the facade of the Leibnizhaus, the Holzmarkt-Platz was redesigned and paved. In October 1983, a truck surprisingly got stuck underground. It turned out that the truck had sunk into an underground well shaft, "which was carefully made from hewn sandstone." However, since the paving work had to continue quickly, "the interested experts had no choice but to take photos". A closer examination was not carried out due to lack of time - the shaft was "temporarily" covered again. Today a circular arrangement of the paving stones marks the place of discovery of the covered and still unexplored well shaft.

Oscar Winter Fountain

The Hanover-based company Oscar Winter, hardware wholesaler , was planning the foundation of a - sales-promoting - fountain for its centenary. After the building of the Hausmann gold and silver tress factory at Burgstrasse 42 / corner of Pferdestrasse had been acquired (today the location of the Hanover Historical Museum ), the fountain was to advertise the company's (forged) iron goods directly in front of the company's headquarters.

The business owners Oscar Winter and Wilhelm Meier therefore paid for the following artists :

  • the sculptor Charles Gundelach , of the model with the features of Oscar winter blacksmith created, the checking the caduceus as a symbol of trade fixed ;
  • the architect Otto Lüer , according to whose plans the well was built;
  • G. Wilhelm and W. Lind , who supplied the copper-driven fountain bowls;
  • Conrad Geschwind , who contributed further figurative parts, as well
  • HW Wittenberg , who did the blacksmithing.
The fountain from 1896 at ground level;
Lithograph by the Fiedeler & Bayer printing company
Around 1900: women sell agricultural products at the wood market;
colored postcard , anonymous photographer,

The ornamental fountain was opened to the public in 1896, but in 1899 there was such a serious vehicle accident that additions were necessary in 1899/1900 and 1914: With the consent of the architect and the financial support of the former donors, a granite substructure was built that also contained two dog drinks and which could be climbed up two stairs to the side of the roadway. The ornate wrought iron grilles were added later to protect the copper water basins.

The blacksmith's figure was melted down in 1941 during World War II .

Oscar Winter as the original sculpture with a beard;
Reproduction of a photo taken around 1896
Oscar Winter as a young man with a scrutinizing look at the rod of Mercury. Sculpture by Friedrich Adolf Sötebier .

In the years of reconstruction , however, Karl Gundelach's daughter found a small model, based on which the sculptor Friedrich Adolf Sötebier created a new figure of the blacksmith on behalf of the city of Hanover in 1954. While the original figure of Oscar Winter had a beard, the new figure - true to the preserved model - is beardless. Therefore, today's blacksmith looks much younger than the original.

In December 1954 Friedrich Lüddecke then rhymed in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung :

“Welcome, young
journeyman blacksmith, who is decorating the wood market again
and who is now taking a
contemplative view of the area from your“ father's ”position !

The old man had
a thick beard on his chin and cheek ,
but, in keeping with the taste of the day , you are
fairly clean-shaven.

And
if the shave doesn't suit you, let me tell you for consolation:
We all had to lose our hair
at this time because you were missing ... "

The wish ring in Hanover

The seamless forged "wish ring"

A seamlessly executed "wish ring" is embedded in the wrought-iron lattice from 1914 around the fountain bowls: "A" legend "written down in recent days attributes the ring to wishful power when you turn it." The ring refers to a comparable example on the beautiful fountain in Nuremberg .

Archival material

Archival material can be found, for example

  • in the city ​​archive of Hanover the originals of the manufacturer's messages found in the golden ball of the canopy during restoration work in the 1980s : a regulars' table photo with the signatures of all those involved in the construction, a short historical note and the names of the employees of the “Wilhelm Wittenberg art and building metalworker” , Hanover, Göhrdestrasse No. 6 "

literature

Web links

Commons : Holzmarktbrunnen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerd Weiß, Marianne Zehnpfennig: Holzmarkt. In: Monument Topography Federal Republic of Germany / Architectural Monuments in Lower Saxony / City of Hanover, Part 1, Vol. 10.1, ed. by Hans-Herbert Möller , Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1983, ISBN 3-528-06203-7 , p. 61, as well as center , in the appendix directory of architectural monuments acc. § 4 (NDSchG) (excluding architectural monuments of the archaeological monument preservation) / Status: July 1, 1985 / City of Hanover, Lower Saxony State Administration Office - Institute for Monument Preservation , p. 4
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Rainer Ertel, Ernst-Friedrich Roesener, 1988
  3. ↑ Waldemar R. Röhrbein : Winter - Oscar W., hardware wholesaler. In: Stadtlexikon Hannover , p. 681
  4. ^ Rainer Ertel: Holzmarktbrunnen. In: Stadtlexikon Hannover , p. 307
  5. ↑ According to the document that was found in 1984/85 together with other papers in the "golden" ball on the crown of the canopy during a general overhaul of the fountain
  6. ↑ Ertel, Roesener, 1998
  7. ↑ Günter Siebert, Wolfram Kummer: The "Oskar-Winter-Brunnen" ... (see literature), p. 401

Coordinates: 52 ° 22 '17.3 "  N , 9 ° 43' 56.9"  E