Monument at the Schwanteich
The monument at Schwanteich in Gotha ( Thuringia ) was a water feature in the former park on the ground of today's main post office.
history
The Schwanteich was located at the point where the rear post office of the main post office is today. The monument was located on the site of today's rear building of the cultural center. It was designed around 1805 by the sculptor Friedrich Wilhelm Eugen Döll . A cascade that filled the pond with water enlivened this area with its rustling. Above the cascade, the monument rose 25 feet high, in the shape of a portal , and made up of two stones adorned with hieroglyphics , each 17 feet high, 6 feet wide, 2 feet thick, and weighing over two hundred pounds . Inside the portal , a fountain rose from a basin from which ibises drank, the stream of which broke on the ceiling and spread a rain of dust. A winged shield of Isis adorned the frieze of the monument as a base relief and a sphinx rested on the roof of the monument above the fluted cornice .
After the pond was drained and the Imperial Post Office and the New Lodge building were built, the monument disappeared. Only the sphinx remained on the stairs of the garden entrance of the lodge, but was stored by the Eisser brothers' demolition company after disputes over ownership of the sphinx. She made this available to the city in 1937 and so the Sphinx was first placed in the garden of the district court in the same year, then in 1948 at the request of older Freemasons still alive on the island in the park pond, where seven dead are buried. The Sphinx is still preserved today in its original state.
literature
- Adolf M. Schulze: Local history for the residents of the Duchy of Gotha . Glasses Verlag, Gotha 1845 (3 vols.).
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 '2.7 " N , 10 ° 42" 35.7 " E