Victory Fountain (Lübeck)
The Siegesbrunnen was a fountain in Lübeck's old town .
Until well into the 19th century , neither representative fountains nor monuments were part of the traditional repertoire of urban planning in Lübeck. Until 1875, there were only two monuments in public space, the Prahl monument and the Arnim monument , which were not dedicated to events but to people and were clearly located outside the actual city area.
It was not until the victory in the Franco-Prussian War and the establishment of the Empire in 1871 that the city of Lübeck took the opportunity to erect a corresponding memorial at a prominent location on the Klingenberg . From a tender went Cologne architect and Dombaumeister Franz Schmitz emerged victorious.
A stone fountain in neo-Gothic style was created. In an octagonal basin, which was surrounded by ornate lanterns and protected by an elaborately worked wrought-iron grille, rose a multi-tiered central column. At the bottom she carried a sweeping collecting basin into which the rays of a fountain poured. Above it were four statues of women as allegories of military strength, trade and commerce, art and science and agriculture . The fountain was crowned by a statue of Germania with a sword and imperial crown in hands. The completed Victory Fountain on the Klingenberg was inaugurated in 1875.
After the First World War, acceptance of the fountain, which was increasingly perceived as an overloaded, pseudo-historical and old-fashioned structure, waned. On the occasion of Lübeck's 700th anniversary in 1926, attempts were made to give it a simpler appearance by removing the decorative elements. At the same time, however, the decorative effect of the fountain was considerably restricted.
In 1931, building director Hans Pieper and the city museum director Carl Georg Heise drew up an official report on the Siegesbrunnen and Marktbrunnen . It found that both were mere superficial imitations of older styles. The final verdict of the expert opinion was: Both fountains must be of artistic value, measured against the standards of our time.
Based on this expert opinion, the Victory Fountain was removed in 1935 by resolution of the Senate. Because of its importance as a monument, the components were initially stored and consideration was given to rebuilding the fountain in front of the mill gate . In the end, however, this option was finally rejected and the elements of the Siegesbrunnen stored in a magazine were no longer used.
literature
- Richard Carstensen: market fountain and victory fountain . In: Der Wagen 1982. Published on behalf of the Society for the Promotion of Charitable Activities . Hansisches Verlagkontor, Lübeck 1982
