Simsonbrunnen (Bern)

The Simson Fountain

The Samson fountain , originally as Schaalbrunnen known is in the Kramgasse in the historic center of the city of Bern and is one of the Swiss capital, fountain from the 16th century.

history

The fountain was built in 1527 and expanded in 1544 by an octagonal water basin and the fountain figure created by Hans Gieng . This depicts the Roman- clad biblical hero Samson grabbing a lion by the mouth to tear it apart (compare Book of Judges 14: 6). Samson was a popular symbol of power in the 16th century and was considered the biblical Heracles .

Samson is armed with the jaws of a donkey (compare Book of Judges 15: 15-17) and also carries the tools of a butcher . It is possible that this fountain was donated by the butchers' guild . Originally it was called Schaalbrunnen (from Schaal as an ancient Bern German name for a slaughterhouse), since 1687 Metzgernbrunnen and only in 1827 did it receive its current name.

The column and figure were replaced in 1973 with copies by Hans Dubi.

Drinking water

The drinking water network of Energie Wasser Bern ewb supplies the well with drinking water , the quality of which is regularly checked.

literature

Paul Hofer : The art monuments of the canton of Bern. The city of Bern - cityscape · fortifications · city gates · installations · monuments · bridges · city fountains · hospitals · orphanages . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History (= Die Kunstdenkmäler der Schweiz . Volume 28 ). tape 1 . Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1952, The city fountains II. Figure fountains of the 16th century 8. Simson fountain, p. 289–294 (467 pp., Biblio.unibe.ch [PDF; 68.9 MB ; accessed on January 30, 2018]).
Berchtold Weber: Historical-topographical lexicon of the city of Bern. Simsonbrunnen (Places \ Sch \ Schweiz (CH) \ Bern (Canton) \ Bern (BE) \ S) . Ed .: Burgerbibliothek Bern (= publications of the Berner Burgerbibliothek ). Bern 2016 ( archives-quickaccess.ch [accessed on February 4, 2018]).

Web links

Commons : Simsonbrunnen (Bern) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Documents on the Simsonbrunnen in the online archive catalog of the Burgerbibliothek Bern
Information about the Simsonbrunnen on g26.ch ( Memento from October 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
The art monuments of the canton of Bern on DigiBern - Bernese culture and history on the Internet

Individual proof

↑ Drinking water quality. The quality of drinking water in the city of Bern is checked regularly. In: bern.ch. Information service of the City of Bern, November 17, 2015, accessed on February 6, 2018 .

46.94797 7.45042Coordinates: 46 ° 56 '52.7 " N , 7 ° 27' 1.5" E ; CH1903: 600897 / one hundred and ninety-nine thousand six hundred and fifty-four

[1] Drinking water quality. The quality of drinking water in the city of Bern is checked regularly. In: bern.ch. Information service of the City of Bern, November 17, 2015, accessed on February 6, 2018 .