Stuhlmannbrunnen
The Stuhlmannbrunnen in the Hamburg district of Altona (until 1938 an independent city of Altona / Elbe ) is an imposing, multi-figure fountain with a water feature (inaugurated at Pentecost 1900); Today it is on the Republic Square , the central green area between the town hall , museum and Altonas train station .
Founder and namesake
Günther Ludwig Stuhlmann (born February 10, 1797 in Neumühlen ; † March 30, 1872 in Nice ; burial site in the Altona cemetery on Diebsteich) was the founder and director of Altonaer Gas- und Wasseranstalt AG , whose gasworks were also built on his private property on the banks of the Elbe . In 1869 he bequeathed around 75,000 Marks Courant to his "hometown Altona" with the determination to use this legacy to finance a new tower for the Christian church in Ottens , a city morgue, a public garden and a fountain. According to the donor's wishes, the fountain was to be located on the west side of the Palmaille , between the train station and the Geest slope, which descends steeply towards the Elbe .
Planning and construction
It was not until the Altona train station was moved to the north and the old building was converted into the new town hall (opened in 1898), however, 25 years after Stuhlmann's death, a representative location for the fountain, Kaiserplatz . The Berlin-based sculptor Paul Türpe (1859–1944) won the competition for a “monumental, artistically significant fountain” that was advertised throughout Germany by the Altona magistrate with his model “Kampf” against much more well-known competition (including Eberlein , Wandschneider , Hausmann, Dittler, Hosaeus ) .
According to the unpublished memoirs of Wandschneider, Türpe's design is said to have been a plagiarism of his own, smaller competition entry (“Centauren Brunnen”). The judge then advised Brütt Wandschneider to make another presentation in Altona; He was then turned down by Mayor Otto Giese , referring to the award that had already been made, even if the mayor confirmed to him that the costs originally estimated by Türpe (30,000 marks) were clearly underestimated. In December 1897, the mayor issued the construction contracts; The sculptures for the fountain were made by the Berlin coppersmith Otto Bommer based on Türpe's model and under his supervision.
Technically, the figures are a hollow construction made of 2 mm thick copper sheet with welded seams on an iron frame; only the lizards are cast in bronze. Despite all structural and financial adversities - the fountain ultimately cost around 45,000 marks - the Stuhlmann fountain was inaugurated on June 1, 1900.
Sculpture and symbolism
A seven and a half meter high group of figures rises from a 10 by 20 meter large, oblong basin with a low border and an underground well chamber, in which two centaurs are wrestling over a huge fish that protrudes upwards between them; one of the two contestants seems to stumble and is threatened with defeat ( picture ). On pedestals at the edge of the pool, much smaller water dwellers ( tritons , nereids and lizards) surround the fighting and spew powerful water jets indignantly at these intruders; The main fountain of the fountain rises several meters from the mouth of the contested fish.
This sculpture is generally understood as an allegory of the long competition between the neighboring cities of Altona and Hamburg in fishing and processing, in which Altona was ahead of the curve at the turn of the century. In addition, many Altona residents felt that Hamburg was already “ righteous ” in the 16th century , which, from the point of view of many Altona residents, has by no means come to an end with the incorporation of Altona , but continues to the present day in a certain neglect by the Senate .
Stuhlmannbrunnen at the old place in 1912, in the background Altona train station and Hotel Kaiserhof
Well details
Changes in the 20th century
In 1978, during the construction of the City-S-Bahn , the Stuhlmannbrunnen was relocated to a sloping ramp in the newly created southern entrance to the underground S-Bahn station, where it was below ground level and thus completely robbed of its monumental effect. Also, for reasons of cost, its water bubbled less and less. Since then, citizens and the local media have repeatedly advocated the repair and relocation of the well.
Since the beginning of the 1990s there was an acute risk of collapse because the outer skin was damaged in many places during the last intensive restoration (1951) and the inner support structure was completely corroded , but Hamburg's Senate did not want to provide funds for the renovation, the fountain was moved into a wooden shed enclosed. As a result, various activities began to save the work of art, in which local companies also took part in the district assembly and district office manager in Altona: they approved the weeks-long wrapping of the Altona town hall with the Holsten-Brauerei AG advertising plan for a 50,000 mark donation . The fountain figures were dismantled in 1998 and extensively renewed on the grounds of the Norddeutsche Affinerie . For this purpose, a new above-ground location was set up a few meters to the south, on which the fountain has stood in its old splendor since 2000.
The fountain has been illuminated in the dark since spring 2005, thereby fulfilling the penultimate part of Stuhlmann's will. The Altona city coat of arms was attached to the edge of the fountain in 2010, which completely fulfilled the will. The water will be able to bubble for the next few years. These costs were also raised through private patronage . That is why it is also mockingly called " Fielmann wells - because the Senate has not paid any marks" with some older residents of Altona.
literature
- Hans Ehlers: From Altona's past. VGHA, Altona 1926
- Renata Klée Gobert: The architectural and art monuments of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Volume II: Altona Elbe suburbs. C. Wegner, Hamburg 1959
- Stadtteilarchiv Ottensen eV / Stiftung Denkmalpflege Hamburg (ed.): The Stuhlmannbrunnen. Symbol and landmark in the heart of Altona. Dölling and Galitz, Hamburg 2000 ISBN 3-933374-72-3
- Christoph Timm: Altona old town and north. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Christians, Hamburg 1987 ISBN 3-7672-9997-6
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Simone Wendorff: Stuhlmann-Brunnen receives Altona city arms. (No longer available online.) In: altona.info. June 1, 2010, archived from the original on July 7, 2016 ; Retrieved July 20, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 53 ° 32 '59 " N , 9 ° 56'7" E