Tower Blower Fountain (Bremen)

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The tower blower fountain from 1899 in Bremen

The Turmbläserbrunnen is a fountain column decorated with three brass-making wind instruments in Bremen in front of the south side of the cathedral's towers . It was erected with its bronze group of sculptures by Max Dennert in 1899.

history

The history of the fountain goes back to a pump, the "old Wilhadibrunnen", which stood on the other side of the street until around 1861, which in 1861 had to give way to the construction of the New Stock Exchange . Its water was diverted to a new pump on the south tower of the cathedral. This was also upgraded in 1899 in connection with the completion of the restoration of the cathedral towers, by hiding the water extraction device in a neo-Romanesque round pillar with Gothic buttresses. It also serves as a base for a bronze group of figures showing three minstrels dressed in early modern times with their wind instruments. The stone plinth was designed by Ernst Ehrhardt , the master builder of the cathedral , while the wind section was modeled by the Berlin sculptor Max Dennert. The founder of the whole thing was again the Bremen merchant Franz Schütte , who had already given great support to the restoration of the cathedral.

In 1929 the small monument was moved a few meters closer to the cathedral due to the construction of the bell , also because it had not been used for drawing water for some time. In 1942 the bronze sculpture for the war economy was moved to the furnace, but a replica of the plaster model that was still in existence was set up on October 3, 1956 (at the insistence of the population and against the resistance of the building deputation).

Tower blowers in Bremen

As in other cities, tower blowers in Bremen have been detectable since the end of the Middle Ages. They were city officials who had accommodation in the tower and who were supposed to warn the city of fire and danger. The "tornepieper", one of the council musicians, did his job in the tower of the Ansgariikirche , the tallest in the city. At the cathedral, the tradition of playing chorals on a tower on Sunday mornings after church services did not begin until 1737, but it broke off again in the 18th century. Only recently has the custom of having some chorales , quartets, fugues or folk songs played on trumpets heard from the viewing platform of the south tower has been continued again.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Of the surviving works by Dennert (born 1861 in Friedeberg / Neumark, active in Berlin, died after 1901), apart from the Bremen fountain, only fittings for the Villa Hügel (Essen) (1897/1898) are known. (General Artists Dictionary, Vol. 26, p. 167, article " Dennert ")
  2. ↑ On the old Wilhadibrunnen, which has to be distinguished from the new Wilhadibrunnen in terms of location and inflow , which was later erected in front of the north tower of the cathedral: H. Motz: Bremen in 1663. Report by Count Priorato. In: Bremisches Jahrbuch , Vol. 6, Bremen 1872, p. 9. (“Well, which is called the Wilhadibrunnen, near the Dome, whose water is very beneficial, and from which cold fever sufferers are often given a drink”). - Philip Cornelius Heineken: The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and its area from a topographical, medical and natural history perspective. Volume 1, Bremen 1836, p. 44. - The old Wilhadi fountain . In: Treatises of the Natural Science Association. Vol. XV, 1901, pp. 79ff. - Exhibition catalog Wasser Focke-Museum 1983, cat. No. 16 (with ill.) .. - For the location, see: Cadastre and Surveying Administration Bremen (ed.): Cartographic representation of historical evidence before 1750 in the old town of Bremen . Bremen undated [around 1984], p. 15 and no. 97 in the attached map.
  3. ↑ Oliver Rostek: Bremen music history from the Reformation to the middle of the 18th century. Lilienthal 1999., pp. 181-183, 334f.
  4. ↑ About the tower blowers in Bremen: Oliver Rostek: The tower blower fountain at St. Petri Cathedral , in: Wiltrud Ulrike Drechsel: History in public space. Monuments in Bremen between 1435 and 2001 , Bremen: Donat, 2011, p. 59ff.

literature

  • Beate Mielsch: Monuments, free sculptures, fountains in Bremen 1800–1945. Bremen 1980, p. 33., ISBN 3921749166 .
  • Hans Hermann Meyer: The Bremen old town. Walks into the past. Bremen 2003, pp. 80 f., ISBN 3-86108-686-7 .
  • Oliver Rosteck: The tower blower fountain at St. Petri Cathedral , in: Wiltrud Ulrike Drechsel: History in public space. Monuments in Bremen between 1435 and 2001 , Bremen: Donat, 2011, pp. 58–63

Web links

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

See also

Coordinates: 53 ° 4 ′ 31.2 "  N , 8 ° 48 ′ 30.4"  E