Centaur Fountain (Bremen)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The centaur fountain from 1891 in the original location. Photo around 1900
The centaur fountain at the current location.

The bronze sculpture of a horse man fighting a snake (centaur, from Latin centaurus , also centaur ) by the sculptor August Sommer belongs to the centaur fountain from 1891 . The well is now in Leibnizplatz Park in Bremen's district Neustadt drawn up, as part of the New Town ramparts to the Leibnizplatz borders.

history

On condition that Bremen pays for water costs and maintenance, the merchant Heinrich August Gildemeister offered his hometown in 1889 to build a fountain at his expense, for which August Sommer, who lives in Rome, had already made a model. The foundation was not entirely altruistic, as it was intended for a space directly in front of his house on the corner of Bismarckstrasse / Schwachhauser Chaussee (today Schwachhauser Heerstrasse ) and was intended to take the place of an advertising pillar. The suggestion probably came from Arthur Fitger , who boasted that he had drawn attention to August Sommer, who was also little known in Rome. On September 22nd, 1891, the fountain, whose parts made of red granite were designed by the architect Eduard Gildemeister , was erected. The bronze figure was cast by Nelli in Rome in 1890. The original mosaic floor ("with dolphins and other water creatures") of the fountain was designed by the Dortmund Mosaic Rudolf Leistner . During the Second World War, the bronze sculpture escaped the "material donation" for the war industry. After the war, the re-erection was delayed due to changes in traffic planning at the old location. A suitable new location was found in Leibnizplatz in Bremer Neustadt, and the fountain there was rebuilt on August 5, 1958. The Centauren pharmacy , which is still located near the former location, has kept its name in the original spelling of the 19th century.

The sculpture of the centaur

Balancing on a narrow rock, the centaur rears up to defend himself against a snake that has entwined him. Its upward movement is increased by the kinked hind legs and the vertical of the snake's head, which also dictates the direction of the upstream water jet. Naturalistically modeled and reminiscent in its composition of pictorial works of Mannerism or the Baroque period , the work corresponds to the pompous artistic ideal of late historicism .

There is no legendary tradition in literature or iconography on the subject of a fight between a centaur and a snake. The interpretation that " this centaur struggle can be understood as a symbolic representation of the competition between the imperialist colonial powers " is speculation that has not been substantiated. The repeatedly discussed question of whether Gildemeister wanted to use the fountain to prevent an actually planned Bismarck monument from being placed in front of his house, or even the snake (which is quite unlike a Bismarck ring python ) contains a hidden allusion to the cunning Reich Chancellor, is also the question can hardly be answered with sufficient certainty. It remains to be seen whether the subject of the picture is based on a content-related intention. Comparable is a similar motif, which shows the battle of the centaur against a dragon on the baroque fountain of the market square of Frohburg (Saxony) from the year 1899.

A much smaller version of the fountain was installed in the vestibule of the Coburg town hall in 1902.

inscription

His hometown died by Heinrich A. Gildemeister. Designed & executed by A. Sommer in Rome in 1890

See also

proof

  1. ↑ Weser newspaper September 23, 1891
  2. ↑ Mielsch, p. 55
  3. ^ So Albrecht, p. 149
  4. ↑ Scholz, pp. 74f., Note 31
  5. ↑ The artist gave the indoor fountain with the centaur sculpture in old age to his hometown. (See Arnold Rehm: "Father" of the Centaurenbrunnen discovered in Coburg , in: Bremer Nachrichten, December 30, 1961, with illus.) There is also a plaster model of the sculpture (2014) in the west pavilion of the Coburg Hofgarten, it could be identical to that Model that was presented to the Bremen Senate as a photo before the order was placed in 1889.

Web links

literature

  • Bremen and its buildings , Bremen 1900, p. 368
  • Beate Mielsch: Monuments, free sculptures, Brunnen , 1980, pp. 31, 55, fig. 49, 50
  • Herbert Albrecht: Bremer Buildings and Monuments , Bremen 1979, pp. 146–151
  • Birgit Scholz: The Centaurs Fountain in the Bremen Neustadtswallanlagen . In: Wiltrud Ulrike Drechsel: History in public space. Monuments in Bremen between 1435 and 2001 . Bremen: Donat, 2011, p. 29f.

Coordinates: 53 ° 4 ′ 8 ″  N , 8 ° 47 ′ 53 ″  E