Fountains in Leipzig
The fountains in Leipzig were originally built as part of the city's water supply and in the 19th and 20th centuries others were added for decorative functions.
Its fountain is reached by three steps that surround it and is decorated with mythical creatures and marine sandstone reliefs.
[2] Around 1820 there was a decorated pump handle in the form of an iron lion and designed by the Berlin sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow and cast by Lauchhammer.
The centerpiece of the building is the life-size bronze figure of a woman carrying water on the central column decorated with lion heads, which refers to Lieschen from the fountain scene in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust I.
In the grotto of the middle section there are life-size bronze figures of the fairy tale characters Hansel and Gretel on a pedestal.
Above the benches on both sides of the middle section there are two bronze reliefs that depict key scenes from the fairy tale (getting lost in the forest, discovering the crispy house, returning home).
[6] Regarding her motives, Egon Erwin Kisch speculated that Mende was the owner of a brothel and wanted to atone for her sacrilegious earthly actions with the generous legacy.
The Nereids on the consoles of the almost 18 m (59.1 ft) tall obelisk symbolize the benefits that people derive from dealing with the sea.
Gnauth and Ungerer based their basic concept of the fountain as well as the selection and design of the sculptures on famous models of the Italian Baroque.
[11] The granite bowl, which is filled to the brim with water and has a diameter of 3.3 m (10.8 ft), is reminiscent of an oversized baptismal font[12] in a church.
The monolithic design by the Berlin office of David Chipperfield Architects was selected from 6 submitted works and won an award.
The overflowing fountain is intended to represent the political situation in 1989, when the neighboring St. Nicholas Church became the starting point for the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig.
The town hall fountain was financed by Leipzig citizens and designed by the Dresden sculptor Georg Wrba.
At the base of the column there are portrait medallions of the mayors of Leipzig Otto Georgi (1831–1918) and Carl Bruno Tröndlin (1835–1908) as well as the builder of the New Town Hall Hugo Licht.
A bronze plaque on the back indicates the reason for the fountain's construction: "In memory of the inauguration of the New Town Hall on 7 October 1905".
