The fountain is outcome result of a competition issued in 1897 by the National Commission for the Promotion of Fine Arts (German: Landes für Kunst Kommission Förderung der Künste Bildende) in Poznań, which theme was water sculptures in Bydgoszcz.

In 1908, Ferdinand Lepcke also realized an emblematic statue,[1] the "Archer", which stood on the Theatre Square in Bydgoszcz; it is still today the most popular symbol of the city on the Brda and Vistula rivers.

After World War II only remained the pool, in which the statue was replaced by four stone fish bubbling water, realized by Józef Makowski.

[1] Bydgoszcz fountain had two copies: in Coburg, Bavaria, the sculptor's hometown, where the sculpture is missing statues on both sides, and in Eisleben, Upper Saxony, which was also melted down in 1942 for war purposes.

The funds were collected from diverse sources: social contributions, city of Bydgoszcz, province of Kuyavia and Pomerania and European Union.

In April 2010, the reconstruction of the original, colorful mosaic of the pool with circles and waves shapes, has been completed; it has been funded by Bydgoszcz city council.

[2] In reconnaissance to this rebirth, a statue of professor Zygmunt Mackiewicz, famous Bydgoszcz surgeon and initiator of the reconstruction project, has been unveiled on May 15, 2016 nearby the fountain.

The third part of the sculpture refers to the Greek mythology: it reminds of Laocoön legend, with a man fighting a contorted sea serpent.