Taubenbrunnen

The sculptor Mataré designed the fountain as early as 1950 as a drinking opportunity for the "cathedral pigeons" on the station forecourt.

[9] A document signed by all those present was sunk into the base of the fountain, which Mataré read out: "[...] that in these rushing, hurried times, the pigeons, nesting on the towers of our cathedral, are remembered [...]".

[7] The artist recalled in his diary: A musician played the first verse of La Paloma, then the cover was removed from the mosaic floor, and when the first water had filled the small basin in three small jets and now took its spiral path in the large bowl, the second and third verses sounded while a bottle of Steinhäger went from mouth to mouth, perhaps 50 people surrounded the fountain.

[…].According to consistent information from several reports, no doves - understood at that time primarily as a symbol of peace - appeared at the celebration.

[9][11] The location of the fountain was historically called either Unter Fettenhennen[12] or "in front of the house Domkloster3" (today "Domforum");[13] Sometimes the designation Am Domkloster or Domplatz is also found.

Mataré continues:[1] The objection that the pigeons will not settle there so easily because they are constantly fed in front of the station was not heeded.

[15][12] In the discussion about a "de-cluttering" of the urban space - intensified from 2012 onwards - the Dove Fountain played a role insofar as the dominance of the objects in its immediate vicinity was criticised - not only the crucifix replica, but also the "conglomerate" created by "50 bollards, [...] four different lamps, [...] rubbish bins" at this location.

At the rear of the fountain, a small circular basin is set into the mosaic border, adjacent to the central metal trough, with the water dispenser rising from the centre.

Mataré returned to work as a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1946, after he had been dismissed from his teaching post as a so-called "degenerate artist" during the National Socialist era.

[2] Since 2006, there has been an agreement between the office of the Stadtkonservator and the Kölner Dombauverwaltung [de], according to which the city provides the material and a craftsman from the Dombauhütte regularly carries out necessary repairs.

In the process, the stonemason Markus Schroer again used a red mortar for the joints, like Mataré, and also gradually reconstructed the original pattern.