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Schöner Brunnen

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flyingscot4
flyingscot4
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Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain)

  • December 5, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by flyingscot4 from Madison, Wisconsin
Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain)

Where to start. The Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) is located at the NW corner of the Hauptmarkt (Main Market). There are many stories about the fountain, but this is what I know to be factual. I will get into the myth later.

The fountain was created in 1385 by Heinrich Parler. Standing twenty meters high (62 feet), it features brilliantly colored images, some of which are Moses surrounded by the Prophets, 9 heroes (three each Christian, Jew, and forefathers), and seven Electors on the bottom, a total of 40 figures in all. Surrounding the statues is a wrought iron enclosure which has a brass ring on the front, and a less visible iron ring on the reverse side. This is not the original soft sandstone sculpture, but a shelly limestone replica made in 1897. The wrought iron enclosure is from 1587 and is the work of Paulus Kühn of Augsburg. The few leftover fragments of the original sculpture are located in the Deutsches Nationalmuseum, a few blocks back up the hill you just came down toward the Hauptbahnhof.

Now for the myth. As mentioned, there are two rings in the iron work - one brass and one iron. Here are a couple of stories about the rings. The first concerns a blacksmith who had a lovely daughter who was in love with her father's apprentice. Wanting his daughter to marry above her station, the blacksmith had been unable to thwart the relationship. Finally, he hit on an idea that could not fail. He said that he would bless the union if the apprentice could fashion a ring with no seam into the latticed iron. The apprentice completed the seemingly impossible task and the couple were married. Legend says that if you spin the brass ring three times and make a wish while spinning, your wish will be granted. Or, if you spin the ring three times, you will have good luck. Or, you actually only have to spin the ring once, the extra spins are for the tourists. Or, the brass ring is for tourists. The real ring is black and harder to find. Or, spinning the brass ring is for luck and spinning the black ring is for fertility. There you have it. Locals, of course, don't believe is such stuff and that is why on Fridays and Saturdays there are so many wedding parties having their wedding photographs made in front of the back side of the ironwork where the black ring is hidden. (Frequently, the photographer has to tell the new bride where to locate the black ring.)

Back to reality. History is unclear as to whether Herr Kühn actually had an apprentice, but one would think that doing everything by hand, he must have had an apprentice or two during his time, don't you think?

While this is one of the main attractions of Nürnberg, it is also one of the two most commonly known meeting places. The other is Lorenzkirche.

This is a "must see."

From journal Nürnberg - My Perfect City

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