THEN (late 1800s)
NOW
NOW, in color
COMMENTS:
(1) I could not find a date, but it was certainly after around 1860 because the original tower stood where the fountain is standing today.
(2) It makes me really wonder, how was the power generated for the water fountain? Was it purely decorative, or — like its cousin in Geneva — was it is a necessary way to relieve overpressure in the first public water infrastructure?
(3) I’ve seen some old photos and also drawings of this scene. As far as I can tell this is Bubenbergplatz – or at least it was. In the older drawings you could see horses working through the water – and that makes a certain amount of sense, since in the old photograph you can see left and right embankments but a subtle drop at the foreground of the fountain. According to ChatGPT, if horses would have ridden in on unpaved roads, it might have been useful to give them a quick cleaning before allowing them into the paved part of the city – although, I assume with horsecrap everywhere that would hardly make a difference.
To me this shows the impossibility of history: we can hardly understand a scene we see 100 years ago, in our own backyard and culture – how can we possibly understand the Middle Ages or history in other countries???