Fountain on Leopoldsplatz

The Fountain on Leopoldsplatz was created in 1990/91 by Ernst Günter Herrmann. It came about after the opening of the Michaelstunnel and the subsequent traffic calming of the city centre in the course of the redesign of Leopoldsplatz. With acquisition costs of 1,054,000 Deutsche Mark, the fountain is among the most expensive water features in Baden-Baden.

The Fountain

The fountain is located on the south-west side of Leopoldsplatz. Its triangular ground plan opens towards the centre of the square and is bordered by curved white marble bands. At the centre of the fountain sits a massive dark rock slab that appears to float. It comes from the Hohe Tauern. Various water features are set into the centre of this crowning rock slab. The water pours over the slab into the basin below. Lights are set into the marble side walls, atmospherically illuminating the fountain in the dark.

History

Planning phase

After many years of traffic congestion in Baden-Baden’s centre, the opening of the Michaelstunnel in 1989 finally brought the long-awaited relief. The city centre was subsequently traffic-calmed. The city held a design competition for Leopoldsplatz, which was won by the Freiburg architect Bernd Maier. Maier worked together with the sculptor Ernst Günter Herrmann. At first, a thermal fountain in the style of the Dreischalenbrunnen was planned for the central city-centre square, but then the jury decided to grant the artist more freedom in designing the fountain. This is how the design for today’s fountain came about. In February 1990, the municipal council decided to save costs in the square’s redesign and scrapped the fountain. But since savings could be made elsewhere, the fountain was ultimately realised after all.

Construction

The redesign of Leopoldsplatz began in February 1991. The fountain’s extensive substructure was laid out, but supply problems with the stone slab and the marble led to significant delays. As a result, the rock slab could only be placed onto the fountain on 5 August 1991 using a mobile crane. On 21 August 1991, water flowed for the first time. Problems sealing the basin were resolved in the period that followed.

Sources

• Article Leo-Brunnen erregte einst die Gemüter by Karl Reinbothe in the Badisches Tagblatt, 16.08.2013