Fountains

Fountains bring life into the urban landscape and are often the decorative centrepiece of parks or individual streets.

With its 300 fountains, Dresden is one of the cities with the most fountains in Germany. At present, 48 fountains are cared for by the Green Spaces Office of the City of Dresden. Thanks to the support provided by generous sponsors, numerous fountains have been successfully restored to former splendour. In 2001, for example, it was the turn of the Marie Gey Fountain on Friedrich-List-Platz.

Marie Gey Fountain

This fountain, a gift to the city from Leipzig physician Paul Heinze, was designed by Georg Wrba and unveiled in 1911. It remembers the painter and graphic artist Marie Gey-Heinze, who studied in Dresden and committed suicide in 1908.

The wife of painter Otto Westphal stood as a model for the depiction of Aphrodite. The fountain was originally connected to a drinking water supply, but was equipped with a pumped circulation system in the course of its reconstruction. At the same time, the bronze statue was restored, stonework repaired and a proper seal installed for the fountain basin.

Boulder Fountain in Alt-Gruna

The fountain installation at the centre of the residential estate Alt-Gruna is the work of Dresden sculptor Eberhard Wolf and was unveiled in 1991. Through the use of organic materials and asymmetrical forms, he created a deliberate contrast to the surrounding pre-fabricated apartment blocks.

Eberhard Wolf spend many rainy days looking for suitable erratic boulders in the Lusatian open-cast lignite mines and the gravel pits of Dresden's surroundings. It was only in this weather, namely, that he was able to recognise the true colours of the boulders in interaction with water. The fountain circulation system is fed with groundwater.

The »Wet House«

Amalie-Dietrich-Platz in Gorbitz

Although already designed by Heidemarie Dressel in 1984, it was not until 1993 that this ceramic fountain sculpture was installed on the grounds of the local primary school.

The »Wet House« plays with water, but is more than just a fountain. Tongue-in-cheek irony lies hidden behind the light-hearted details of the fountain, clearly referring to the pre-fabricated residential environment into which it is placed - no doubt one of the reasons why the installation was continually postponed before German Unification. The »Wet House« fountain functions with pumped circulation.

Europa Fountain on Königsheimplatz

The Europa Fountain, created for the community of Blasewitz by Georg Wrba in 1922, depicts Zeus, transformed into a bull, with Europa, the daughter of King Agenor of Tyre and Sidon, on his back.

According to the legend, Zeus assumed this form to abduct his beloved Europa to the island of Crete. Her name is also the origin of the name borne by the continent Europe. The bronze figures are reproductions by sculptor Lothar Janus dating from 1995, whose work completed the fountain after its general restoration in the previous year.