Culture

The Opening of the Fountain Season in Berlin on the Eve of the Holy Easter

The role of fountains in the modern city can not be overestimated as they are not only a natural source of freshness but an integral part of the cultural landscape

April 23rd, 2019
Margareta Calugher, News from Berlin
20190423_The Opening of the Fountain Season.jpg

This year the official opening took place on the eve of the Holy Easter, on April 17th, near the fountain on Prague Square (Prager Platz) in the administrative district of the capital Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.

The Prague square is also known for being one of the centers of Russian literary Berlin in the early twenties of the last century. The Prager Diele café served as a meeting point for Russian poets and writers such as Ilya Ehrenburg, Maxim Gorky, Boris Pasternak, Sergey Yesenin, Andrei Bely, Vladimir Nabokov and many others.

In Berlin, there are 270 open fountains, all unique from each other in terms of architectural concept, manner of creative execution, and functional purpose. There are majestic monumental fountains, for example, the fountain "Neptune" (Neptunbrunnen), "Globe" (Weltkugelbrunnen), "Stamp" (Wappenbrunnen), "Bear" (Bärenbrunnen) - a reminder of the main symbol of Berlin, "Friendship of Peoples" (Brunnnnen), « Friendship of Nations" (Völkerfreundschaft), the Fountain of Fairy Tales (Märchenbrunnen) or the fountain Dolphin (Delphinbrunnen). However, there are smaller fountains, attracting the eye through their simplicity and elegance.

Most of the fountains and wells belong to the administrations of the districts of Berlin, which on the basis of contracts assign their services to private companies and firms. Nonetheless, it appears that at the very end of April, this function will mainly be transferred to the state-owned Water Management Enterprise of Berlin (Berliner Wasserbetriebe, BWB). Initially this will affect 191 wells, boreholes, fountains, water cascades in 8 administrative districts of the city and the rest will be transferred to the BWB until 2028.

In an urban environment, according to a number of researchers, fountains and other open water sources help to improve the psychophysical state of habitants, as water has a positive effect on almost all human senses.

References:

News from Berlin