Frog King fountain

The Froschkönigbrunnen is a memorial fountain in Graz’s ninth district, Waltendorf. It stands on a small patch of grass outside the entrance to Waltendorf primary school. The fountain is protected as a historic monument. Eduard Kubovsky, a local sculptor, made the fountain in 1935 to mark the expansion of Graz’s water-supply network. The city’s waterworks gave it to Waltendorf as a gift. Originally it was a running fountain, but the basin now holds flowers instead of water. A metal plaque on the rim reads ‘Wasserleitungsbau – Waltendorf 1935’. Three naked children sit on a rock; a frog perches on the boy’s knee and once wore a tiny crown. The fountain takes its name from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about a frog king. Visitors see a circular stone basin filled with bright summer blooms. Three bronze children sit close together on a flat rock in the centre. The smallest figure has a bronze frog on his knee, though the crown is missing. The quiet spot lies beside the school gate, overlooked by houses and plane trees. A low iron fence surrounds the lawn, keeping the garden tidy.