Wittelsbacherbrunnen (Lenbachplatz)

The Wittelsbacherbrunnen stands on Lenbachplatz at the edge of Munich’s city centre, where it marks the transition between Lenbachplatz and Maximiliansplatz. Built between 1893 and 1895, the fountain was designed by Adolf von Hildebrand in a Neo-Classicist style to represent the primal forces of water. The city commissioned it to celebrate the completion of Munich’s new water supply from the Mangfall Valley in 1883. Hildebrand won a competition in 1889 and moved to Munich to carry out the work. After severe war damage in 1944, it was restored by Theodor Georgii and returned to service in 1952. The fountain’s semicircular basin is 25 metres wide, with a central rocky structure topped by a two-tiered limestone bowl. Two large marble sculptures flank the basin, each carved from Untersberger marble. The left figure shows a youth on a water horse, boulder raised, to symbolise the destructive power of mountain streams. The right shows an Amazon on a water bull, offering a bowl of water to represent the life-giving side of water once controlled. Visitors find a calm, clear basin set against the city’s paved squares. The illuminated water reflects the surrounding architecture day and night, except when sunlight is strong. The sculptures stand above the water’s surface, their classical forms visible from all sides. The square itself links Karlsplatz to Maximiliansplatz, giving the fountain a central place in Munich’s urban layout.