Henschelbrunnen

The Henschelbrunnen is a sculptural fountain in Kassel, made of shell limestone by Hans Everding. It stands on the raised left terrace of the Ehrenhof in front of the city hall on Obere Königsstraße. The fountain was commissioned by Sophie Henschel and unveiled in 1912, three years after the new town hall was completed. Opposite the fountain, on the other side of the Ehrenhof, once stood the Aschrottbrunnen, destroyed in 1939. Both the fountain and the town hall are protected monuments for artistic, historical and urban reasons. The fountain’s square basin measures 440 centimetres across and 120 centimetres high. At its centre rises a 220-centimetre-high limestone column with bronze spouts on each side. The spouts support a group of three figures: a woman in peasant dress carrying a large vessel, a smaller child pulling a cart of produce, and a larger child watching the smaller one. The inscription on the back of the column reads that the fountain was donated by the widow of Oscar Henschel in 1910. The artist’s signature, “H. Everding / Rom 1912,” appears on the left side of the plinth. The figures represent an allegory of care and domestic industry without mythological or religious references. The ensemble reflects the values of work, family and civic responsibility in the early 20th century. The design blends historicist tradition with the simplified forms of the moderate Jugendstil, marking a transitional style before the First World War. Visitors see a compact yet expressive monument framed by the town hall’s architecture and the terrace’s open space.