Angerbrunnen

The Angerbrunnen stands in the heart of Erfurt, a city in Thuringia known for its many water features. This monumental fountain was unveiled on 6 September 1890, designed by Berlin architect Heinrich Stöckhardt and sculptor Heinz Hoffmeister. The Erfurt founder Lorenz Müller cast the bronze figures, and the city’s teachers’ choir sang at the opening with the band of the Prussian artillery regiment no. 19. The fountain celebrates Erfurt’s long tradition of horticulture and craftsmanship. A life-size figure of Flora, the Roman goddess of blossoming, offers a rose to passers-by, while a strong man carries emblems of machinery, weapons, trades and crafts. Copper figures rise above a granite obelisk on a sandstone pedestal, and water flows around their symbols of fruit and flowers. Behind the fountain looms a four-storey shop built in 1899 to plans by Berlin official Dinklage. This building marks the western edge of the Anger, facing the Anger Galleries on the opposite side. Visitors find a quiet spot where art, industry and Erfurt’s green heritage meet in bronze and stone.