Herkulesbrunnen

The Herkulesbrunnen stands in Augsburg as one of three monumental fountains, alongside the Augustusbrunnen and Merkurbrunnen. Adriaen de Vries created it between 1596 and 1600 in the Mannerist Renaissance style. Its three-sided form combines bronze figures, shell-shaped basins, marble-framed reliefs, and playful water spouts.

The fountain originally stood on the Weinmarkt, before the Siegelhaus and Fuggerhäuser, as part of Augsburg’s civic building programme. It served as a public drinking and running fountain supplied by the waterworks at the Rotes Tor. Augsburg’s water management system became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019. The original bronzes now belong to the Maximilianmuseum, while bronze casts remain outdoors.

At the centre, muscular, bearded Hercules raises a flaming club against the seven-headed Hydra. Three naiads wring cloth, squeeze water from their hair, and pour from a jug. Tritons, fish, winged putti, and geese add movement beneath the basins, with the geese sending water into high arcs. Three gilded reliefs connect the fountain to Augsburg’s founding, Roman alliances, and triumphant city goddess Augusta Vindelicorum. The scene turns myth, water, fire, and civic power into one striking public monument.