Bärenbrunnen

The Bärenbrunnen stands at Werderscher Markt in Berlin-Mitte, with a bear family carved from red lava tuff. The bear represents Berlin’s city emblem in this sculptural fountain.

Hugo Lederer creates the original design in the 1920s, and the fountain enters Berlin’s public space in 1928. War damage destroys the original fountain during the Second World War. Walter Sutkowski reconstructs the fountain in 1958, following historical designs and preserving its connection with the earlier work. The reconstruction presents a complete copy of the earlier fountain.

Its octagonal base measures about sixty centimetres high and three and a half metres across. Fluted pedestal sides frame the sculptural details. Pairs of playful bear cubs occupy alternating sides, while a mother bear sits on a slightly higher pedestal above them. Small water spouts appear between the cubs. The cubs reach about sixty centimetres, and the mother bear rises to roughly one metre twenty-five. Red stone links the fountain visually with the nearby Bauakademie. This arrangement brings Berlin’s emblem, public art, and post-war reconstruction together at one urban place.