Marktbrunnen

The Marktbrunnen stands on Mainz’s market square, near the houses surrounding the cathedral. Red sandstone columns, a round basin, and an openwork crown shape its Renaissance design. Hans Backoffen’s workshop created the fountain for the city’s market setting.

Elector Albert of Mainz donated the structure to mark the end of the German Peasants’ War and Charles V’s victory at Pavia. The original draw-well supplied fresh water in Mainz’s inner city. In 1767, workers converted it into a pumping well. A move to the square’s northeast side followed in 1889, before relocation near the cathedral houses in 1975.

A protective wall helped the fountain survive Mainz’s bombing during the Second World War. Three pedestals divide the basin and support a triangular frame bearing the donor’s inscription. Above them, light sandstone forms a figurative crown beneath a pillar baldachin. A drunken peasant with a red rooster appears beside a skull and an hourglass. Mythical creatures hold Albert of Brandenburg’s coat of arms and the emblems of his dioceses. The Latin inscription crowns a monument once intended to serve people who could not read.