Water in Aachen

It was a rainy and overcast day when I decided to view and photograph fountains in Aachen. Why fountains you might wonder, there is so much more to experience in this city. That is true, of course, and as a regular visitor of this city, I do not live so far away, I will definitely show other subjects of this city in the future. But why water?

Aachen is also called Bath Aachen. This is due to the sulphurous water that rises above this and has a temperature of about 59 degrees Celsius. This was already known to the Romans and Aachen seems to be a corruption of the Latin word for water, aqua. If you walk through the city you will encounter several references to this past and in different places you can see the history through archaeological windows that are sometimes found on the street but also in shops. These windows give a view in the past of the city.

It is the water that gave me the idea to walk through the city and see and photograph striking fountains. One of the most special fountains I have, unfortunately, because it was wrapped by a formwork , because there were construction work in the neighborhood, can not photograph. It is the Poppen fountain that stands near the Dom. This fountain shows a picture of events in the city. When I can photograph it I will update this article so that this particular fountain also has a place in this article.

Fishpüddelchen on the old fishmarket of Aachen.

I start my walk at the fish market. Here is the Fischpüddelchen on an approximately 2.5 meter high plinth. A fairly small picture of a boy who dives a fish under each arm . These fish spit water as you can see on the male’s picture.

The Möschebrunnen as the inhabitants of Aachen called this fountain.

I walk through the gate of the Dom and before this Cathedral I go to the right. On

his small square, the Münsterplatz, state Spatzenbrunnen or as the picture in Aachen is known as the Möschebrunnen . As you can see sitting on this bronze statue a number of sparrows.

When I turn my back towards sparrows and walk past the cathedral I come across a neo-Gothic sandstone statue. It reminds me of a part of a church tower. The Vinzenzbrunnen standing here since the mid 19th century.

Vinzenzbrunnen looks like the top of the Cathedral like you can see at the background.

I continue my way around the cathedral and walk the Katzhof about direction Rathaus . The cathedral and the town hall were previously connected to each other. If you look closely you can still see this despite the restoration on both buildings. In the town hall, among other things, is the coronation hall of Emperor Charles the Great. The reasonably known Karlsbrunnen stands in front of the town hall . The origin of this fountain dates

Karlsbrunnen in front of the old Cityhall of Aachen.

from before 1334. In the centuries that followed, this source was further expanded. Around 1620 the statue of Charlemagne was placed here. The statue was cast in Dinant. The bluestone basin dates from 1735. A true iconic place for an image for a very old town hall.

In my walk I walk left past the town hall and keep to the left. I go in the direction of one of the beautiful museums that this state counts, the Couven Museum . Inside you, as a visitor, are thrown back in time.

The Hünnerdieb statue near the Couven museum.

You find yourself somewhere in the 19th century. Before you reach the museum you see the Hühnerdieb , the chicken thief , on the right . As you can see , the thief takes different chickens.

Further down the square and at the end go to the right, here is the Puppenbrunnen , at this moment it is packed to prevent damage. I will tell you more about this fountain in an update.

I walk past the cathedral again and turn left after the Nobis bakery . On the other side of the street you will see several bronze figures standing on the edge of a round, water-filled container. This composition is called

The fountain life circle of money.

Lebenslauf des Geldes called. The life course of the money was donated to the city by a bank. If you take your

time you can discover new things in this image. The water runs like a kind of water dagger to the middle and disappears. Coins are regularly minted here.

An image that I can not remember is called die Lesende. This young lady sits on a stone wall just in front of one of the oldest and largest bookstores in Nord Rhein Westfalen. Mayersche attracts people from far and wide. If you like reading and / or booking, this is highly recommended.

Bahkauv is a regional fantasy figure, in plane German it’s called Bachkalb.

For the bookstore I go to the left. There I already see the next image. The Bahkauv , dialect for Bachkalb. It is a fantasy being that occurs in the stories in and around Aachen.

I now walk to the right, but if you want to walk straight ahead you come across a statue of the Oecherprent on the left. This girl holds one of the typical Aker prints. This is a kind of cake that almost all bakers in the city sell. As I wrote, however, I walk to the right and then right again. At the crossing place you can visit the Oecher Klenkes . This image of those figures, each of whom has their little finger in the air stitches, refers to the needles and cloth industry that provided many jobs here in earlier years. By raising their little finger, Aacheners make themselves known to each other in the world outside the city .

At the traffic light I cross over to enter the famous Adelbertstrasse . Here are a majority of the city’s major retail

The Kuggelbrunnen opens as a kind of a flower in three layers, and then closes

businesses. When you are half way from this street you can the Kugelbrunnen see. This steel sculpture stands in the middle of a concrete basin. The flower opens and closes in three layers. In the winter, the mechanism is turned off. Usually, many people are sitting on the edge here in good weather.

If you pass, the Elisen Gallery in again right after you walk about 100 meters before the fountain walk into the street on the right and at the next junction. At the first widening you can see a modern steel water

This water curtain you will find at the Elisen gallery.

construction.The work is therefore very appropriate, the Wasserforhang , the water curtain.

When I continue through the gallery and on the other side to the outside, I am face to face with the well-known Elisenbrunnen , on the other side of the road . Over the past 2,000 years, numerous well-known and uncountable unknown people have come to see this source. The water here is about 59 degrees Celsius as I already indicated. Because of the sulfur that is in the water, it smells like rotting eggs.

The Elisenbrunnen. Beware of the smell

Walking through the deterioration of the building I walk towards a patio-like glass and steel construction. Here you can see part of the excavations that took place a few years ago during the reconstruction of the small park. It gives a good picture of the historical value of this location.

In front of me I see the Cathedral of Aachen again and so I make a round through the enter along a number of beautiful fountains.

Hope you find this description worthwhile. Building criticism is most welcome.

RK