Obeliskbrunnen, Water well in Schönbrunn Palace Gardens, Vienna, Austria
The Obelisk Fountain is a water feature in Schönbrunn Palace Gardens with a stone obelisk about 31 meters tall, supported by four gilded turtles and crowned with an eagle atop a golden sphere. It sits in a large rectangular water basin at the end of the eastern diagonal avenue of the gardens and forms a striking focal point in the landscape.
The fountain was designed by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg in 1777 with sculptural work by Benedict Henrici, based on designs by Wilhelm Beyer. It reflects the grandeur that the 18th-century court sought to display.
The carved symbols on the obelisk tell a story meant to honor the Habsburg dynasty, though they were created long before anyone truly understood Egyptian writing. They show how people of that time imagined the ancient world, even if the symbols were not authentic.
The fountain sits at the end of the eastern diagonal path of the gardens and is easy to reach by following the main pathways. The water basin is quite shallow, so you can view the structure from multiple angles.
The structure contains two hidden caves: an upper one with leaf decorations and water features, plus a lower one with three entrances at the basin level. These concealed spaces show the attention to detail in the design and reward visitors who explore closely.
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