Mosaikbrunnen, Heritage fountain in Dresden, Germany.
The Mosaikbrunnen stands at a path crossing in the southwestern part of the Großer Garten in Dresden, near the Hauptallee. Three stylized flowers grow from a round basin, the whole structure clad in about half a million mosaic stones in earth-brown, grey, green, blue, orange, yellow and gold. Its expressionist forms show oriental influences; the water jet is misproportioned to the basin and splashes over the rim.
The Mosaikbrunnen was created for the International Horticultural Exhibition of 1926, held for the centenary of the Saxon Society for Botany and Horticulture. Designed by Hans Poelzig and Marlene Moeschke-Poelzig, it was made by August Wagner's Berlin workshop Puhl & Wagner. When removal was planned after the exhibition, Poelzig asked Dresden's mayor Bernhard Blüher to keep it; the fountain remained in place. Restoration began in 1994, and a major repair costing 800,000 euros was completed in 2007.
The fountain sits in Dresden's urban landscape and draws attention because its surfaces are covered with small mosaic pieces that show careful craftsmanship. This kind of decoration was a sign of civic ambition in the early 20th century and is now rarely seen in public spaces.
The fountain stands at a path crossing near the Hauptallee in the southwestern part of the Großer Garten, reached on foot through the park. Tall trees shade the crossing, so the mosaic colours read less brightly than in open sun. Benches installed around it since the 2006/2007 restoration allow a rest. The basin was rebuilt and the fountain returned to operation in August 2016, now running on drinking water.
The fountain's roughly half a million mosaic stones were set on hollow concrete bodies, not on a masonry core. The trade journal Bauwelt noted in 1926 that mosaic had never before been used for such a large monumental task. The workshop Puhl & Wagner, run by August Wagner in Berlin, produced the covering.
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