Neptune's Fountain (; ) is a historic

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, a

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

masterpiece, and one of the most distinctive landmarks of the city. The fountain is located at the

Długi Targ The Long Market Square (Polish language, Polish: ''Długi Targ''; ; Kashubian language, Kashubian: ''Dłudżi Rénk'') in Gdańsk, Poland, is one of the most notable tourist attractions of the city. It is situated between the end of Ulica Długa ( ...

(Long Market), in front of the entrance to the

Artus Court The Artus Court (; ; formerly also ''Junkerhof'') is a building in the centre of Gdańsk at Długi Targ 44, which used to be the meeting place of merchants and a centre of social life. Today it is a point of interest of numerous visitors and a b ...

. It was constructed in the early 17th century. Kashubians use a nickname ''Krësztof'' for the sculpture.

History

In 1549 a now unknown

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

was located by the entrance of Artus Court, which may have had metal decorative pieces. The well was located slightly closer to the Motława. The local authorities of Gdańsk, together with Mayor Bartholomäus Schachmann wanted to raise a more notable monument. The first mason to receive an offer to complete the project was Jakob Kordes from

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

, but for unknown reasons, his plan was not accepted. The new fountain was to be constructed at the centre of the facade of the Artus Court, from the

Green Gate The Green Gate (, former , now Grünes Tor) in Gdańsk, Poland, is one of the city's most notable tourist attractions. It is situated between Long Market (''Długi Targ'') and the River Motława. History With the Golden Gate (Gdańsk), Golden ...

the fountain would be seen with the Main town hall in the background, with the turn to the Long Lane.

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

- the god of the sea - was to be placed facing the townhouses, which were the residence of the Polish kings, while at their stay in Danzig, the mythological god was to have his head bow down to them. The fountain was to have underground pumps connecting the fountain to the Potok Siedlecki by Sienny Market; however, the pressure was too low. Between 1606 and 1615, there were pending projects, sculpturing, and

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

. The sculpture's project was made by Abraham van den Blocke (1572–1628), with the statue made by Flemish Peter Husen. The sculpture was cast from

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

in 1615 in the town casting guild by Gerdt Benning. The mass of the figure is 650

kilograms The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...

. The stem the figure is found on, is made from black

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

. The architectural features of the fountain relate to Flemish Mannerism. The water installations were made by Ottomar von Wettner, with the water systems designed by

Adam Wybe Adam Wybe, also known as Adam Wiebe (born July 12, 1584 in Harlingen, Friesland, died in 1653 in Danzig), was an engineer and inventor of Dutch origin, active mainly in Danzig (Gdańsk) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–L ...

. The water tanks were located on the rooftop of the Main Town Hall and

. Until the second half of the nineteenth-century, when the underground water system was modernized, the fountain was only operational a few days of the year. Formerly, the fountain was painted. The fountain was opened on October 9, 1633, the delay was caused due to numerous disruptions: the renovation of the Artus Court; problems with the robustness of the water system; the

Polish–Swedish war This is a List of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1562 and 1814. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and 1629. These are the wars ...

; and the death of Abraham van den Blocke. In 1634 the fountain was encompassed by a fence decorated with gilded Polish Eagles. The inauguration of the fountain's operation took place on March 23, 1634. Between the years of 1757 and 1761, Johann Karl Stender made new fragments of the fountain and stem, and

meister ''Meister'' () means 'master' in German (as in master craftsman, or as an honorific title such as Meister Eckhart). The word is akin to master and maestro. In sports, ''Meister'' is used for the current national, European or world champion ...

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

Jakob Barren had reconstructed and replaced the broken grate. This is when the fountain received its

architectural style. In 1927, the fountain was renovated. In the 1930s,

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

removed the historic Polish Eagles from the fountain's fence as part of removing traces of the city's Polish history and heritage. The fountain was damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and moved to German-occupied Parchowo. After World War II the fountain was renovated between 1950 and 1954 and put back to operation on July 22, 1957. Historic Polish Eagles on the fence were restored. In 1988, as part of renovation works the fountain's

genitals A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

were covered with a fig leaf. A full renovation of the fountain occurred between September 2011 and April 2012.

Gallery

File:Gdańsk - Neptune's Fountain.JPG, Neptune's Fountain in front of the Artus Court File:Neptun Monument and Main Town Hall in Gdańsk.jpg, The fountain with the Polish Eagle in the foreground and the Main Town Hall in the background File:Gdańsk Neptun IMG 2633.JPG, The base of the fountain File:7629vik Gdańsk, fontanna Neptuna. Foto Barbara Maliszewska.jpg, Neptune's Fountain and the historic townhouses of Gdańsk

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neptune's Fountain, Gdansk Buildings and structures in Gdańsk Fountains in Poland Outdoor sculptures in Poland Fountains of Neptune

History

Gallery

See also

References