Sunday 1 February 2009

Fountain of Angels

The Fountain of Angels in Vienna's 4th district shows a girl and two prisoners beneath her. It was built in 1893 by the sculptor Anton Wagner to remind of a 500 year old tale.
The tale of brave 18 year old Elsbeth who trapped two dangerous robbers in the woods nearby and brought them to Vienna where they were finally sentenced to death.
Many men hadalready lost their lives before Elsbeth caught the robbers.



Please don't ask me why the fountain is called Fountain of Angels while it shows two devils and a heroine :)
The sponsor of the fountain was a man named Engel !

Here you can see a picture of the complete fountain!


Wiedner Hauptstraße/Schaumburgergasse
The tale and the last photo are taken from "Sagen.at" Datenbanken zur Europäischen Ethnologie"

11 comments:

Wienermädel + Co said...

Das ist für mich neu - werde nächstes Mal genauer schauen, wenn ich in der Ggend bin - danke für die Geschichte!

waldviertelleben said...

ich hab dort ganz in der nähe gewohnt. jahrelang. und habs nie bewußt gesehen. naja. blind geht frau durch die gegend.
schönen sonntag.

DeniseinVA said...

What a very interesting fountain and a very dramatic tale. Enjoyed your post very much.

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi Maria :)

Very astounding story and a lovely photo:)

This amazing story happened 500 years back. I think those days women were very brave and courtageous and protected the menfolk from dangerous robbers.

The men inorder to show their gratitude erected statues to honor heroines like Elsbeth.

I am sure there are other angels like Elsbeth in and around Vienna.

Many thanks for sharing.

Have a nice day :)

Brenda said...

Wonderful tale and wonderful fountain! The sponsors name sounds sort of like Angels, doesn't it?

Maria said...

Yes, Engel is angel in German :)

Ces Adorio said...

It's a beautiful classic sculpture with a beautiful tale. I love monuments like these. Someday I would love to see Vienna. What a beautiful city. In the meantime I feast my eyes on your blog. Have a beautiful Sunday dear maria.

Catherine said...

Beautiful tale illustrated by a gorgeous fountain. I like it under the snow. It enhances the whole sculpture. Elsbeth is not far from being an angel, a combative one !

Kessi said...

Maria is an angel (-;, angel of vienna :)).... wunderschöner kann man Geschichtsunterricht gar nicht bekommen, vielen Dank, Maria!! Ein hübscher pudergezuckerter schneebestäubter Brunnen, herrlich...

Barbara Martin said...

The fountain and history are intersting Maria, thank you.

Baino said...

Hi Maria. I've worked out that if I view your blog from home, the pics load much faster! Lovely fountain. Also Elspeth, is a very Welsh name, not so far removed from your "Elsbeth". Lovely fountain.