Vierröhrenbrunnen

Vierröhrenbrunnen stands in central Würzburg near the Old Main Bridge, with a late-Baroque form built around four intersecting circles. Its Franconian shell-limestone basin supports a sandstone column, figures, and an obelisk that rises above the surrounding square.

Four dolphin-shaped spouts send water in different directions, although local eyes may also see Meefisch, a fish from the Main. Above them, four figures represent courage, wisdom, moderation, and justice through symbols including a sword, shield, scales, and book. Frankonia crowns the obelisk with a small flag and sword, facing Würzburg’s town hall and the Domstraße.

A draw well stood here before Balthasar Neumann connected the city to its first public water pipeline in 1733. Jakob van der Auwera designed that first central column, while Lukas Anton van der Auwera and Johann Peter Wagner created the larger fountain completed in 1765 and 1766. Weather damaged the sandstone figures, so replacements appeared in 1927 and 1964, while the originals remain at the Museum für Franken in the Marienberg Fortress. The fountain survived Würzburg’s bombing in 1945 and still anchors the pedestrian square.