Kindlifresserbrunnen
The Kindlifresserbrunnen (German for Child Eater Fountain) is a fountain at the Kornhausplatz (Granary Place) in Bern, Switzerland. It is one of the Old City of Bern's fountains from the 16th century.
It was created in 1545/46 by Hans Gieng in place of a wooden fountain from the 15th century. The new fountain's original name was Platzbrunnen (Place Fountain); the current name was used first in 1666. Kindli is a Swiss German diminutive for the German word Kind, meaning child. A literal translation of the name Kindlifresserbrunnen therefore would be "Fountain of the Eater of Little Children".
The fountain sculpture is a sitting ogre devouring a naked child. Placed at his side is a bag containing more children. Because the ogre is wearing a pointed hat resembling a Jewish hat[1], it has been speculated[2] about the possibility of the ogre being the depiction of a Jew as an expression of blood libel against Jews. According to other theories it is a depiction of the Greek god Cronus. Probably, however, it is just a carnival character intended to frighten disobedient children[3].
Around the fountain's base runs a frieze showing armed bears going to war, including a piper and a drummer. The frieze was designed by Hans Rudolf Manuel.
The Kindlifresserbrunnen is an important object in the novel L'ogre (The Ogre) by Jacques Chessex.
[edit] External links
- Information about the Kindlifresserbrunnen - g26.ch (German)
- Chapter "Kindlifresserbrunnen" in volume 1 of "Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Bern" (German)
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[edit] References
- ^ Switzerland is yours.com travel guide accessed April 25, 2008
- ^ See theCity Council of Bern minutes of the May 14, 1998 5:00PM session accessed November 23, 2008(German) for one discussion of an anti-Semitic meaning in the statue
- ^ Hofer, Paul (1952). Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Bern, Band 1: Die Stadt Bern. Basel: Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte. pp. 285. http://digibiblio.unibe.ch/digibern/Chopin/Engine/Systematik/viewer.asp?KatalogID=1&ImgNum=285&ImgCount=8&RecordNr=18.(German)
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Coordinates: 46°56′54.67″N 7°26′50.81″E / 46.9485194°N 7.4474472°E
