The first rays of sun find their way over the roofs of the houses onto Wiener Platz. It’s still quiet this Thursday, only one or two market stalls are already crowded with visitors. In the middle of the cafés, boutiques and tax offices you will find the Fischerbuberl fountain.
Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) and building officer Jeanne-Marie Ehbauer have gathered in front of the boy figure to celebrate the start of the fountain season. The Fischerbuberl fountain is the first this year to have cool water bubbling up again.
A total of 201 municipal fountains are to be freed from their wooden casing by mid-May. In order to protect the building structure and the fountain technology from condensation, frost damage and dirt, most fountains are packed for winter protection from October. According to the building department, around 5,300 square meters of wood are required for this. Only 19 fountains, such as the fountains at Viktualienmarkt or the Fischbrunnen at Marienplatz, remain active over the winter.
Since Thursday, market visitors have been able to fill up their (brought by themselves) bottles with drinking water at Wiener Platz. The fountain is one of a total of 32 converted drinking water dispensers. The building department would like to use them to address the needs of residents in the summer months, says building officer Ehbauer. “Everyone should drink enough”. Drinking water fountains are a “sustainable and social matter” because they are packaging-free and free of charge. There are now 48 fountains with drinking water in Munich.
The city council has also made funds available for the construction of a further 109 drinking fountains or water dispensers, reports the head of the horticulture department, Florian Hochstätter. Modern water dispensers were developed for this – such as at Rindermarkt. The water comes at the touch of a button.
Who needs to endure the rear end?
Whether modern or historic: according to the building department, all signposted drinking water fountains are cleaned, serviced and checked twice a week. In addition, the water quality is regularly tested and thus ensured. “You have to have a certain amount of trust,” Reiter admits and treats himself to the first cold sip from the fountain.
The mayor smiles: “The thing has a very old history”. In any case, an information board at the fountain summarizes the story as concisely as possible: Cast by Ignaz Taschner 1934. The somewhat longer version goes like this: Taschner (1871-1913) was a student at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1889 and became a celebrated sculptor while he was still alive. His Fischerbub, created in 1910, was originally on Prälat-Zistl-Straße, not far from the Viktualienmarkt. When the Schrannenhalle was rebuilt in 2003, the figure had to move to Wiener Platz.
Of course, the gentlemen only see the undisputed side of the fountain figure: Mayor Dieter Reiter is one of the first to try the drinking water from the fountain on Wiener Platz.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer/Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
Which promptly led to discussions there: In which direction should the boy wearing only a cap look, with a fish in each hand? The stand operators and the politicians from Haidhausen literally had opposite ideas. While the politicians wanted the boy to look in the direction of Johannisplatz, the market operators absolutely didn’t want to look at his bare bottom while he was working.
In the beginning they were able to assert themselves. During the construction work, the workers allowed themselves to be persuaded by the local residents and pointed the boy towards the market. But the building department then had it turned 180 degrees again – and the market traders were left at a disadvantage. Or rather: a look they didn’t want.