Fountains, Lucerne

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Just a short walk and we are standing in the Kappellplatz and looking at the unusual Fritschi Fountain.

Not real, real old, as it was built in 1918, and not the only type of this style of Fountain in Switzerland.

The Fountain has a story..............

The face's are mask's of "brother Fritschi," and his family. It is believed his grave is underneath the Fountain, and in the medieval graveyard of St. Peter's Chapel.
No one knows who Brother Fritschi really was!
The legend takes us back to 1450, when most probably, he was made a joke of by a Farmer outside of Lucerne. Why, I wondered, because he left money to the Safran guild on condition that they serve wine to the poor during Fasacht, was this why?
The guild is still fullfilling his wishes today! Or was there another reason?

After his death, Brother Fritschi remained popular, and a straw man was made to represent him. Sometimes it was stolen, and taken to another Guild!

So, remembering him today is the Fountain, and later in the year on Fasnacht Thursday, two young members of the guilds dress as Brother Fritschi and his wife for the opening ceremony.

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This little square, just like the bridge, takes its name from St Peterskapelle, which is situated on the edge of it just before Kapellbruecke. It is also the home of the Fischi Fountain and is in close proximity to many shops, hotels and restaurants, all of which are situated in lovely narrow little streets surrounding the square.

St Peter's Chapel has seen better days, but is the oldest church in the town. Many foreign language Masses are celebrated there these days.

The Fritschi Fountain was built in 1918 on Kapellplatz. Though actually less than 100 years old, the fountain stands in the tradition of much older Renaissance style fountains with painted allegoric figures on top. The figure on top of the Fritschi Fountain is not Fritschi himself, but a standard bearer. The 4 column masks on the column represent Fritschi, his wife, a nursemaid and a servant. There are 4 fools spewing water from goat horns near the base.

The story of the legendary Brother Fritschi plays an important role in Lucerne's Carnival tradition. No one really knows the true story of Brother Fritschi. One legend which goes back to around 1450 and the most probable explanation is that there was a farmer (or farmhand) living outside town making jokes whenever he came to town. (maybe Swiss' version of a story teller like Abraham Lincoln.) His grave is supposed to be under this fountain, on the medieval graveyard attached to St. Peter's Chapel. Medieval town clerk and chronist Cysat reports that Fritschi left some money to the Safran guild on condition that they serve wine to the poor during Fasacht. The guild is still fullfilling this obligation today and has dedicated one story of their guild rooms in Nölliturm to Brother Fritschi (the location is not open to the public, however).

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Fritschi is a person of the swiss carneval-history. Fritschi is a nickname for Friedrich and obviously the Fritschi-Fasnacht dates back to the year 1446, when the troops of Luzern and the cantons of Innerschwyz won a battle in Ragaz, although the austrian troops had been much stronger. So it all started at march 6th, 1446, at "Fridolintag" : a "Fritschi-Umzug" was done every year at that date and all young men of Luzern had to march in full iron-armourtage through the city. This day always ended with a lot of alcohol & food, so the date was finally transfered to the 1st day of the Luzerner Fasnacht. Fritschi was first a straw-puppet in a blue-white coat, that was carried through Luzern, nowadays there is a "Fritschi-wagen" with a total of 8 persons in it, and when the people of Luzern are getting drunk that day it could happen, that other carneval-comunities might get the idea to steal Fritschi and the people of Luzern have to buy him back with a lot of beer...
See Fritschi-brunnen on my 1st picture and Fritschi-restaurant at my 2nd pic

This fabulous fountain can be found near the shores of Lake Lucerne.

The lake is certainly one the most spectacular in Switzerland with mountains around all sides and luscious forests coming right down to the shore.

This is a different kind of fountains. It had came into my eyes immediatlt because I knew it from somewhere else, respectively from the courtyard of the Hochenschwangau Castle in Schwangau -- near Fussen -- the childhood home of Ludwig II of Bavaria. This one is bigger that that in Germany but it is identical. The man carrying two gooses (I firstly believed they are swans) is from a story.

Lucerne is no Bern when it comes to fountains, but there are similarity in the design of the fountains. Bern has more fountains and easier to find. But also the fountains in Lucerne are nice and colorful. I couldn't find exact references about the fountains in Lucerne, maybe you know some links.