In 1769, margrave August Georg, the last regent of the Catholic line of the Baden house, successfully obtained the beatification of margrave Bernhard II. von Baden, who had died from the plague in Italy in 1458. In his honor and as sign of the Catholic tradition of the house Baden, August Georg with his wife Maria Viktoria donated the money for this fountain.
The Karlsruhe sculptor Ignaz Lengelacher carved the statue of the margrave from Maulbronner sandstone. You can see a relief of August Georg on the front of the fountain; his wife Maria Viktoria, is mentioned on the back side. The Bernhardus fountain has limited accessibility until 2020 because of complex reconstruction of the square.
Children discover Rastatt:
The Bernhardus fountain with the statue of the margrave Bernhard von Baden is also one of Rastatt’s baroque buildings in addition to the magnificent Rastatt Palace and the St. Alexander Town Church.
People had to go and fetch their water from the fountain at that time. The existing water pipe only supplied the palace. But even it stopped in the palace courtyard. The Bernhardus Fountain was a decorative fountain as well as a memorial.
he Bernhardus Fountain is the youngest and most beautiful baroque town fountain in the city. The water spouts from the mouths of two dolphins. This fountain supplied the drinking water for the town’s residents. Water was used for drinking and cooking. But washing and bathing was not so important to people in the baroque period. They were afraid that water would make them sick. They just wiped themselves dry and thought that that was great. In reality however, they stunk pretty bad. The wealthy people tried to cover their unpleasant body odors with lots of perfume and powder. Even the baroque mice used the same methods!
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