Bonn – Martinsbrunnen

This fountain celebrates St. Martin’s Day, where children would often collect geese for the celebration meal, which in itself was probably not the easiest of challenges…. The fountain, located outside Bonn Minster, was designed by Heinrich Götschmann and was installed here in 1902, with a restoration taking place in 1958.

St. Martin’s Day is commonly celebrated throughout much of Europe, although less so in the UK, and takes place on 11 November each year, with parades of lanterns through many German cities. Although Remembrance Day is the primary event in the UK on that day, there are some historic traces of Martinmas, particularly in Scotland where it’s still used to describe term times in schools.

I hadn’t realised that there’s apparently a fountain season in Bonn which runs from May to September, which explains the lack of water when we visited in December….