městská kašna v Poděbradech Fountain

Welcome to Podebrady, the city of medicine, peace and history. Right now, stop and focus fully on what you see right in front of you. You are standing in the first courtyard of the castle and your view is now dominated by the city fountain. It is an object that at first sight looks very robust and at the same time elegant. Notice the rich, warm color of the material from which the entire building is made. It is a red sandstone, a stone that gives the monument its characteristic appearance and a sense of endurance. Look at her shape. The fountain has a square plan, but its corners are not sharp, they are finely cut, which gives the whole building a much lighter and more harmonious expression.

If you stop now and begin to perceive the history of this place, we must return far back in time. This fountain is not just an ordinary source of water, but a Baroque monument that dates back to the eighteenth century. So imagine the time of wigs, lace and expansion of baroque art, when such decorative elements began to appear in the cities, which served not only practical purposes, but mainly to represent the city's wealth and taste. The Baroque loved decorating and playing with forms, and that's what we feel in this porridge.

However, what you see today is not exactly what people saw three years ago. The history of monuments is often a story of constant changes and modifications. Let's move on in time to the nineteenth century, namely the year one thousand eight hundred eighty-four. At that time, a talented sculptor named Bohuslav Schnirch entered the building. He was the one who modified the fountain and gave her the details that make it so special. Schnirch brought his art vision into it and installed a decorative spray, a system through which the water produced its flow.

Now, I want to invite you to take a closer look into the inner space of the tank. Pay attention to the centre where the concrete column is held. It's this column that carries the decorative spritzer we talked about. But that's not all. Look carefully at the walls and details around this central point. You'll see four masks here. They're carved faces that serve as nozzles. The water in the past came out of their mouths, creating an interesting visual effect and providing certain life and dynamics to the porridge. The sandstone vase, which complements composition and concludes the aesthetic intention of both sculptor and original creators, contributes to the whole.

But the life of this fountain wasn't just about beauty and admiration. It's also a story about oblivion and subsequent rebirth. Imagine the year one thousand nine hundred thirty-eight. At that time, the fountain was removed from its original place in the square for reasons that history did not exactly tell us. Instead of being destroyed, it was stored in a town yard. Imagine the contrast where this beautiful baroque piece with details from the sculptor Schnirch lay hidden from the public's eyes, probably covered in dust and forgotten in the corner of the city. For decades, this monument has been waiting to be saved.

The break came in a thousand nine hundred eighty-seven. This year, the city and experts realised the value of this building and the fountain was officially declared a cultural monument. This meant that it would no longer be a forgotten stone in the yard, but a protected piece of history to be cared for. But recognition of the status of a monument is one thing and a real renewal is another. The fountain needed care, repairs, and a new place to shine again.

This path to rectification culminated in two thousand one. After a thorough repair which returned the red sandstone to its former and repaired the details of the inner space, the fountain was placed right here, on the first castle courtyard. This step has closed a long circle of her history. From the square through oblivion in the yard to the honorary place near the castle.

Now, if you look at those four jet masks again, try to imagine how many people have stopped at this water over the centuries, how many conversations she's had and how many views she's had on her red stone. It is fascinating how one object can survive changes in regimes, wars and periods of disinterest and still stand here as a witness to the past.

The contrast of the materials is interesting. We have a Baroque foundation from the eighteenth century, the nineteenth century in the form of modifications of Bohuslav Schnirch and modern elements such as a concrete column that holds the entire construction of the spray. It's like a stone notebook where every generation wrote their own chapter.

Now that you know the story of this city fountain, I suggest you go around it for a while. Note how light is reflected from the scaled corners of the square plan and how the red sandstone responds to the surrounding area of the courtyard. Feel the calm of this place and imagine how in the year one thousand eight hundred eighty-four the sculptor Schnirch stood beside it and proudly watched the water flow from the masks in the mouth.

This concludes a short chapter on the Podebrad porridge. I hope this story about the red sandstone and perseverance interests you. We now invite you to explore the beauty of this city and its surroundings. Look around you, feel the atmosphere of the castle grounds and let yourself follow the other traces of history that await you in Poděbrady. I wish you a pleasant continued journey and many new discoveries. I bid you farewell and have a lovely day.