Three Renaissance bronze fountains placed along the length of Maximilianstrasse, Augsburg's main ceremonial street. The Augustusbrunnen at the northern end shows Emperor Augustus, founder of the Roman city; the Merkurbrunnen at the centre depicts Mercury, god of commerce — a telling choice for a city built on trade; the Herkulesbrunnen at the southern end shows Hercules subduing a sea monster. All three were cast in the 1590s–1600s and represent some of the finest public sculpture in Renaissance Germany. Walking the length of Maximilianstrasse between the three fountains gives the clearest sense of why Augsburg was once one of the most prosperous cities in Europe.
Maximilianstrasse Fountains
Three Renaissance bronze fountains along Augsburg's grand boulevard
A story
The three fountains on Maximilianstrasse — the Merkurbrunnen (1599), the Augustusbrunnen (1594), and the Herkulesbrunnen (1602) — were all commissioned within a decade of each other and together constitute the finest ensemble of Renaissance fountains in Germany. The sculptors came from the Netherlands and Italy; the bronze figures were technically unprecedented in Germany at the time. The Augustus fountain, at the Rathausplatz end, depicts the Roman emperor after whom the city is named.