An old fountain
Until I visited Switzerland, I had not spent much time considering fountains. Sure, I’d admired many (some large ones in Italy and France come to mind), taken some for granted (Central Park, City Hall) and even ignored some, but they were not at the forefront of my mind. Then I encountered Switzerland, where the cities are so full of fountains that they’re impossible to overlook.
16th century Läuferbrunnen messenger
Bern contains over 100 elaborate fountains. They were originally built as the public water supply and some of them still dispense potable water. Since it was about 30 degrees F when I visited and the last thing I wanted was a cool drink, I did not bother sampling the goods.
Lady Justice
Many of the fountains date to the 16th century, when Bern was going through a period of civic improvement, and were designed by Hans Gieng, a well-known Swiss Renaissance sculptor.
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