In old Frankfurt it splashed almost everywhere.

Otherwise the population would not have been able to be supplied with drinking water.

There was no running water in the houses, and those who wanted to quench their thirst had to fetch water from a public well or drink it there.

Matthew Trautsch

Coordination report Rhein-Main.

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In earlier times this was done with draw wells, but in the 18th and 19th centuries drinking fountains were built, the water from which flowed through pipes from the Friedberger Feld and Knoblauchsfeld, and later also from the Seehofquelle in Sachsenhausen.

35 such historical drinking fountains have survived the passage of time.

They are still connected to the drinking water network, but the vast majority have been shut down for decades.

Now the city wants to gradually put some of them back into operation, seven of them this year.

One of them is the Hirschbrunnen in Sachsenhausen.

It dates back to 1796 and is reminiscent of the legend according to which a hind showed the Frankish king Karl the ford through the Main, allowing him to escape his pursuers and henceforth the settlement on the river was called Frankfurt.

It is not entirely clear why the deer, which is enthroned on the red Main sandstone column of the fountain, has impressive antlers, i.e. it should be a male specimen, but the builders probably think it simply looked better.

Warmest city in Germany

In any case, from the fish-shaped faucet at the bottom of the column, a steady jet flows into the sandstone basin, at least from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., then it is switched off.

And in winter the pool stays dry.

City officials now used the picturesque fountain to present the revitalization program for the historic petrol pumps.

Head of culture Ina Hartwig (SPD) and Hans-Georg Dannert from the municipal environmental office, who represented the head of environmental affairs Rosemarie Heilig (Die Grünen), filled their glasses, took a courageous sip and assured that the cool water was not only refreshing, but also had the best drinking water quality .

This is checked every four weeks with samples.

Two more of the drinking fountains that are going back into operation are in Alt-Sachsenhausen: the Bäckerbrunnen and the Paradiesbrunnen.

In addition, the Oberräder gardener pump, the lion fountain in the city center and in Bornheim the high fountain and the fountain on the clock tower will be reactivated.

Healthiest way to cool off

Dannert puts this in the context of climate change: With an annual average temperature of 12.9 degrees Celsius, Frankfurt has replaced Freiburg as the warmest city in Germany.

Expect more hot days in the future, when drinking fresh water is the healthiest and easiest way to cool down and refresh yourself.

If as many locals and tourists as possible fill up their reusable bottles at the fountains, this also helps to avoid packaging waste.

On the other hand: It is of course not really in the sense of a resource-saving handling of the by no means infinite water supplies when it splashes from a well twelve hours a day.

Dannert points out that the beam is quite thin.

This is something like a compromise between ecology and optics, since running water is part of the historical appearance of the so-called fountains.

"A well without water is like an airplane without wings."

The situation is different with the modern steel drinking fountains, which only dispense water at the push of a button and are therefore significantly more economical.

They should be distributed across the city and ensure the supply across the board.

Six have already gone into operation this year, and six more are to follow by the end of the year.

Locations of the thirst quenchers include the Alte Oper, the Paulskirche, the Zeil and the Freßgass', the Kaisersack, the water park and Günthersburgpark, the zoo and the François-Mitterrand-Platz.