Water is becoming scarce even in Central Europe.

The sun burns the land.

More and more sweaty contemporaries are looking to cool down in private pools, the number of which has increased by leaps and bounds since the last hot summers and during the Covid 19 pandemic.

While in many European countries this development is commented on rather calmly and it is rightly pointed out that water consumption in high-performance agriculture is many times higher, heated debates are being held in Germany that are characterized by social envy and ecological fundamentalism.

Of course, the square and round basins made of steel tubing and plastic quickly swallow several thousand liters of clear drinking water, which often turns into an environmentally harmful broth after the season, since only the use of chemicals keeps the radiant blue.

Anyone who simply pulls the plug in autumn and lets the liquid seep into the garden is not only acting negligently, but is also liable to prosecution.

From a socio-historical point of view, however, one could argue that the private pool, which is now itself set up in allotment gardens, allows members of the middle class who own or have leased a piece of land to freely dispose of an object that has been the social distinction of the aristocratic and monarchical since antiquity served elites.

The modest and admittedly often tasteless garden pool is then, together with other garden architectural design elements that make use of water: the pond, the stream, the spring stone or the fountain, the indication of a democratized and leveled garden culture, which also opens up the possibility to a less wealthy clientele to realize their happiness in their own garden.

Garden history abounds with examples of these water delights.

For the Islamic palace architecture, as reflected in the Alhambra in Granada, the lavish use of this element was constitutive.

The cooling water, which we have learned to appreciate in midsummer even in northern latitudes, was brought in there by a complex system of pipes and a sophisticated hydraulic system.

It gushed from fountains, spilled down marble steps, poured into baths and watered ponds.

It was ubiquitous.

Mirror pond and water features

Water is also of central importance for the gardens of modern Europe.

The Italian garden of the Renaissance and the French garden of the Baroque were style-defining.

The smooth surface of so-called mirror ponds, which were not disturbed by any fountain, reflected the magnificent castle and with it the claim to power.

Water features were installed in other exposed areas of the park.

Fountains and cascades were supplied with sufficient water via elevators.

Canals and pools structured the gardens and emphasized the central axes.

The Catena d'acqua was not only popular in Italy: stairways over naturally or artificially designed steps that extended over different levels of the site, as the "water chain" in the garden of the Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola impressively shows even today.

Boccaccio described a fountain with a jet d'eau, a vertical stream of water that could spring from a figure, in his Decameron.

On the other hand, nozzles were hidden underground in many places, which sprayed surprised walkers – much to the amusement of the garden owners.

The water organs, which have been constructed according to ancient specifications since the Renaissance, convey not only visual but also acoustic stimuli.

Claude Venard created such an automaton in 1668 in the Villa d'Este in Tivoli: water flowed into a cavity here and forced the air into the organ pipes.

For Jacques Boyceau de la Branderie, the French star gardener from the first half of the 17th century, water was the most important element, almost the "living soul" of every garden.

It was reminiscent of the Garden of Paradise crossed by four rivers.

Today's gardener, who brings the tempting luxury of water into his small plot, also longs for paradise.

Stefan Rebenich, author of the garden column in the FAZ feuilleton, is an ancient historian at the University of Bern.