Emperor's Fountain (Kaiserbrunnen)

It can't be overseen with its 12 meter diameter and its 5 meter height: the Emperor's Fountain on the Mainzer Gate. Since 1987 it has not only been a center of attraction for tourists and people interested in architecture, but also for the natives and above all children who have changed the artistic and funny journey through the history and present day city of Kaiserslautern into a playground...

If the Kaiserbrunnen can be understood as a three dimensional history and story book, then the main figures in it are the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa and King Rudolf von Habsburg - both groundbreaking personalities for the history of the city. Also the fish as a legendary heraldic animal cannot be missing, just as little as the "Elwedritsche", a mythical creature. Further symbols from the realm of history are the Napoleon hat, the horse armoring of the knights who used to reside in the Rittersberg, the donkeys and the horse as the former freight and transport animals, the immigrants ship or the official seal of the city. For the modern regional economy for example there is an Opel motor and a (Pfaff) sewing machine as well as wheels and keys as a symbol of the Technical University. And of course in the city of the red devils also a soccer ball cannot be missing- signed by honorary citizen and winner of the 1954 World Cup Fritz Walter.

And what do all of the other animal figures mean? We want to shortly explain some of them: of course the owl stands for the symbol of wisdom for Kaiserslautern's long tradition as the city of schools and in the meantime also a university city. The elephants with the city towers symbolize the strength of the former city wall.

And the mouse? It is the distinctive mark of the Palatine sculptor Professor Gernot Rumpf who created the Kaiserbrunnen from bronze and sandstone...