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Kleve
Lkr. Kleve Nordrhein-Westfalen Fischmarkt |
SchwanenritterbrunnenSwan Knight Fountainalso Lohengrinbrunnen / Lohengrin Fountain or Elsabrunnen / Elsa Fountain |
Karl-Henning Seemann
1984-86 |
The Lohengrinbrunnen depicts a mythical history about the origin of Kleve. It shows a swan pulling the Swan-Knight away, while his two sons try to pull him back, while their mother Princess Beatrix is shounting and tries to reach him.
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The myth telss that about a thousand years ago a certain Princess Beatrix was desperate, for her father had died and she was expected to marry a man. She took a walk along the Rhine at the foot of the mountain. Suddenly she was approached by a white swan, wearing a gold necklace and pulling a small boat. In the boat stood a radiant knight, who said he had come to defend her country. Beatrix fell in love with the Swan knight and married him. However, he made the condition that she should never ask for his name and his origin. They had three sons together. When the sons grew older they became curious for their origin and urged their mother to ask him. So she asked the Swan Knight the forbidden question. He replied sadly, 'My name is Helias, and I come from the earthly paradise.' At the same moment, the swan emerged and disappeared with the knight. A few months later the noble Beatrix died from a broken heart (see also Wikipedia)
schwanenritterbrunnen |
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