Ernst Ludwig Fountain

The artist’s house for the painter Hans Christiansen, built in 1901 according to plans of architect Joseph Maria Olbrich for the first exhibition of the artists' colony, was severely damaged in 1944 and the ruins were demolished in 1958.

Instead of the so-called Villa “In Roses” there is now a modern fountain by the sculptor Karl Hartung. The city of Darmstadt bought this work at the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958 in order to erect it on the Mathildenhöhe in 1959. However, it was only officially inaugurated in 1965 as the "Ernst Ludwig Fountain", when in honour of the last reigning Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine a plaque was attached. The fountain consists of a semi-circular relief wall surrounding a stepped water basin. This fountain originally stood grotto-like under a "floating" pavilion designed by Otto Bartning, in which the German spas advertised their springs.