There are elements of public spaces that have no significant function and no functional value, yet they are an important part of a place's identity. Although there are few people alive who remember pre-war Wroclaw, the subject of the return of the lost Neptune Fountain in Nowy Targ Square ignites Wroclaw residents like no other. It is quite possible that the case, which has been dragging on for many years, will unexpectedly come to an end. However, an important question arises - competition, copy or original?
Neptune arrived on Wroclaw's Nowy Targ Square in 1732 in the form of a Baroque statue, sculpted by Johann Jakob Bauer, perched on a column and sculptures depicting dolphins and nereids, and placed in the center of a newly created polygonal fountain. The ancient ruler of the seas adorned the Wroclaw square for more than 200 consecutive years, undergoing several renovations in the process, as well as the replacement of the sculpture with a new one forged by Albert Rachner. Unfortunately, during the war the recognizable object was destroyed and taken out of the city along with the rubble. Since then, the subject of the return of Neptune's Fountain to Wroclaw has recurred from time to time. Will it finally succeed?
Fish market on Nowy Targ square before 1905
Public domain | Digital Library of the University of Wroclaw
Ideas for Neptune
The base of the historic fountain was discovered in 2010 during the construction of an underground parking lot, which was being built as part of the second post-war revitalization of the square. At the time, a team of archaeologists found several fragments of the fountain, which had been destroyed by warfare in 1945. The reconstruction project planned to set up a new fountain, but there were not enough funds for its realization. In 2013 the city held a competition for the design of a new fountain in Nowy Targ Square - the winning project was that of Matilda Ariadna Nowak. It assumed the construction of a fountain on the projection of a square with a side of 20 meters - metal ribbons, resembling rising waves, were to emerge from the mirror of the water filling it. The concept did not meet with the approval of residents, and the project was again abandoned.
Construction site during the revitalization of Nowy Targ Square - the team discovered fragments of a damaged fountain
Photo: Robert Niedźwiedzki © CC BY-SA 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
unexpected find
An unexpected twist came in 2022, when Dr. Tomasz Sielski, a historian from Wroclaw, found fragments of the first 18th-century fountain in Wielowieś. Before the end of the year, they were transported back to Wroclaw, to the Old Jewish Cemetery on Slezna Street, where they "dust" to this day. Since then, the city has not found the money or initiative to use the fragments, while in the meantime the New Market square itself has undergone another revitalization. Now it turns out that Neptune may return after all, so the just-renovated square will probably have to be partially ripped out.
Neptune's fountain in Wroclaw - pictured is the second statue set in the 19th century
public domain
The fountain at Nowy Targ Square
At the end of March this year, the plans were still somewhat different - by a decision of the Council , the city then secured 350 thousand zlotys in the budget for the organization of a competition to create a concept for a completely new fountain. However, as we have just learned, the sculpture will return in its historical form - shortly after the Council session, Wroclaw Mayor Jacek Sutryk stated that the secured money should not be used for the competition, but for the restoration of Neptune in its historical form. To the modern realizations, the City representatives have a clear attitude:
The fragments we have are as suitable as possible for reuse in the creation of a Neptune replica. At this point we are not yet able to set a date, while the decision has been made. Yes, we want Neptune to return to New Market. We want it to be Neptune in its historical form, not some modern reinterpretation
- Michal Guz from the press office of the City Hall told Radio Wroclaw.
Nowy Targ Square before 1945
public domain
Neptune in two ways
As one can learn from the media statements of Lower Silesian Provincial Conservator of Monuments Daniel Gibski, two forms of restoring Neptune to Nowy Targ Square are being considered. The first will be a full reconstruction, i.e. making a copy based on iconographic sources and surviving fragments of the statue depicting the ancient god of the seas. The second option is to be anastylosis, consisting of a partial restoration of the Neptune statue, in which the original fragments of the statue will be embedded. From the point of view of conservation doctrine, it is anastylosis that is preferred, but it poses two significant problems - the first is the cost, which can be up to twice as high compared to reconstruction. The inconvenience of the second is currently under study:
It is up to technologists to determine whether we use these original fragments or whether they will serve as a model for reconstruction. And if for restoration, let it be Lower Silesian sandstone, let it be traditional methods. Let this Neptune be a symbol of a return to the old ages.
- Michal Guz said.
The greened Nowy Targ square in Wroclaw
© ZZM
21st century eclecticism
Although Nowy Targ Square is already completely different, the restoration of the Neptune Fountain can establish a connection to the historical identity of the place. On the other hand, one has to wonder how the historicizing sculpture will present itself in a completely new environment - not ornate tenements, but modernist blocks of flats from the Gomulka era. Designers of modernist buildings believe that the stylistic differences are not a big problem in this case, such a solution was already considered when designing the post-war version of the square.
Where did Neptune come from in Wroclaw?
Discussing the, probably already certain, future of Neptune in the Wroclaw square, one can first wonder why a fountain of this particular form ended up in Nowy Targ. There are at least two connections. The first could have been membership in the Hanseatic League. Despite the fact that Breslau is several hundred kilometers from the Baltic Sea, it maintained intensive trade contacts with the cities that lined the sea. In other centers belonging to the Hanseatic League, Neptune in the form of a statue crowning a fountain also appeared - a fountain with similar overtones can still be found in Gdansk. According to Tomasz Sielicki, the discoverer of the remains of the Wroclaw monument, the explanation may be much simpler:
The New Market in the space around the fountain was a place to sell goods from the sea - primarily fish. Writing about Breslau in the 1830s. Daniel Gomolcke noted that there were herring stalls (Herrings-Bauden) in the square. There were, in fact, more references to the sea in Nowy Targ. Rafał Eysymontt points out that the western frontage of the square at the beginning of the 15th century was referred to as Pomerysche zyte, which referred to Pomerania, from where fish were imported.
Nowy Targ Square in Wroclaw has won 3rd prize in the European Green Cities 2024 competition
Photo: Angelika Kuśmierczyk-Jędrzak
Nowy Targ Square awarded a medal
Since World War II, Plac Nowy Targ in Wroclaw has undergone more than one transformation. The latest revitalization carried out with Roman Rutkowski, Angelika Kuśmierczyk, Filip Jędrzak and Dominika Stryjeńska was completed in July 2024. Times have changed, as have design paradigms and the problems facing cities, so New Market Square bears little resemblance to its previous iterations. The direction of change geared towards significantly increasing biologically active areas, at the expense of paved areas, has been recognized not only by the citizens of Wroclaw, but also by the jury of international competitions, taking 3rd place in the European Green Cities 2024 Competition. Will the historic fountain become a complement to this vision? And will the city finally close a topic that has been dragging on for more than a decade?
