Rudolf’s Fountain

At this former and very-much-visited attraction of Bad Ischl, its surroundings were developed so much in the last 50 years that the previous setting can no longer be imagined. The fountain was donated by Archduke Rudolf of Austria* (1788-1831), Cardinal-Archbishop of Olomouc, in 1825. It was located alone in a meadow with groves of trees, pastureland in the background, and a small stream running down the slope in cascades. The fountain’s jet of water reputedly reached the considerable height of 10m.

In the early days, the fountain featured a wooden railing. Around 1840, it got the still extant cast-iron enclosure which was donated by the Archduke Rudolf’s successor as archbishop of Olomouc, Baron von Somerau-Beeckh. He also commissioned the Archduke Rudolf Monument in Rudolf’s Park. During the last restoration (1997 – 2000), the iron railing, which had been damaged and rusted since about 1980, was replaced by a recast, and a stone tablet with an explanatory inscription was placed on a stone next to the fountain.

The circular basin, which is sunk into the earth, is built of precisely hewn stone blocks, on which the cast iron railing sits. In the middle of the basin, there is a boulder with a water nozzle, which now produces several low jets of water instead the previous high jet of water.

* For more information on Cardinal-Archbishop Rudolf, see the text at Rudolf’s Monument at Rudolf’s Park.