A two-faced god for a two-identity city
Janus was chosen because he sums up Strasbourg's history.
Fifountekoun2022 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chabe01 — CC0 · Niko67000 — CC BY-SA 4.0
A contemporary fountain of 1988 designed by the artist Jean Tinguely to mark two thousand years since the founding of Strasbourg, named after the two-faced Roman god Janus. The choice is deliberate and precise. Janus is the god of beginnings and doorways, shown with two faces looking in opposite directions. For a city that changed between French and German identity four times, that sits on a river dividing two worlds, and that today hosts the institutions of European reconciliation, a symbol of two opposed faces is not decoration but a summary. Tinguely was a Swiss artist known for kinetic sculptures built from scrap metal, usually noisy, chaotic and mocking of the machine. This fountain follows that manner: a metal assembly with moving parts, far removed from a classical stone fountain. A plain practical point: free and always open, and the visit is minutes. It stands on the street leading to the cathedral so you pass it inevitably. The moving parts and the water may be stopped in winter.
Janus was chosen because he sums up Strasbourg's history.
Kinetic machine sculptures from used metal, mocking the machine.
A metal assembly with moving parts — the opposite of a classical fountain.
Grand'Rue towards the cathedral, Strasbourg
No. The water and the moving parts are usually stopped during the winter months and for maintenance, when you see the metal assembly still. The idea and the symbolism remain legible regardless, but the full experience needs to be in season.
The walk from Place Kléber to the cathedral along the Grand'Rue — the fountain is on that route. The way passes historic houses and shops and ends at the cathedral, the city's principal monument.
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