Manneken Pis

The Manneken Pis ( Brabantish for "little water let Direction man " ), also known as le Petit Julien, is a fountain statue of a urinating boy. She is one of the landmarks in the Belgian capital Brussels.

History

The 61 centimeter -high bronze statue on the corner of rue de l' Etuve / Stoofstraat, rue des Grands Carmes / Lievevrouwbroerstraat and Rue du Chêne / Eikstraat was created in 1619 by the Brussels sculptor Hieronimus Duquesnoy. The figure was stolen several times; the present statue is a copy from the year 1965. The original is kept at the Maison du Roi at Grand-Place/Grote market.

A text from 1388 in the archives of Brussels Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula mentioned a small stone statue called " Julianekensborre " at a fountain corner of rue de l' Etuve and rue du Chêne. At that time there in Brussels very many such wells, which supplied the city with drinking water. The name " Manneken Pis " first appeared in 1450 on texts in the Brussels City Archives.

1985 has been given a female counterpart, the Manneken Pis Pis with Jeanneke.

Costumes

The statue is dressed from time to time. So she poses for example at international matches in the Belgian national football team jersey or is dressed according to the birthdays of Elvis Presley and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. On World AIDS Day, it is equipped with condoms. There are more than 850 different costumes.

1698 began, the then Habsburg governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands, Maximilian II Emanuel with the costuming. After Jacques Stroobants more than 20 years was responsible for the costumes, took over in May 2005, Jean -Marc Ahim this task. This was preceded by a violent dispute between the City of Brussels with its predecessor.

More " Manneken Pis "

There are other statues in the Belgian Geraardsbergen and in Duisburg. The latter was modeled in 1908 by sculptor August Kraus as a gift for his native city Ruhrort, initially spurned from " moral reasons ", but set in the thirties next to the former concert hall at the König-Heinrich -Platz opposite the Duisburg City. After the war, in 1952, she stood first at the east exit of the main station and later at Sun Wall.

In Japanese Hamamatsucho station in Tokyo's Minato district stands another figure on one of the platforms.