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Goose Girl Fountain
2 reviews for Goose Girl Fountain
Without this charming centerpiece, MainStrasse would lose a bit of its Germanic essence. The fountain is based on the Grimm fairy tale of a mistreated princess who is mistaken for a goose girl.
According to the tale, a princess was destined to marry a prince in a far away land. The girl's mother tearfully sent her away (along with a malicious chambermaid) with a handkerchief stained with three drops of the queen's blood.
Along the way, the ill-fated princess dropped the handkerchief into a stream of water, losing her royal powers along with it. Her evil servant took advantage of the opportunity by pretending to be the princess. The true bride was sent away to work on a farm tending to geese.
Each day, goose girl cried of her woes as she unbraided her hair. Finally, the farmer realized that she was the true princess, brought her to the king, where she married the prince and lived happily ever after.
However, in true Brothers Grimm fashion, the fate of the deceitful servant is less charming. The king asked the chambermaid as a riddle how one should punish a servant who had behaved as she actually had, to which the false princess replied, "She deserves no better fate than to be stripped stark naked, and put in a barrel that is studded inside with sharp nails. Two white horses should be hitched to it, and they should drag her along through one street after another, until she is dead."
"You are the one," said the old king, "and you have pronounced your own sentence. Thus shall it be done to you."
Yikes! Now that's some bedtime story. Now, every time I pass by the sweet little goose girl, I'll have to think of the tortured chambermaid as well.
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The Goose Girl Fountain is located at the center of Mainstrasse Village. It signifies the German heritage of the area, as well as the history of farmers who raised geese in the Covington area.
Only having graced the area since 1980, the sculpture was created by a Greek sculptor, Elefcherious Karkadoulias. He was commissioned by either the Covington Mainstrasse Committee or the Northern Kentucky Visitors and Convention Bureau, depending on which source you consult. The sculptor used a method known as lost wax, and worked for over a year and a half to create the bronze fountain, which is 15 feet in height. His daughter was the model for the figure that is based on the Grimm fairy tale, The Goose Girl.
While eating outdoors in Mainstrasse, I've seen children leaning over the side of the fountain to torment the fish in the water.