Standing on one of Basel’s busiest pedestrian plazas, Steinenvorstadt, this fountain is forced to compete for attention against rows of bars, shops, a cinema complex and crowds of young people weaving about. It was built in 1672 in honour of the weaver’s guild which has been housed next door since moving here after the earthquake in 1356. The sculptor was Balthasar Hüglin, the same one responsible for the Caritas fountain in the Waisenareal.

Atop the pillar is a representation of Count Oswald von Thierstein, who was awarded the ruins of the Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, a beautiful castle in France, in 1479 by Holy Roman Emporer Frederick III for his leadership in the Burgundian Wars against Charles the Bold. The castle had been destroyed in 1462, and he rebuilt and extended it. In this statue, he carries a banner depicting the mascot of the weaver’s guild, a griffen.

His shield bears the letters S.P.Q.B., a reworking of the famed Roman initialism to refer to the government and people of “Basiliensis” — the banner likewise depicts the Baselstab, emblem of the city, on its reverse side. Both the pillar and statue are replicas, built in 1925; the original now stands in the Historisches Museum.