The Ludo Mayer Fountain at the intersection of Renaissance and modernity
The Ludo Mayer Fountain certainly has one of the most interesting locations in Offenbach. There, in the inner courtyard of the Hochschule für Gestaltung, modern Offenbach meets its roots. The building of the technical teaching institutes, built between 1910 and 1913, and the Renaissance façade of Isenburg Castle from the 16th century stand virtually face to face.
The construction of the new technical schools was made possible by a generous donation from patron Ludo Mayer. He ensured that the town acquired the necessary land. As early as 1907, he had also donated an enormous sum for the construction of a fountain at Isenburg Castle, although it was not completed until 1915. The fountain was inaugurated as the Ernst Ludwig Fountain on June 5, 1917, while the First World War was still raging. It was not named after its donor until after 1918. Ludo Mayer had already died by this time. The city had awarded him honorary citizenship in 1915.
The Art Nouveau fountain was created by the sculptor Prof. Jobst from Darmstadt, whose proposal was selected in a competition. Enthroned on the fountain is the figure of Mercury (god of trade and commerce), who holds Pluto, the god of wealth, by his hand. The shell limestone body of the fountain stands in the castle courtyard at the exact intersection between Isenburg Castle and the building of today's Hochschule für Gestaltung.
The fountain on the campus is one of Offenbach's few art-historical symbols. The fountain was renovated in 1963, between 1988-1990 and by the Rotary Einhard Club Offenbach in 2005 (re-coating of the basins, modernization of the electrics and repair of the pumps). Together with the backdrop of Isenburg Castle, the fountain is a must in any advertising brochure for the city and can be sent all over the world by postcard.
Ludo Mayer, born in Offenbach on April 28, 1845, joined the leather factory Mayer & Feistmann (later Mayer & Sohn), co-founded by his father in 1857, in 1870 and was the first person in Germany to introduce chrome tanning. For his generosity towards the city of Offenbach, the city made him an honorary citizen on his 70th birthday (1915). Ludo Mayer, whose tomb was designed by the Darmstadt sculptor Jobst, died on November 14, 1917 during a stay at a health resort in Bad Nauheim.