Pix: Trick fountains are for kids
Which is why I was soaked by the tour's end. Smiling meant dripping.
Perfect for walking 5K home. Nothing makes you forget about distance like a drenching, and the bishop that built Hellbrunn Palace must have been all about that. This tour was trick fountains, just trick fountains.
The brave man and little girl at left are getting soaked from above and below. The brave-ish boy at right is in the archbishop's seat and dry.
Water powered all of the mechanics in the park. Not bad for 1615, eh?
They ranged from massive, moving sets…
… to tiny, path-side scenes. Channels and waterfalls ran underneath.
At the settings above, we were soaked or drying off. Water came from ceilings, walls, floors, statues, even deer antlers on the wall. A grotto that didn't douse you was a concern. Orpheus, what were you up to?
Ah: "Eurydice, whose features bear a striking resemblance to portraits of Countess Isabel Mabon whom the guidebook coyly describes as the Prince Bishop's 'muse,' wears nothing other than a portrait of Marcus Sittikus [the bishop, of course] round her neck." (PDF.) Smart move.
More symbols: Like power, the golden crown rises and falls.
What this symbolized… bet it inspired the magic upside-down faucet.
And the brave, stoic man and the rest of us continue our soaking.
