A splendid wedding

The Amberg wedding fountain was almost never created. For a long time no one remembered the Amberg wedding of 1474. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, the historian Max Buchner brought this magnificent event back to the public’s attention.

Elector Friedrich I of the Palatinate arranged this magnificent wedding, which went down in the history of Amberg. In 1474 Margarete, the daughter of Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut, married the Palatine Prince Elector Philipp. It’s hard to put into words how incredibly large the turnout and scope of this event was. For the sheer quantity of food is astounding: for example, sources speak of several thousand chickens and eggs, as well as an incredible 100,000 liters of wine.

On their way to the wedding ceremony the bridal couple was accompanied by 1000 riders dressed in red. In total, more than 2000 guests attended the festivities. Tournaments and other festivities rounded out the wedding, which lasted five days in its entirety. Thus, one can truly not deny the fascination that the people of Amberg felt for this event.

Alive until modern times

After the rediscovery of the Amberg wedding at the beginning of the last century, there were many performances within the framework of festivals which thematised the great event. To create a physical memorial to this milestone, artist Engelbert Süß built the Amberg Wedding Fountain on Amberg’s market square in 2000.

The full sculpture represents four figures. Among them, of course, the happy bride and groom, who are accompanied by two jesters. The bride Margarete proudly shows her wedding ring to the admirer.

celebrate festivals

Cantus-Ferrum, as the Amberg Association for Experienced History calls itself, has been organising the Amberg Fountain Festival every two years since 2001. 2019 marks the tenth anniversary of this festivity in August. As a highlight, the procession from St. George’s Church to the market square will also take place on this date. The destination is of course the wedding fountain in Amberg.

Find out:

Homepage of the Amberger Brunnenfest & info page on our homepage