The water of this well has the reputation of being remarkably good. Formerly, even more than at present, the Beautiful Fountain was the very centre of Nuremberg life. At the well, as in the days of Abraham, lovers met and the gossips talked, waiting their turn to fill their long, copper pitchers. To-day, too, the Beautiful Fountain is a household word, and parents explain to their too inquisitive children, when they ask how their new baby brother arrived--"Es ist ein Geschenk von dem Schönen Brunnen!" Of the other fountains we may enumerate the "Gänsemännchen" in the Obstmarkt and the dainty well in the Town Hall courtyard by Pankraz Labenwolf (1553). The son-in-law of Labenwolf, Benedict Wurzelbauer designed the Tugend Brunnen, or Virtue Fountain, which stands at the north-west corner of the St. Lorenzkirche. This was in 1589 when German art was already becoming decadent and mannered. Then in 1687, to celebrate the victory over the Turks at Siklos the "Wasserspeier" was erected in the Maxplatz. It was copied by Bromig from Bernini's original at Rome. Lastly in the Plärrer, opposite the Spittler Thor, is the "Kunstbrunnen"--which commemorates the opening of the first railway in Germany, between Nuremberg and Fürth. The bridges, of which over a dozen span the Pegnitz in its course through the town, must once have added greatly to the picturesqueness of the place. But the Pegnitz is liable to sudden and violent spates which have continually swept away the old bridges. The modern ones cannot boast of any great inherent beauty. The Fleischbrücke, indeed, was built by Peter Carl it is said on the model of the Rialto. But it requires a kindly imagination or a bad memory to admit any comparison between the two. Over a gateway near this bridge will be found the figure of a large bull, with the inscription-- "Omnia habent ortus suaque incrementa, sed, ecce! Quem cernis numquam bos fuit hic vitulus." Town mottoes of this kind were common enough in the old days. A quaint example is that which was inscribed over an entrance of the city of Arras in Belgium. Originally it ran--_Les François prendront Arras, lorsque ce chat prendra le rat_. When the French had taken the town in 1640 they erased the letter _p_ in _prendront_ and thus cunningly caused the inscription to read in their favour. CHAPTER XI _German Museum_ (Entrance in the Vordere Karthäusergasse. Open 10-1 A.M. and 2-4.30 P.M. summer, 2-4 P.M. winter. Fee, 1 mark. Free Sundays, and in winter also on Wednesdays. Sticks, etc., must be left in the entrance hall (10 pfennige). Full catalogue (German) 50 pfennige. Certain sections of the Museum, including the collections of prints, seals, medals, tapestry, records and the Library, are reserved for the use of students and artists. The visitor who wishes to study any of these magnificent collections must apply to the director of the particular department.)