In the old days fountains were neighborhood gathering places, necessary installations, infra-structure, if you will. Nuremberg has a number of remarkable fountains, but none is better known than der Schone Brunnen, or The Beautiful Fountain, a sixty-foot wonder of gold filigree and color originally intended to cap the main tower of the near-by Frauenkirche or Church of Our Lady.
In 1390, as the completed spire was readied for its removal to the church roof, the townspeople demanded it be left at street level, changed it to a fountain and installed it in the Hauptmarkt across from the church.

"Beautiful fountain" is the (suitable) name of this Gothic masterpiece, done by a goldsmith from Praha (Prague) in 1385-96. The people below are seven Electors and nine heathen and Christian heroes; over them you see Moses and seven prophets and, on the balustrade, the Fathers of the Church and the four evangelists.

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Der Schone Brunnen wurde 1385–1396 von Heinrich Beheim erbaut; „nach Andern (Quellen) von den Gebrudern Georg und Fritz Rupprecht in Gemeinschaft mit Sebald Schonhofer errichtet.“

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Фонтан был сооружен в 1385-1392 годах мастером Генрихом Бехаймом (Heinrich Beheim) по наброскам кайзера Карла IV и заказу городского совета. Уже в XV веке фонтан с ярко расписаными скульптурами и позолоченными деталями именуется «schon» - красивый.