October, 1915 
43 
Between blocks C and D on the Eberhard- 
strasse, is swung a bridge, decorated with 
sgraffito designs and an inscription relative 
to the rebuilding of the group 
monumental in treatment. Its high stone 
front with its three gables, the central 
one crowned with a model of a three- 
masted sailing vessel, is well adapted to 
a commercial building of this nature. 
The tower, containing the stairs and ele¬ 
vators, and visible from the streets in 
the rear, may offer a suggestion to our 
architects for a more dignified treatment 
of this type of construction, by the man¬ 
ner in which it is made to add to the 
picturesque effect, which it might well 
have ruined. The high pitched roofs are, 
of course, in accordance with the tradi¬ 
tion of local building, being common 
enough throughout Germany on com¬ 
mercial as well as private buildings. 
Block C, fronting equally on the Eber- 
hardstrasse, is somewhat simpler in treat¬ 
ment, since it contains apartments in¬ 
stead of offices. The two buildings are 
joined by a bridge, with sgraffito decora¬ 
tions and an inscription relative to the 
rebuilding of the group. Near the 
bridge, at the corner of the cafe 
terrace, is a small drinking foun¬ 
tain with a stone relief and a bench 
for the casual wayfarer. 
Passing under the bridge, a short 
street leads to the Geiss-Platz, the 
center of the composition. In the 
center of this little space, roughly 
triangular in form, stands a very 
charming fountain, whose sculptor, 
J. Ziedler, of Stuttgart, has depict¬ 
ed the charming legend of “Hans 
im Gluck” for the edification of 
the local youth. The basin of the 
fountain is of stone, surmounted 
by a wrought-iron canopy of quaint 
design of a somewhat Gothic char¬ 
acter. In the center is Hans with 
his pig, surrounded by a series of 
six goslings, while the circular 
A closer view of the “Hans im Gluck” fountain 
shows the wrought iron Gothic canopy. 
Replicas of the gilded plaques are to be seen 
on the bottom of the page 
£>T EINST R. At>S£ 
Jlbbiltmitg 9. 
These apartments are occupied by people of 
the working class, the rents are low, but 
everything necessary for comfort and health 
is amply provided 
open-work plaques in the grille represent 
the other episodes of the story. These 
sculptures and plaques are gilded, except 
the main figure, finished in dark bronze; 
the ironwork is black. 
In the same square are several motives 
of decoration, and particularly the richly- 
carved wooden oriel window of one of 
the restaurants, to the west of the foun¬ 
tain. This oriel, forming half an octagon 
in plan, is due to the same sculptor as the 
fountain, as are, apparently, most of the 
other decorations. 
Another oriel of stone, on one of the 
houses opposite, seems to illustrate the 
story of Hansel and Gretel, and several 
other fairy tales are suggested by other 
decorations here and there. These old 
stories, in fact, are constantly used as a 
source of inspiration by many of the Ger¬ 
man decorators of the present. 
On the third side of the square, be¬ 
tween the Geiss-Strasse and the Metzger- 
strasse, stands a tall, gabled house 
with an arcade on the ground floor. 
This front is interesting for its 
fenestration, and for its sgraffito 
ornament, continued on the side 
streets, as the detail shows. The 
handling of the shutters adds an 
additional note of interest, as do 
the amusing sculptured details. 
The treatment of the sgraffito 
work of these buildings deserves a 
word of notice. Instead of the tra¬ 
ditional Italian sgraffito colors; 
black, red and white, we find vari¬ 
ous combinations of soft browns, 
greys and yellows. Brown over 
grey, or grey over yellow ocher is 
the type of the tonality used. More 
brilliant contrasts of color are ob¬ 
tained by painting and stencilling 
the shutters a dark green. 
The block plan shows the general arrangement of this tenement group 
