Have you ever been a tourist in a new town and found your water bottle empty?
Typically your options are to find a store to buy some, a restaurant, or hope there’s a Starbucks that will give you a free cup of water.
Well if you’re in Switzerland just look for a water fountain.
Not only are these water fountains for decoration, they function too.
Where can you find a drinking fountain?
You can find them on the corner of a busy street in the middle of the town square by your neighborhood park or at the top of a mountain.
This water comes direct from underground wells for streams and mountain runoff and it’s safe to drink.
These water fountains are constantly flowing clean clear cool water.
And honestly it tastes better than most store-bought water bottles.
The best part is it’s free.
What are these fountains made of?
The water fountains themselves can range in materials from stone to wood to metal to combination of materials and they can be as simple as a pipe falling into a tree stump such as top of the Rigi to a decorative and full of color and beautiful designs like the ones in Lucerne.
So some features you will notice in the following photos about them besides the material differences is location and decor and even some of them have these extra bars.
Are all the fountains little?
The fountains range in size from the little drinking fountains like seen at schools up to large decorative fountains in the middle of town squares.
The location can determine the size.
A little fountain on a side street makes more sense than the full grand decorative fountain. On the other hand a little fountain in the middle of town square feels out of place.
How old are these fountains?
On the side of many fountains there was a date.
This date is when the fountain was opened in a sense. You will notice the years written on the side of many of them, not all of them such as the tree stump at the top of the Rigi but many of them, such as these ones, have the date written on them when this fountain was open.
What are the bars on the fountains for?
Some fountains had bars across the top of the basin.
Some of these fountains have been around since the 1800s or earlier.
It’s not exactly clear what the bars are for. I speculate that they’re for filling a basin (like outside a church) as mostly those fountains had them.
What are some other facts about them?
Rarely did I find a non working fountain. The water was either turned off or had a sign to not drink.
The fountains are so integral to each town or city. As such they’re often included in art shows such as in Bremgarten.
The water flowing directly out of any pipe is perfectly safe to drink. You can drink straight from the tap as my toddlers demonstrate.
Beauty and Function
So while you travel Switzerland you know how to stay hydrated, just make sure you don’t fall in.
