Sedina has been lost without a trace / Prophylactic self-isolation series. Day 282nd.

Mysterious fountain

Once upon a time during the travelling, I saw a fountain. It grab my attention because of its disproportion – a simple metal anchor at the base of the fountain did not interfere in any ways with a wide massive construction of the fountain made from marble. More so, the fountain was not working – it was empty and no water was jumping out form the valves.

I saw that the fountain is not “alive” and felt its physical disproportion. And I was true. The info desk close to the fountain tells a story about the real monument which was at that place many years ago…

The history of the mysterious fountain

Originally, the fountain was built in 1898 by the sculptor Ludwig Manzel (figures) and the architect Otto Rieth (fountain architecture) on the town hall square in Stettin, Germany (nowadays Szczecin, Poland). The fountain was known as Manzelbrunnen (Manzel – the name of the author of the monument, Ludwig Manzel; and “brunnen” – fountain in German) (1).

In the center of the fountain was the allegorical female figure “Sedina”, a bronze statue, who embodied the city. Sedina held a boom with a sail on her left shoulder and her right hand was leaning on the anchor. The boat was being pushed by mythical gods and on the bow sat Mercury, the god of merchants.

Bronze elements of the fountain (and Sedina statue itself) were lost without the trace during the Second World War. According to some sources, the figure of Sedina was melted down for copper extraction in 1942. When the city came to Poland after the Second World War, the fountain was restored with an anchor as a new focal point.

Almost the same fountain in Chile

Seems that in 19th century German influence on art spread around the world. Almost the same ensemble of the fountain is allocated in Santiago, the capital of Republic of Chile, western South America.

In Chile, this statue group, created by German sculptor Gustav Eberlein, represents the nation of Chile. Its destiny is different from that of Sedina in Szczecin – people take care of it constantly. In 1997, the remaining German community had it restored on the 150th anniversary of German immigration to Chile, and in 2011, the city had it restored again for Chile’s Bicentennial (2).

About name Sedina

According to a user from Florida, U.S., the name Sedina is of African origin and means “Gift of God Destiny provides”.

A submission from Belgium says the name Sedina means “Your mind is rich and deep” and is of African origin (3).

Sedna (Sedina) in mythology

Sedna is the goddess of the sea and marine animals in Inuit mythology, also known as the Mother of the Sea or Mistress of the Sea. (Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit (Eskimo), an indigenous people from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland).

More than one version of the Sedna legend exists. In one legend Sedna is a giant, the daughter of the creator-god Anguta, with a great hunger that causes her to attack her parents. Angered, Anguta takes her out to sea and throws her over the side of his kayak. As she clings to the sides, he chops off her fingers and she sinks to the underworld, becoming the ruler of the monsters of the deep. Her huge fingers become the seals, walruses, and whales hunted by the Inuit (4).

References

1. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzelbrunnen
2. https://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/santiago-chile-s-german-fountain
3. https://www.names.org/n/sedina/about#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20user%20from,and%20is%20of%20African%20origin
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(mythology)