Storkespringvandet, Copenhagen

Storkespringvandet is the Stork Fountain, a stone waterwork on Amagertorv in Copenhagen. Its sculptural scene presents three storks poised for departure, perched above a basin with small water-spouting frogs. The fountain was given to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Louise for their silver wedding anniversary in 1894, and it opened that same year.

Vilhelm Bissen is credited as its artist. Since 1950, newly qualified midwives have marked their graduation by dancing around the fountain, turning this urban landmark into part of a living celebration. The birds have also caused a local misunderstanding: legend calls them herons, but the Danish Ornithological Society confirmed in 2008 that they are storks. During the late 1960s, the fountain became a gathering place for protest movements, and a fictitious online campaign later drew thousands of supporters by falsely claiming demolition was imminent.