Hygieia-fountain, Hamburg

The recently-renovated facade of Hamburg's town hall is well worth admiring, but visitors should also pop into the courtyard to admire the fabulous Hygieia Fountain, decorated with bronze figures and a huge statue of Hygieia, the Goddess of Health. Town hall architect Martin Haller and sculptor Joseph von Cramer had originally planned to erect a statue of the Goddess Mercure to represent commerce, but the Goddess of Health was chosen as a reaction to the awful cholera epidemic of 1892, which cost 8000 lives. The epidemic was eventually conquered by the improvement of hygiene and the modernization of drinking-water supplies.