Architecture
The German Fountain was constructed on the site where there was a tree which is known as Vakvak Tree (Turkish: Vakvak Ağacı) or The Bloody Plane (Turkish: Kanlı Çınar). In the 1656 janissary rebellion, Mehmed IV yielded a number of officials to the demands of the rebels and these victims, when killed, were suspended on the Plane in the Hippodrome. Boynuyaralı Mehmed Pasha overcame this rebellion, which took two months and named Vak'a-i Vakvakiye, after becoming Grand Vizier. The plane named after Seçere-i Vakvak (Vakvak Tree) which believed to be in Jahannam and its fruits are human heads.
The neo-Byzantine style octagonal fountain stands on a base with eight steps rising up to an entry gate. There are seven brass fountain spouts over basins on the remaining sides, and over the central reservoir there is a dome supported by eight porphyry columns. The fountain's central reservoir stands on a mosaic-tiled platform and surmounted with the bronze dome, which is raised on carved marble arches. There are eight monograms in the arch stonework and they represent the political union of Abdülhamid II and Wilhelm. In four of these medallions, Abdülhamid II's tughra is written on green background, and in other four Wilhelm's symbol "W" is written on a Prussian blue background. Also, over "W" there is a crown and below it a "II" is written. The fountain was surrounded with a bronze fence, but unfortunately this has been lost. The outside of the dome is ornately patterned bronze; the dome's ceiling is decorated with golden mosaics and again with Abdülhamid II's tughra and Wilhelm II's symbol.
The bronze inscription on the reservoir, which was written in German, reads "Wilhelm II Deutscher Kaiser Stiftete Diesen Brunnen In Dankbarer Erinnerung An Seinen Besuch Bei Seiner Maiestaet Dem Kaiser Der Osmanen Abdul Hamid II Im Herbst Des Jahres 1898" meaning "German Kaiser Wilhelm II, presented this fountain in 1898 autumn, in thankful remembrance of his visit to the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II". There is also an Ottoman inscription in the arch of fountain, Undersecretary of Seraskery Ahmet Muhtar Bey's eight couplet history verse is written by Hattat İzzet Efendi. The poem commemorates the construction of the fountain for Wilhelm II's visit to Istanbul.
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