Tucked away in the shadow of Cologne’s bustling cathedral, this charming stone fountain brings to life the city’s most beloved folktale: the legend of the Heinzelmännchen.

As the story goes, these helpful gnomes once did all the work of Cologne’s citizens—baking, brewing, and cobbling—under the cover of night, leaving the people free to live a life of leisure. That is, until a tailor’s curious wife devised a plan to see them, scattering peas on the floor to make the gnomes slip and fall. Offended by this breach of trust, the Heinzelmännchen vanished forever, leaving the citizens of Cologne to do their own work for eternity.

Sculpted by Edmund and Heinrich Renard in 1899, the fountain captures the precise moment of the gnomes’ fateful exposure, frozen in time. Each figure is brimming with personality, from the tumbling gnomes to the mischievous wife holding her lantern aloft. It’s a whimsical and slightly cautionary monument to curiosity, lost magic, and why you should never look a gift gnome in the mouth.

Pro Tip: The fountain is mounted on the wall of the famous Brauhaus Früh am Dom. The best way to appreciate the tale is with a chilled glass of Kölsch beer in hand, pondering what other magic might be hiding in plain sight.