The Justice Fountain

The statue in front of you is the famous Justice Fountain, and the street you're walking on, Gerechtigkeitsgasse, literally means Justice Street. The statue, standing six meters tall, is a personification of Justice. She’s blindfolded to show impartiality, holding scales in her left hand to represent balance, and a sword in her right to signify the power to punish. At her feet are four figures who follow her blindly. It’s widely believed that these figures represent the four types of government: monarchy with the emperor, theocracy with the pope, autocracy with the sultan, and republic with the alderman elected by the people. Together, they symbolise the idea that Justice stands above all earthly powers. The fountain was built in 1543 to replace an older well. During the French Revolution, the statue’s sword and scales were removed but later restored. What you see today is a replica of the original statue, which was placed in a museum for restoration after being damaged in the 1980s. It was toppled in 1986 in an act widely attributed to the Bélier Group, a Jura separatist youth movement, although they never officially claimed responsibility. The fountain is classified as a Swiss cultural asset of national importance and was so loved that similar versions were copied throughout Switzerland until the mid-17th century.