The Dreiländerbrunnen in Berg

The meaning of the Dreiländerbrunnen (or Three Lands Fountain) is the key to the history of Berg. And it could hardly be more dramatic!

In 800 Bavarians settle in the Berg area; the first written record of Berg appears in 892. The village is ravaged several times by plague and is levelled twice by the Turks. Berg prospers during the monarchy thanks to the building of the railway connection to Bratislava. But this ends during World War 1 and Berg is a border town once more.

In World War 2 a huge light metal works is erected for the production of shell casings and aeroplane and missile parts. Around 2000 people, mostly forced labourers, are put to work. At the end of the war the entire facility is brought to former Yugoslavia as compensation.

A never-ending stream of refugees from neighbouring countries pass through town. The Soviet Union now controls Eastern Europe and the Iron Curtain comes into being. The Cold War begins.

In 1989 the unimaginable happens: the Soviet Union falls and with it the Iron Curtain. Berg moves from the eastern border to the centre of a new, free Europe.

And it comes full circle: in 2004 the Three Lands Fountain is erected as a symbol connecting the Austrian, Slovak and Hungarian borders under Mayor Georg Hartl.

The glass fountain rising out of local rock stands for the people’s rootedness in their homeland. The 3 pathways leading to the centre symbolise a reunified Europe. The glass plate stands for a new beginning and the water represents the shared border, the Danube. But it also shows the fragility of friendship and peace between nations.