The incomparably beautiful scene of Bern’s medieval streets would be incomplete without its fountains (also dating from the Middle Ages), whose colorful figures and columns brighten up the grey of the long rows of building facades.These elaborate fountains, erected in around 1550 to replace the previous wooden examples, reveal the wealth of the era’s bourgeoisie. As always, the Bernese practical approach combined the useful with the artistic. Today, the fountains preserve for posterity the memory of heroes and historic events from the Middle Ages.The fountains’ colorful paintings have been repeatedly freshened up using the original colors. Some fountains can be found in the middle of busy roads: the most charming traffic obstructions in the world.