Wikipeidia's Danish entry for this fountain (
visit link) reads:
"Storkespringvandet er et springvand på den del af Strøget, der hedder Amagertorv i København.
Skulpturen er modelleret af billedhugger Vilhelm Bissen efter tegning af professor og maler Edvard Petersen og støbt af bronzestøber Lauritz Rasmussen. Springvandet er doneret af Foreningen til Hovedstadens Forskønnelse, der i 1888 udskrev en konkurrence i anledning af kronprins Frederiks (senere Frederik 8.) og kronprinsesse Louises forestående sølvbryllup. Springvandet blev indviet i 1894.
Det har i en årrække heddet sig, at fuglene ikke er storke, men hejrer. Knud Flensted fra Dansk Ornitologisk Forening er imidlertid ikke i tvivl om at storkene faktisk er storke.
Da springvandet var nyt, plaskede vand i sådan en vinkel mod fuglenes udbredte vinger, at det sprøjtede forbipasserende i ansigtet. Pressen harselerede med det, og politiet måtte jævnligt rykke ud, fordi ballademagere smed folk op i kummen. Kommunen lukkede så for vandet, men det medførte, at folk tømte affald i kummen. Så måtte der igen åbnes for vandet.
Siden 1950'erne har det været tradition, at nyuddannede jordemødre danser omkring springvandet.
Under ungdomsoprøret i 1960'erne var Storkespringvandet samlingssted for hippier, der fordrev tiden med at ryge hash og spille guitar – til borgerskabets store forargelse og ofte i konflikt med politiet. Denne konflikt ved “det store stygge Storkespringvand” blev i 1966 besunget af protestsangeren Cæsar, der fik sit gennembrud og skabte en sand landeplage med sangen Storkespringvandet med tekst af Thøger Olesen.
I 2009 blev der som led i en undersøgelse af viral kommunikation oprettet en Facebook-gruppe med titlen Nej til nedrivning af Storkespringvandet!. Der var ingen planer om nedrivning af springvandet, men gruppen nåede på mindre end 14 dage at få mere end 25.000 medlemmer."
which Google badly translates as:
"Stork Fountain is a fountain on the part of the street called Amager Torv in Copenhagen.
The sculpture was modeled by sculptor Vilhelm Bissen after a drawing by professor and painter Edvard Petersen and cast in bronze casting Lauritz Rasmussen. The fountain was donated by the Association for Beautification of the Capital, which in 1888 held a competition on the occasion of Crown Prince Frederik (later Frederik 8th) and Crown Princess Louise's upcoming silver anniversary. The fountain was dedicated in 1894.
It has for years been said that the birds are storks, but herons. Knud Flensted from the Danish Ornithological Society is not in doubt that storks actually storks.
When the fountain was new, splashed water in such an angle to the birds' wings spread to the sprayed passers-by in the face. The press harselerede with it, and the police had to regularly move out because rioters threw people into the bowl. The municipality closed so the water, but it meant that people emptied the waste in the bowl. So they had to re-open the water tap.
Since 1950 it has been tradition that newly qualified midwives dancing around the fountain.
During the youth rebellion of the 1960s Storkespringvandet gathering place for hippies who drove their time smoking weed and playing guitar - to the bourgeois great indignation, and often in conflict with the police. This conflict of "the big bad Stork Fountain" was in 1966 sung by protest singer Caesar, who made ??his breakthrough and created a veritable scourge with the song Storkespringvandet with text by Thøger Olesen.
In 2009, as part of a study of viral communication created a Facebook group called No to demolition of Stork Fountain!. There were no plans for demolition of the fountain, but the group reached in less than 14 days to more than 25,000 members."