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Journey to the centre of the earth

According to Greek myths Zeus sent out two eagles from the extreme west and the extreme east of the world in order to locate the centre of the earth. The two birds met and dropped a stone at exactly this point.
The architect Andreas Schlüter was convinced: this stone was dropped right in front of the Berlin Palace (Berliner Stadtschloss). In the course of the Baroque alterations of the palace at the beginning of the 18th century he had a so-called omphalos, a round disc with a central umbilical stone set up in front of the palace to be viewed from the windows of the mezzanine. The omphalos served as a symbol of the geographical and political importance of the city; furthermore it became the point of origin in the Prussian mileage system; the distances on Prussian milestones refered to it. In the late 19th century the German Emperor and the sculptor Reinhold Begas selected this place for the impressive palace fountain.
People in Berlin were quick to name this fountain “Forkenbecken” (“fork basin”) although it displayed god Neptun ruling over the waters – this probably refers to Neptun’s trident as well as to the fact that in 1891 the incumbent mayor of Berlin, Forkenbeck, together with the emperor and the sculptor attended the official inauguration.
After the war the Neptun fountain was set up in front of the Red City Hall (Rotes Rathaus). Here the crocodile joins a seal, a tortoise and a snake as fountain heads.