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Royal waterspout

King Wilhelm IV who admired everything Italian commissioned his star architect Schinkel to build the Roman Baths; however, since he was a talented artist himself he exerted influence on the design by supplying ideas and drawings. Among his family members the king called himself “Butt” (halibut), ironically alluding to his embonpoint. In reference to this nickname the sculptor Daniel Rauch created a zinc halibut as a waterspout for the entrance of the Roman Baths.
“Scholle auf dem Trockenen” (“plaice aground”) is the popular name of the halibut fountain near the Old Museum at the Museumsinsel; even Günter Grass, author of the novel “Der Butt”, campaigned to have this fountain restaured. The model for the flatfish in Berlin was the waterspout in Sanssouci.