In a town of 11,000 inhabitants, there is not a single supermarket left. The shops in the old town are closed, the people are moving away, or they spend their money in the industrial zone on the outskirts, where modern life thrives.

The fountains in Imst are decorated with figures placed there as patron saints or symbolic figures. However, these figures are not biblical Saints. They are human inventions. Images: Public Domain

The fountains of Imst tell a story that many may have heard before. There are over 120 of them, bubbling in the alleys, squares, and courtyards of this Tyrolean town—one of the highest densities of public fountains in all of Europe. Each one is a testament to a time when water was not just a basic necessity yet also a symbol of community, craftsmanship, and proud independence. Imst, an important trading and craft center since the Middle Ages, owes its abundance of fountains to two things above all: the wealth of spring water from the surrounding mountains and the diligence of its stonemasons and fountain builders, who dedicated their art to the town over centuries.

As early as the 16th century, the first fountains were built—not just as water dispensers yet also as showpieces meant to display the town’s prosperity. They flourished during the Baroque and Rococo periods, adorned with figures from mythology, religion, and everyday life, carved by artists whose names are now largely forgotten. The fountains were meeting places, hubs of exchange, gossip, and trade. This is where people gathered; this is where life happened. Yet today? The water still flows, yet life has ebbed away.

In a town of 11,000 inhabitants, there is not a single supermarket left. The shops in the old town are closed, the people are moving away, or they spend their money in the industrial zone on the outskirts, where modern life thrives. The fountains, however, remain. They continue to bubble as if nothing has changed. As if they do not know that they have long since become false idols.

The Idols on the Fountains

In the Bible, in the Book of Kings, it is told how the Israelites repeatedly turned to idols—the baals, the asherah poles, the golden calves of Jeroboam. These idols were inventions of men, statues without true power, patrons without real protection. They were worshipped, yet they could not save, for only God alone can protect and save.

The fountains of Imst are also adorned with figures set up as patrons saints or symbols. Yet these figures are not biblical Saints, not Helpers chosen by God. They are human inventions that, over time, have become idols—silent and powerless:

-“Saint” Florian: Often found on fountains, he is considered the so-called patron saint of firefighters. Yet his statue on Imst’s fountains cannot protect the town from economic burnout.

-“Saint” John of Nepomuk: The so-called patron saint of rivers, whose statues often stand by waterways. In Imst, however, he cannot fill the empty streets.

-“Saint” George: The dragon slayer, a symbol of the triumph of Good over evil. Yet he cannot stop the exodus of people.

-Maria Immaculata: The Immaculate Conception, a symbol of purity and protection, the only chosen One in this collection. Yet her sculpture cannot grant the town a new future. Moreover, a chosen One of God has nothing yet contempt for those who worship her.

-“Saint” Sebastian: The so-called patron saint against the plague, whose arrows recall the epidemics of the Middle Ages. Yet he cannot cure the modern “plague” of vacancy.

These figures are venerated, yet they are not true protectors. They are inventions of Christianity that, over the centuries, have become idols—not of gold, yet of stone and tradition. Like the idols in the Book of Kings, they too are silent and powerless. They cannot fill the empty streets, save the shops, or keep the people.

The Golden Calf and the Stone Lies

The Golden Calf was a sculpture the people of Israel made for themselves when they were afraid, upon Moses left them. It was a substitute for God, an attempt to control the uncontrollable. Yet it was a lie. The fountains of Imst are a similar symbol today. They represent a past that no longer exists, an identity that has faded. Most people may no longer worship them—yet they cling to them as if they could save the town. As if they could fill the void left by the exodus.

“Your iniquity and the iniquity of your fathers,” says the Lord, “in that they have burned incense on the mountains and offended me on the hills, I will measure into their bosom.”

The Bible, Isaiah 65:7

Yet stone cannot comfort. And art cannot create community if it offends God, Glory to the exalted One.

The Industrial Zone: The New Center Without a Soul

While the fountains in the old town gather dust, life has shifted to the industrial zone on the outskirts. Here, there are supermarkets, hardware stores, jobs—everything the town center no longer offers. Yet what kind of life is this? A life without history, without the warmth of the old alleys, without the soul of a town that was once proud of its fountains.

The industrial zone is where the town functions today. Yet it is also a symbol of the fountains’ failure. For if people shop elsewhere, work elsewhere, live elsewhere, then the fountains have lost their meaning. They have become mere decoration, silent witnesses to a time that has passed.

The Only Hope: Tear Down the Idols

There is only one way out: the idols must fall. We must stop clinging to a past that was nothing yet deception and blasphemy.

Instead, we should ask ourselves: What do we need God for if these patrons were real?

Not the fountains, not the industrial zone, not tradition or progress can save Imst. Yet faith in something greater than what we create with our own hands: God, alias Jehovah, alias Allah, the only true Patron—if we so choose—the Immortal, the Lord of the Worlds, who needs neither descendant nor mother, Glory to the exalted One.

The fountains of Imst are merely stone and water—and if we turn them into idols, we might as well kiss our beautiful town goodbye.

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By Okay Altinisik | 31-5-2026, 14:01:21