The supply of water to the houses used to come from the Pütz. The word is derived from the Latin puteus (draw well). The Pütz supplied not only the water for drinking, but also for cleaning and washing. Many houses had their own bows, but there were also public wells, called "Bore". In the Bernkastel district, they stood on the historic market square, at the Kapuzinerkreuz, Graacher Tor and on the Pütz der Rausche- or Bärepütz. According to legend, the place name Bernkastel comes from the term Bärenkessel, which also explains the bear in the Bernkasteler coat of arms.
New and old bear wells
The old fountain stood until its demolition in 1899, and the present fountain was built in 1968 on the same site, but in a far more impressive form. The sculptor Johannes Scherl from Wittlich immortalised the city's heraldic animal twice in bronze, thus commemorating the historic Bärenpütz. The pump was decorated by a bear figure, which today adorns a balcony railing in Graacher Straße.