Pouhon aux armies d'Autriche

In the early 20th century, this fountain was located on Place Verte in Vieux-Spa. The water comes from the Source Henriette . The inhabitants of Vieux-Spa came here to get their water.

In 1913 this fountain was dismantled and rebuilt on the site of a customs post , where it served as a public bathing facility. The building built here in 1828 later became the town hall . When this building disappeared , the fountain was placed behind the Peter the Great well. When the Peter-de-Grote source was renovated, the source was moved to its current location , at the lower station of the funicular.

The source is named after Marie-Henriette of Habsburg-Lorraine. She was the daughter of Archduke Joseph of Austria and Marie-Dorothée of Wurtemberg. Archduchess of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, married in 1853 Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, Duke of Brabant and heir to the Belgian throne. The death of their only son Leopold, aged nine, in 1869 was a tragedy for Marie-Henriette and her husband.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Marie-Henriette devoted herself to the care of wounded soldiers.

A music-loving queen and artist who left several watercolors and oil paintings , Marie-Henriette also played a discreet role as the patroness of painters, sculptors and singers whose works and careers she promoted. She was an avid horsewoman and took care of her horses herself. Gradually, disappointed with the future of her marriage and her family, Marie-Henriette left the Brussels court to come and relax at the spa town of Spa , leaving the role of "first lady" to her daughter, Princess Clementine. From 1895 she settled permanently in the royal villa in Spa , where she died on September 19, 1902.

Willem Vandenameele