For a long time, water for people and animals was supplied by a wooden fountain on the Main Square. But in 1665, this was suddenly no longer good enough. The rich, self-assured citizens of Ried wanted a more prestigious fountain made of marble, crowned by a statue of Dietmar der Anhanger.

Veit Adam Vogl was assigned the work. Vogl was a rival of renowned sculptor Thomas Schwanthaler. Schwanthaler held sculptor's rights. Vogl on the other hand held rights to serve wine and yet still took on sculpting jobs. A legal dispute thus arose between Vogl and Schwanthaler. At the time, Thomas Schwanthaler had already been working for four years on the high altar of Ried parish church when the fountain job was assigned. Meanwhile, Vogl had made his career in politics and had become a powerful alderman. So it was no surprise that Veit Adam Vogl was awarded the contract for the Dietmarbrunnen fountain.

But that was not the end of the story: the council in fact erected the fountain illegally, since no permit had been issued by the relevant stewardship.

Today the statue of the legendary founder of Ried makes hearts beat faster for other reasons: it is one of the earliest secular sculptures in Upper Austria.