Old Clinic of the Waldau at Bolligenstrasse 115

About the building

The Waldau lies on the edge of the Schärmenwald forest in the east of Bern. The city opened an asylum here in 1855 to plans by Gottfried Hebler, right next to the old hospital for lepers and patients with skin diseases; in 1884 it passed to the canton. As the first new building of the 20th century, the so-called Old Clinic was added in 1911 to 1913. It was planned by the cantonal building office under the cantonal architect Konrad von Steiger, and the client was the Canton of Bern.

The building spreads wide and has the shape of a horseshoe; the building inventory calls it palatial. A broad central block and the slightly lower side wings rise with massive hipped roofs above the ridge of the main roof. In front of the wings stand three-storey glazed verandas whose windows are divided into many small panes. The façades are rendered yellow and rest on a limestone base. The staircases are carried up like towers above the eaves and have pyramid roofs.

The rural-looking roofs had a purpose: they were meant to soften the impression of an institution. The building inventory therefore counts the building as Heimatstil, the Swiss vernacular revival, with some Art Nouveau forms. These are best seen at the back, where the three entrances have canopies with columns and ornament. The four tall round-arched windows in the top floor of the central block are also striking. In the renovation of 1989 the façades were painted a brownish yellow. The sources differ on the central roof: the building inventory speaks of quarter-hipped roofs, the ISOS settlement inventory of a steep half-hipped roof.

In front of the clinic lies a rectangular park with old trees and four open garden halls in its corners. Among those who lived here were the writers Friedrich Glauser and Robert Walser and the painter Adolf Wölfli. Today the Waldau belongs to the University Psychiatric Services of Bern.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Bolligenstrasse 115, 115A–D, 115P · ISOS Ortsbild Waldau (Bern), Nr. 1271 · Wikidata Q138961749 und Q124262263 (Waldau)