Bernerhof

About the building

West of the Federal Palace, at Bundesgasse 3, stands a broad building with mansard roofs, gables and two projecting side wings that form a small forecourt. Seen from the Aare it belongs to the long skyline above the slope. Little on the outside reveals that a luxury hotel was run here for more than sixty years.

The client was Jean Kraft, landlord of the Krone inn. After Bern had become the seat of the federal authorities in 1848, he expected demand for an upmarket hotel for members of parliament and state guests. In 1854 he bought the building plot next to the new Federal Town Hall from the city; the Upper Marzili Gate of 1622–1624 still stood there. The plans were drawn by Jakob Friedrich Studer and Johann Carl Dähler, and construction was managed by Joseph Charles Bardy. It was built from 1856 to 1858; on 1 January 1859 the hotel opened with 123 rooms. According to Wikipedia it was the first hotel in Switzerland with central heating. Kraft first wanted to call it "Hôtel de la Couronne", which is why a crown is carved in stone above the main entrance. Its guests included Napoleon III, King Chulalongkorn of Siam and Roald Amundsen.

Garden pavilions and side wings were added in 1866 and 1875. In 1907/08 Kraft's sons had the house raised by the Lucerne architects Vogt & Balthasar and remodelled with a round oriel, balconies and new salons; it now had 162 rooms. With the First World War the guests stayed away. In 1923 the widow of the last hotelier sold the house to the Confederation for 2.9 million francs, and after conversion the Department of Finance moved in in 1924.

Inside, the three-storey light court with slender cast-iron columns and railings from the time of construction survives, as does a large semicircular staircase. During the complete renovation by the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics – 2002 to 2005 according to the building inventory, 2004/05 according to the federal government and Wikipedia – the ground-floor salons were restored for state receptions. The building inventory lists the building as cultural property of national importance, Wikidata as cultural property of local importance.

A detail to look for: the stone crown above the entrance, a reminder of the hotel name that was never used.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Bundesgasse 3 · Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement: The Bernerhof · Wikipedia (de): Bernerhof · Wikidata: Q824621