Double house at Marienstrasse 30/32

About the building

The double house at Marienstrasse 30 and 32 is an elongated, deliberately asymmetrical building of 1887 under moderately steep hipped roofs with knobs on the ridges. A projecting section with the entrance and staircase divides the front into two unequal parts: a one-bay west wing on the left and a three-bay east wing on the right. Both end at the corners with window bays set at an angle.

As in the neighbouring house Nos. 22/24, the render is sienna red and the articulation is of dressed stone. A cornice at sill level and an eaves cornice draw horizontal lines across the façade. The city’s heritage office sees the building as an interesting variant of Nos. 22/24: instead of symmetry there is an unequal composition here, the roofs are carried higher, and because the entrance and stairs lie in the projecting section, the pronounced mezzanine is missing.

Eugen Stettler (1840–1913) had studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was Bern’s city building inspector from 1867 to 1876. From 1887 he belonged to the Kirchenfeld building company, and the heritage office’s district history calls him its chief architect: most of the villas on the south side of Marienstrasse go back to him. The client for this house, too, was the Kirchenfeld building company.

The east side, No. 32, was altered often: an enlarged veranda in 1907, an extension by A. Roth on his own account in 1913, a garden house in 1920 and conversions in 1931, 1964 and 1974. A garage was added at No. 30 in 1928. No. 30 is covered by a protection agreement of 1998 and a cantonal government decision of 1999. The house is rated as worthy of protection and belongs to the Kirchenfeld building group. Looking at both houses one after the other shows well how an architect varies the same theme.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Marienstrasse 30, 32 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Marienstrasse 22, 24, 22B · Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz: Eugen Stettler · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Quartiergeschichte Kirchenfeld-Brunnadern · Wikidata: Q106614945