Tscharnergut village square with bell tower
On the village square of the Tscharnergut estate in Bern-Bethlehem stands a 36-metre bell tower of 1964/65 with 18 bronze bells.
- Address
- Waldmannstrasse N.N., 3027 Bern
- Built
- 1964–1965
- Architect
- design by Hans Hartmann (graphic artist), Tscharnergut architects' group
- Style
- steel tube structure with carillon
- Today
- landmark of the Tscharnergut estate
About the building
In the middle of the Tscharnergut estate, by the shopping centre on Waldmannstrasse, a tower of steel tubes rises into the sky. Horizontal struts brace the slender frame; in its upper third hangs a carillon of 18 bronze bells. At the very top sit a gilded ball and a Star of Bethlehem. The tower is 36 metres high and stands in a shallow hexagonal fountain basin with water jets, edged with granite blocks.
The idea came from Ulyss Strasser, whose practice Lienhard & Strasser belonged to the Tscharnergut architects' group. As a grandson of the architect Hendrik P. Berlage, he had been close to the Netherlands since childhood and knew the carillons that often hang there on town halls, market halls or squares. The tower itself was designed in 1964 by the Bern graphic artist Hans Hartmann. It was built in 1965 by Hans and Gret Reinhard with the firm Metallgewerbe Bern, and the bells were cast by a Dutch foundry. The architects and building firms involved gave the carillon to the residents of the new district in 1965.
The carillon is controlled either by a punched tape roll with a timer or by hand from a keyboard; both are kept in a room in the shopping centre. In 1975 a watchmaker from Bethlehem overhauled the mechanism. According to a 2013 report by Swiss radio SRF, a short tune then rang out several times a day, always three minutes before the full hour, so as not to clash with the church bells. The songs were still punched into the tape by hand, and SRF reported that the carillon was to be digitised for its 50th anniversary in 2015.
The tower has always been regarded as the landmark of the Tscharnergut. Its column feet were repaired in 2001. The building inventory classes it as worthy of protection and considers the carillon probably the only one of its kind in Switzerland; SRF counted it among the last mechanically operated carillons in the country. When you look up, watch for the star at the top.
Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Waldmannstrasse NN (Dorfplatz mit Glockenturm) · SRF: Ein Glockenspiel mit Seltenheitswert (1. 7. 2013) · Wikipedia (de): Tscharnergut · Wikidata: Q114220289
Buildings nearby
Tscharnergut housing estate80 mFormer Schild cloth factory at Fellerstrasse 11210 mBethlehemacker Primary School250 mReformed Church of Bethlehem320 mBethlehemacker I Terraced Houses of 1944330 mGlockenspielArtwork · 10 mUnicornArtwork · 60 mOverall design of Tscharnergut schoolArtwork · 140 mClassification and address: Bauinventar © Amt für Kultur des Kantons Bern · Wikidata. Found a mistake? Write to hallo@uebrig.ch.