Former Antonier Church on Postgasse

About the building

On Postgasse, counted among the most authentically preserved streets of the lower old town, a Gothic church building stands out among the houses. It was once the hospital church of the Order of St Anthony (the Antonites). The Bernese house of the order was founded before 1283 as an offshoot of Chambéry. In the 14th and 15th centuries it received numerous endowments; the society of vine-growers had its altar here, as did the confraternity of shoemakers.

The sources give different dates for the church's construction. According to the German Wikipedia the chapel was rebuilt in 1444 and from 1492 to 1494; according to the English one, work on the present church started in 1494 where a chapel of 1444 had stood, and it was finished in 1505. For the church Niklaus Manuel created the St Anthony altarpiece, which he completed in 1520; it is now in the Kunstmuseum Bern.

With the Reformation the church was dissolved in 1528. After that it served very different purposes for centuries: from 1533 as a granary, later as a saddlery and, until 1831, as the coach house of the Fischer postal service. Incidentally, the lower part of the street has only been called Postgasse since 1798. From 1839 to 1843 the antiquarian society displayed antiquities here. In 1860 the municipality of Bern bought the building and for decades used it as a store for fire-fighting equipment.

In 1939/40 the building was converted into the parish hall of the Minster congregation. On that occasion Fritz Pauli painted a cycle of frescoes showing man between good and evil, the Christmas story and the legend of St Anthony; the frescoes are protected together with the building. Since 1944 the Russian Orthodox parish has had its chapel in the basement. The church belongs to the city of Bern, which rents it to the Evangelical Lutheran congregation; the congregation has used it since its foundation in 1956. The building is a cultural property of regional importance.

A detail to look for: right next door, the Fischer post houses at Postgasse 64/66, a cultural property of national importance.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Wikipedia (de): Antoniterkirche (Bern) · Wikipedia (en): Postgasse · Stadt Bern, Antwort des Gemeinderats auf eine Kleine Anfrage zur Antonierkapelle (2023) · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Untere Altstadt (alle Adressen) · Wikidata: Q606476