Former Bollwerk post office

About the building

On the Bollwerk a massive stone building fills an entire trapezoid block. Above the tall ground floor with its round arches, Ionic half-columns, pilasters and pilaster strips bind the upper floors into a giant order, closed by a cornice. At the corners and entrances, projections with banded rustication step forward. The show front with the main entrances faces the point where Aarbergergasse and Genfergasse widen into a small square; the other sides are closed, which shaped life on the Bollwerk for more than a century.

The client was the Federal Buildings Directorate. The city's building inventory dates the building to 1900 to 1905 and calls it the main work of Ernst Baumgart (1858–1938), who worked with Eugène Jost of Montreux. Wikipedia describes the roles differently: it names Jost as the designer, Baumgart as a consulted expert, and gives the building period as 1901 to 1906. The heritage office places it among the large Beaux-Arts post office buildings, such as the one in Neuchâtel, which gave the central role of post and telegraph a representative form.

In 1933 a fire damaged the building. Afterwards the small towers were removed and the upper roof edge and the attic on the south side were redesigned. Many alterations followed, among them the entrance front in 1983 and a new canopy in 1988. From 1993 to 1999 the architects Huber, Kuhn and Ringli renovated the building in five stages: facades and roof were repaired and the main counter hall was restored to its original space. According to the inventory, this renovation set off the upgrading of the whole area. In 2000 there was a further conversion for Swisscom Immobilien.

Look at the windows: heavy ornamental forms divide the single and double openings vertically. According to the building inventory, part of the interior has survived. The former Bollwerkpost is a cultural property of regional importance and is classed as worthy of protection in the building inventory.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Bollwerk 25 / Genfergasse 14 · Wikipedia (de): Ernst Baumgart · Wikidata: Q29651676