Apartment house at Muristrasse 48

About the building

On Muristrasse in the Kirchenfeld-Brunnadern district stand three rendered apartment houses that look alike at first glance. Number 48 is the middle one of the row and stands out because of the tower at its south-east corner: it is four storeys high and carries a shallow pyramid roof.

The house was built in 1894 for the Baugesellschaft Kirchenfeldflur, a building company. Construction was in the hands of the Bern master builder B. Zaugg, who between 1894 and 1898 also built the neighbouring houses, numbers 44 and 50, for the same company. The three buildings share the same forms and line the street together; the building inventory names no architect.

The main block stands with its eaves side to the street and has a gable roof. In the middle of the facade the staircase projects slightly and ends at the top in a gable. Strong cornices separate the storeys. The ground floor is rendered in horizontal bands, while the upper floors are smooth. At the corners, rough-hewn, interlocking pilaster strips frame the two lower storeys, and higher up brick surrounds take over this role. On the north-west side there is only one window each on the ground and the upper floor.

On the south-east side there is a single-storey veranda; a balcony was added on the second floor in 2010. The house was renovated in 1995. The city's building inventory lists it, together with its neighbour, as worthy of protection.

A comparison is worthwhile: at the neighbouring number 50 the corner tower is only three storeys high and has a flat roof, and the veranda there has two storeys. These small differences show how the builder varied a common pattern.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Muristrasse 48, 50 · Wikidata: Q138790258