Workshop building at Mühlenplatz 5

About the building

On Mühlenplatz in the Matte district stands a simple building of 1890 that turns its gable to the square. Its walls of sand-lime brick are not rendered. The gable side is decorated only sparingly: with a string course above the first floor, sandstone window surrounds and ornamentally cut brackets under the eaves.

The site has a long industrial history. A plan from the early 19th century already shows a grinding mill here, and the little lane in front of the house was then called Schleifergässchen. The building files describe the building as a conversion of the so-called Winkelmühle; the building inventory speaks of a new building in its place. The clients were the master millers Johann Schenk & Sons, and the master builder was Friedrich Bürgi. In its group description of the Matte, the heritage office counts the house among the properties that served as hammer forges and grinding shops for working steel.

For centuries the Matte below the old town was an industrial area, because the weir in the Aare supplied plenty of water power. Shortly before 1900 about half of the buildings here were replaced, and factory buildings of three or four storeys changed the scale of the quarter. According to the building inventory, Mühlenplatz 5 and Gerberngasse 33 are among the last witnesses of the irregular building pattern that was typical of the area until the end of the 19th century. On the ground floor the house is connected to Mühlenplatz 3, on the north to Gerberngasse 37 and at the back to Gerberngasse 33.

In 1969 and 1973 offices were fitted into the rear part. The building is rated as worthy of protection and belongs to the Matte building group. Standing in front of the house, look up: the cut brackets under the eaves are the only playful ornament on this otherwise sober building.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Mühlenplatz 5 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Baugruppe Matte · Wikidata: Q139688961