House at Kramgasse 7

About the building

Seen from Kramgasse, number 7 looks unremarkable. Above the arcade arch of 1559, which goes back to two older house units, rises a plain façade with five bays of rectangular windows; on the fourth floor there are unusual low mezzanine windows. This front was only built around 1700. The real value of the house cannot be seen from the street: the art guide of the Society for the History of Swiss Art calls the courtyard magnificent, almost entirely preserved in its state of 1559, and the most impressive secular ensemble of the late Gothic period in Bern.

The house was built in 1559, refitted in 1645 and given its new street façade around 1700. Its courtyard runs through to Münstergasse 6, the Lower May House, whose stair tower is connected to Kramgasse 7 according to the Wikipedia list of cultural property. The courtyard façade has two bays of coupled windows whose surrounds are framed by crossing round mouldings; the bases of the mouldings are richly carved. In the north-west corner rises a five-storey stair tower with a timber-framed top and a spire; on its double-stepped base the original decorative stonework survives. The timber-framed galleries in the courtyard date from the 18th century.

The colour scheme goes back to a concept of 1929, probably based on findings interpreted in a historicising way; in 1990 the painting was completely renewed. Inside, according to the art guide, the layout of 1559 with two rooms each towards the street and the courtyard survives unchanged, together with brackets with children’s masks and coats of arms, and panelled rooms from around 1700. The rich fittings of 1645 are now in the Bern Historical Museum.

The house is listed as cultural property of national importance and lies in the Lower Old Town, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. Kramgasse itself was largely remodelled in Baroque style between 1705 and 1745; Kramgasse 7 shows how much late Gothic fabric could survive behind such a front. Look for the mezzanine windows on the top floor, the most striking detail of the street façade.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: KGS-Inventar / GSK Kunstführer: Kramgasse 7 (KGS 9109), archivierte Fassung · Wikipedia (de): Liste der Kulturgüter in Bern/Innere Stadt (Ost) · Wikipedia (de): Kramgasse (Bern) · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Untere Altstadt, alle Adressen · Wikidata: Q110903183