Hôtel de Musique

About the building

On Theaterplatz, between the Zytglogge and Kornhausplatz, the Hôtel de Musique stands at Theaterplatz 7 and Hotelgasse 10. Its name gives away its original purpose: the house was meant to serve Bern's upper class as a place for balls, festivities and music.

To finance the building, members of the Grande Société founded a joint-stock company especially for it in 1766; among the founders were names such as von Erlach, Sinner, von Graffenried and Frisching. This company still exists and is considered one of the oldest joint-stock companies in Switzerland. The building was designed by Niklaus Sprüngli, who worked for the Bernese authorities after years in Paris. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland counts the Hôtel de Musique, built from 1767 to 1770, among his main works; Wikidata gives 1769 as the year of construction.

Although a stage was built in, the house could not be used as a theatre until 1798. After that, Bern's theatre life developed here. Between 1836 and 1838 the hall was substantially enlarged, and from 1862 to 1903 the city theatre performed here. A record of the performances from 1766 to 1905 is accessible online today. The house entered the history of the federal state on 6 November 1848, when the first meeting of the Federal Assembly took place in the theatre hall.

When the new city theatre opened in 1903, the hall lost its role. During a renovation in 1904 and 1905 the theatre hall disappeared completely; the open-air staircases and the original proportions of the ground floor were lost at the same time. Besides Sprüngli, Wikidata names René von Wurstemberger as an architect. He had built the new city theatre from 1901 to 1903 and was himself a member of the Grande Société.

Today the Hôtel de Musique is the seat of the Grande Société and also serves as the registered address of the Swiss Commandery of the Order of St John. Standing in front of it, you can picture the open staircases that led to the entrance before the conversion.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Untere Altstadt (alle Adressen) · Wikipedia (de): Hôtel de Musique · Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz: Niklaus Sprüngli · Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz: René von Wurstemberger · Schweizer Musikzeitung: Starting point Hôtel de Musique · DaSCH: Hôtel de Musique Bern, Aufführungen 1766–1905 · Wikidata: Q1249510