Kalchegg Estate

About the building

Among the residential streets of Kirchenfeld, a two-storey country house under a mansard roof stands on Kalcheggweg. Its rendered facades are framed by channelled pilaster strips, and the windows have simply moulded rectangular surrounds. The entrance side is divided into a four-bay centre and two side sections of two bays each. On the ground floor of the centre, two wide basket-arched openings set into a banded panel catch the eye.

According to the City of Bern's building inventory, the estate is documented since the 16th century. The house itself was built in the 17th century and enlarged to the west, east and north in the third quarter of the 18th century to its present form. Who commissioned it and who drew the plans is not known. On the north-eastern narrow side, two basket-arched doorways lead into the garden avenue.

The garden facade facing south-east has French windows in the centre; the first-floor balcony is a later addition. A small peristyle with wooden columns is attached at the east corner, and in front of the west facade stands the walled hut of a draw well. The estate also includes outbuilding No. 8A, a cube-shaped two-storey house with a hipped roof whose ground floor has no windows on two sides.

Around 1904 the villa La Fadette was built on the north-eastern part of the former estate, at Muristrasse 66. Its garden has old trees, some of which belonged to the avenue of the Kalchegg estate. The Kalchegggut itself is recorded in the federal inventory of Swiss heritage sites (ISOS) as part of a townscape of national importance, and its surroundings are classed as an outdoor space of heritage interest.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Kalcheggweg 8, 8A · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Baugruppe Kalchegg · Wikidata: Q117440374