Cantonal military complex on the Beundenfeld

About the building

On Papiermühlestrasse, a wide avenue lined with plane trees, the military buildings line up between Kasernenstrasse and Guisanplatz. At their heart is a rectangular parade ground framed by three groups of buildings: the barracks to the north-east, the arsenal with its workshops on another side, and the riding hall with the stables to the south. All main fronts face the square.

The impulse came from a popular vote in 1873. That year the canton of Bern decided to move its military facilities, until then spread over three sites in the city, to the Beundenfeld. The barracks themselves were hotly debated, because some saw in them a worrying symbol of power; the project was therefore worked out in two versions. According to the Bauinventar the plans were drawn by Adolphe Tièche, the client was the canton of Bern, and construction ran from 1873 to 1879.

The barracks are designed as a castle-like, four-storey complex with three wings under broken hipped roofs. The base is of limestone and sandstone; above it the building is rendered, with only the projecting central sections in sandstone. In the middle of the main front a clock sits below a pediment, and the Bernese coat of arms is displayed above the entrances. The towers in the corners between the wings originally had steep spires and now have flat roofs. The forms are classicist but draw on Bernese baroque and the Italian early Renaissance. The riding hall with its steep gabled roof stands at right angles to the square, with slender stable wings on either side. The arsenal is closed off from the outside like a fortress, with walls and iron gates.

The complex shaped the economic and urban development of the Breitenrain district. On the nearby Allmend a balloon hangar was built in 1900, and in 1914 the air force of the Swiss Army was set up here. From 1998 to 2002 the riding hall and stables were converted for the University of Music and Theatre, now part of the Bern University of the Arts; the barracks were completely renovated from 2000 to 2003. Today they are called the General-Guisan-Kaserne and remain in military use.

Standing in front of the barracks, look for the clock in the pediment and the coat of arms above the portal: they show how impressively the canton wanted to house its troops.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Papiermühlestrasse 13A–K, 15 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Baugruppe Kaserne West · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Strukturgruppe Kaserne Ost · Wikipedia (de): Kantonale Kaserne Beundenfeld · Wikidata: Q19362498