Kleine Schanze

About the building

West of the Federal Palace, between Bundesgasse and the slope above the Aare, lies the Kleine Schanze. Today it is a park with paths, lawns, a duck pond and a music pavilion on the highest point. The high wall that supports the slope below the Europapromenade still shows that soldiers once stood here: it comes from the old fortification.

The earthwork belonged to the last city fortification, which Bern built west of the old town in the 17th century. Four bastions were planned; according to the Historical-Topographical Lexicon of the City of Bern only the Christoffel and Wächter bastions had been built by 1642. The Kleine Schanze is what remains of the Wächter bastion, which according to Wikipedia was completed in 1623.

Around 1817 the site was turned into a promenade in the English landscape style. According to Wikipedia it was thus the first garden conversion of a baroque fortification in Switzerland. Another major redesign followed around 1875, in 1873/74 according to the lexicon. Monuments and buildings were added over time: an Alpine panorama indicator in 1881, the concert pavilion by Friedrich Schneider in 1891, the Universal Postal Union Monument in 1909, for which the northern Steinhauerplatz was also redesigned and joined to the park, and in 1924 the monument to the aviation pioneer Oskar Bider. Since 2006 the wide path in the south-east has been called the Europapromenade.

From the mid-1980s the open drug scene gathered here until the police broke it up at the end of 1990. After that the park gradually became a meeting place for everyone again. The site of about 16,700 square metres belongs to the city and is listed in the Bauinventar as an ensemble worthy of protection. From 2023 to 2025 the park café and the park were renovated; among other things the water supply of the duck pond was redesigned to save a great deal of drinking water.

The music pavilion opened on 1 August 1891 with a festive concert; afterwards the highest point of the bastion was sometimes called the "Konzerthügel", the concert hill.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Wikipedia (de): Schanzen (Bern) · Historisch-topographisches Lexikon der Stadt Bern: Kleine Schanze (Burgerbibliothek Bern) · Plattform J: Kleine Schanze (18. März 2023) · Wikidata: Q1487222