Small workshop building at Wasserwerkgasse 21

About the building

Between the Aare and the Tych, the old industrial canal of the Matte, a narrow strip of land runs west to the Inseli. At its narrowest point stands Wasserwerkgasse 21. It is a modest building with a ground floor of sandstone blocks and walls clad in grey slate shingles. Look closely at the lower parts of the south and west sides and you will see exposed timbers: remains of a rendered half-timbered frame that appears on photographs taken after 1850.

By the 18th century at the latest, three or four small weirs stood here. From them, channels fitted with water wheels could be opened to drive the workshops. The buildings sat across the spit of land, as if astride it. Of that row only number 21 survives; one weir remains near number 17A. The city’s heritage office regards the whole Matte industrial area as a place that cannot be compared with any other part of Bern.

Nobody knows exactly how old the house is. The city inventory follows the dating of INSA, the inventory of modern Swiss architecture: before 1850, so probably a new building of the late Biedermeier period. A plan of the municipal waterworks from 1838 shows a coal store on this spot and a coppersmith’s workshop on the square to the west, both probably predecessors. A view of the city by Schmid from 1820 shows a white rendered building with a partly hipped roof between the Funk family’s marble saw and the forerunner of the gypsum mill, but whether it is the same house remains unclear. Only an archaeological survey of the building or tree-ring dating of its timbers could settle this.

Between 1988 and 1990 the workshop rooms were completely rebuilt and the roof space was converted. The triple opening in the north gable dates from that work. Since 1997 the house has been protected by a decision of the cantonal government, and the city rates it as worthy of protection.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Wasserwerkgasse 21 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Baugruppe Matte · Wikidata: Q139683840