Art in Bern · Building

Kunstmuseum Bern

The Kunstmuseum Bern at Hodlerstrasse 8–12 moved into Eugen Stettler's new building in 1879 and is one of the oldest art museums in Switzerland.

Visiting

Getting there: Bus 11, 20 or 21 to the stop “Bollwerk”, 50 metres to the entrance.
Open: Tuesday 10 am to 8 pm, Wednesday to Sunday 10 am to 5 pm, Monday closed.
Admission: Adults CHF 24, children under 16 free; collection only CHF 10.
Access: Wheelchair-accessible with ramp, stair lifts, visitor lift and accessible toilets.

Checked 24 October 2026. Sources: Kunstmuseum Bern – Öffnungszeiten & Tickets · Kunstmuseum Bern – Barrierefreiheit

Address: Hodlerstrasse 12, Hodlerstrasse 8
Built: 1876–1879 (Wikipedia: 1876–1878, occupied 1879)
Architect: Eugen Stettler; extensions Karl Indermühle and Otto Rudolf Salvisberg, Atelier 5
Style: Academic classicism with forms from antiquity and the Renaissance
Today: Art museum
Protection: cultural property of national significance (KGS A), worth preserving (Bauinventar)

About the building

On Hodlerstrasse, at the edge of the old-town plateau above the Aare, the original museum building stands on its own. From the street it looks two-storeyed: a raised ground floor of rough-hewn blocks carries an upper floor strongly articulated by half-columns and niches for figures. In the middle, projecting sections stand forward, together with statues by Karl Alfred Lanz and attic pieces with segmental pediments. Two round medallions by Raphael Christen show Zeus and Minerva.

In this building the architect Eugen Stettler combined forms from Roman antiquity and the Renaissance in the tradition of the Paris Beaux-Arts. The client was the Bernerisches Kunstmuseum. The Bauinventar gives 1876 to 1879 as the construction period, Wikipedia 1876 to 1878 with the move in 1879. According to Wikipedia the building was meant as an urban counterpart to the Federal Palace. Inside, a spacious entrance hall and a monumental staircase receive visitors.

The collection is older than the building. Its core was formed by paintings that the canton of Bern bought in 1820, and until 1864 it was spread over changing locations, last in the west wing of the new Federal Palace. Today it ranges from the Gothic period to the present, with works from Niklaus Manuel, Albert Anker and Ferdinand Hodler to Paul Klee. In 2014 the museum inherited the estate of Cornelius Gurlitt and then set up the first department for provenance research in Switzerland.

The museum was extended twice. From 1932 to 1936 a plain side wing was built to plans by Karl Indermühle and Otto Rudolf Salvisberg, on whose façade towards Hodlerstrasse Cuno Amiet created a sgraffito showing an apple harvest; it is still preserved. In the early 1980s the Salvisberg building was replaced by an extension by the Bernese firm Atelier 5, from 1981 to 1984 according to the Bauinventar. After the architectural competition of 2024, this extension is to be replaced by a free-standing new building by Schmidlin Architekten, which will leave the Stettler building standing completely free again.

Standing in front of the south façade, look for the two medallions: Zeus and Minerva keep watch over the entrance.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Hodlerstrasse 12, 8, 12A · Wikipedia (de): Kunstmuseum Bern · Kunstmuseum Bern: Mediendossier Ergebnis Architekturwettbewerb (19. August 2024) · Wikidata: Q194622