Matte School Buildings

About the building

In the middle of the Matte quarter, two school buildings interrupt the otherwise continuous rows of houses: the large school at Mühlenplatz 16 and the small one at Schifflaube 3. Between them is a sandpit playground laid out in 1949. The Matte is part of the medieval town and, together with the Lower Old Town, belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Matte had schools long before. The boys' school at Gerberngasse 33 had been built in 1609 and raised by a storey in 1823; in 1833 it burned down. During the Mediation period the Matte school was temporarily housed in the Erlacherhof, and during the 1823 alterations the boys used the girls' school at Gerberngasse 3, built around 1725. The girls had already moved into the house at Schifflaube 4 in 1819.

In place of the burnt building, the present large school was built from 1834 to 1837 to plans by Bernhard Wyss. It was inaugurated on 23 July 1838. In 1896 it gained another storey and has had four storeys since then. For the small Matte school the Historical-Topographical Lexicon of the City of Bern gives the years 1868/69, the Wikipedia list of cultural property 1869/70; before that, the Färbhaus (dye house) had served as an annexe. Until 1882 both school buildings had addresses on Schleifergässchen.

On the west side of the large school is a memorial plaque to Ferdinand Hodler: the future painter attended this school from 1862 to 1865. Both buildings are listed as cultural property of regional importance. A detail to look for: the Hodler plaque on the west façade facing Mühlenplatz.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Historisch-Topographisches Lexikon der Stadt Bern: Mattenschule · Historisch-Topographisches Lexikon der Stadt Bern: Hodler-Gedenktafel · Historisch-Topographisches Lexikon der Stadt Bern: Schifflaube · Wikipedia (de): Liste der Kulturgüter in Bern/Innere Stadt (Ost) · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Wohngebiet Matte (Listeninventar) · Wikidata: Q29651711