Apartment house at Muristrasse 33/35

About the building

Right next to Muristrasse 31 stands a second house that Otto Lutstorf designed in 1907 for the same client, F. Hadorn. Muristrasse 33/35 has two street numbers but is a single, symmetrically composed block under a mansard roof. Together the two houses form a decorative edge to this stretch of Muristrasse.

Here Lutstorf used almost the same vocabulary as next door: rough Besenwurf render, a rusticated base of Hauterive stone, here painted grey and only partly preserved, and a street front with elaborate sandstone parts while the other facades stay plain. The composition, however, is reversed: instead of a central projection, number 33/35 has two side projections on the outer axes. They end in curved cross roofs with half-timbering in the gables.

Most striking are the two half-oval oriels in front of these projections. Each rests at the bottom on a small skirt roof carried by numerous timber braces and is topped by a balcony. In the two-bay centre there are two separate balconies on the first floor and a continuous one on the second. Two dormers continue the window axes. The staircases sit in projections on the narrow sides, and simple verandas are attached at the back.

The picturesque, romantic house is well preserved. Only the windows without glazing bars alter the overall impression. A stable building was added at number 33 in 1925 and a garage at number 35 in 1963. The building is rated as worthy of protection. The city also rates the open space around the house as being of heritage interest.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Muristrasse 33, 35 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Muristrasse 31 · Wikidata: Q127821106