The so-called Kaiserhaus

About the building

On Marktgasse the lavish front of the western part catches the eye: wide and narrow arcade arches of rusticated stone, above them banded Ionic pilasters rising through several storeys and an attic floor. The outer bays and the two central ones of the eight are emphasised with broken pediments and extra ornament. On a scroll in the gable sits an allegory of trade, a merchant in medieval dress. The eastern part, the former „Vier Jahreszeiten“ (Four Seasons) store, is more austere: three wide arcade arches with three bays of triple windows above.

Both buildings are by Eduard Joos. For the Vereinigte Spezialgeschäfte Kaiser & Co. he combined the houses at Marktgasse 39 and 41 into the Kaiser store between 1902 and 1904, in an opulent, eclectic neo-Baroque that, according to the building inventory, drew criticism precisely for its splendour. The „Vier Jahreszeiten“ building followed next door from 1908 to 1910, in the spirit of reform architecture. Together with other department stores, they show how the centre of the city moved up the street from the railway station in the early 20th century.

The complex also includes the rear façade on Amthausgasse. Here stand two Neoclassical fronts built from 1838 to 1842 for the burghers' girls' school, which moved to the Monbijou district in 1898. Between them Joos inserted a new central building in 1898, with a richly decorated façade in the forms of Bernese late Baroque.

From 1976 to 1981 the firms Rahm + Roost and Atelier 5 merged the houses for the National Bank, and the historic sales floors were demolished. In 1986 Atelier 5 opened up the ground floor on Amthausgasse into arcades. Today the complex consists of six old-town houses owned by the National Bank. The bank decided on a renovation in 2015, which in the end took six years. The Kaiserhaus reopened on 10 April 2026 with restaurants, shops and the Moneyverse, an exhibition about money run by the Bern Historical Museum on behalf of the National Bank.

A detail: look for the merchant figure high up in the gable on Marktgasse.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Marktgasse 37 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Amthausgasse 22 · Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz: Eduard Joos · swissinfo.ch: Kaiserhaus in Bern soll ab April 2026 zum Begegnungsort werden (23.10.2025) · Schweizerische Nationalbank: Medienmitteilung 9.4.2026, Moneyverse · Wikipedia (de): Schweizerische Nationalbank (Abschnitt Kaiserhaus)