Tscharner House at Herrengasse 4

About the building

On Herrengasse, just before the Minster square, a house on the west side steps slightly forward of its neighbours and so gives the square a monumental edge. This is the Tscharner House at Herrengasse 4. Unlike most houses in the old town it has no arcades. The façade is four window bays wide, and the two middle bays project slightly as a central section. Above a base storey come two main floors and a low attic.

The client was Abraham Ahasver Tscharner. For him two older houses were pulled down and replaced by the present building. The federal inventory of cultural property gives the building period as 1760 to 1764, while Wikipedia gives 1756 to 1764. According to both sources the design is probably by Niklaus Sprüngli, who also served as Bern's city architect, but this is not documented.

The façade decoration is worth a close look: brackets at the portal, garlands on the central section and, at the top, an elaborate cartouche with the Tscharner coat of arms and two griffins as supporters. The garlands of the cartouche are carved free-standing; they are attributed to Johann Friedrich Funk I or Christian Reist. The sweeping, almost abstract window grilles are also remarkable. The sources differ on the style: Wikipedia sees here the only pure Régence ensemble in Bern, while the inventory of cultural property speaks of late Baroque and Louis XV.

The living rooms all face the street or the Minster square and so get plenty of sun. At the back there is a plain rectangular courtyard. In 2006 the house was altered and the façade restored; it is classed as a cultural property of national importance. It should not be confused with the second Tscharner House at Münsterplatz 12, which was built as early as 1735 for Beat Jakob Tscharner.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: KGS-Inventar (BABS/GSK): Herrengasse 4, KGS 9120 (Wayback-Kopie) · Wikipedia (de): Tscharnerhaus (Herrengasse 4) · Stadt Bern: Altstadtbeschriftung (Münsterplatz 12, zur Abgrenzung) · Wikidata Q1336224 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Untere Altstadt, alle Adressen (nur Liste)