BKW administration building on Viktoriaplatz

About the building

Crossing the Kornhaus Bridge northwards from the Old Town, you face the wide building with its tall central block and small clock turret. It closes the axis from Kornhausplatz to Viktoriaplatz and, together with the garden in front with its pool and groups of trees, forms the centre of the square. It was built in 1915/16 for the Bernische Kraftwerke, today BKW, which still has its head office here.

It was designed by the Bern firm Zeerleder & Bösiger. The partners' names are given differently: Wikidata names Walter Bösiger, a Wikipedia article on Viktoriaplatz names Max Zeerleder and Willy Bösiger, and the article on Walter Bösiger describes a practice founded with Max Zeerleder in 1910 that Bösiger ran alone from 1915. Bösiger later also designed the machine hall of the Mühleberg hydroelectric plant for BKW.

The complex is symmetrical and has five parts: a wide central block with eleven window bays under a broken hipped roof, two lower wings with mansard roofs and corner pavilions set crosswise. Giant pilasters with Ionic capitals divide the central block, and a strong cornice separates the base storey with its basket-arched openings from the floors above. A terrace on columns with a flight of steps in front marks the main entrance; its parapet originally held a large coat of arms by the Biel artist H. Grupp.

The heritage office sees the building as a neo-Baroque work modelled on French châteaux, whose sculptural decoration says much about the outlook of its time. When an extension was added in 1960, a stair-tower oriel on the north side was removed. In April 2011, after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, protesters set up a tent camp on the lawn in front of the building, demanding the shutdown of the Mühleberg nuclear power plant. A detail to look for: the reliefs below the main-floor windows, which the Bern sculptor Karl Hänny devoted to the theme of hydropower.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Viktoriaplatz 2 · Wikipedia (de): Viktoriaplatz (Bern) · Wikipedia (de): Walter Bösiger · Wikidata: Verwaltungsgebäude BKW (Q29651744)