Villa at Alpenstrasse 35

About the building

On Alpenstrasse, close to Thunplatz, a stately neo-Baroque villa stands in a large park. It was planned by the Bern practice Stettler & Hunziker; the client was a Dr Paravicini. Sources differ on the year of construction: the data field of the city's building inventory, Wikidata and the list of cultural properties give 1903, while the heading of the same inventory sheet reads "villa of 1905".

The model is obvious: the plan, massing and roof form of the double-T-shaped building follow Oberdiessbach Castle. The three-part central loggia and the gabled dormers also recall its French-influenced forms. Other parts, by contrast, follow the late Baroque of the second half of the 18th century, such as the window shapes, the sculptural decoration and the strongly curved salon bay with a balcony in the middle of the garden front.

The heritage office is frank: despite great care in the details, the conflict between the two models is not quite resolved. That is exactly what makes the house interesting – you can see how architects around 1900 combined older Bernese country houses and French forms into a new grand residence. The inventory sheet rates the villa as worthy of protection and assigns it to the Kirchenfeld building group.

The villa survives together with its park-like garden. It belongs to the Thunplatz villa ensemble, which is rated a cultural property of national importance; Wikidata lists the building itself as a cultural property of cantonal or local importance. From the street, take a look at the garden side with its curved bay.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Alpenstrasse 35 · Wikipedia (de): Liste der Kulturgüter in Bern/Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde (Süd) – Villenensemble Thunplatz, KGS-Nr. 738 · Wikidata: Q138798169