Villa at Brunnadernrain 31

About the building

On Brunnadernrain a large forecourt opens towards the street, framed by a two-storey main block and two low side wings. The complex was built for the German legation in Bern. The Bernese architect Albert Gerster received the commission in 1911, according to the German embassy at the direct request of Emperor Wilhelm II. Sources differ on the construction date: the building inventory and the embassy give 1912, the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland 1912–14, and German Wikipedia completion by November 1913.

Gerster kept strictly to Bernese country houses of the 1740s. Thunstetten and Hindelbank are named as direct models; the layout "between courtyard and garden" follows Blondel's architectural theory. The main block has a hipped roof, the single-storey wings mansard roofs. The smoothly rendered facades are sparingly articulated with cast stone and sandstone. In the centre a three-bay projection with a mighty triangular pediment steps forward, dominated by giant Ionic pilasters; in the pediment sits an oval window between scrolls and garlands. The left wing has windows and dormers, the right one shows only a closed wall.

The history of the house is closely tied to diplomacy. Richard von Weizsäcker lived here as a young man, when his father represented the German Reich in Bern. After the Second World War, Switzerland took over the German buildings; from June 1946 it leased the former residence to Britain, which used it as its minister's residence until 1956 (Room for Diplomacy gives the house number as 32). The house was refurbished in 2001–2003.

Today it is once again the residence of the German ambassador; the chancery lies opposite on Willadingweg. Gerster (1864–1935) shaped the cityscape with the Reitschule, the Hotel Bristol and the Loeb department store; according to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, several of his villas are used by embassies.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Brunnadernrain 31 · Deutsche Botschaft Bern: Die Residenz · Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz: Gerster, Albert · Wikipedia (de): Deutsche Botschaft Bern · Room for Diplomacy: Switzerland – Berne + Geneva · Wikidata: Q139594268