Villa at Marienstrasse 17

About the building

The villa at Marienstrasse 17 stands out for its strict symmetry. Four fronts of identical design, each with a Ründe – the typical Bernese curved timber arch beneath the roof overhang – are grouped beneath gable roofs arranged in a cross and slightly hipped at the ends. Where the four roofs meet, an octagonal lookout tower with an onion dome stood until 1969.

The house was built by Eduard von Rodt, who was also the client. The building inventory dates it to 1888, the list of cultural property on Wikipedia gives 1889. In those years Rodt built several villas on the Marienstrasse, on plots he had bought from the Berne Land Company.

The corners of the house are special: at each stands a group of three fluted piers, arranged in a triangle and two storeys high; depending on the side, the spaces between them are filled in or left open. Between the pier groups lie evenly spaced rectangular windows with a Gothic flavour. Towards the street a half-timbered oriel on stone brackets gives the centre an accent, and on the east side two-storey verandas are built into the body of the house. The building inventory counts the villa among the most original works of historicism in the Kirchenfeld, because it renders the all-round, centre-focused layout of classical buildings with local forms.

As early as 1912 the north side received a two-storey extension, in 1966 a lift shaft was added on the west, and in 1969 the central turret was taken down, which the heritage office regrets. It nonetheless considers the building worth preserving as a whole. Standing in front of the house, you can easily picture the missing tower above the crossing of the roofs.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Marienstrasse 17 · Wikipedia (de): Liste der Kulturgüter in Bern/Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde (Süd) · Wikipedia (de): Eduard von Rodt · Wikidata: Q106352010