Wattenwylhaus at Herrengasse 23

About the building

Herrengasse runs from the Casino to the Minster. On its south side, number 23 stands out with a strictly ordered Baroque facade. Behind it lies a medieval core: the building grew together from several older houses, whose traces can still be seen in the eastern part. From 1690 the von Büren family combined the properties and rebuilt them.

In 1756 David Salomon von Wattenwyl bought the house. For him the Bern architect Erasmus Ritter (1726–1805) redesigned the main facade, probably to hide the many alterations of the previous decades behind a uniform front. The dates given for this work differ: 1760, 1760 to 1764 and 1762 to 1764 are all mentioned. Ritter had studied in Paris under Jacques-François Blondel and worked as an architect in Bern from 1756; the house is regarded as one of his most important works.

The facade has five bays above a rusticated ground floor. On the two upper floors flat pilasters separate the bays, and the three central ones are emphasised with capitals. Above sits a mansard roof, broken in the middle by a segmental pediment with the family coat of arms and flanked by round dormer windows. Ornament is limited to keystones, a garland and the coat of arms. Notice that the front door is not in the centre but in the right-hand bay. In front of the house stands the Herrengassbrunnen; its column with a vase is also attributed to Ritter.

The house stayed with the von Wattenwyl family for about two hundred years. From 1930 it was divided into rented flats, and from 1942 the American Allen Dulles lived on the ground floor, running the Swiss station of the OSS intelligence service from here; he later became director of the CIA. In 1954 the family sold the house; according to the English Wikipedia to the city, while Wikidata names the Burgergemeinde Bern as owner. Only since 1906, when a neighbouring school building with a stair tower was demolished, can the facade be seen unobstructed. The house is cultural property of national importance.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Wikipedia (en): Herrengasse 23 (Bern) · Wikipedia (de): Herrengasse (Bern) · Wikipedia (de): Erasmus Ritter (Architekt) · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Untere Altstadt (Übersicht, ohne Einzelblatt) · Wikidata: Q5743927