Widmann-Brunnen

About the building

At the southern end of the Hirschengraben, a promenade lined with two rows of trees, stands a small round temple. Eight fluted columns carry a curved cap covered with copper sheet. Inside are a fountain bowl and, on a pedestal, a naked young man in bronze holding a bird on his outstretched hand.

The fountain commemorates Joseph Victor Widmann (1842–1911), who was respected in Bern as a journalist, writer and critic. In 1913 a committee held a competition for a memorial. It was won by the Thun architects Alfred Lanzrein and Max Lutz with the project „Blaudrossel“ (blue rock thrush); another source spells the first name Lanzrain. The pavilion was built in 1914 and 1915. The load-bearing parts are made of shell limestone from Estavayer, the cap above of concrete. The ornament follows the Werkbund style of those years, and Widmann's name can be read in gilded letters on the cornice.

The pedestal inside was empty at first. Only later did the sculptor Hermann Haller (1880–1950) receive the commission for the figure, known as „Jüngling mit Blaudrossel“ (Youth with Blue Rock Thrush), which picks up the name of the competition project. The city's building inventory gives 1922 as the year it was set up, Wikipedia gives 1923. The fountain was restored in 1959/60 and around 1987.

The site has its own history: the Hirschengraben lies in the former ditch of the 17th-century ramparts and separates the old town from the districts with which the city first grew westwards. It was laid out as a park in 1877, and the square was given a gravel surface in 2002. The Bubenberg monument has stood at the northern end of the promenade since 1930. The fountain supplies drinking water and is listed in the building inventory as worthy of protection.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Hirschengraben · Wikipedia (de): Widmann-Brunnen · Wikipedia (de): Hermann Haller (Bildhauer) · Wikidata: Q56654063