Brick house at Gryphenhübeliweg 4

About the building

At Gryphenhübeliweg 4, a house stands out for its walls of unrendered brick. The wall surfaces are reddish yellow, while the corners and the window frames are laid in bright red brick. The building dates from 1892; the name of its designer has not come down to us. The City of Bern building inventory names J. Tritscher as the client. The city’s heritage office rates the house as worthy of protection; its inventory entry dates from 1986 and was revised in 2016. The sheet does not assign the house to any building group.

The street front is strictly symmetrical. Red brick bands run round the house at the level of the window sills and above the window lintels, and red pilaster strips frame the corners. Impost blocks and keystones of natural stone at the windows give the colour pattern a calm rhythm. A veranda with a terrace is attached at the side.

Above it all sits a shallow gable roof. Its timberwork is richly decorated, and small galleries with balusters open in the gables. Combining coloured exposed brick with decorative timber was typical of the 1890s. What is unusual is the overall shape of the building: according to the inventory it recalls classicist houses, or chalets built in the same years, rather than other brick houses.

In 2004 the house was renovated and the attic converted; three dormers were added on the north-west side. The grounds around the house are also listed as an outdoor space of heritage interest. If you stand in front of it, look at the gables: that is where the interplay of brick and wood is clearest.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Gryphenhübeliweg 4 · Wikidata: Q138766227 · Wikipedia (de): Liste der Kulturgüter in Bern/Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde (Nord)