House at Luisenstrasse 30

About the building

On the corner of Luisenstrasse and Hallwylstrasse stands a house that presents its two street sides with great care. It was built in 1898 to designs by the architect Robert Häusler; the City of Bern building inventory records F. Leu as the client. The house is rated worthy of protection and belongs to the Kirchenfeld building group. Luisenstrasse itself was laid out in the district plan of 1881 so that it points towards the Münsterplattform in the old town.

The neo-baroque building has an L-shaped plan and a mansard roof. Pilaster strips frame the façades, and tall rectangular windows divide them into two bays towards Luisenstrasse and three towards Hallwylstrasse. At the south-east corner two bays form a tower-like projection with its own mansard roof; its ground floor is banded in render, and on the Hallwylstrasse side its windows are paired.

Next to this corner tower, on Luisenstrasse, lies the staircase bay. A triangular pediment stands over the front door, and the window above has a straight cornice on brackets. On the west side a veranda is fitted into the angle between the two wings; an addition to the veranda followed in 1939.

The house was built somewhat differently from the planning application of 1898. Its exterior has survived largely unchanged since then. A careful renovation in 2011 brought out the qualities of the building even more, and in the same year it was placed under legal protection. The garden and the original fence with its gate to Luisenstrasse also survive.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Luisenstrasse 30 · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Quartiergeschichte Kirchenfeld-Brunnadern · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Baugruppe Kirchenfeld · Wikidata: Q139328508