Haller Monument: the scholar in front of the university

If you walk up from Bern station to the Grosse Schanze, you see a green bronze figure in front of the university's main building. It shows Albrecht von Haller, one of the best known people of 18th-century Bern. The monument was made by the sculptor Hugo Siegwart. It was unveiled on 16 October 1908, exactly 200 years to the day after Haller's birth.

Who was Albrecht von Haller?

Albrecht von Haller was born in Bern on 16 October 1708 and died in Bern on 12 December 1777. He studied medicine in Tübingen and took his doctorate in Leiden in the Netherlands in 1727. After that he worked as a physician in Bern.

In 1736 the University of Göttingen made him professor of anatomy, surgery and botany. There he researched above all the human body: how muscles and nerves work. His great work on physiology, the “Elementa physiologiae corporis humani”, has eight volumes. He also described the plants of Switzerland in several books.

In 1753 Haller returned to Bern. He entered the service of the Bernese state: he helped to found the orphanage and from 1758 to 1764 ran the Bernese salt works at Roche in what is now the canton of Vaud.

The poet of the Alps

Haller was also a poet. His long poem “Die Alpen” (The Alps) appeared in 1732 in his book “Versuch Schweizerischer Gedichte”. It praises the simple life in the mountains.

A life full of letters

Haller wrote an incredible amount. The Burgerbibliothek Bern holds more than 12,000 letters to him. Around 3,000 letters by Haller himself survive, spread across archives all over Europe. On top of that come thousands of book reviews. His own library of around 15,000 volumes was sold by his heirs to Emperor Joseph II after his death.

The sculptor Hugo Siegwart

Hugo Siegwart (1865–1938) came from Malters in the canton of Lucerne and was a sculptor and medallist. He received the commission for the Haller Monument in 1906. He also made two figures in the dome hall of the Federal Palace: Arnold Winkelried and Niklaus von Flüe. The base of the Haller Monument is made of Baveno granite, a pale stone from northern Italy.

Good to know

The monument is freely accessible. From the station it is only a few minutes' walk up to the Grosse Schanze. More about the building behind it is on the page main building of the University of Bern. Close by, inside the station, the Loubegaffer watches you pass. You will find more places among the sights in Bern.