Female figure with deer

History of the work

Where the Lorraine Bridge begins on the city side, a female figure of pale shell limestone sits on a massive stone block at the end of the parapet. Her legs are folded to one side, her upper body is bare, and beside her sits a young deer on which she rests one hand. On the other side of the roadway a male figure with a dog answers her, also by Paul Kunz. The Swiss artists' lexicon SIKART lists the two bridgehead figures under the year 1936.

At that time the bridge was only a few years old. After decades of debate, voters decided on its construction on 19 June 1927; it was built between 1928 and 1930 to plans by the engineer Robert Maillart. The bridge opened on 17 May 1930. It is 178 metres long and spans the Aare with an arch 81 metres wide. The building inventory stresses that the stone cladding looks heavy, while the core is a comparatively light structure of reinforced concrete. Later the bridge was widened twice, in 1968 and from 1991 to 1996.

Who made the figures is well documented; why these particular motifs were chosen is not. Paul Kunz was born in Bern on 15 December 1890 and died there on 21 August 1959. He had trained as a woodcarver and worked as a sculptor and woodcut artist. SIKART names sculpture in public space and portraits as the main areas of his work.

The sources describe the location differently: the German-language Wikipedia speaks of the southern bridgehead, the building inventory of the bridgehead on the city side. Both mean the same spot near the Schützenmatte.

Just a few steps away, a bronze gazelle by Willy Vuilleumier from 1935 lies on top of the entrance gate to the Botanical Garden. So three animal figures from the 1930s stand at the start of the bridge.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · SIKART Lexikon: Paul Kunz · Bauinventar der Stadt Bern: Lorrainebrücke · Wikipedia (de): Lorrainebrücke · Wikimedia Commons: Foto des Werks (Ansicht)