Male figure with dog

History of the work

At the start of the Lorraine Bridge on the city side, an unclothed man of pale grey shell limestone sits on a broad stone base. His legs are folded to one side; in front of him lies a large dog, on whose back he rests a hand, while he turns his head to the side. The surface of the stone is weathered and stained. Opposite sits a female figure with a deer. Both figures are by Paul Kunz; the Swiss artists' lexicon SIKART dates them to 1936.

When Kunz made the figures, the bridge had been in use for only six years. It was built between 1928 and 1930 to plans by Robert Maillart, one of the leading engineers of lightweight reinforced concrete, and opened on 17 May 1930. The building inventory describes how the natural stone cladding gives a heavy impression, although inside the bridge is a hollow box of reinforced concrete. At the end of the 1940s, according to the German-language Wikipedia, several piers buckled because construction work on a greenhouse of the Botanical Garden had undermined their foundations.

Paul Kunz was born in Bern on 15 December 1890 and died there on 21 August 1959. He first trained as a woodcarver and later worked as a sculptor and woodcut artist; SIKART singles out the two bridgehead figures. Who commissioned them, and why a man with a dog and a woman with a deer were chosen, is not documented in the sources consulted.

The bridge itself is also clad in natural stone; according to the building inventory, a fine cornice marks off the load-bearing arch.

Compare the two figures and you will see that they are laid out almost as mirror images: both sit with their legs folded to the side, and both touch their animal with one hand. A few metres further on, a bronze gazelle by Willy Vuilleumier lies on top of the gate to the Botanical Garden.

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)