Strawberry Mareili (Erdbeer-Mareili)

History of the work

In the front garden south of a house on Löchligutweg stands a figure in limestone from Laufen. Walter Schnegg carved it in 1946. Wikidata gives a height of 150 centimetres and names a woman as the subject. The city’s register gives the address as Löchligutweg 25, Wikimedia Commons as number 27.

“Das Erdbeeri-Mareili” is also the title of a novella by Jeremias Gotthelf from 1850. Whether Schnegg was referring to this story is not recorded in the sources available.

Schnegg (1903–1990) was born in Köniz and worked in Bern. He first trained in the metalworking trade, then did an apprenticeship as a sculptor, took courses at the school of applied arts in Bern and worked as a trainee in a stonemason’s workshop. He then studied in Geneva at the École des Beaux-Arts and at two Paris academies; study trips took him to Stuttgart, Munich and Italy. SIKART names nudes and animals as his subjects, along with figures for fountains.

In the same year, 1946, he made the Rehbrunnen (Deer Fountain) in Stapfenacker, and as early as 1936 the group “Mutter mit Säugling” (Mother with Infant) by the playground on Humboldtstrasse in Spitalacker. Another ornamental fountain by him stands by the Schönau pumping station on the Aare. In 1940 the magazine “Die Berner Woche” published a portrait of him.

Löchligut is a small neighbourhood on a slope at the northern edge of the city, between the east bank of the Aare and Ittigen. It is named after a former large country estate; allotment gardens lie down by the river, with detached houses and small apartment buildings above. The figure stands in a private front garden and can be seen from the street.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Walter Schnegg · SIKART: Walter Schnegg · Wikipedia (de): Löchligut · Wikipedia (de): Jeremias Gotthelf (Werkliste) · Wikidata: Erdbeer-Mareili (Q66828150) · Wikimedia Commons: Kalksteinskulptur Erdbeer-Mareili (Walter Schnegg 1946)