Unicorn

History of the work

At Tscharnergut school, Fellerstrasse 22, stands a unicorn carved from oak. It was made by the Bernese sculptor Erich Müller-Santis. The dates differ: the city's register gives 1953, the building inventory and Wikimedia Commons 1954, and the records of the Foundation of the Swiss Sculpture Exhibition 1952.

Its route to Bern is clear. The sculpture was shown in 1954 at the first Swiss Sculpture Exhibition in Biel; archive photographs show it among other works. According to a caption from the exhibition's records, the City of Bern bought it during the exhibition. In 1975 the unicorn returned to the exhibition a second time, as part of the “Hommage à Marcel Joray”. This information comes from a University of Bern project that documents the history of the exhibitions online.

The sculpture is older than the school it now stands in front of. Edwin Rausser built Tscharnergut primary school in 1961/62 from partly prefabricated concrete elements; the site had already been set aside for the school when the estate was planned. In 1976 Roland Gfeller-Corthésy redesigned the whole complex.

A contribution in the same online collection also reports that the wood was coated with tar against the artist's wishes, and that the unicorn lost its horn during children's play; it has not been replaced since. Erich Müller-Santis was born in Bern in 1927 and died in Biel in 2015. SIKART lists him as a painter, sculptor, draughtsman and printmaker who mainly depicted animals and people, and as the brother of the artist Ernst Müller Erlach. If you pass by today, you can check for yourself whether the horn is still missing.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Tscharnergut · SIKART: Erich Müller-Santis · Universität Bern, Things that Matter (Omeka): Erich Müller, Einhorn (1952) und andere · Universität Bern, Things that Matter (Omeka): Erich Müller, Einhorn (1952), ETH-Bildarchiv · Universität Bern, Things that Matter (Omeka): Erich Müller, Einhorn (1952), 6. SPA 1975 · Universität Bern, Things that Matter (Omeka): Erich Müller Santis, Einhorn (1952), Beitrag Christopher Kilchenmann · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Fellerstrasse 20, 22, 24 · Wikimedia Commons: Eichenholzskulptur Einhorn (Erich Müller-Santis 1954)