Saint Christopher

History of the work

On Milchgässli, next to the rear entrance of the Burgerspital at the edge of Bahnhofplatz, stands an iron sculpture by Bernhard Luginbühl. The city's data call it 'Christophorus' and date it to 1986; Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata give 1991. According to Wikidata it belongs to the City of Bern.

The sculpture originally stood by the Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit). In a reply to the city parliament dated 5 September 2007, the municipal executive called it the 'Christoffel' and a special case: it had been made later than the small artworks that Bernese artists created on Bahnhofplatz in the early 1980s, and did not belong to their concept. Because of the building work on the square it had to go nonetheless. For the time being it went on loan from the city to the artist's open-air museum in Mötschwil, while a place where it would show to better advantage was sought with him. According to Commons it has stood by the Burgerspital since 2015.

The name recalls a place close by: until 1865 the Christoffelturm stood opposite the Heiliggeistkirche. From 1498, its niche facing the town held a 9.7-metre figure of Saint Christopher carved from lime wood. After a narrow municipal vote in December 1864 the tower was demolished; remains of its foundations lie in today's underpass to the station. Whether Luginbühl was referring to this figure, the sources do not say.

Luginbühl was born in Bern on 16 February 1929, the son of a butcher. From 1945 to 1948 he trained as a stone sculptor, and from 1949 he taught himself to work in iron. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland counts him among the most important representatives of Swiss iron sculpture; he assembled his works from found objects and forged parts, often taking the material from scrapyards and disused industrial sites. From 1965 he lived on a farm in Mötschwil, around which a sculpture park grew up. He died in Langnau im Emmental on 19 February 2011.

If you look for it on Bahnhofplatz, you will find the sculpture not on the square itself but set back a little in Milchgässli.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Gemeinderat der Stadt Bern, 5. 9. 2007: Postulat „Ist der Berner Witz auf dem Bahnhofplatz nicht doch noch zu retten?“ · Wikimedia Commons: Kategorie Christophorus (Bernhard Luginbühl 1991) · Wikidata: Christophorus (Q65923103) · HLS: Luginbühl, Bernhard · Wikipedia (de): Bernhard Luginbühl · Wikipedia (de): Christoffelturm · Wikimedia Commons: Eisenplastik Christophorus (Bernhard Luginbühl 1991)