Signs of the zodiac

History of the work

The school clock sits on the gable of the Wylergut schoolhouse, and in 1949 Rudolf Mumprecht laid out a sgraffito around its face. According to a study written by the art historian Etienne Wismer for the City of Bern's culture office, it is titled 'Tierkreiszeichen' (Signs of the Zodiac) and shows almost nothing but animals. People hardly appear: a man features as the archer, and the only woman, in a dress resembling traditional costume, stands for the sign of Virgo.

The school was built in 1948 and 1949 by the municipal building department as part of the Wylergut estate, which a housing cooperative had built between 1943 and 1947. For its decoration Eugen Jordi, Rudolf Mumprecht and Emil Zbinden jointly worked out a concept with three murals in 1948 and 1949. According to the finance department's 1947 administrative report, quoted by Wismer, the commission went to the three painters; the fee was 10,000 francs. The artists wanted to work as a collective and shared Zbinden's studio on Münsterplatz. Mumprecht nevertheless carried out his part alone: besides the clock, the fresco 'Zoologischer Garten' (Zoo) in the open hall by the main entrance. The city's building inventory lists both works with title and year.

In the stairwell Jordi and Zbinden painted an illustrated alphabet. Wismer criticises above all three stylised men's faces beside the letters C, I and N as colonial stereotypes. According to the building inventory, the alphabet was removed in 2023 and transferred to the collection of the Historical Museum. The clock with Mumprecht's zodiac remained on the building.

Mumprecht was born in Basel on 1 January 1918 and grew up in Bern. He trained as a cartographer, qualifying as a draughtsman-lithographer in 1938, and largely taught himself to paint. From 1949 to 1954 he lived in Paris, and from 1951 to 1953 he and Jordi and Zbinden drew the construction of the power station on the Grimsel. Later he turned to abstraction and a freely drawn, gestural line. He died in Bern on 25 July 2019. Standing in front of the gable, look for the animal figures around the numerals.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Etienne Wismer: Wandalphabet Wylergut, Recherche im Auftrag von Kultur Stadt Bern · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Dändlikerweg 60, Schulhaus Wylergut · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Baugruppe Wylergut Nord · Wikipedia (de): Rudolf Mumprecht · Wikimedia Commons: Sgraffito Tierkreiszeichen Uhr (Rudolf Mumprecht 1949)