The Good Samaritan

History of the work

By entrance 4 of the Tiefenau hospital a sgraffito by Max von Mühlenen from 1949 is scratched into the wall. Its title, 'Der barmherzige Samariter' (The Good Samaritan), refers to the biblical parable. The city's data place it at Tiefenaustrasse 112, while the list of works on Wikipedia gives number 126.

The hospital itself is older. According to an overview by the city archives, the municipality decided on 10 December 1911 to build its own hospital on Tiefenaustrasse because the old infirmary at Steigerhubel had become too cramped and unhygienic; it opened on 1 December 1913. From 1919 it was called the Städtische Krankenanstalt Tiefenau. In 1948, shortly before the sgraffito was made, it had medical, surgical and tuberculosis departments. In 1979 it passed to the newly founded Spitalverband Bern. Victor Surbek also painted for the hospital: his mural 'Die vier Jahreszeiten' (The Four Seasons) in the assembly hall dates from 1951.

Von Mühlenen was born in Bern on 10 February 1903, the son of an architect. In 1924 he went to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian and with André Lhote. In 1931, in the south of France, he founded the artists' group 'Der Schritt weiter' (The Step Further) with Tonio Ciolina, Albert Lindegger and Hans Seiler. He learned glass painting from Louis Moilliet. Back in Bern – the Historical Dictionary says 1939, Wikipedia 1938 – he opened a painting school in 1940, which joined the school of applied arts in 1964; the young Franz Gertsch was among his pupils.

His work moved from landscape to abstraction. Besides paintings he made stained-glass windows, murals and sgraffiti, among them one at the Kirchberg school in 1947. He received the City of Bern's art prize in 1942, 1947 and 1948 and sat on the Federal Art Commission from 1957 to 1964. He died in Bern on 20 October 1971. To find the sgraffito, go to entrance 4 on the hospital grounds on Tiefenaustrasse.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Max von Mühlenen · HLS: Mühlenen, Max Rudolf von (Tapan Bhattacharya) · Stadtarchiv Bern: Tiefenauspital (Verwaltungsgeschichte) · Wikipedia (de): Victor Surbek · Wikimedia Commons: Sgraffito Der barmherzige Samariter (Max von Mühlenen 1949)