Hospes Fountain (Hospes-Brunnen)

History of the work

At the eastern end of the square on Schwarztorstrasse, near Belpstrasse, stands a fountain with a shallow basin and a back wall. It was made for the Swiss National Exhibition of 1914 in Bern, for the garden of the model hotel 'Hospes'; hence the name Hospes fountain. In 1915 it was moved to its present site. It is also known as the Kull fountain or the Belpstrasse fountain.

The building inventory describes a shallow basin of cast cement and a framing back wall with seven spout masks. The inventory assigns their ornament to the Werkbund style typical of the period. The fountain was designed by the Zurich sculptor G. Bergmann; it owes the name Kull to its maker, the Kull artificial stone factory in Zurich. Both appear in the inscription on the fountain: M. Kull Steinindustrie Zürich and G. Bergmann Bildhauer Zürich. The city's register gives no year of creation.

According to the city's register, the initial stands for Gustav Bergmann. The artists' lexicon SIKART records a sculptor of this name who was born in Munich on 14 November 1882 and died in Zurich on 16 January 1962. The entry gives no further details of his work.

The fountain is the counterpart to the neoclassical Mint fountain at the western end of the square, which came there in 1912. Between them lies a long avenue with lawns, paths and an outdoor chess board, which the city laid out together with the local beautification society from 1912 to 1915; in the street plan of 1873 the square was still called Ziegler-Platz. On site, take a look at each of the seven masks and search for the signature of the two Zurich firms.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Schwarztorstrasse 62 (Platzanlage, Kull'scher Brunnen) · SIKART: Gustav Bergmann · Wikimedia Commons: Kullbrunnen (Hospes-Brunnen / Belpstrassbrunnen)