Mother with Infant

History of the work

At the western end of the playground on lower Humboldtstrasse, level with house number 35, stands a fountain with a marble figure: 'Mutter mit Säugling' (Mother with Infant) by Walter Schnegg from 1936. The title describes the subject, a mother with her child. A few steps away, at the playground on upper Humboldtstrasse, is another fountain with a figure, 'Zwei Knaben' (Two Boys) by Walter Würgler from 1935.

Walter Schnegg was born in Köniz on 7 November 1903. He first trained in a metalworking trade, but wanted to become a sculptor and completed a second apprenticeship. He then took courses at the Bern School of Applied Arts and worked as a trainee in a stonemason's workshop. He went on to study at Geneva's École des Beaux-Arts and at two Paris academies; study trips took him to Stuttgart, Munich and Italy.

The artists' lexicon SIKART names nudes, animals and fountain figures as his subjects. The figure on Humboldtstrasse is the earliest work in the list of his works in Bern compiled by Wikipedia. Later works there include the deer fountain in Stapfenacker and the 'Erdbeer-Mareili' (Strawberry Mary) in Breitfeld (both 1946), the ornamental fountain at the Schönau pumping station on the Aare with a bronze fish and frog (1950), the limestone figure 'Frühling' (Spring) at Weissenbühl station (1951), the painted bear with the Aarberg coat of arms above the entrance to the Aarbergerhof in the old town (1952) and the fox fountain in Weissenbühl (1954).

In 1940 the magazine 'Die Berner Woche' published a feature on him, and in 1976 the publisher Haupt brought out the picture book 'Figürliches Gestalten' (Figurative Design). Schnegg died in Bern on 20 June 1990. If you visit both playgrounds on Humboldtstrasse, you can compare the two fountain figures from the mid-1930s: one in marble, one in shell limestone.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Walter Schnegg · SIKART: Walter Schnegg · Wikimedia Commons: Brunnen Spielplatz Untere Humboldtstrasse mit Marmorskulptur Mutter mit Säugling · Wikimedia Commons: Brunnen mit Skulptur Zwei Knaben, Spielplatz Obere Humboldtstrasse