Legionary (fountain figure)

History of the work

In the small playground of the Rossfeld school stands a concrete fountain topped by an iron figure: the 'Legionär' (Legionary) by Bernhard Luginbühl from 1958. According to the city's records the figure is forged, welded and galvanised. The building inventory counts the fountain as part of the careful design of the outdoor spaces, which also includes a pergola framing the square.

The school is itself an important building. The architect Werner Küenzi won the competition, and the complex was built from 1954 to 1956: a three-storey main block whose classroom floors rest on pillars above the covered play hall, a smaller wing for the lower grades and, at right angles to it, the gymnasium. The inventory sees it as a solution that anticipates the modernism of the early 1960s and classes the complex as worthy of protection. It was renovated and extended in 2013 and 2014.

Bernhard Luginbühl was born in Bern on 16 February 1929, the son of a butcher from the Lorraine district. He trained as a stone sculptor from 1945 to 1948; SIKART says he broke off the apprenticeship. He learned welding from his friend, the painter Jimmy Schneider. From 1953 he worked almost exclusively in iron, often with parts he found in scrapyards and disused factories. According to SIKART, series such as 'Aggression' (1955 to 1962) and 'C-Figur' (from 1958) stand at the beginning of his work; the Legionary dates from the same years.

Luginbühl later became known internationally; his 1966 sculpture 'Tell' represented Switzerland at the 1967 World Exhibition in Montreal, and in 1998 his sculpture park opened in Mötschwil. He died in Langnau im Emmental on 19 February 2011. From the playground you see the fountain together with the pergola that frames the square.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Reichenbachstrasse 101–105 (Primarschule Rossfeld) · SIKART: Bernhard Luginbühl · HLS: Luginbühl, Bernhard (Matthias Frehner) · Wikipedia (de): Bernhard Luginbühl · Wikimedia Commons: Brunnen Rossfeldschulhaus (Legionär, Bernhard Luginbühl 1958)