Tomb of Eugen Huber

History of the work

In the southern corner of section E3 of the Bremgarten cemetery lies the grave of the lawyer Eugen Huber. On it sit two female figures in bronze, made by Hermann Hubacher in 1929. According to the city's records, the group was cast in Geneva at the foundry of M. Pastori. It rests on a limestone base with a two-line inscription about the effect of legislation (Wikimedia Commons).

Huber (1849–1923) came from Oberstammheim in the canton of Zurich and, on behalf of the Federal Council, wrote the Swiss Civil Code, which came into force in 1912. In 1926 Turkey adopted the code with only slight changes for its new civil law (Wikipedia, City of Bern brochure). According to the brochure on the Bremgarten cemetery, Huber was first buried in the Schosshalde cemetery; at the instigation of the Turkish embassy he was later moved to a grave of honour in the Bremgarten cemetery. The brochure does not say when this happened; the city's list of notable burials records the grave as number 9004/00 0235.

Hubacher (1885–1976) was born in Biel. According to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland he trained there as an engraver, medallist and goldsmith from 1900 to 1905, then took courses in Geneva and Vienna and, after a journey to Italy, decided on sculpture. In Geneva he worked in the studio of James Vibert and met Ferdinand Hodler. From 1910 to 1916 he had his own studio in Bern; after that he lived in Zurich. Besides portrait busts he created monuments as well as fountain and grave figures. From 1926 to 1929 he was a member of the Federal Art Commission, and in 1938 he received the international prize for sculpture at the Venice Biennale.

The grave is one of the stops on the walking tour that Stadtgrün Bern has published for the cemetery. Standing in front of it, you can read the inscription on the limestone base beneath the two figures, which recalls Huber's work as a lawmaker.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikimedia Commons: Bronzeplastik Zwei sitzende Frauenfiguren (Hermann Hubacher 1929) · Wikipedia (de): Hermann Hubacher · HLS: Hermann Hubacher · Wikipedia (de): Eugen Huber · Stadt Bern: Broschüre Bremgartenfriedhof (2023) · Stadt Bern: Persönlichkeiten und Prominenz auf dem Bremgartenfriedhof