Vulnerability

History of the work

On Kornhausplatz, among the parked bicycles, stands a slender metal figure. The City of Bern lists it under the short title 'Verletzlichkeit' (Vulnerability) and dates it to 1999; on Wikimedia Commons it is described as an iron sculpture with the full title 'Der Verletzlichkeit Raum geben' (Making Room for Vulnerability). According to a 2008 newspaper report, Hutter used this phrase for many years to name a central theme of his work.

The figure arrived at a time when the square was hotly debated. On 24 June 1999 Bern's city council discussed a motion for a 'gentle repair' of the redesign of Kornhausplatz; the issues were asphalt instead of paving stones, delivery traffic and the many bicycles. One group spokesman said time would tell whether the sculpture proved itself, and that people should not be blamed if they walked past shaking their heads. A speaker for another group, by contrast, looked forward to viewing the figure from the Kornhaus café and did not mind that it stands among the bicycles.

Schang Hutter, born Jean Albert Hutter, was born in Solothurn on 11 August 1934 and died there on 14 June 2021. He trained as a stone sculptor in his father's workshop, attended the school of applied arts in Bern and studied in Munich from 1954 to 1961. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland describes his figures as puppet-like and vulnerable, shaped by a humanist view of people. In Bern his iron sculpture 'Shoah' became especially well known: in 1998 he placed it in front of the Federal Palace, after which a group of right-wingers carried it off at night and took it back to his studio.

Standing in front of the figure, you see the Kornhaus in the background and the square, which according to Wikipedia was popularly called simply 'Platz' (the square) from at least the 16th century.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikimedia Commons: Eisenplastik Der Verletzlichkeit Raum geben (Schang Hutter 1999) · Stadtrat Bern, Protokoll Nr. 32 vom 24. Juni 1999 (Kornhausplatz) · Plattform J (Jungfrau Zeitung), 8. März 2008: Der Verletzlichkeit Raum geben · HLS: Hutter, Schang (Jochen Hesse) · swissinfo.ch: Swiss sculptor Schang Hutter dies · SIKART: Schang Hutter · Wikipedia (de): Kornhausplatz (Bern)