Couple

History of the work

In section C3 of the Bremgarten cemetery, at the Rieser family grave, a bronze relief shows a man and a woman. Wikidata gives its size as about 1.50 by 0.78 metres. The city dates the 'Paar' to around 1903, Commons and Wikipedia to around 1903/04, and Wikidata to 1904. The grave is privately owned.

At that time Karl Hänny was at the beginning of his career. Born in Twann on 13 June 1879, he had completed training as a steel engraver, medallist and chaser at the Biel technical college from 1895 to 1899 and then worked in Ulm, Vienna and Munich. Back in Switzerland he studied at the school of applied arts in Bern. In the winter of 1903 he visited Auguste Rodin in Paris; in the same year he first showed work at major exhibitions, including in Berlin. In 1905/06 he worked for the Karlsruhe sculptor Wilhelm Sauer, and in 1907 he settled in Bern.

The Bremgarten cemetery opened on 29 December 1864 as a replacement for the Monbijou cemetery and, at around 16 hectares, is the second-largest in the city. Hänny's portrait head of Gottlieb Stucki from around 1908/09 also stands here. Because many concessions for family graves are expiring, the cemetery is increasingly turning into a park, according to Wikipedia.

Hänny later made numerous architectural sculptures in the Bern area, for instance on the building of the Bernese power company at Viktoriaplatz, as well as the dolphin fountain on Thunplatz and the figures of Europa and Neptune in the Rosengarten. As a medallist he left more than 400 plaques, and in 1920 he became the first president of the Volkshochschule Bern, the adult education centre. He died on 12 April 1972 in Ligerz; Wikipedia specifies Bipschal near Ligerz. If you visit section C3, you will recognise the relief by its two bronze figures.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Karl Hänny · SIKART: Karl Hänny · Wikipedia (de): Bremgartenfriedhof · Wikidata: Paar (Karl Hänny) · Wikimedia Commons: Bronzerelief Paar (Karl Hänny ca. 1903/04)