Grave of Mikhail Bakunin

History of the work

Grave no. 68 in field 9201 of the Bremgarten cemetery belongs to Mikhail Bakunin, the Russian revolutionary and anarchist. On the gravestone sits a bronze plaque with his head in relief and a sentence of his: 'Whoever does not dare the impossible will never achieve the possible.' It was designed by the Zurich artist Daniel Garbade. According to Wikipedia it replaced the older plaque on 30 May 2016; an English-language grave database gives 2015 instead. Both sources name the Dadaists of the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich as its sponsors.

Bakunin died in Bern on 1 July 1876. He had come from Lugano because of his illness and was cared for in a boarding house in the Mattenhof district. Seven companions spoke at his funeral. The original epitaph recalls a man who had sacrificed everything for the freedom of his country. He was not left entirely in peace: according to the city's cemetery brochure the grave was moved in 1904, 1934 and 1963 before reaching its present place.

In 1872 Bakunin and like-minded people had founded the Anti-Authoritarian International in St-Imier in the Bernese Jura. According to the city, his grave is one of the most visited in the cemetery; for more than fifty years a group of cultural figures from across Europe has supported its upkeep. It is said that a bottle of vodka once stood behind the stone for visitors.

Garbade was born in Zurich on 26 February 1957. He is a painter, sculptor and draughtsman and lived in Spain for many years; SIKART gives 1983 to 2011, while Wikipedia says he has lived there since 1983 with a break between 2011 and 2015. On site you can look closely at the portrait relief and the inscription on the bronze plaque.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Stadt Bern: Kunstwerke im öffentlichen Raum (opendata.swiss) · Wikipedia (de): Michail Bakunin · Stadtgrün Bern: Der Bremgartenfriedhof – Ein Spaziergang mit Geschichten (2023) · Stadt Bern: Persönlichkeiten und Prominenz auf dem Bremgartenfriedhof · Le Temps: Quand l’esprit de révolte souffla en Suisse · Find a Grave: Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin · Keystone-SDA/plattformj: 500 Anarchisten treffen sich im Berner Jura (2022) · SIKART: Daniel Garbade · Wikipedia (de): Daniel Garbade · Wikimedia Commons: Foto