Historian of the Present

History of the work

To the right of the entrance portals of the Parliament Building on the Bundesplatz, a young man in bronze stands writing in a niche. The statue is called 'Geschichtsschreiber der Gegenwart' (Historian of the present) and, like its counterpart on the left, the reading 'Historian of the past', was made by Maurice Reymond de Broutelles in 1901. In French the pair are also called 'Histoire ancienne' and 'Histoire moderne'. According to the interpretation given on Wikipedia, the writer is meant to remind parliamentarians that their decisions will go down in history.

The Federal Palace consists of three parts. The first building, today's Federal Palace West, was built from 1852 to 1857, the mirror-image Federal Palace East from 1888 to 1892, and the Parliament Building in the middle from 1894 to 1902. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland describes its decorative programme as having three themes: the country's history, the foundations of the constitution and the diversity of Switzerland. The two historians at the entrance belong to the first theme.

Reymond, born in Geneva in 1862, lived in Paris as a sculptor, painter and etcher. His works include a bust of Henri-Frédéric Amiel for the University of Geneva and statues in Lausanne, among them Alexandre Vinet and Major Davel. According to the French Wikipedia he became a French citizen in 1918 after his son was killed as an airman, and he took second place in the competition for the statues of the Reformation Wall in Geneva. He died in 1936.

Something new has been added to the façade since: since September 2023 the mosaic 'Tilo', made of 246 triangular tiles, one for each seat in the National Council and Council of States, has adorned the gable of the north façade. Standing in front of the right-hand niche, you can let your eye travel from the writing young man up to this most recent artwork on the building.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Stadt Bern: Kunstwerke im öffentlichen Raum (opendata.swiss) · SIKART: Maurice Reymond de Brouteilles · Wikipedia (de): Maurice Reymond de Broutelles · Wikipedia (fr): Maurice Reymond de Broutelles · Musées lausannois: Reymond de Broutelles, Maurice J. · Wikipedia (de): Bundeshaus (Bern) · HLS: Bundeshaus · Parlamentsdienste: Broschüre Parlamentsgebäude (en) · Wikimedia Commons: Foto