Bear with Coat of Arms

History of the work

Above the middle, wide arcade arch of the Aarbergerhof at Aarbergergasse 40, a painted sandstone relief serves as keystone: a bear with the coat of arms of the town of Aarberg and an initial S. The sculptor Walter Schnegg made it in 1952. Wikidata gives its size as 80 centimetres high and 70 centimetres wide.

The stone belongs to the commercial building that the architect Franz Trachsel put up here in 1951 and 1952. A narrow wing on the street replaced three older houses, among them the former numbers 38 and 42. Behind it lies a long courtyard covered by a gently curved roof of glass blocks and concrete, in the manner of the shopping arcades of the 19th century. The city's building inventory counts the Aarbergerhof among the most important buildings of the 1950s in Bern and also mentions the neon lettering 'Aarbergerhof' in cursive script on the main front.

The street has been called Aarbergergasse since 1798; before that it was Golatenmattgasse. According to Wikipedia, many people still call the restaurant in the building simply 'Araber', a remnant of old schoolchildren's slang.

Walter Schnegg was born in Köniz in 1903 and died in Bern in 1990. He first trained in a metalworking trade, then with a sculptor, attended courses at the Bern school of applied arts and worked as a volunteer in a stonemason's yard. He went on to the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, two academies in Paris and study stays in Stuttgart, Munich and Italy. SIKART names nudes, animals and fountain figures as his subjects. His works in Bern include the deer fountain (1946), the limestone figure 'Frühling' in front of Weissenbühl station (1951) and the fox fountain (1954).

Because the stone sits above the arch, it is easier to see from a little distance in the street than from directly under the arcade.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Aarbergergasse 40 (PDF) · Wikidata: Bär mit Wappen (Q63724282) · SIKART: Walter Schnegg · Wikipedia (de): Walter Schnegg · bildfundgrube.net: Walter Schnegg (Lebenslauf von Hans Stucki) · Wikipedia (de): Aarbergergasse · Wikimedia Commons: Bemalte Sandsteinskulptur Bär mit Wappen (Walter Schnegg 1952)