Heritage site unveiled for Indian state visit

One of the smaller, more modest meeting rooms swissinfo.ch

Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam will be the first foreign head of state to see the newly restored Bernerhof when he arrives in Bern on Friday.

swissinfo was granted an exclusive sneak preview of the palatial government building that symbolises the birth of modern Switzerland, ahead of Kalam’s visit.

Kalam will be ushered into rooms worthy of state visits, complete with high-stuccoed ceilings, candelabra and gold-framed mirrors. He will likely be shown to the elegant and airy first floor atrium, which is much as it was when the building began life as a hotel in 1858.

That was only a decade after Bern was declared capital of the modern Swiss confederation and the Bernerhof was built to accommodate parliamentarians and visiting dignitaries.

In its first few decades of existence, the Bernerhof took turns with Bern’s other grand hotel, the Bellevue, – constructed a few years later – hosting kings, queens, emperors and members of high society.

But whereas the Bellevue remained a hotel, the Bernerhof was converted into a government building in the 1920s to house public administration offices.

It has only been with the completion of the latest renovation and restoration that its importance as a heritage site has been highlighted once again.

Sumptuous

Before the paint was dry, the Bernerhof’s sumptuous dining room was chosen by government leaders of the fledgling confederation to hold the official ceremony inaugurating the city’s first railway bridge in 1858.

The bridge was key to connecting the new Swiss capital with the rest of the country, and therefore had a great symbolic value at the time.

The architecture of the Bernerhof reflects the prevailing optimism of the 19th century. The age that ushered in the iron horse also saw the first use of cast iron as a structural element in buildings.

When Bernerhof architect Friedrich Studer decided to use iron instead of granite columns in the atrium, he was risking his reputation on a material that had been pioneered only a few years earlier at London’s Crystal Palace.

But he was so pleased with the result that when he received the commission to rebuild the Hotel Victoria in Interlaken, he made sure it included a carbon copy of the atrium.

Test of time

And both atriums with their elegant supports have stood the test of time.

“The Bernerhof is like a history book,” says Roland Flückiger, the conservator responsible for overseeing the SFr42 million ($34 million) renovation.

“You enter the building through a hall which has changed little since 1908 [the year of the first renovation], as far as the architectural structure is concerned.

“As you ascend the stairs, you come to the atrium with its cast iron columns, which date back to the original building of 1858,” he continues.

“Heading back downstairs, you find the various interconnected salons as they were laid out in 1908. A contemporary colour scheme gives the rooms a modern touch.

“Each period of the building’s development is represented,” he concludes.

Bullet and sound proofing

Yet it is the bullet-proof doors, soundproof walls and kilometres of cable running under the parquet floors that have made the Bernerhof once again worthy of state visits.

“I’m quite pleased with the latest renovation, despite all the adaptations and compromises we had to make,” Flückiger says.

The biggest challenge was creating a meeting room large enough for the entire Swiss and Indian delegations to sit across the table from each other.

“We were pushed to our limits to create a space with seating for 84 people, while respecting the building’s historical integrity,” he adds.

It was an important aspect of the renovation since the Swiss government has not had sufficient space for such meetings within the walls of Bern’s federal buildings.

But with that goal achieved, history can once again be made at the Bernerhof.

swissinfo, Dale Bechtel

Key facts

The Bernerhof opened as a hotel in 1858.
It housed parliamentarians and dignitaries in the fledgling Swiss capital.
Architect Friedrich Studer pioneered the use of cast iron as a structural element in Switzerland.
The building underwent a major renovation by architect Emil Vogt in 1908.
The Bernerhof was converted into offices for the Swiss finance ministry in 1923/24.
It reopened after a lengthy renovation earlier this year.