Swissmint’s Architectural Highlights

The Swissmint building has many surprising architectural highlights.

The Swissmint building is a classic federal building in the Neo-Renaissance style, built by the Bernese architect Theodor Gohl in the Kirchenfeld district between 1903 and 1906. The light-red brick structure with cornices and decorative elements made of natural stone makes the building stand out as a prestigious industrial building. In addition to the lavishly designed pilasters, columns, windows and doors, there are many architectural highlights.

Main staircase
A grand and richly decorated staircase winds up the curved back wall. In the centre of the staircase is a lantern with a post which is decorated with a cast-iron dragon.

On the ceiling above the stairwell, Lucerne artist Emil Kniep painted a fresco depicting Helvetia, the symbolic embodiment of Switzerland, showering gold coins on a mother and a beggar. A Swiss cross adorns the mosaic floor at the foot of the cellar stairs.

In the entrance area, there is also a niche-shaped fountain created by Anselmo Laurenti (1845 – 1913). The arch of the curved back wall is shaped like a shell, and the water spout is in the form of a grotesque mask. The pedestal under the water basin is in the shape of three dolphins.

1874

After the first total revision of the Federal Constitution, the Confederation is granted the right to be its own building owner and to manage its buildings itself.

1886

Creation of the Directorate of Federal Buildings (later the Office for Federal Buildings, and thereafter the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics).

1891

The Canton of Bern sells the former Bernese mint on Gerberngraben to the Confederation for CHF 30,000, including the land.

1893

The mint is included in a list of potential sites for a future construction project.

1900

Paul Adrian, director of the mint, and Theodor Gohl, architect for Federal Buildings, visit the mints in Brussels and Paris. After returning to Bern, Gohl draws up plans for the future building.

1901 / 1902

The construction land is purchased from the Berne Land Company for CHF 1,179,000.

1903

Construction begins.

1906

Opens in May.

On 2 July, the entire Federal Council visits the mint and officially assumes ownership of the building.

1910

The Confederation sells the old mint to Hotel Bellevue Inc.

1990-1992

Complete renovation of the building, with no changes to the external appearance. However, a full basement is added to the building.

2007

During renovation work on the Swissmint facade, hidden frieze paintings are discovered and restored. These paintings, in shades of brown and ochre, depict floral tendrils and images of coins.

Prominent entrance gate
Above the arch of the main portal facing Bernastrasse, half-columns and pilasters adorn the central avant-corps, which is surmounted by a segmental arch above a coat of arms with the Swiss cross.

Relief medallions by Giuseppe Chiattone (1863-1954)
To the left of the main entrance: shows the obverse of the former fivefranc piece with the head of Helvetia and the date 1904. In contrast to the depiction on the coin, Helvetia looks to the right towards the central portal. To the right of the main entrance : depiction of the design on the gold Vreneli coin.

Courtyard
The lavishly decorated clock above the courtyard entrance to the production rooms. Originally, the saying “Time is money” was written under the clock. The steel chimneys are reminiscent of the high brick chimneys used in smelting and heating. Today, they are only for decoration.

Ground floor windows in the workshops
Expressive mascarons adorn the segmental arches of the ground floor windows. The windows are secured with wrought-iron grilles that flow into elaborate Art Nouveau forms at the top.

Materialisation
The building materials were carefully selected and are of high quality. For example, St. Triphon marble was used for the base of the building. Above that, Bernese sandstone, clinker bricks and sandstone from St. Margarethen were used to create a prestigious industrial building. The window sills are made of slate from Elm. Carrara marble was used for the pendentive medallion on the central avant-corps. The fountain in the main area is made of limestone from Laufen. The door and window frames, the stairs and supporting columns in the machine room are made of gneiss stone from Ticino. The building features the most extensive and diverse use of this building material in Bern.

Theodor Gohl
1844 – 1910

Theodor Gohl was the chief architect of the Directorate of Federal Buildings, which was founded in 1888. He designed, among other things, the building of the present-day Federal Archives, the Federal Office of Topography and several post office buildings throughout Switzerland.

Source
de.wikipedia.org