Weyermannsstrasse 1
3008 Bern
Anlage altes Krematorium
Conversion of the restaurant in the former columbarium
Planning and execution
1907/08 Construction of the main building, architects Lutsdorf and Mathys, Bern
Building extensions over the decades
2018 and 2025 Planning and execution, conversion and fitting-out of the LA VIE restaurant
Architects
Weiss + Kaltenrieder AG, Hans Kaltenrieder
Description
The first crematorium in the Canton of Bern, featuring a large chapel and various extensions housing columbarium halls. Columbarium Halls III and IV have been converted into the restaurant LA VIE.
"The Association for Cremation, founded as early as 1887, was able to commence construction of the crematorium in 1907. The original building, designed in the Art Nouveau style with a rectangular floor plan and chimney stacks of an increasingly expressive design, was conceived as a hall-style structure. The central element was the chapel. A flat-arched, triumphal-arch-like entrance separated the main room for the mourners from the northern, choir-like section containing the catafalque. A straight open staircase led into the building via a large double-leaf gate on the narrow southern side. The wall structure was divided into three zones: a striking ring of round-arched niches separated the lower, panelled wall section with urn cabinets from the skylight band above, featuring large rectangular windows. Since 1916, the U-shaped urn hall has surrounded the crematorium building in the manner of a cloister. The historicist extension employs a sophisticated structural system featuring round-arched arcades and blind colonnades in the styles of Neoclassicism and Neo-Romanesque. In 1931, the urn hall was added to the south as a fourth wing, complete with a two-part entrance hall. Through the addition of two apses functioning as side aisles, the longitudinal space of the funeral chapel was reinterpreted as a central space in 1935. The gallery was installed in 1957. The west-facing extensions date from 1963 to 1977 (see Weyermannsstrasse 1A). The complex, which has grown in several stages and features interesting works of art such as stained glass and sgraffito, is valuable from the perspectives of cultural and religious history as well as art history."
© Building Inventory 2017, City of Bern Heritage Conservation
Further information
Visits and guided tours
Type of visit: Guided group tours and self-guided visits
Booking: Not required (first come, first served)
Group size: Maximum 20 people
Guided tour A: Conversion of the former urn halls into the LA VIE restaurant
Content: An architect and board member highlights the challenges of the conversion.
Guide: Bruno Stoll, architect and board member of the Bernese Cremation Cooperative
Meeting point: LA VIE restaurant
Tour B:
Old Bern Crematorium
Content: Mirjam Veglio, Managing Director of the Bernese Cremation Cooperative, guides visitors through the rooms of Bern’s old and first crematorium and the adjoining buildings.
Tour guide: Mirjam Veglio, Managing Director of the Bernese Cremation Cooperative
Meeting point: Portico, Bern Crematorium
Free visits
Saturday, 10:00-14:00
Sunday, 10:00-14:00
Guided Tours
Saturday, 10:00-10:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Saturday, 10:00-10:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Saturday, 11:00-11:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Saturday, 11:00-11:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Saturday, 12:00-12:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Saturday, 12:00-12:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Saturday, 13:00-13:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Saturday, 13:00-13:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Sunday, 10:00-10:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Sunday, 10:00-10:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Sunday, 11:00-11:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Sunday, 11:00-11:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Sunday, 12:00-12:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Sunday, 12:00-12:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Sunday, 13:00-13:30 - Tour A, Bruno Stoll
Sunday, 13:00-13:30 - Tour B, Mirjam Veglio
Directions
Bus no. 12 to "Inselpark" or
PostBus no. 101 to "Güterbahnhof"
Location
Weyermannsstrasse 1
3008 Bern