Schlösslistrasse 5
3008 Bern
Haus der Universität Bern
Interdisciplinary centre for education and community engagement
Planning and execution
1828: Built, commissioned by Gabriel Friedrich von Frisching
1880: Converted and extended into a stately residence by Louis-Frédéric de Rutté
1909: Sold to Theodor Kocher; used as a guest house for the Kocherspital
1915: Used as an embassy building
1941: Sold to the Burgergemeinde Bern
1984–1987: Converted for use by the university
Client
Description
The University House is a stately Neo-Baroque villa, built on the site of a classical country house dating from the first half of the 19th century. The building was constructed as the ‘Campagne Frisching’, probably in 1828, under the supervision of Gabriel Friedrich von Frisching, formerly President of the City Council of Bern. In 1909, his descendants sold the property to the Bernese surgeon and Nobel Prize winner Theodor Kocher. He used the building as a guest house for the adjacent Kocher Hospital. From 1915, the villa was used as an embassy building, and in 1941 Johann Albert Kocher, Theodor Kocher’s son, bequeathed the villa to the Burgergemeinde Bern upon his death.
The building, also known as the Kocher Villa, was converted and renovated in 1986–87 with the assistance of the Burgergemeinde’s University Foundation, with the aim of making it available to the University for teaching and research. To this day, the ‘Haus der Universität Bern’ Foundation ensures that the villa is used as a prestigious centre for university interaction and a venue for dialogue across disciplinary and faculty boundaries.
Visits and guided tours
Type of visit: self-guided tour
Booking: not required (first come, first served)
Group size: no limit
Catering and refreshments available on the ground floor and terrace
Free visits
Saturday, 10:00-14:00
Directions
Trams 6, 7 or 8 to "Bern, Kocherpark" / 8-minute walk
Location
Schlösslistrasse 5
3008 Bern