Christoffelturm

This article deals with the building in Bern. For the tower of the same name in Worms, see Christoffelturm (Worms) .

Christoffelturm Bern, around 1860

The Christoffelturm (also Christoffeltor) was a tower opposite the Heiliggeistkirche and next to the Loebegge at the upper end of Spitalgasse in the old town of Bern .

The tower was built between 1344 and 1346. In a niche opened towards the city, a small statue of St. Christophorus , which was replaced in 1498 by a 9.7 meter high figure made of limewood . After the introduction of the Reformation , the figure of Christophorus was reinterpreted as gatekeeper and later as Goliath in the middle of the 16th century , when it was provided with a club instead of the baby Jesus , the staff and the halo .

Photo taken in spring 1865 during the demolition; right Heiliggeistkirche and Loebegge

After a community vote on December 15, 1864, in which 415 supporters faced 411 opponents, the Christoffelturm was demolished in spring 1865 under the supervision of Gottlieb Ott ; Remains of the foundations can be found in the underpass from Loebegge to Bern train station . The head of the wooden figure of Christophorus is in the Historisches Museum Bern , the rest was given to poor sections of the population to be burned. Joseph Victor Widmann's comedy Das Festgedicht refers to the demolition .

In the 16th century, a figure of King David with a crown was placed on a fountain near the tower, which was mentioned as early as 1372 and was initially called Christoffelbrunnen . In 1711 this was replaced - in keeping with the reinterpretation of Christophorus as Goliath - by a new statue of David as a boy with a slingshot ; Since then, this fountain has been called the David Fountain . The fountain carried a second figure of David from 1778 to 1846. After that, a neo-Gothic fountain was installed, which was brought to Bümpliz in 1919 and was originally intended to carry a figure of Rudolf von Erlach , which was never realized.

Web links

Commons : Christoffelturm  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Section on the Christoffelturm in the chapter The four main gates in Volume 1 of the art monuments of the canton of Bern
• Leaflet on the Christoffelpassage of the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joseph Victor Widmann: The festival poem . ( google.lv [accessed on February 3, 2019] First edition: Wallishauser'sche Buchhandlung, Vienna 1873, reference to the demolition of the Christoffelturm in the 1st elevator, 2nd appearance).

Coordinates: 46 ° 56 '52.8 "  N , 7 ° 26' 24"  E ; CH1903:  600104  /  199 657