Sound house
The sound house was the first prison in Switzerland. It was located at the bulwark in the city of Bern and was in operation from 1615 to 1830 with at least two interruptions.
history
At the time the sound hall was set up, the criminal justice system in Bern mainly resorted to fines and corporal punishment. The approach pursued in the Schallenhaus of mending criminals and the vagabonding poor through work and religious instruction was based on new models established in England , the Netherlands and Strasbourg and responded to the increasing criticism of the population against the death penalty .
Most prisoners served one to five year sentences for theft. In times of hunger, the sound hall was often overcrowded, around 1817 with 235 inmates. The prisoners, including women, had to clean streets or do other work chained to carts until 1827. The Schallenhaus was regularly criticized by the population because of its supposedly too pleasant detention conditions and the frequent outbreaks (often supported by bribed overseers).
After the opening of the new penitentiary , the Schallenhaus was closed in 1830. In its place, the Central Railway Station was built in 1860 and later today's Bern station .
literature
- Mirjam Schwendimann Mühlheim: Trapped in the Schallenhaus - prison system in the city of Bern 1775–1817 , in: Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte (2015), No. 1.
- Urs Wüthrich: Bern's first “modern” prison . Berner Zeitung of April 7, 2015.