Art on the Gurten

“z Bähnli grad abezieh”

In close collaboration with Gurten – Park im Grünen and Gurtenbahn Bern AG, four teams were invited to take part in an ideas competition. The winning team's design, “z Bähnli grad abezieh” by Adrian Scheidegger, an artist from Bern, and Sofie's Kommunikationsdesign AG, Zurich, impressed with its interplay of art and signage. Buffers and deflection wheels create a connection to the Gurtenbahn that catches the eye, animates, and motivates.Artistic intervention and signage form a whole in the winning project “z Bähnli grad abezieh”: the “path to the Gurten” is given a new identity. The common thread is clearly recognizable and leads from the tram stop to the valley station and back. The new signs and information appeal to pedestrians as well as cyclists and motorists.

by Bernhard Luginbühl (born in Bern in 1929, died in 2011)

One of his most monumental iron sculptures, the angel Silvester, has been enthroned on the Gurten since the turn of the millennium, watching over Bern's local mountain like a landmark with its rust-red glowing spheres. The angel rose like a phoenix from the ashes as a surprise after the artist had set fire to the large wooden sculpture on December 31, 1999. In addition to Silvester, six more of his figures can be seen in the park.

by Ursi Luginbühl (born in Basel in 1936, lives and works in Mötschwil)

The entire Luginbühl family is passionate about art. Ursi Luginbühl, Luginbühl's second wife, is also an artist. She works primarily with sculpture, creating bronze sculptures and ceramic or porcelain vessels. Her first so-called “vases” were made of clay, but later the artist had bronze versions of these objects made. They are idiosyncratic, imaginative creations with a mythical aura.

by Silvio Mattioli (born in Winterthur in 1929, died in 2011)

Silvio Mattioli's huge iron sculpture “Giardino” glows in green, red, yellow, and blue. Since 2011, “Giardino” (the garden) has been welcoming visitors to the park near the Gurtenbahn mountain station. For 25 years, the colorful “Giardino” stood in front of Shoppyland Schönbühl. Silvio Mattioli, then 80 years old, completely restored his artwork for its new location on the Gurten.

On behalf of Migros Culture Percentage, she realized the project “Between Fiction and Reality. In the Cabinet of Rosana Cecilia Gurtner y Gonzalez” at Restaurant Gurtners. She integrated her own artworks and works by other artists from the Migros Aare art collection (Otto Grimm, Max Matter, Alois Lichtsteiner, Claudio Moser, Meret Oppenheim, and Hugo Suter) into a fictional context of the Gurtner family, thus presenting the works in a playful way in the entrance area of the restaurant.

As a guest in our seminar rooms, hotel rooms, or in the corridors of the Kulm building, you can immerse yourself in the world of various artists who have shaped Bern's art scene.

Seven seminar rooms with various art paintings are not only ideal for meetings, but also delight the art lover's eye.

The corridors of the main Kulm building display framed art from the ground floor to the third floor. From photography to screen printing. From ingenious sculptors to ingenious draftsmen.

Since 2015, the two rooms of the Gurten – Park im Grünen, “äuä” and “ieu,” have been given a contemporary and future-oriented look that reflects the philosophy of the Gurten. In our beautiful hotel room “äuä,” you can enjoy hand-drawn art made with chalk and colored pencils.