Swiss Skeli at Casino Berne

About Swiss Skeli at Casino Berne Postcard

Swiss Skeli feels lucky tonight. Next stop: CASINO (however in Switzerland, the term „Casino“ does not necessarily refer to gambling nor to officer’s casinos nor to brothels as in Italy.)

That said, the Casino of Bern was first built in 1820 according to plans by L. F. Schnyder and constructed on the site of the  demolished „Ballenhaus“ (built in 1678). The Casino was owned by the city since 1832. It served various purposes until 1848. From 1848-1858 it was even the seat of the National council. The building itself was in turn demolished in 1895 to make way for the Federal Palace.

According to Benedikt Meyer from an article in the Bernerzeitung, 12.11.2017: „The Casino Square was intended to welcome travelers coming to Bern from out of town via Kirchenfeld (mentioned in our last posts). Directly below the casino was a moat. The moat houses were on the west side. On the east side of the moat (i.e. directly below the casino) a path led up from the river to the city. (…)

For a long time it would not have been technically possible to close the moat. This changed in the 1930s. Then it was decided that the moat houses should be demolished and the moat filled in to create a new square in front of the casino. Underneath they built a five-story parking garage! This was realized between 1935 and 1937. Few people today realize that it was not built underground, but filled up the moat.

Trivia: With major building on and around the casino, the opportunity had arisen to give it the right address. Until now, the casino was located at Herrengasse 25 - however, because the days of carriage queues on Herrengasse are over, the west side facing Casinoplatz is now the main entrance since 2019.

Material

This postcard is from 1910. All cards mounted on white 250 g/m² paper with trimmed edges. Vintage postcard, overpainted with acrylic paint, 8.8 x 13.4 cm, no frame. Signed and dated in pencil on back. This can be easily erased in the event you want to use the card.

The cards are packaged in cellophane with an informative text about the history of the image on each card and when it was first published.

Please note that since these are antique postcards, some might contain small tears, pinholes and/or scratches. Fleshy tries her best to lovingly craft each card, but sometimes a tear might be too close to the overall subject to cut it out. The actual colors might differ slightly from your monitor.

Every postcard is a small, unique work of art!

Delivery throughout Europe and overseas is with normal postal mail in cardboard envelopes so nothing should bend. Postage and packaging are calculated at checkout.

You can follow all of Swiss Skeli's adventures on his Instagram account.

You can find a short biography of Swiss Skeli here.