The Christoffelturm was a tower built between the years 1344 and 1346, which featured a prominently displayed statue of Saint Christopher . It was located in the old part of the Swiss city of Bern , in the upper section of Spitalgasse, near Holy Spirit Church.
8-515: After a political decision on December 15, 1864, the Christoffelturm was removed by Gottlieb Ott , a Swiss building contractor. Ott began the destruction of the tower in spring of the following year. The decision to remove the tower, which had become a landmark of sorts, was not met without opposition, and the motion of removal succeeded only by a 415 to 411 vote. During an extended period of time, other statues existed near or actually on
16-419: A private construction company. In 1864, this company evolved into Ott & Cie , which would become one of the best known and most successful manufacturing and construction outfits of its time, and visibly impacting the city. From there, Ott expanded and was taken into a tight fold of advice on Bern's infrastructure in 1866, a year after he removed the Christoffelturm. Within this group was Jakob Stämpfli ,
24-604: A well-known Swiss politician. A song or ode was written about Ott, inspired by his influence on Bern: If you just let dear Ott have his way and hope in him at all times , for you he will marvelously make thrive the glory of the state finances . In 1865, Ott entered politics by joining the Burgergemeinde Bern . In 1881 he suffered a great political defeat, having lost an election. Coupled with large financial stress, this loss caused Ott to become suicidal. He took his life on 4 December 1882. The suicide
32-426: The bell atop the tower each hour. The tower was originally of wood, when it was built sometime between 1218 and 1220. It survived until sometime in the very early 15th century, when it was burned down in the fire that struck the city in 1405. However, it was rebuilt with a new stone design, and has stood ever since. It was when it was rebuilt that it was fitted with a clock. The clock too, however, soon broke, and
40-729: The church field bridge . He also supervised the removal of the Christoffelturm , a local tower built in the 14th century. Ott's great grandfather had migrated from Swabia in Germany to Jegenstorf in 1782, and it was his grandfather who established the Otts in Worb . Ott's schooling was based in Bern, and he later studied at the polytechnic institute of Karlsruhe . After he finished his studies, he dabbled in several enterprises before opening
48-661: The site where the tower used to stand. These included a statue of King David , both as a boy holding a slingshot , and as a man. An early 20th century plan to erect a figure of the Bernese knight Rudolf von Erlach was never realised. Bern's other medieval guard towers are the Zytglogge and the Käfigturm . These towers still stand today. In the Zytglogge (Clock Tower), a figure of the Greek god Kronos or Chronos strikes
56-456: Was described by the federation: On Saturday evening, December 2, 1882 he sat until 11 o'clock with friends at the hospital. He says good-bye there and heads home, however he did not arrive. The search began on Sunday, on Monday company workers took part in the search. On Wednesday morning, December 6, 1882 his corpse was found in the Aarekanal. The autopsy shows that he had drowned. Since only
64-540: Was left unserviced and broken for 122 years before 1530, when Caspar Brunner installed a new well-functioning mechanism . The Käfigturm (Cage Tower), built 1256, ceased to be a prison in 1897. 46°56′53″N 7°26′24″E / 46.948°N 7.44°E / 46.948; 7.44 Gottlieb Ott Gottlieb Ott (1832, Worb – 4 December 1882) was a Swiss building contractor . Ott and his company are credited with planning and constructing many buildings and structures in and around Bern , including
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