Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Contemplative paths.
Ayo Rock Formations
Parking Lot Shoeprints
Dewey Square Pylon & Bent 38
Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Benshi would introduce and provide commentary for films like A Page of Madness.
Remembering the Heyday of Japan’s Silent FIlm Narrators
The Horn & Hardart Automat was a staple of urban dining in midcentury New York City.
All Hail the Slop Bowl, Lunch of Our Ancestors
The Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound” on display in Las Vegas.
The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound Changed Live Music Forever
Two suitcases in an empty airport hall.
AO Mailbag: Is It Normal to Share a Checked Bag With Your Boyfriend?

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Switzerland Bern Méret Oppenheim Fountain

Méret Oppenheim Fountain

The Swiss artist's bulbous and overgrown shape-shifting sculpture controversially graces the center of Bern.

Bern, Switzerland

Added By
Sandra Lang
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The Méret Oppenheim fountain at Waisenhausplatz.   Andreas Preafcke/cc by-sa 3.0
The overgrown fountain.   Maksym Kozlenko/cc by-sa 4.0
The sculpture in winter.   Sylvie burr/public domain
The Méret Oppenheim fountain.   AMLG026/cc by-sa 4.0
  CoolCrab / Atlas Obscura User
  breaingram / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Méret Oppenheim is ranked among Switzerland’s most well-known artists, known for her vast surrealist oeuvre, and most iconically, for her hairy 1936 work Le Déjeuner en Fourrure (Luncheon in Fur). One of the last masterpieces Oppenheim ever created is considerably more obscure but no less strange than the famous furry teacup, and it can be found in the heart of her chosen home city of Bern.

Spirale (Gang de Natur), or The Spiral Column (Nature's Way), is a spiral-shaped column made of concrete and aluminum. It rises several feet high, and functions as a fountain with water running down the outside. But what makes this piece so unusual is that over the years, the once plain, brutalist-style column has changed drastically in shape and texture. Water and minerals have created bizarre chunks of tufa, a kind of limestone, that “grow” on top of the object, as well as several kinds of plants, mosses, and lichens.

What's more, the piece changes its look every season. When frozen in winter, the fountain is covered over and over with icicles. In spring, tiny flowers bloom on top of it. Indeed the sculpture at Waisenhausplatz in central Bern has grown so fast that in 2013 it required radical renovations. Some 880 pounds of material was removed in order to maintain the object’s stability. This coincided with Oppenheim's 100th birthday, and since then the lumpy, organic shape has grown back.

Meanwhile, Bernese inhabitants are not aligned in their opinion of the obscure fountain. Some complain about its sheer ugliness and costly maintenance, while some admire its ability to transform. Whereas biologists appreciate the unique biotope that has been created in the middle of the city, others complain about the moldy and rusty look. Since Oppenheim herself died two years after the fountain’s installation in 1985, nobody can even be sure about whether she intended the shape-shifting property of her work, or simply did not take into account the high chalk content of Bern’s tap water.

Related Tags

Sculptures Fountains Nature Biology Art Public Art Columns Towers

Know Before You Go

Located at Waisenhausplatz (Orphanage Plaza) in the middle of Bern's Old City. The fountain is freely accessible all year long.

Community Contributors

Added By

Vololona

Edited By

CoolCrab, Meg, breaingram

  • CoolCrab
  • Meg
  • breaingram

Published

January 17, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Méret Oppenheim Fountain
Waisenhauspl. 26
Bern
Switzerland
46.949593, 7.444364
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Kornhauskeller Restaurant

Bern, Switzerland

miles away

The Child Eater of Bern

Bern, Switzerland

miles away

Beetz Patented Urinal

Bern, Switzerland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Bern

Bern

Switzerland

Places 10
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Kornhauskeller Restaurant

Bern, Switzerland

miles away

The Child Eater of Bern

Bern, Switzerland

miles away

Beetz Patented Urinal

Bern, Switzerland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Bern

Bern

Switzerland

Places 10
Stories 1

Related Stories and Lists

30 of the World's Most Spectacular Spirals

List

By Kerry Wolfe

Related Places

  • Claudio Parmiggiani sculptural head

    Rennes, France

    ‘A Fountain’ by Claudio Parmiggiani

    Like the monarchs in its home country, this sculpture keeps losing its head.

  • The water tower.

    Glasgow, Scotland

    Cranhill Water Tower

    Water-themed sculptures guard this unusually square structure.

  • Scenarie.

    Albertslund, Denmark

    'Scenarie'

    An artist has turned what most people would consider a bathroom nightmare into a work of political art.

  • A large sculpture in a field with a rainbow behind it.

    Chattanooga, Tennessee

    Sculpture Fields at Montague Park

    Stroll among more than 50 large-scale sculptures created by world-class artists.

    Sponsored by Chattanooga Tourism
  • Basel, Switzerland

    Hammering Man

    This 42-foot tribute to the workforce still reminds us to pause and recharge.

  • The Neptune Fountain in the Promenade, from the front

    Cheltenham, England

    Neptune Fountain

    Believed to be inspired by the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

  • ‘Oscar the Bird King’ is one of sculptor Thomas Dambo’s ever-growing army of trolls.

    Vashon, Washington

    Oscar the Bird King

    Thomas Dambo's troll sculpture wears a crown with birdhouses on his head.

  • The rear panel on Çanakçı Heykeli featuring a woman on a donkey.

    Avanos, Turkey

    Çanakçı Heykeli

    This giant work of Cappadocian pottery includes a memorial for the artisan who created it.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.