Lohn Estate


The rural palace of Lohn in Kehrsatz, near Bern, Switzerland, is the official estate of the Swiss Federal Council, the government of Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

The first building

The first Lohn estate was built for the Landvogt Samuel Bondeli in the 17th century. It passed through several owners before ending up with the Bernese patrician Tscharner family. At the time it was a modest summer home with a garden. In 1740 it was inherited by Samuel's son Abraham Tscharner. Abraham had been a mercenary officer in Holland. His first wife, who he met in Holland, died in childbirth three years after their wedding.
His second wife bore him two daughters, of which the younger, Henriette Marie Charlotte, inherited Lohn Estate. She married the wealthy Beat Emanuel Tscharner in 1775. A few years later, he decided to replace the modest country house with a more impressive building.

The second building

Beat Emanuel Tscharner hired Carl Ahasver von Sinner to build the house for his family in 1782. The house remained in with the Tscharner family for just over a century. In 1897, Friedrich Emil Welti, the son of the Federal Council member Emil Welti, bought the estate. In 1942, his widow, Helene Welti-Kammerer, donated the house and estate to the Swiss Confederation in memory of her father in law. The house was used by visiting royalty and heads of state until 1994, when the Swiss government began using the Hotel Bellevue.