Church of the Holy Ghost, Bern
The Church of the Holy Ghost is a Swiss Reformed Church in Bern, Switzerland. The Swiss heritage site of national significance building is located at Spitalgasse 44 in the Old City of Bern. It is one of largest Swiss Reformed churches in Switzerland.
Early churches
The first church was a chapel built for the Holy Ghost hospital and abbey. The chapel, hospital, and abbey were first mentioned in 1228 and at the time sat about outside the western gate in the first city wall. This building was replaced by the second church between 1482 and 1496. During the 15th century, the Holy Ghost Abbey began to slowly decline. In 1528, the church was secularized by the reformers and the last two monks at the Abbey were driven out of Bern. During the following years, it was used as a granary. In 1604 it was again used for religious services, as the hospital church for the Oberer Spital. At that time, the church had a maximum capacity of about 750. The second church was demolished in 1726 to make way for a new church building.Construction of the modern church
Following an 11-year planning phase, in 1726-29, the third church was built by Niklaus Schiltknecht. This church was built out of a local sandstone in the baroque style. Until 1865, it was located west of the Christoffelturm and the Christoffelturm Church. However, these buildings were demolished to make way for the new train station.During the 1726 construction of the church, Roman religious objects were discovered under the foundation. From this find, it appears likely that the church sits on the site of an old Roman temple.