Spitalgasse

Spitalgasse

Spitalgasse
Old City of Bern with Spitalgasse highlighted
Length	200 m (700 ft)
Location	Old City of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Postal code	3011
Coordinates	46°56′52.74″N 7°26′32.45″E / 46.9479833°N 7.4423472°E / 46.9479833; 7.4423472

The Spitalgasse is one of the streets in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. It is part of the Äussere Neustadt which was built during the third expansion from 1344 to 1346. The eastern end is at Waisenhausplatz and Bärenplatz while the western end is at Bahnhofplatz near the Church of the Holy Ghost. It is part of the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site that encompasses the Old City.

Shortly before 1228, the Holy Ghost hospital and abbey were founded outside the city walls of Bern. While the hospital name changed to Oberer Spital (Upper Hospital) in 1307, when the Niedern Spital (Lower Hospital) was founded in what would later become Gerechtigkeitsgasse 2-10, the abbey and chapel retained the original name. As the city expanded it began to surround the hospital and abbey. Then, in the third expansion of the city from 1344 to 1346, the old Bümpliz road, which ran by the abbey, became part of the main road through Bern. In 1344 it was known as nüwe stat zem heiligen Geist for the abbey's name. However, by 1359 it was known as Spitalgasse after the Oberer Spital. Spitalgasse was an extension of the old Roman road from the east gate of Aventicum to Bümpliz In 1715 the Oberer and Niedern Spital merged into the Grossen Spital (Grand Hospital). The buildings on Spitalgasse were demolished in 1726/31 after the new Burgerspital was built.

There are three Swiss heritage sites of national significance on Spitalgasse. They are; the houses at Spitalgasse 36 and 38 along with the passage, the Pfeiferbrunnen and the Reformed Holy Ghost Church (German: Heiliggeistkirche) at Spitalgasse 44.