A Bernese household: the Franziska Haldi Collection

Ulrich Christian Haldi caught the collecting bug while still at school. He gathered everything he could lay his hands on about his home region, the Saanenland: documents, books, prints. During his studies in Bern, furniture, pictures and small antiques were added — above all by Christoph Hopfengärtner (1758-1843), the last great cabinetmaker of the Ancien Régime. First as the right-hand man and later as the successor of the Bernese auctioneer Jürg Stuker, Haldi turned his passion into his profession.

A small Gesamtkunstwerk

The collection grew: mantel clocks, mirrors, wall sconces and commodes by Johann Friedrich Funk II, a terracotta figure by Valentin Sonnenschein, two paintings by Frans Francken II. In the Bern flat, a small Gesamtkunstwerk took shape. In parallel, Ulrich and Franziska Haldi collected cultural artefacts from the Saanenland — finding cupboards, chests and «Truckli» (small boxes) in original condition was not easy, as painted furniture was often improperly restored.

For Ueli and Fränzi Haldi, art was never something for a museum but part of everyday life. Even after the early death of her husband, Franziska Haldi continued to invite guests — to the round Hopfengärtner table, laid with Sèvres porcelain, or to the more than 400-year-old «Füürhus» on the Halten. It was her explicit wish that the items should find new admirers through the auction: a matter of honour, as she herself wrote in 2019.

The collection was offered at the Autumn Auction 2024 on a dedicated auction day. The pastel by Jakob Emanuel Handmann — Johann Rudolf Sinner, covering one eye with his hand after an accident — achieved a hammer price of CHF 8,000.