The charnel house was built as part of the expansion of the university at the end of the 19th century. Together with the neighbouring buildings of the Anatomical Institute and the now defunct Institute of Chemistry, it formed an ensemble of uniform neo-Renaissance architecture with elements of neo-classicism, standing on the border of the new Muessmatt university district, well visible to those coming here from the city centre.

The functional layout of the Hallerianum (named after the eminent Bernese physiologist Albrecht von Haller) was largely influenced by the recommendations of the institute's then director, Hugo Kronecker. The ground floor was used as laboratory and administrative space (in later years, the corner bay window, which enlivened the facade from Bühlstrasse and provided light for the optical experiments room, was removed). The wings on the first floor housed the rooms requiring overhead lighting (the skylights were removed in later years): a large lecture room and an exercise room, between which an amphitheatre¬ spectatorium was centrally located. The latter solution was Stempkowski's own idea, allowing on the one hand for the separation of an important teaching room from the bustle of the street, and on the other hand making it easier to harmonise the architecture and dimensions of the building with those of the neighbouring institutes.

Despite the historicist references to the Renaissance and the somewhat rigid symmetry of the plan, the Hallerianum is free of the splendour typical of many fin-de-siècle buildings. Instead, a restrained matter-of-factness and austerity can be discerned, which, for example, was reflected in the unplastered brick façade (the so-called Sichtbackstein), the colour of which was accentuated by sandstone details. The whole can be seen as a successful attempt to create a practical and usable building for a teaching and research institution, which did not lack the representativeness required at the time.

Technical data: brick buildings with a brick façade.