Erwin Friedrich Baumann

Baumann writes in one of his biographical notes: "With the lowest quarter of my class I managed to get into the high school and may as well have slipped into the lecture-halls of the universities.

Insufficient and negligent care of his wounds after a fall from a horse during his training as non-commissioned officer, resulted in tuberculosis, what lead at last to his release from the army.

In 1918 Baumann joined the architectural office of Rudolf Gaberel in Davos, where he maintained friendships with Jakob Bosshart, Wilhelm Schwerzmann and the expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

In 1938 he married the Russian-born Swiss Rita Keller and spent several months in Paris as sculptor under the guidance of Ossip Zadkine.

Among his noteworthy works created in Faulensee and Bern are the following: The capitals of the castle of Wimmis (1950), the communion table in the church Lerchenfeld/Thun (1951), a fountain sculpture at the schoolhouse Krattigen (1953), the restoration of the Tschan house on the Schüpf in Faulensee (1952), of the Romanesque church Einigen/Spiez[6] (1954/55), of the historic inn St. Urs in Biberist (1958–1962), of the farmhouse "Les Aroles" as annex of the Palace Hotel (now owned by Spiros Latsis) in Gstaad (1954), and of the church Radelfingen/Aarberg (1958–65), the excavation of the St. Columban chapel in Faulensee (1960/61) and the construction management for the expansion of the sugar factory Aarberg (1958–1960), for the new construction of the British embassy in Bern (1962) and for the administrative building of the Bernese power company (1960–1963).

Brigadier Hans Bühler was married to his second cousin, and he knew the colonel of the engineer corps, Werner Grimm, since his youth in Bern.

Baumann got the job to explore the possibilities and his proposal of an over nine meter high monument made of the tailings pleased the two superiors.

Consequently the only option was a traditional construction plan and alignment stage for the builder to feel at ease and in familiar territory with his tools and skills.

The moulds are inverse forms used to create the 1:10 scale plaster model, which gave a clear footprint and allowed to establish any cross sectional view, horizontal or vertical.

"Linus Birchler wrote in 1954 to Baumann: "I would never have thought that the monumental eagle on the Simplon is your work, and I can hardly fathom what great technical problems had to be overcome in its creation.

In the future, when talking about the colossi of Memnon and the rock temples of Abu Simbel in my lectures, I will also quote your eagle created in such an extraordinary, inventive manner no one thought of before.