At the top of the little town of Gruyères, just below the counts’ castle, the fortified house of the Saint-Germain family has guarded the upper street since the late Middle Ages. Since 1998 it has held the work of the artist who designed the creature in Alien.
At a glance
The Château Saint-Germain is the gate and fortified house of the Saint-Germain family, who served the counts of Gruyère as ministers from 1351 to 1578. Its medieval fabric goes back to the end of the thirteenth century, and it closed the upper part of the fortified town, the bourg d’en haut, below the castle. It is listed as a Swiss cultural property of national significance (KGS object A). In 1997 the Swiss artist H. R. Giger bought it, and in 1998 he opened here the museum of his own work, his private collection and the sets and designs for the film Alien.
Key facts
- Where: Rue du Château 2, 1663 Gruyères, Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland
- Heritage status: Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance, KGS no. 2198, category A (national significance): Porte et maison forte des Saint-Germain, actuellement Musée HR Giger
- Medieval fabric: end of the 13th century
- Historic owners: the Saint-Germain family, ministers of the counts of Gruyère from 1351 to 1578
- Bought by H. R. Giger: 11 September 1997, according to the museum
- Current use: HR Giger Museum, opened 1998; the adjoining HR Giger Bar was completed in 2003
- Coordinates: 46.584111, 7.082418 · open in Google Maps
History
Gruyères grew as a walled town strung along a single ridge, with the castle of the counts at its highest point. Just below the castle, where the upper street reaches the last stretch of houses, the Saint-Germain family held a fortified house. The family served the counts as ministers, the officials who ran their lands, from 1351 to 1578, and the town guide published by La Maison du Gruyère dates the medieval construction to the end of the thirteenth century. The house was, in the guide’s words, really a fortification: traces survive of a defensive portcullis, perhaps of a drawbridge.
The federal inventory records the building as a gate together with the fortified house, which is how it worked: together with the town hospital built opposite between 1431 and 1445, it formed the strong point of the upper town. In the nineteenth century the Balland family, then owners of the castle of Gruyères, had the road lowered here so that their carriages could pass, which changed the relationship between the house and the street.
The last chapter began on 11 September 1997, when H. R. Giger bought the château. The museum dates its first opening to June 1998. Giger installed his paintings and sculptures, the designs from his work for the film Alien of 1979, and his private collection of fantastic art, which occupies the top floor with a gallery for other artists. In 2003 he completed the adjoining HR Giger Bar, whose walls, ceiling and furniture he modelled in his biomechanical style.
What you see
The photograph shows the inner court. The walls are plainly rendered in grey, patched and weathered, with deep-set windows of different sizes on every floor. Under a steep roof of old tiles, with small dormers, the upper storey carries a long wooden balcony with an iron railing and wooden shutters at the windows. An outside stone stair with an iron handrail climbs along the court wall to a terrace at first-floor level, and beneath it a low round arch opens in the masonry. On the right, the court runs out under a deep archway.
Giger’s presence is added on top of the medieval shell rather than built into it. The museum entrance, on the left, is a glass door under a canopy carried on ribbed metal brackets; beside it hangs one of his large metal reliefs, and a dark sculpted bust on a tall pedestal stands at the foot of the stair. An iron lantern on a bracket and a small sign for the museum gallery complete the court.
Practical information
- The building houses the HR Giger Museum, a private museum; opening hours and guided tours are published on its website.
- The HR Giger Bar adjoins the museum.
- The court of the house lies on Rue du Château, the street that leads up to the castle, and can be seen from the street.
Getting there
Gruyères is in the Gruyère district of the Canton of Fribourg, a few kilometres from Bulle; the walled town sits on its hill above the valley, which has a railway station at its foot. The Château Saint-Germain is at the upper end of the town, on Rue du Château, the street that climbs to the castle.
Nearby
- The castle of Gruyères, built in the second half of the 13th century under Count Pierre III, a few minutes’ walk uphill.
- The Foyer Saint-Germain, the former town hospital of 1431–1445, facing the house.
- The Tibet Museum at Rue du Château 4, in the former chapel of the Institut Saint-Joseph (chaplaincy 1891–1892, neo-Gothic chapel 1908–1909).
Sources
- Federal Office for Civil Protection, KGS Inventory, Canton of Fribourg, A-objects: KGS no. 2198, Porte et maison forte des Saint-Germain, actuellement Musée HR Giger, Rue du Château 2 — as transcribed in Liste der Kulturgüter in Greyerz.
- La Maison du Gruyère, Petite visite guidée de Gruyères (2021), nos. 14–18: the Saint-Germain ministers 1351–1578, late 13th-century construction, portcullis traces, the Balland family’s road, the museum since 1998, the hospital, the Tibet Museum and the castle.
- HR Giger Museum, About: purchase on 11 September 1997, first opening in June 1998, the bar completed in 2003.
- Wikipedia, Saint-Germain Castle: the building as a heritage site of national significance housing the museum.
- OpenStreetMap / Nominatim: position, returned as HR Giger, 2, Rue du Château, Gruyères.
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