Burckhardt History: Interview mit der Familie

SCH: His wealth of ideas expressed itself in verbal, graphic, and architectural ways. The buildings from the 1960s and 1970s are relatively austere and have clear structures; they are designed in line with their intended use. Flexibility was at that time and remains an issue right up to today. Martin knew exactly what his clients wanted and needed, was able to realize this and at the same time create buildings that became city landmarks. 

VB: That’s right, Martin built the city’s first high-rise, which unfortunately was demolished later. He was also a pioneer in many things, I would even say avant-garde. The fact that the Geigy tower was demolished still pains me to this day. Sometimes the buildings were simply demolished and they only realized afterwards that it wasn’t actually necessary. 

CI: Do you know which buildings Martin was proud of? 

VB: I can’t answer that, but I think, although he had no false modesty, he wasn’t a particularly proud man.  

SCH: Which projects do you think are the most fascinating? 

RL: For me, it’s the BIS building, which I find striking. This building was actually supposed to be higher than originally planned. My grandfather thought higher would be better, but the city wouldn’t let him do that.  

VB: For me, it’s not a particular building, but the fact that he had the ability and the courage to translate ideas into reality that no one had thought of before or dared to implement. He was no doubt the first to do a lot of things in this city, because most people stick to the tracks they’re familiar with. But not Martin, he explored new paths.  

CI: And did they let him follow these new paths? 

VB: Certainly not all of them, but fortunately many people recognized his genius and gave him the necessary freedom.  

SCH: For example, he wanted to have the Wettstein Bridge built horizontally into Cathedral Hill. But he was not allowed to realize this. How did he deal with situations when his ideas were not well received? 

VB: He was certainly saddened at such times, but he wasn’t one to lock up in a closet and cry. I’m not creative myself, but I know that inventive people are often misunderstood in their ideas. Martin found himself in situations like that time and time again. Nevertheless, he was able to implement many of his ideas and received recognition. But in this «small town» you just had to have ideas. 

CI: Were there other challenging times and moments for Martin Burckhardt? 

VB: A very difficult time was during the oil crisis after 1973, when the company had to lay off a lot of people. Things like that really distressed Martin. That directly affected me too and that was probably also the moment when the business spilled over into our personal lives the most.  

RL: I spoke to my mother about it just the other day and she agreed that he was close to falling into depression at that time. 

LB: Of course, he always tried to hide it from us children to protect us, but we also sensed that it was getting to him. 

SCH: Can you tell us anything else about Martin’s relationship with Sandoz and the Jacottet family? Martin was their «in-house architect», so to speak, and also built numerous high-rise laboratory buildings for them that are still standing today, despite the big split caused by the actions of Daniel Vasella and Vittorio Lampugnani. 

VB: We are indirectly related to the Jacottets, because Carl Jacottet’s daughter is my sister-in-law, my brother’s wife. But in this context, of course, you also have to realize that old traditions met new visions: My husband came from an old Basel family, which was not the case for the Jacottets. We met up outside of work at events and parties, but that was more of a way to cultivate relations. We were somewhat closer to Samuel Koechlin, as he was Martin’s direct cousin. 

CI: You also played an important role as hostess of these events and in general of course, too. 

VB: That’s not how I experienced it. But I enjoyed hosting such events, as we had the space. And I believe people had a good time.  

LB: Naturally, there was always a blurring of business, private lives and friendships. Business partners often became close friends and built private houses for each other, for example. 

SCH: Which also takes us in the direction of politics: Martin was a liberal politician, and you can still feel that in the company, its humanistic side. I got the feeling that he had a heart for people.  

VB: That’s true, because Martin simply fought for what he personally found important, and identification with a party was of secondary importance. For example, he also employed Werner Buess from the PDA (Worker’s Party), who had lost his job; his political connections didn’t bother Martin.  

SCH: Martin was characterized by this generosity across party lines – letting others express their opinions. And also taking responsibility for others.  

LB: A young secretary once came to my father in despair and told him that she was pregnant. My father then called her and her boyfriend in to «sort it all out». When the young man mentioned that he didn’t know whether he could take on the responsibility of being a father, my father simply replied: «You have already.»  

VB: Martin was good at taking responsibility. That’s why we were delighted when he became a National Councilor. It was just a shame that he only took office at the age of 67, because at that time there was still an internal party rule that stipulated that you had to resign at the age of 70. 

CI: How did that affect him? 

VB: He certainly didn’t just sit there and cry about it, he wasn’t like that. He may have been a little sad, but fortunately he was a creative person and a man of action. It was much more drastic when he lost his sight. He was no longer mobile and wasn’t able to drive his convertible. 

Speaking of convertibles: I can still remember our first date, when he invited me for a spin and picked me up in his convertible. We travelled all over Switzerland and sometimes it even rained. He didn’t mind at all, although I did, but I went along with everything, and I realized even then that Martin was very special and single-minded in whatever he did. We didn’t speak a word during the journey, but it was the beginning of a friendship. 

CI: We have already heard many adventurous stories about Martin Burckhardt from other people we’ve interviewed – was life with him also adventurous? 

VB: Fortunately, there was much I wasn’t aware of. People often wanted to hide things from me when Martin had been up to something again, such as his riding accident in Austria. They told me all sorts of reasons why Martin couldn’t come home yet. I heard some pretty wild stories. But I was never really afraid of something happening to him. 

LB: He often wanted to try out lots of things or prove himself. In the riding accident, he probably wanted to show that he could ride, as he was, after all, a military officer. The fall must have been very unpleasant for him.  

SCH: What about cooking? He loved to draw and there are also cookery books that he illustrated – but he probably didn’t cook himself, did he? 

VB: Fortunately not! Only once, when we had got engaged and he was living in the big house and I was still in the small one next door, he decided to cook one day, even though he couldn’t do it. He wanted to cook blue spaghetti and poured some blue food coloring over the spaghetti – creative as he was. But of course, you couldn’t eat it like that. At some point, his mother came over, took pity on us, and brought us something she had cooked, bless her.  

Anyway, Martin and I certainly complemented each other well. I held the fort at home but never accompanied him on his business trips or anything like that. Nevertheless, I was always fully occupied with two wonderful children, and I had art and theater, that was my world. Martin also benefited from this because I didn’t get on his nerves at home. He rarely went to the theater himself, not because he didn’t fancy it, but because he didn’t have the time. 

LB: But he once painted a stage set, for example. Theatre director Hans Hollmann had asked him if he could paint a stage set for the opera «The Marriage of Figaro» in Nuremberg, and my father agreed – partly because he was very fond of Mozart. We then all went on a fantastic trip to the premiere together. 

SCH: For architects, it is almost a badge of honor to be allowed to design a stage set. Among other things, because it requires collaboration across several disciplines such as music, literature and design. And you can also make a statement in terms of your own interests. Speaking of disciplines: Did it ever come up as a possibility that one of you children might follow in your father’s footsteps and take over the company? 

LB: No, not me, I was completely unsuited to it. My sister more so, but I don’t think it came into question for her either. 

VB: You know, you can’t just become an architect, you need the right talent. And if you don’t have it, then hopefully you at least have the insight to know that you can’t do it. 

CI: If you had to prioritize the major themes of his life, such as architecture, family, politics and art, how would you rank each of them for Martin Burckhardt? 

VB: He was definitely a wholehearted family man. Not in the sense of taking the family to church or for a walk every Sunday, but he loved his children and me very much. That’s why I would say family came first but work probably took up most of the space.