DÖLF BARBEN “You can take the stairs, if you want,” says Peter Maurer. Two women have just arrived at the yellow ticket kiosk. Both of them laugh. They know he is joking. Maurer, 69, is a retired radio journalist who works as the Matte Lift conductor. He refers to himself as a “lift boy”. Observe Maurer around other people and you soon realise that he is a master of dry humour. “You can keep your hat on,” he mutters to one elderly gentleman, who smiles. The Matte Lift is somewhat peculiar. Inside, you see the same buttons that are common to any lift. But the difference is that you cannot simply walk in and use it – even if you theoretically could. You first need a ticket, because the Matte Lift is a licensed, managed and subsidised mode of public transport. This elevator also covers the shortest public transport route in Switzerland: 30 metres, or less than the length of a tram. A joint-stock company manages the lift. “In legal terms, we are a cable car,” says its chair Marc Hagmann. “But we are indeed a lift, I hasten to add.” When the Matte Lift opened in 1897, it was regarded as a pioneering project. Over 700 people now use it every day, amounting to more than 20,000 passengers a month. A trip costs 1.5 Swiss francs – for dogs and bikes as well as people. Certain public transport travel cards are accepted. Operating the lift barely generates any profit, but the elevator is important for people here, says Hagmann, who believes that what they are doing has a social purpose. It was Switzerland’s first publicly accessible electric passenger lift – and is comparable to Europe’s highest outdoor lift, the Hammetschwand Lift on Lake Lucerne. The Matte Lift is also situated outdoors. Instead of being “Much more than just a lift” No form of public transport in Switzerland offers a shorter route from A to B than the Matte Lift in Berne. But this elevator has a long history. “Lift boy” Peter Maurer is familiar with it. contained within a building, it is attached to the outside of a wall. At the top of the wall is the Minster Terrace, the beautiful space situated on the southern side of Berne’s biggest and most important church. The distance from top to bottom is only 30 metres – or 183 stairs. But the journey up and down originally took passengers from one end of the social pyramid to the other, explains Peter Maurer. Berne’s wealthy families resided up in the old town, while the poor – tanners, boatmen and rafters – lived down below in the Matte district. According to Maurer, some addresses on Badgasse used to be official bathhouses but had turned into brothel-like establishments over time. “The rich opposed construction of the lift because they didn’t want anyone from Matte encroaching on their lofty perch.” There may be some truth to this. Historian Stefan Weber wrote about The Matte Lift “mountain station” towers high about Berne’s Matte district. The trip up and down originally took passengers from one end of the social pyramid to the other. Photo: Peter Maurer Higher, farther, faster, more beautiful? In search of somewhat unconventional Swiss records This edition: The shortest public transport route in Switzerland Swiss Review / December 2025 / No.5 16 Report
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