Switzerland

Brief History of Bern

A castle probably stood at Nydegg, on the eastern tip of Bern’s peninsula, from the eleventh century, before Berchtold V, Duke of Zähringen, chose the strategically ideal spot to found a new city in 1191. He had the oak forests covering the peninsula felled, using the timber for the first houses, and then – legend has it – went hunting nearby and named the new city after his first kill, a bear (Bär in German). Bern’s coat of arms, sporting a bear, first appeared in 1224, and to this day bears remain indelibly associated with the city. The Aare encircles Bern’s Old Town on three sides; Berchtold’s fourth defense was a wall, which initially ran through the Zytglogge tower. Under the Zähringens, and by virtue too of being in close proximity to the wealthy and powerful kingdom of Burgundy, Bern expanded rapidly. By 1256 it had a new wall at the present Käfigturm, and a century later the city reached as far as the Christoffelturm. In 1339, at the battle of Laupen, Bern defeated the united nobility of Burgundy, and asserted its newfound independence by joining the Swiss Confederation in 1353. Shortly before 5pm on May 14, 1405, fire broke out in Brunngasse and tore through the timber-built city, killing one hundred and razing most of the town. The subsequent programme of rebuilding (this time in the local sandstone) gave the city much of its present character, including the street arcades, the surviving town plan, and monumental public buildings such as the Rathaus and the Münster. In 1528, Bern enthusiastically accepted the Reformation, and the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a programme of upgrading the city’s streets and arcades. Meanwhile Bern’s nobility gathered greater and greater power, successfully putting down a series of citizens’ revolts before finally falling prey to French invaders, who ransacked the city’s treasury in 1798. Shortly after, the Congress of Vienna in 1814 forced Bern to surrender its eastern and western territories, thus creating Cantons Aargau and Vaud, donating the Swiss Jura to Bern as a consolation prize. Nonetheless, the city retained its old prestige enough to be a popular choice for federal capital in 1848. In 1864, after six years of fierce controversy, the communal authorities voted by 415 to 411 to demolish the medieval Christoffelturm to make way for construction of Bern’s new railway station (the tower’s foundations survive on display in the train station’s lower level). Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity in Bern in 1905, and Hermann Hesse spent the World War I years in Bern, when the city was already known as a hub of politically progressive ideas, hosting the anarchists Kropotkin and Bakunin. During the twentieth century Bern continued to expand enormously, its new, arching bridges linking suburbs over the Aare such as Kirchenfeld, a planned district to the south characterized by many grand 1920s–30s mansions, a lot of which are now used as foreign embassies. To the west, Bümpliz has mushroomed to accommodate most of the city’s rapid new growth, its low-income housing and high proportion of Arab, South Asian and Slavic immigrants contrasting dramatically with the settled affluence and ethnic homogeneity of the city centre.

Sites to See in Basel

Bern’s late-Gothic Münster is unmistakable, its feathery spire – the highest in Switzerland – towering over the Old Town and its sonorous bells dominating the quiet city. It’s a reverential and quite awe-inspiring place, both for its lofty, gloomy interior and the terrific views from its tower. The first chapel on the site – recorded in 1224 – probably dated from the founding of the city. On March 11, 1421, when just five thousand people lived in Bern, Matthäus Ensinger, a master builder from Strasbourg who already had three cathedrals under his belt, started construction on the new minster using the greenish local sandstone. Work continued according to his original plans until the mid-sixteenth century and, after a gap of three centuries or so, was finally completed in 1893 with the addition of the spire. Bern was a rapid convert to the Reformation and most of the church’s treasures were destroyed in or soon after 1528, although some notable pieces such as the portal sculpture, choir stalls and stained-glass windows survived. Outside the cathedral, cobbled Münsterplatz features the imposing Baroque facades of, among other buildings, the chapterhouse, and a 1790 fountain showing Moses, fired with the zeal of the Reformation, pointing to the Second Commandment (the one forbidding idolatry). It’s worth stopping at the central portal of the cathedral before heading inside – this spectacular depiction of the Last Judgment is one of the only remaining unified examples of such late-Gothic sculpture in Europe. The 170 smaller figures are the fifteenth-century originals, but the 47 larger freestanding pieces were replaced by copies in 1964 and the originals now sit in the Bernisches Historisches Museum. The left half of the portal depicts the saved, the right half the damned: you can imagine that the graphic, didactic counterpoint between the beatific smiles of one side and the naked, screaming torment of the other would have appealed even to the iconoclastic Reformers, who chose to spare it from destruction. In the very centre is Justice, flanked by angels, the Wise and Foolish Virgins and, above, the Archangel Michael wielding a sword and scales.

Bern’s marvellous Kunstmuseum is barely five minutes’ walk northeast of the train station, in an impressively well-designed and newly renovated building at Hodlerstrasse 8–12 (Tues 10am–9pm, Wed–Sun 10am–5pm; Fr.8 for the permanent collection only, or more to include temporary exhibits; SMP). Aside from often excellent changing shows, the main draw, and reason enough to stump up the admission fee, is the Paul Klee collection, the largest in the world with over two thousand works, most of them drawings and, unfortunately, the greater part in storage in the vaults. Nonetheless, the permanent collection, comprising large numbers of works by Klee and Kandinsky, along with plenty by Picasso, Modigliani, Giacometti, Cézanne, Matisse, Rothko, Miró, Pollock and more, makes this a magical and easy-to-digest experience. There’s also an interesting smattering of works by contemporary artists – Willy Weber’s piece in chrome entitled My dentist has hidden my toothbrush again! will stop you in your tracks – and a wide selection from Swiss artists such as Anker and Hodler. It’s a fifty-metre stroll from the Kunstmuseum down an alley on the west side of the building to the Frauen-Kunstforum (Women’s Art Forum; Hodlerstrasse 16; Tues 10am–9pm, Wed–Sat 10am–5pm; free). A single room with changing exhibitions of contemporary art made by Swiss women, also with a small café and selection of books, it’s a labor of love kept going by donations alone, and is worth your moral, and even financial, support.

Schweizerisches Alpines Museum- Beside the Historical Museum, the Schweizerisches Alpines Museum (Swiss Alpine Museum; May–Oct Mon 2–5pm, Tues–Sun 10am–5pm; Nov–April Mon 2–5pm, Tues–Sun 10am–noon & 2–5pm; Fr.5; SMP) is surprisingly good, taking an intelligent, sensitive look at all aspects of life in the mountains, from tourism, the history of mountaineering and the social identity of mountain dwellers to surveys of Alpine flora and fauna and the impact of industry on the mountain environment. There’s plenty to play with and read up on (in English). Crowded all over the museum are dozens of examples of relief mapmaking gone berserk, with mountains, whole valley systems and complete Swiss ranges rendered in perfect scale detail, almost rock by rock, by enthusiasts whose energy and patience can only be imagined.

If you’re on an extended visit to Bern, or if you just fancy something a bit different from medieval history at every turn, more modern districts slightly out from the Old Town can provide a little urban realism. Easiest to reach – just a short walk north of the train station across the river – is Lorraine. Late in the nineteenth century a dyed-in-the-wool working-class district, in the last decades Lorraine has attracted a growing population of students and young people who have created a funky, relaxed community atmosphere which nonetheless doesn’t exclude the many old-timers still in the neighborhood. Developers caught on to the appeal of the place in the 1990s, and more and more glass-and-steel architecture is appearing in amongst the old houses, but Lorrainestrasse and the streets around still retain much charm. If you follow Schanzenstrasse up behind the train station, a short climb will bring you to Länggassstrasse, heart of the bustling university district of Länggasse. The Unitobler building, at no. 49a, 300m along on the left (bus #12 stops outside), was formerly the factory where, for most of the twentieth century, the famous Toblerone chocolate was produced. In the 1980s, production moved to a more modern site outside Bern, and the building was renovated for use by the university (hence the Unitobler name), subsequently receiving numerous architectural awards for sensitivity of renovation. You’re basically free to explore: the student café spills onto a sunny plaza behind the building, and the library occupies an extraordinary below-ground site between two wings of the building that has been converted into an impressive three-storey atrium space. Just behind Unitobler, on Freiestrasse, is the elegant Pauluskirche, dating from 1905 and one of the best examples of Art Nouveau in the country.

Ways to Travel

Bern’s city centre is small enough that you can easily walk everywhere – the stroll from the train station to the Bärengraben is only around fifteen minutes and takes in the length of the Old Town on the way. Walking is the only way you’re going to be able to get a sense of the atmosphere of the arcades and it’s the principal delight of Bern, but a close second best comes in the form of horse-drawn carriages, which ply for trade in the central squares during the summer months. Bern’s network of buses and trams is comprehensive and efficient. Pretty much all lines run through Bahnhofplatz, which is bedecked with signs pointing the way to each individual stop. A ride of up to six stops costs Fr.1.50 (valid in one direction for 45min), of seven or more stops Fr.2.40 (valid 1hr 30min), or you can get a day ticket for Fr.7.50 which covers the entire city and suburban network (excluding night buses, which cost a flat Fr.5). Make sure you have a ticket before you start your journey, since you can’t get one on board and the fine for travelling without one is Fr.50. Eurailers, InterRailers and Swiss Half-Fare Card holders get no reductions on Bern city transport, but Swiss Pass holders travel free. If you need any information or timetables, check with the public transport office (Mon–Fri 6.30am–7.30pm, Thurs until 9pm, Sat & Sun 7.30am–6.30pm), just off Bahnhofplatz next to Manorarestaurant. The routes that are most likely to be of use to visitors are tram #9 (direction Wabern) for Gurten, bus #12 (direction Länggasse) for the university, and bus #20 (direction Wyler) for Lorraine, although the last two destinations are no more than ten minutes’ walk from the train station anyway. The station has the usual bike-rental facilities (daily 7am–9pm). During the summer months (May–Oct), the municipality runs a free bike-rental scheme to get unemployed people into work. There are two pickup points, one outside the Loeb department store opposite the station, the other on Kasinoplatz (both daily 9am–8pm). For a Fr.20 deposit plus your passport, you can ride away for free; keep the bike longer than a day, and you’re charged Fr.20/day. With a Fr.6.50 flagfall, plus Fr.2.70 per kilometre (more at nights and Sundays), Bern’s taxis are a luxury, and there’s little need to use them. Plenty hang around at the train station, and also at Casinoplatz and Waisenhausplatz, but if you need to call, try Bären (031/371 11 11) or Nova (031/301 11 11).

Hotels in Bern

Ador Hotel- Just a five minute walk from the railway station, this hotel and conference centre is located in the center of the historic city of Bern. The modern, functional rooms are all equipped with telephone, television and safe. Guests can see a film, enjoy a drink or indulge in some retail therapy in the adjoining commercial centre.

Moevenpick Hotel Waechter Bern- 24 Hour Front Desk; Hairdryers Available; Mini Bar; Meeting/Banquet Facilities; No Smoking Rooms/Facilities; Pets Allowed; Restaurant; Room Service; Safe Deposit Box; Television with Cable; Laundry/Valet Services

City am Bahnhof- This first-class hotel is ideally situated for visitors to the area. It has a welcoming atmosphere that emphasizes friendly and hospitable service. The hotel has excellent facilities as well as comfortable guest rooms and public areas. A first class hotel completely renovated in 1994. All rooms are sound proofed and equipped with cable TV, direct dial phone and free video in four languages. The hotel also has a variety of facilities and services that are sure to meet the needs of both business and leisure travelers.

Ambaddador Hotel- A Superior First Class hotel, well situated in a peaceful Suburb of the city of Bern. It is situated only 5 minutes from the centre of town. It is also near the best Japanese restaurant in town.

Savoy Hotel-Located close to the main railway station and city centre as well as the famous arcaded shopping streets, the Savoy Hotel offers comfortable accommodations for a relaxing holiday or business trip. It is ideally situated for visitors to the area and has a welcoming atmosphere with friendly and hospitable service. All the main attractions of Berne are just a few steps away. Fully renovated in 1996 and decorated in soft, bright colors, the guest rooms offer all the amenities traveling visitors demand and deserve. The personal and friendly atmosphere combined with a high level of modern technical aids will make your stay pleasant and convenient.

Information on this page taken from www.isyours.com and www.expedia.com

This web site was constructed for a school project. Information was taken from the credited sites along with information from search engines. We can be reached at lpierson1@ucok.edu.