Bern

Bern, Switzerland

The Zytglogge clock tower rises above the Kramgasse in Bern's Old City at golden hour, with a painted fountain in the foreground.

Bern is a medieval hilltop old town where trams, fountains and government offices share sandstone lanes, all folded inside a bend of the Aare.

The place

Bern's Old City sits on a narrow hill, with the river Aare curling round three sides of it, and that bend of water explains most of how the place looks. The streets run in long parallel rows, so a walk from one end to the other is a gentle, mostly level stroll past arcaded shopfronts, sandstone façades and fountains topped with painted figures. After a major fire in 1405 much of the town was rebuilt in sandstone, which gives the lanes their pale grey-green tone, and the layout has barely shifted since it took shape between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. Building work in the eighteenth century added to the town without wiping out the medieval plan. This is not a museum quarter, though. The federal, cantonal and municipal governments all sit in the Old City, so people in suits cross the squares at lunchtime, and trams rattle through the middle of it. Locals shop, queue and commute here, which is a large part of its charm. The Old City has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, and the whole district is also listed in Switzerland as a cultural property of national significance. For a visitor, the appeal is scale. The core is compact enough to cover on foot in a day, the river is always close for a walk along its banks, and the lanes have room to breathe outside summer weekends. Winters are cold and can be grey, while summer days are warm and long. The heritage site's own website, weltkulturerbebern.ch, carries background and walking ideas.

Its story

Bern's story starts well before the city. People farmed in the Aare valley in Neolithic times, the Helvetii settled it later, and the Romans built a small settlement near the present Old City that was abandoned by the second century AD. For the next thousand years or so the area stayed thinly populated. The city proper dates from 1191, when Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen chose a hilly peninsula in a loop of the river. The Zähringen family held imperial authority in this part of the Burgundian lands and founded a string of towns to secure it, among them Fribourg and Burgdorf. Local legend says the duke promised to name the new town after the first animal he met while hunting, and that it turned out to be a bear. Whether or not that is true, the bear became the city's emblem, and the name is often linked to the German word for bears. The site was easy to defend, and its long, thin shape pushed the town into parallel rows of houses, with the walls shifted outward whenever it needed more room. When Berchtold died without an heir, Emperor Frederick II made Bern a free imperial city in 1218. It joined the Swiss Confederation in 1353 and grew into a powerful city-state by absorbing its rivals. That run ended in 1798, when French troops occupied Bern during the Revolutionary Wars and stripped it of much of its territory.

What to see

Culture

Bern is the seat of Switzerland's federal government, and that shapes the city's manners. The mood is orderly, polite and unhurried, with trams that keep to schedule and pedestrians who wait for the green man even on empty streets. Politicians, civil servants and journalists mix with students and families, so cafés fill at lunchtime and thin out early in the evening. German is the main language, spoken locally as a Bernese dialect that differs noticeably from the standard German taught in schools, though many people will switch to English readily. The bear is everywhere: on the city's coat of arms, in souvenir shops, in the legend of the founding. The Old City's many Renaissance fountains are practical as well as decorative, and locals still use them to fill bottles and cool their hands in summer. Public life is quiet by comparison with much of India or southern Europe. Conversation on trams is hushed, rubbish is sorted carefully, and drinking in the street is less common than a sunny afternoon beside the river might suggest. Sunday trading is limited, so shops are mostly shut and the city feels calm. Markets and festivals bring the squares to life at other times, and the Old City rewards early mornings, when delivery vans are the only traffic. Greet staff with a brief "Guten Tag" when entering a small shop or café, and keep your voice low on trams and trains.

What to wear

In Bern, traditional dress is a festival matter rather than an everyday one. The Bernese Tracht for women usually combines a white linen blouse with full sleeves, a dark bodice in velvet or wool, a pleated skirt and an embroidered apron, often finished with silver chains across the chest. Herders' dress for men includes short, sturdy jackets and shirts embroidered with edelweiss. These appear at folk festivals, parades, yodelling and alphorn events and on national occasions. On ordinary days people dress in smart-casual style: dark jeans, neat jackets and good coats for office workers, since government and business share the Old City. Practical outdoor wear is common too, with waterproofs, walking shoes and trainers, because many people cycle, walk by the river or head for the hills at weekends. Visitors should dress for the weather first. Winters are cold and damp, so pack a warm coat, hat and gloves, and summers are warm enough for light cotton plus a layer for evenings. The pavements are a mix of cobbles and worn sandstone, so shoes with grip and cushioning suit a day on foot better than thin soles. There is no strict dress code at churches such as the Münster, but covering bare shoulders and removing hats inside is a courteous choice. A compact umbrella earns its space in the bag.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May–June and September–October, when days are mild and the lanes and riverbanks are pleasant to walk. July and August are warm and busier, and winters are cold and often grey.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Bern has a small airport at Belp, from which a short bus ride to Belp station and a local S-bahn train reach Bern's main station. For a wider choice of flights, land at Geneva, Zurich or Basel and take an InterCity train to Bern; fast trains also run from Geneva and Zurich airports. Check the Swiss Federal Railways site for current timetables and fares.

Budget. high

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources