Bern is the capital of Switzerland, and along with Zurich, one of the only two major Swiss cities I visited while in the country. Both Bern and Zurich are beautiful, picturesque places with plenty of history, although I found Zurich had much more to see and do. Bern has more of a small-town charm despite being the country’s capital, and that was one of the things I immediately noticed while exploring the city.
Since Bern is the capital, some of its most famous landmarks are government buildings. Above is the Federal Palace of Switzerland, where the country’s federal government and parliament meet. This photo shows the south side of the building facing the Aare River. It’s an impressive structure, and I wish I had taken more photos while I was there.
One of the most famous historic landmarks in Bern is the Zytglogge clock tower. The original structure dates back to the 13th century and has served several purposes over its long history. It was badly damaged during the great fire of 1405 and later rebuilt, eventually becoming one of the most recognizable symbols of Bern.
Another major medieval landmark is the Bern Minster, which began construction in 1421. Like many cathedrals of this magnitude, it took centuries to complete. Its tower reaches roughly 100 meters (330 feet) above the city, making it the tallest cathedral in Switzerland.
I’ll admit this was a quick trip to Bern and I mostly explored the city randomly on foot. You can probably tell from my photos since many of them are simply things I happened to come across while walking. This one, for example, shows Bern’s historic city hall, or Rathaus, which dates back to the early 15th century.
This nearby fountain and statue is called the Justice Fountain, or Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen in German. The present fountain dates back to the 16th century and depicts Justice standing above figures representing powerful authorities. The symbolism is that justice stands above worldly power and applies equally to everyone, regardless of position.
At another nearby fountain, I saw a woman pick up her dog and let him play in the water. It was one of those random little scenes I came across while wandering through the old city and a much more peaceful use for Bern’s historic fountains than anything they probably witnessed centuries ago.
Much of the rest of my day trip was spent exploring random parts of the city. This was one of the streets I happened to find parking on. Despite how expensive almost everything in Switzerland seemed to be, parking wasn’t too horrible.
Something I really liked about Bern was the city’s steep streets. I had never really thought of Bern this way before visiting, although I suppose it makes sense in such a mountainous country. Zurich had seemed much flatter to me, so I expected Bern to be similar. As you can see in these photos, some neighborhoods are built along surprisingly steep slopes.
I visited Bern in late August, essentially at the end of summer, and came across this park filled with people enjoying the nice weather. I had just returned from a climbing trip in the Alps to the south where massive snowstorms had forced us to turn around. Down in Bern there weren’t any signs of fall yet. The trees were still green and there were plenty of flowers throughout the city.
I’m not much of a shopper, especially in a ridiculously expensive country like Switzerland, but it’s sometimes entertaining to see what’s available in different places. Bern’s old city has plenty of high-end shops, none of which I’d ever buy anything from! The store above sold furniture and decorative items, while below is a small piece of artwork that caught my attention.
Switzerland has been famous for its watches for as long as I can remember. With modern technology telling us the time everywhere we look, I’ve never had much use for a traditional watch myself. The only one I owned around this time was an altimeter watch for mountain climbing. Many Swiss watches are as much luxury and fashion items as they are practical timepieces, with some costing thousands of dollars.
The Bärengraben, or Bear Pit, was probably the closest I came to visiting a traditional tourist attraction during my day in Bern. Bears have been associated with the city for centuries and appear on Bern’s coat of arms. Unfortunately, the bears weren’t here when I visited, so I didn’t have much luck! The historic pit is now connected by a tunnel to the much larger BärenPark along the Aare River, giving the bears considerably more space to roam.
