Bern (Berne in French and English — population 133,000 in the city, 420,000 in the Bern agglomeration — the federal capital of Switzerland and the most underrated city in Central Europe) sits on a peninsula formed by a 90° bend in the Aare River, which encircles three sides of the medieval old town in a loop of glacial blue-green water so clear that the rocky bottom is visible from the bridges above. Bern was founded in 1191 by the Duke of Zähringen and grew to become the dominant city-state of the Swiss Confederation: the capital since 1848 (when Switzerland adopted its federal constitution — the first federal democratic republic in Europe), and the home of the Swiss Federal Palace (the Bundeshaus — the seat of the Swiss Federal Council and the Federal Assembly). Bern's UNESCO-listed medieval old town (listed 1983) is the most intact medieval city center in Switzerland: the 6km of continuous covered arcades (the Lauben — the covered walkways under the upper stories of the medieval buildings that run continuously through the entire old town, providing shelter from the Bernese rain and snow) are the defining architectural feature of Bern and the longest continuous covered promenade in the world. Bern is also the city where Albert Einstein lived from 1902 to 1909 (the period in which he published the four papers of the "annus mirabilis" (1905) that revolutionized physics: the papers on the photoelectric effect (for which he received the Nobel Prize), Brownian motion, special relativity and mass-energy equivalence (E=mc²)) — his apartment at Kramgasse 49 is now the Einstein Museum.
Zytglogge (the "Time Bell" in Bernese dialect — the medieval tower at the western gate of the original 1191 Bern: the tower served as the city's west gate (1191–1256), then as a women's prison (1256–1405), then as the fire watchman's tower and finally as the city clock tower (the astronomical clock mechanism was installed in 1530): the most sophisticated medieval astronomical clock in Switzerland: the clock shows the hour, the minute, the day of the week, the phase of the moon, the zodiac sign and the position of the sun in the zodiac — simultaneously. The mechanical procession (the jester, the bears, the cock and the knight in armor) performs at 4 minutes before the hour, activated by the clock mechanism. Guided tours of the interior (the clock mechanism room, the astronomical face, and the tower summit) run at 2:30pm.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Lauben (the covered arcades of Bern — the continuous covered walkway running under the upper stories of the medieval buildings along all major streets of the old town: 6km of unbroken covered arcade, sheltering pedestrians from rain and snow since the 13th century. The arcades were built into the original building regulations of the Zähringen city plan (1191): each building had to maintain the arcade on the ground floor as a public right of way. The result: Bern's old town is one of the only European cities where you can walk for hours in any weather without encountering rain. The arcades also serve as the display windows of the shops that line them (the Bern arcade shops: the cheese shops (the Bernese Gruyère, the Emmental, the Appenzeller), the watchmakers, the chocolate shops and the tobacconists).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBärePark (Grosser Muristalden 6 — the bear sanctuary on the eastern bank of the Aare, directly accessible from the Old Town via the Nydeggbrücke: the city of Bern has kept live bears (Ursus arctos — the European brown bear) as civic animals since 1441 (a bear returned from the Battle of Novara was the first documented bear — the Bern coat of arms has featured a bear since 1224, and the city name is traditionally etymologized from the German "Bär" (bear), though modern linguistics disputes this). The current BärePark (opened 2009 as a more humane successor to the old Bärengraben bear pit): a 6,000 sq m enclosure on the Aarehang (the slope above the Aare) with the riverside, the forest section and the human visitor area separated by a glass partition. The bears can access the Aare for swimming.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSwiss fondue (the most important Alpine communal dish: the earthenware caquelon (the fondue pot) of melted cheese kept hot over a small flame, with cubed bread (the white bread baguette cut into cubes for dipping and the wholegrain bread cubes): the standard Bern fondue is a mixture of Gruyère AOP and Vacherin Fribourgeois (the two canonical fondue cheeses — the Gruyère provides the sharper, nuttier flavor and the Vacherin the creamier, milder base) melted in a dry white wine (a Swiss Chasselas — the Fendant from Valais) and rubbed with garlic, with the addition of kirsch (the cherry brandy) at the table (each guest adds their own kirsch to the pot). The rules: do not drop your bread in the pot (you must buy a round of drinks), and the crust that forms on the bottom (the "Croûton" or "la religieuse") is the prize of the fondue, scraped off and eaten at the end. Lötschberg (Zeughausgasse 16).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideEinstein Haus (Kramgasse 49 — the apartment building in the center of the Bern old town where Albert Einstein lived from 1903 to 1905 with his wife Mileva Marić: the period in which Einstein, working as a patent clerk at the Swiss Federal Patent Office (Bern), produced the four papers of the "Annus Mirabilis" (1905): the paper on the photoelectric effect (explaining the quantum nature of light — the work for which Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize), the paper on Brownian motion (proving the existence of atoms through statistical mechanics), the paper on special relativity (introducing the concept that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial reference frames and that the speed of light is constant — eliminating the ether concept), and the mass-energy equivalence paper (the most famous equation in physics: E=mc²)). The apartment (the second-floor flat of the Kramgasse building) is preserved with period furnishings and displays about Einstein's life in Bern. From the apartment windows: the view of the Lauben arcade and the medieval street that Einstein walked every day to the patent office.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideRosengarten (the Rose Garden above the BärePark on the Aarehang: the 220 varieties of roses (June–October) in the terraced garden that commands the most photographed view in Bern: the panorama of the old town peninsula (the medieval spires and the Federal Palace dome, the Aare bending around the red-roofed old town) and, on clear days, the Bernese Alps (the Eiger (3,967m), the Mönch (4,107m) and the Jungfrau (4,158m)) 60km to the southeast. The Rosengarten Restaurant (the café-restaurant in the rose garden, with the best outdoor terrace view in Bern: coffee, Berner Rösti (the Swiss potato dish — the shredded potato cake, pan-fried in butter until golden on both sides, served with fried egg and bacon or with raclette cheese) at the panoramic terrace.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideAare Schwimmen (the Bern tradition of swimming in the Aare River — the glacial meltwater river that encircles the old town (the water temperature: 16–18°C in summer, with a maximum of 20°C in the warmest weeks): the Bernese tradition of the Aare swim involves entering the river at one of the marked swimming spots (the Marzili (the most popular: the heated outdoor swimming pool on the bank of the Aare directly below the Federal Palace, with the "natural" pool section where swimmers enter the river and are carried by the current)), floating on your back downstream (the current carries you at walking pace) for 1–2km, and exiting at the steps downstream — the most relaxing 20 minutes in Bern. The Marzili Freibad (the public outdoor pool on the Aare bank: the most popular public bathing place in Bern, used by members of the Federal Council and by the Bern homeless in the same afternoon).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideRaclette (the half-wheel of Swiss raclette cheese (specifically: the Raclette du Valais AOP — the whole-milk cheese from the Valais canton, aged 3–6 months: the semi-hard cheese with the orange rind, the buttery, slightly sharp flavor when melted) held against or under a heat source until the surface melts, then scraped (racler — "to scrape" in French — the origin of the name) onto the plate with small boiled potatoes (the raclette potato: the small waxy variety, boiled in the skin), cornichons (the small sour pickles) and pearl onions. Schwellenmätteli (the restaurant on the Aare riverside directly below the Nydeggbrücke: the most atmospheric restaurant setting in Bern, with the turquoise Aare rushing below the terrace and the old town looming above).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBundeshaus (Bundesplatz 3 — the Swiss Federal Palace (1902): the seat of the Swiss Federal Assembly (the National Council and the Council of States — the two chambers of the Swiss parliament) and the Swiss Federal Council (the seven-member executive body that governs Switzerland collectively without a single head of government: the "magic formula" coalition of the four largest parties (FDP, SP, SVP, CVP), with the Federal Presidency rotating annually among the seven councillors): the dome (the 64m dome decorated with the 26 cantonal coats of arms — the most comprehensive display of Swiss cantonal heraldry in a single building), the parliamentary chambers (the National Council chamber and the Council of States chamber, both with the original 19th-century furnishings), and the Bundesplatz (the large square in front, with the 26 water jets (one for each canton) that the children of Bern use as a playground in summer).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBern Historical Museum (Helvetiaplatz 5 — the most important historical museum in Switzerland: the neo-Gothic castle building (1894) housing the permanent collection of Swiss and Bernese history from prehistory to the present: the Burgundian treasures (the collection captured at the Battle of Grandson (1476) and the Battle of Murten (1476) when the Swiss Confederates defeated Charles the Bold of Burgundy — including the original tapestries (the Millefleurs tapestries: the finest example of 15th-century Flemish tapestry weaving in existence), the Grandson treasure (the gold cups, the jeweled reliquaries and the gemstone-set drinking vessels of the Burgundian court)), the original Zytglogge astronomical clock mechanism (the actual medieval gears), and the Einstein Museum (the most important permanent Einstein exhibition in the world, located in the Bernese Historical Museum: the original letters, manuscripts and photographs of Einstein's life in Bern and the development of the special and general theories of relativity).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideConfiserie Tschirren (Kramgasse 73 — the most celebrated chocolatier in Bern since 1919: the handmade chocolate truffles (the Bern ganache — dark chocolate truffle with the kirsch (the cherry brandy) center, the most characteristic Bernese chocolate), the Bärli-Biber (the Bern bear-shaped gingerbread cookie filled with marzipan — the most iconic Bern souvenir: the "Biber" is the Bernese version of the Lebkuchen tradition, flavored with cinnamon, cloves, anise and honey, filled with the Bern marzipan (the finer-ground almonds and higher sugar-to-almond ratio than Marzapane or Lübeck marzipan)), and the handmade Caraque chocolate bars.
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