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March 2002

Bern

David Aaronson
2005-09-27 19:57:50

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of the previous one - looking at a bridge over the Aare river from the top of the Munster (8). Just across this bridge is a small square filled with an assortment of museums. We visited the Bern History Museum primarily because it holds the Burgundy Tapestries. Periodically, such as while we were visiting, these tapestries are displayed in dim lighting (rather than practically no lighting) so that they can be viewed in detail. Some of these tapestries are unbelievably large. A four-tapestry sequence on the life of Julius Caeser dominates an entire gallery. Also off this square but not visited by us are the Natural History Museum which supposedly features the stuffed remains of some of the original Swiss Mountain rescue dogs and the Swiss Alpine Museum featuring (drum roll) ... dioramas of the Alps.

This is known as the Ogre fountain and since we had to show a close-up of some fountain sooner or later, it might as well be this one (9). Just for the record, yes, he is in fact devouring small children. It is more interesting than certain famous fountains in say, Brussels though.

Here it is, the symbol of Bern (10). Legend has it than when the Duke Berthold V arrived in 1191, the first animal he killed while hunting was a bear ('Barn' is the dialect of the time) and thus the city got its name. Just across a bridge from the center of town are the bear pits of Bern, a tradition ever since (Actually it dates from around 1440).

There are two bear pits although all three bears were in the same one while we were visiting. There is a nice view of Bern from the bear pits and an even nicer view from the top of the hill above the pits, where the Bern Rose Garden is located.

Of the cities we visited in Switzerland, Bern is probably the place where we could spend the most time. There are numerous other museums that we did not visit and one could easily spend a couple days wandering through the streets. It's a fairly pricey place to stay but no more expensive than Zurich or Lucerne and the transportation costs once you get there are non-existent.