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modern being the Kirchfeld and Kornhaus bridges which have greatly contributed to create new residential quarters near the old town. Within the town the arcades (or Lauben) on either See also:

side of the See also:

main See also:

street, and the numerous elaborately ornamented fountains attract the See also:

eye, as well as the two remaining towers that formerly stood on the old walls but are now in the centre of the town; the Zeilglockenthurm (famous for its singular 16th-See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century See also:

CLOCK

clock, with its See also:

MECHANICAL

mechanical contrivances, set in See also:

motion when the See also:

HOUR

hour strikes) and the K frclzthurm. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval See also:

BUILDING

building in Bern is the (now See also:

PROTESTANT

Protestant) See also:

Munster, begun in 1421 though not completed till 1573. The See also:

TOWER (Lat. turris; Fr. tour, clocker; Ital. torre; Ger. Thurm)

tower, rising conspicuously above the town, has recently been well restored, but the See also:

church was never a See also:

CATHEDRAL

cathedral church (as is often stated), for there has never yet been a See also:

bishop of Bern. The federal Houses of See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

Parliament (Bundeskaus) were much enlarged in 1888-1892, the older portions dating from 1852-1857, and also contain the offices of the federal executive and See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration. The town-See also:

hall See also:

DATES

dates from 1406, while some of the houses belonging to the old See also:

GILDS, or GUILDS

gilds contain much of See also:

INTEREST

interest. The town library (with which that of the university was incorporated in 1905) contains a vast See also:

STORE (from O. Fr. estor or estoire, Late Lat. staurum or instaurum, stock, provisions, supply, from the late use of instaurare, to provide, properly to construct, renew, restore)

store of See also:

MSS. and rare printed books, but should be carefully distinguished from the See also:

NATIONAL

national Swiss library, which, with the building for the federal archives, is built in the new Kirchfeld See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter. There are a number of museums; the See also:

HISTORICAL

historical (archaeological and medieval), the natural See also:

HISTORY

history (in which the skin of See also:

Barry, the famous St See also:

Bernard See also:

dog, is preserved), the See also:

art (mainly modern Swiss pictures), and the Alpine (in which are collections of all kinds See also:

RELATING

relating to the Swiss See also:

ALPS

Alps). Bern possesses a university (founded in 1834) and two admirably organized hospitals.

The old fortifications (Schanzen) have been converted into promenades, which command wonderful views of the snowy Alps of the Bernese Oberland. Just across the Nydeck See also:

BRIDGE

bridge is the famous See also:

bear See also:

PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit in which live bears are kept, as they are supposed to have given the name to the town;certainly a bear is shown on the earliest known town See also:

seal (1224), while live bears have been maintained at the charges of the town since 1513. There is comparatively little See also:

INDUSTRIAL

industrial activity in the town, the importance of which is mainly political, though of See also:

LATE

late years it has been selected as the seat of various inter-national associations (postal, See also:

TELEGRAPH (Gr. Tike, far, and rypaq5eiv, to write)

telegraph, railway, See also:

CLIMATE

climate is severe, as the town is much exposed to See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold winds blowing from the snowy Alps. In point of See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population it is exceeded in See also:

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland by See also:

Zurich, See also:

Basel and See also:

Geneva, though the number of inhabitants has risen from 27,558 in x85o and 43,197 in 188o to 64,227 in 1900. In 1900, 59,698 inhabitants were See also:

German-speaking; while 57,144 were Protestants, 6o87 Romanists (including Old Catholics) and 655 See also:

Jews. The height of the town above the See also:

sea-level is 1788 ft. The See also:

ancient See also:

castle of Nydeck, at the eastern end of the peninsula, guarded the passage over the Aar, and it was probably its existence that induced Berchtold V., See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of Zaringen, to found Bern in 1191 as a military See also:

POST

post on the frontier between the Alamannians (German-speaking) and the Burgundians (See also:

French-speaking). Thrice the walls which protected the town were moved westwards, about 1250, in 1346 and in 1622, though even at the,last-named date the town only stretched a little way to the west of (or beyond) the See also:

PRESENT

present railway station. After the extinction of the Ziiringen See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty (1218) Bern became a See also:

FREE

free imperial See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city, but it had to fight hard for its See also:

independence, which was finally secured by the victories of Dornbuhl (1298) over See also:

FRIBOURG [Ger. Freiburg]

Fribourg and the Habsburgs, and of Laupen (1339) over the neighbouring Burgundian nobles. In the second See also:

BATTLE

battle Bern received help from the three See also:

FOREST

forest cantons with which it had become allied in 1323, while in 1353 it entered the Swiss confederation as its eighth member. It soon took the See also:

lead in the confederation, though always aiming at enlarging its own See also:

BORDERS, THE

borders, even at See also:

GREAT

great risks (see the See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article on the canton).

In 1528 Bern accepted the religious See also:

reformation, and henceforth became one of its See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief champions in Switzerland. In the 17th century the number of families by which high offices of See also:

state could be held was diminished, so that in 16o5 there were 152 thus qualified, but in 1691 only 104, while towards the end of the 18th century there were only 69 such families. Meanwhile the See also:

RULE

rule of the town was extending over more and more territory, so that finally it governed 52 bailiwicks (acquired between 1324 and 1729), the Bernese See also:

PATRICIANS (Lat. patricius, an adjectival form from pater, father; not, as some say, from pater and ciere, to call)

patricians being thus extremely powerful and forming an See also:

OLIGARCHY (Gr. oXiyot, few, apxil, rule)

oligarchy that administered affairs like a benevolent and well-ordered despotism. In 1723 See also:

Major Davel, at See also:

LAUSANNE

Lausanne, and in 1749 Henzi, in Bern itself, tried to break down this See also:

MONOPOLY (Gr. govomeXla or govoircaXwv, exclusive sale, from govds, alone, and irwXeiv, to sell)

monopoly, but in each See also:

case paid the See also:

PENALTY (Lat. poena, punishment)

penalty of failure on the See also:

scaffold. The whole See also:

SYSTEM

system was swept away by the French in 1798, and though partially revived in 1815, came to an end in 1831, since which See also:

time Bern has been in the See also:

van of political progress. From 1815 to 1848 it shared with Zurich and See also:

Lucerne the supreme rule (which shifted from one to the other every two years) in the Swiss confederation, while in 1848 a federal law made Bern the See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole political capital, where the federal See also:

government is permanently fixed and where the ministers of See also:

FOREIGN

foreign See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers reside.

End of Article: BERN (Fr. Berne)

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