Bern

Bern is a city in Switzerland. The government of Switzerland works there.

A blue-green river curls around the old part of the city like a big letter U.

Bern is the federal city of Switzerland, the seat of the country's federal government, and the capital of the canton of Bern. It lies on the Swiss plateau, between the Jura mountains and the Alps.

The city's statistics office counted 146,867 people living in Bern at the end of 2025, and its provisional count for September 2026 was 147,494.

UNESCO describes the Old City of Berne as the federal city of Switzerland and capital of the canton of Berne, on the Swiss plateau between the Jura and the Alps. Since 1848 it has carried the role of federal city, and in the 19th century large public monuments were built to house that function.

The city's statistics office gives a definitive population of 146,867 at the end of 2025 and a provisional 147,494 for September 2026. Seen from the air, the Aare loops tightly around the old town on its narrow peninsula.

In Bern's old town, people walk under long covered walkways called arcades. They stay dry when it rains.

Old fountains stand in the streets. An old tower has a big clock.

Bern's Old City has wide streets that were once used as markets, lined with arcades: covered walkways under the fronts of the houses. Some arcades date from the 15th century, and in the 16th century fountains were added along the streets. Most of the buildings are from the 18th century, made of sandy limestone.

The Zytglogge is a medieval clock tower with an astronomical clock and a carillon of bells. Close by stand Bern Minster, the city's cathedral, which was completed in the 16th century, and the Federal Palace, a federal building.

UNESCO highlights the Old City's clearly defined elements: wide streets used as markets, a regular division into narrow, deep plots, an advanced water supply system, and mostly 18th-century buildings of sandy limestone with arcades and facades carried on arches. The buildings date from many periods, including 15th-century arcades and 16th-century fountains; in the 16th century the towers and walls were also restored and the cathedral, Bern Minster, was completed.

The Zytglogge, which Wikidata describes as a medieval clock tower with an astronomical clock and carillon, stands in the old town near the Minster. Public buildings for the secular and religious authorities were always placed at the edge of the built-up area, a rule UNESCO notes was still followed in the 19th century, when the large public monuments of the federal city were built.

Trams take people around Bern.

In the old town, many streets are for walking. Covered arcades line them.

Bern's trams are run by Bernmobil on narrow, meter-gauge tracks. New tram lines opened to Bümpliz and Brünnen in 2010 and to Wankdorf station in 2012.

In the old town, people walk along the wide market streets under the arcades. Bridges cross the Aare to reach the neighborhoods on the other side.

UrbanRail.net lists Bern's tram network as operated by Bernmobil on 1,000 mm meter gauge, with extensions to Bümpliz and Brünnen opened on 12 December 2010 and from Guisanplatz to Wankdorf Bahnhof on 9 December 2012.

A summary on UNESCO's page notes that most of the old streets with arcades are now walking promenades. Because the old town sits on a peninsula in a loop of the Aare, bridges link it with the districts on the far banks.

You can visit the home where the scientist Albert Einstein once lived.

People walk through the old streets and look at the fountains.

On Kramgasse in the old town, Albert Einstein's former apartment is now the Einstein House. From 1903 to 1905, Einstein met with two friends, Maurice Solovine and Conrad Habicht, to talk about science and philosophy. They called their little group the Akademie Olympia.

UNESCO notes that Bern today mixes old monuments and modern buildings. In the old town, people stroll along the market streets, under the arcades and past the fountains.

Einstein's years in Bern were busy: he earned money at first by giving private lessons in physics and mathematics, which he advertised in a local newspaper; he published his first paper, on the molecular theory of heat, in 1902; he joined the Society for Natural Sciences Bern in 1903 and gave his first talk there, on electromagnetic waves. The Akademie Olympia, his discussion circle with Maurice Solovine and Conrad Habicht, ran from 1903 to 1905.

UNESCO describes the Old City as a unique example of constant renewal of its buildings while keeping the original plan, a variation of late Baroque on a High Middle Ages theme.