Landmark Europe
Zytglogge
The Zytglogge is an old clock tower in Bern, Switzerland. Every hour, little moving figures put on a show, and a rooster crows!
The Zytglogge is a medieval clock tower in the old town of Bern, Switzerland. Built from 1218 to 1220 as a defensive tower, it became a clock tower after a great fire in 1405. Bern Welcome dates its astronomical clock and moving figures to 1530.
Built between 1218 and 1220 as a defensive tower and gate, later used as a prison and, after the great city fire of 1405, rebuilt as a clock tower, the Zytglogge stands in the old town of Bern. Its astronomical clock (astrolabe) and figure play, dated to 1530 by Bern Welcome (the City of Bern's 2018 leaflet dates the astronomical dial to the early 15th century), still mark the hours, and the old town has been a World Heritage Site since 1983.
Photo: Mike Lehmann, Mike Switzerland 13:37, 2 July 2006 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Zytglogge
The Zytglogge is a tall tower in the old town of Bern.
It has a big black and gold clock and a pointed green roof.
The Zytglogge stands in the old town of Bern, the Swiss city that grew up on a hill above the Aare River.
Bern Welcome calls it one of the city's most famous landmarks: once a city gate, it now draws visitors from all over the world.
The City of Bern says the Zytglogge was built between 1218 and 1220 and first served as a defensive tower; after the great city fire of 1405 it was converted into a clock tower. Bern Welcome calls it one of the city's most famous landmarks, once a city gate and now visited by people from all over the world.
It stands in the Old City of Bern, which UNESCO describes as founded in the 12th century on a hill surrounded by the Aare River.
- Where
- Old town of Bern, Switzerland
- Built
- 1218–1220
- Clock tower since
- After the fire of 1405
- Astronomical clock
- 1530 (Bern Welcome); early 15th century (City of Bern)
Gate, prison, clock
Long ago, the tower was a gate in the city wall.
Later it became a clock tower that told the whole city the time!
The tower was built from 1218 to 1220 as a strong defensive tower in the town's first wall. Around 1344 it became a prison.
After the great fire of 1405, it was rebuilt as a clock tower. As Bern grew, the old gate ended up in the middle of the city, and its clock told everyone the time.
According to the City of Bern's restoration leaflet, the town was founded in 1191, the Zytglogge was built around 1218 as a massive defensive tower in the original town wall, it was turned into a prison around 1344, and it was converted to a clock tower in 1405.
Bern Welcome lists its roles over time as fortified tower, prison, watchtower, fire watch and finally clock tower, keeping the official time as the city grew around it.
Measuring time and distance
People used this tower to measure time and distance.
Old measuring marks can still be seen on the gate!
The Zytglogge was used to measure the hours of travel, which were written on hour stones along the roads of the canton.
Marks for old units of length, the cubit and the fathom, can still be seen on the gate; they once helped people check measures.
Bern Welcome says the tower was used to measure the hours of travel recorded on the hour stones along the cantonal roads, and that cubits and fathoms, the units used for public checks of measures, can still be seen on the gate.
In 2018 the City of Bern set out to restore the roof, the facades and parts of the clockwork, including the west-facade painting made in 1930 by the Bernese painter Victor Surbek.
The hourly show
Just before each hour, a rooster crows and little bears dance in a circle.
A jester rings too early, and a golden knight strikes the big bell!
Just before every hour, a crowing rooster starts the show. Bears dance in a circle, a jester strikes the hour too early, and finally the golden knight Hans von Thann strikes the bell at the top of the tower.
Above the gateway, the astronomical clock, called the astrolabe, slowly turns to show the earth at the center, with the sun, the moon and the stars going around it.
Bern Welcome dates the astrolabe and the musical mechanism to 1530; the City of Bern's 2018 leaflet dates the astronomical dial to the early 15th century. Just before the hour a crowing rooster opens the figure play: bears dance in a circle, a jester strikes early, quarter chimes sound, and the gilded knight Hans von Thann strikes the bell.
The astrolabe's rotating spheres show the earth at the center with the sun, moon and stars orbiting it. The City of Bern's 2018 leaflet calls it one of the few astrolabes in Europe still largely in its original state.
- Figure play
- 1530
- Show starts
- Just before every hour
- West facade painting
- 1930, Victor Surbek
- Restoration
- 2018
In the old town
This photo shows the tall tower with its pointed green roof.
You can see the big black and gold clock and the colorful clock below it.
Mike Lehmann took this photo on 2 July 2006. It shows the tower's green spire with a golden figure and bell in the little open belfry, a red tile roof, the big black clock face with golden numbers, the round astronomical clock below it, and the arched gateway at the bottom, where people are walking through.
The photo (Mike Lehmann, 2 July 2006) looks down the street at the side of the tower with the astronomical clock: the copper-green spire and open belfry with the gilded bell-striker, the hipped tile roof with its dormer, the main clock face with Roman numerals, the astronomical clock and the figure-play niche beside it, the gateway arch and old-town houses on both sides, with street lamps hanging on wires.
Amazing facts
-
A jester in the clock show rings too early on purpose!
In the hourly figure play, a jester mischievously strikes the hour too early.
Bern Welcome describes the jester in the figure play striking the hour too early before the gilded knight strikes the bell.
-
Travel times on old road stones were measured from this tower!
The hours of travel written on old hour stones along the roads were measured from the Zytglogge.
The tower was used to measure the hours of travel, which were recorded on the hour stones along the cantonal roads.
-
The tower was once a prison!
Around 1344 the defensive tower was turned into a prison, long before it became a clock tower.
The City of Bern's leaflet dates the tower's conversion to a prison to about 1344, and to a clock tower to 1405.
Words to know
- clock tower
- a tower with a big clock that people in a town can see or hear
- astrolabe
- an instrument or dial that shows the positions of the sun, moon and stars
- jester
- a clown who entertained people in the Middle Ages
- spire
- a tall, pointed top on a tower
- belfry
- the part of a tower where a bell hangs
- cubit
- an old unit of length, about the length of a forearm
Discovery challenge
-
In which city is the Zytglogge?
In which Swiss city does the Zytglogge stand?
The Zytglogge stands in the old town of which Swiss city?
- Bern
- Zurich
- Geneva
Show the answer
Bern
Bern!
Bern.
Bern.
-
What was the tower first?
What was the Zytglogge first built as?
As what kind of structure was the Zytglogge built in 1218-1220?
- A defensive tower
- A bakery
- A lighthouse
Show the answer
A defensive tower
A tower to defend the town!
A defensive tower and gate.
A defensive tower in the original town wall.
-
After a big fire in which year did it become a clock tower?
After the great fire of which year did the tower become a clock tower?
In which year did the great city fire lead to the tower's conversion to a clock tower?
- 1405
- 1905
- 1805
Show the answer
1405
1405!
1405.
1405.
-
Which animal crows to start the show?
Which figure crows to start the hourly show?
Which figure's crowing announces the figure play before the hour?
- A rooster
- A dog
- A cat
Show the answer
A rooster
A rooster!
A rooster.
The rooster.
-
In which year did the clock show begin?
Bern Welcome dates the hourly figure play to which year?
To which year does Bern Welcome date the astrolabe and the musical mechanism?
- 1530
- 1930
- 1730
Show the answer
1530
1530!
1530.
1530.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how a city gate can end up in the middle of a city.
- Describe what an astronomical clock shows.
- Explain how people measured time and distance before modern tools.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why was it useful for a whole town to share one clock?
- Why might old units like the cubit be marked on a city gate?
- What would you put in your own clock show?
Try at home or in class
- Make a paper clock with moving hands and add small paper figures that 'come out' on the hour.
- Measure a table in 'cubits' using your forearm, then with a ruler, and compare.
Key vocabulary: clock tower, astrolabe, jester, spire, belfry, cubit
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Zytglogge (Clock Tower) , Bern Welcome
- Zytglogge wird umfassend saniert , Stadt Bern
- Zytgloggeturm: Bauflyer (2018) , Stadt Bern, Hochbau
- Old City of Berne (World Heritage List) , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- File:Zytglogge 01.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.