Bern Minster

The Münsterplatz is a plaza in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. It is part of the Zähringerstadt which was built during the foundation of the old city in 1191. It is located in front of the Cathedral and it is part of the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site that encompasses the Old City.

The Zähringerstadt is a historic section in the Old City of Bern in Bern, Switzerland. The first expansion of Bern occurred as the city was founded in 1191. This central and oldest neighbourhood was known as the Zähringerstadt (Zähringer town) after the founder, Duke Berthold V of Zähringen. Most likely the first city started at Nydegg Castle on the Aare river and reached west on the narrow peninsula to the Zytglogge (Swiss German: clock tower). The city was divided by three longitudinal streets, which stretched from the Castle to the city wall. Both the position of the town church and the shape of the eaves were typical for a Zähringer city.During the first half of the 13th Century two additional streets (Brunngasse and Herrengasse) were added. Brunngasse was a semi-circular street on the north edge of the city, while Herrengasse was on the south side of the city. A wood bridge was built over the Aare River which allowed increased trade and limited settlements on the east bank of the river. The Zähringerstadt contained the medieval city's principal political, economic and spiritual institutions. These were strictly separated: official buildings were situated around the Kreuzgasse (Cross Alley), ecclesiastical buildings were located at the Münstergasse (Cathedral Alley) and Herrengasse (Lords' Alley), while guilds and merchants' shops clustered around the central Kramgasse (Grocers Alley) and Gerechtigkeitsgasse (Justice Alley). Junkerngasse (Junker Lane), which is parallel to Gerechtigkeitsgasse, was originally known as Kilchgasse (Church Lane) but was renamed because of number of patricians or untitled nobility which lived on the southern side of the peninsula. The original city wall between the Zähringerstadt and the Innere Neustadt was demolished during a later expansion and Kornhausplatz grew up in the area of the wall. The original city gate became the Zytglogge.

The Münstergasse is one of the streets in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. It is part of the Zähringerstadt which was built during the foundation of the old city in 1191. However, until 1967 it was parts of several other streets. It runs along the cathedral and it is part of the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site that encompasses the Old City.

The Mosesbrunnen (Moses Fountain) is a fountain on Münsterplatz in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Bern.

The Simsonbrunnen or Samson fountain is a fountain on the Kramgasse in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Bern.

The Kramgasse ("Grocers Alley") is one of the principal streets in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city centre of Bern, Switzerland. It was the center of urban life in Bern until the 19th century. Today, it is a popular shopping street. Its length, slight curve and long line of Baroque façades combine to produce Bern's most impressive streetscape.The Kramgasse and its buildings are a heritage site of national significance and part of the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site that encompasses the Old City.

The Old City (German: Altstadt) is the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. Built on a narrow hill bordered on three sides by the river Aare, its compact layout has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the twelfth to the fifteenth century. Despite a major fire in 1405, after which much of the city was rebuilt in sandstone, and substantial construction efforts in the eighteenth century, Bern's old city has retained its medieval character. The Old City is home to Switzerland's tallest minster as well as other churches, bridges and a large collection of Renaissance fountains. In addition to many historical buildings, the seats of the federal, cantonal and municipal government are also situated in the Old City. It is a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site since 1983 due to the compact and generally intact medieval core and is an excellent example of incorporating the modern world into a medieval city. Numerous buildings in the Old City have been designated as Swiss Cultural Properties of National Significance, as well as the entire Old City.

The Béatrice-von-Wattenwyl-Haus (also known as the Frisching-Haus) is a town mansion on the Junkerngasse No. 59 in the Old City of Bern, only a few steps away from the Erlacherhof. The mansion is built up of several medieval houses. This is still visible on the north façade (main entrance) which consists of 3 medieval houses. Between 1695 and 1710 on the order of its owner, the Bernese patrician Samuel Frisching (II), an ancestor of Franz Rudolf Frisching, the mansion underwent a rebuilt by the architect Joseph Abeille. Abeille restructured the interior of the mansion and added the elegant south façade in the Louis XIV style. In 1838 the mansion passed through marriage into the von Wattenwyl family. The last private owners of the mansion, the Bernese patricians Béatrice and Jakob Emanuel von Wattenwyl, had no children and bequeathed the mansion to the Swiss Confederation in 1929. When Jakob Emanuel von Wattenwyl, who survived his wife, died in 1934, the gift took effect. The mansion is still equipped with the original furniture mainly from the 18th and 19th century as well as many portrait paintings representing members of the Frisching and the von Wattenwyl families. To the mansion belongs the largest terraced garden of any privately built residences in the Old City of Bern. Nowadays, the mansion is used as the official town residence for ceremonial events by the Swiss Federal Council. The so-called von Wattenwyl talks exist since 1970, and are a regular forum to exchange opinions between the Federal Council and the heads of those parties that are represented in the Federal Council. The mansion is open to the public 4 times a year, every first Saturday in January, April, July and October.

The Einsteinhaus (Einstein House) is a museum and a former residence of Albert Einstein. It is located on Kramgasse No. 49 in Bern, Switzerland. A flat on the second floor of the house was occupied by Einstein, his wife Mileva Marić, and their son Hans Einstein from 1903 to 1905. The Annus Mirabilis papers, which presented Einstein's theory of relativity and contributed substantially to the foundation of modern physics, were written here and published in the Annalen der Physik. During this time Einstein worked at the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. The living conditions of Einstein and his family are shown accurately in the apartment on the second floor with furniture from that time. Einstein's biography and his life's work are presented on the third floor. A smaller permanent exhibition is located at the Historical Museum of Bern.

The Church of St. Peter and Paul is a Christian Catholic church in Bern, Switzerland. It is designated as a Cultural Property of National Significance

The Vennerbrunnen (Banner Carrier or Vexillum Fountain) is a fountain on Rathausplatz in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Bern.

The Bern Town Hall (German: Rathaus Bern) is the building in Bern, Switzerland that houses the Grand Council of Bern (German: Grosser Rat, French: Grand conseil), the Executive Council of Bern (German: Regierungsrat, French: Conseil-éxecutif) and the Grand Council of the City of Bern. The building is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Berne and is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.