1053 



BERN. 



BERN. 



1051 



Olten, whence the line is to be continued north-westward to Basel, 

 and branches are to run to Liizern and Zurich. [SWITZERLAND.] 



Divitiaiis and Towns. The canton is divided into districts or pre- 

 fectships, formerly called bailiwicks, of which there are 22 in the old 

 territory of Bern : namely, Bern, Seftigen, Nidau, Aarberg, Fraubrun- 

 nen, Burgdorf, Wangen, Aarwaugen, Trachselwald, Signau, Konol- 

 fingen, Thun, Interlachen, Laupen, Erlach, Buren, Obersimmen-thal, 

 Niedersiiumen-thal, Saaneu, Frutigen, Ober-Hasli, and Schwarzeuburg ; 

 and six in the territories acquired in 1815 : namely, Bienne, Neuveville, 

 Porentrui, Delemont, Val Moutier, and the Erguel-thal. The towns 

 of the canton, besides Bern, are Bienne, Burgdorf, Thun, Porentrui, 

 and Delemont. 



Bern is described in a separate article. [BERN.] 



Bienne and Thun have been already noticed above. 



Burgdorf, also called Berthoud, is prettily situated at the foot of a 

 hill on the left bank of the Emmen, 11 miles N.E. from Bern, and 

 has about 5000 inhabitants. It is an ancient place. It was sur- 

 rounded by walls in the 12th century, and the old castle in which 

 Pestalozxi first developed his system of teaching is said to date from 

 the 7th century. It was formerly the capital of Little Burgogne, and 

 the re.sk: rice of the dukes of Zahringen and afterwards of the counts 

 of Kyburg, one of whom, Count Berchthold, sold the town to the 

 Bernese in 1384. Burgdorf is now of importance only a.=i affording a 

 depot for the linen, cheese, and other products of the Emmen-tkal. 



Porentrui, or Br--ntrut, in 1793 made the capital of the French 

 department of Mont-Terrible, and subsequently comprised in that of 

 Haut-Rhin, is situated near the French frontier in the most northern 

 part of the canton, 40 miles N.N.W. from Bern, and has about 2500 

 inhabitants, who manufacture beer, leather, and woollen cloth. 



Ddemo/nt, or Deltberg, 17 miles E. from Porentrui, is situated on the 

 left bank of the Some and near its confluence with the Birs, where 

 are ruins of ancient Roman baths. It is a well-built little town with 

 about 1500 inhabitants, and has been long famous for its linen- 

 bleacheries and its manufacture of watches. The neighbouring 

 mountains are rich in iron-ore. 



Historical Stctcl. The government of Bern was, until the end of 

 the last century, in the hands of a council, called the Council of Two 

 Hundred, which consisted in fact of 299 members, chosen exclusively 

 from among the burghers of Bern. All the rest of the canton was 

 subject to them. A senate, elected by the great council from among 

 its own members, held the executive power. A schultheiss, or avoyer, 

 was the chief magistrate of the republic. The commonwealth being 

 in its origin limited to the town, which was a free imperial city, having 

 received a charter from the emperor Frederick II., dated May 1218, 

 all the citi/ens who were possessed of a house in it had a vote in the 

 general assembly, which elected the magistrates and the council of 

 government. By degrees the members of the sovereign council 

 remained for life, and the vacancies were 611ed up by the council 

 itself, mostly from a small number of influential families. Many of 

 the neighbouring feudal nobles became burghers of Bern, whilst 

 others fought against the ruling commonwealth, and were successively 

 defeated, and obliged to give up or sell part or the whole of their 

 territories to the city, which thus became possessed of extensive 

 domains. This was the origin of the state of Bern. Rudolf of 

 Habuburg attacked Bern in vaiu in 1288. His son Albert marched 

 against Bern in 1298, and was defeated at Donnerbuhlen by the 

 Bernese, led by Ulrich von Erlach. In 1339 the emperor Louis of 

 Bavaria declared war against Bern. The Bernese, commanded by 

 Rudolf von Erlach, son of Ulrich, and reinforced by 1000 men from 

 the three forest cantons, met the enemy at Laupen on the 21st of 

 June, and with only 5000 men completely defeated the proud chivalry 

 opposed to them. This victory consolidated the power of Bern, 

 which became henceforth the principal state of all western Helvetia. 

 In 1352 Bern was admitted into the Swiss Confederation, of which it 

 formed the eighth canton. [SWITZERLAND.] 



In 1415 Bern conquered the greater part of Aargau from the house 

 of Austria, and added it to its dominions. In 1476 it sustained the 

 attack of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, whom the Bernese, 

 assisted by their Swigs confederates, defeated at Granson and Morat. 

 In 1528 Bern ad opted the Reformation, but the change was effected 

 without violence, and the revenues of the suppressed monasteries 

 were applied to the support of the reformed clergy, to the foundation 

 of schools, and other charitable purposes. In 1536 the Bernese took 

 the Pays de Vaud from the Duke of Savoy, in consequence of his 

 having attacked Geneva, the ally of Bern. By a subsequent treaty 

 th" I'ayg de Vaud wan formally ceded by the duke, and for nearly 

 three centuries after, the territory of Bern continued to extend 

 over the finest part of Switzerland, from the banks of the Lake of 

 Geneva to thorn of the Rhine, besides several bailiwicks which it 

 powewed in common with other cantons in Thurgau and other parts, 

 iiblic, in its career of aggression, did not respect the 

 neutrality of Switz' ilaii'l. The Directory found a pretext for aggres- 

 nion upon Bern in the complaints of some refugees of the Pays de 

 Vaud, wlu, rUinjnl political rights for their country. A French army 

 i \atnl in 1798, and declared that country inde- 



pendent, i if FVrn. They next demanded that the government of Bern 

 itoelf should be made democratic, and after a severe campaign the 

 town of Bern capitulated. Tho French seized upon the treasury at 



Bern, where they found above 30,000,000 of francs in gold and silver, 

 and they emptied the arsenal, which was well stocked with arms and 

 ammunition of every sort. 



After several years of civil and foreign war, attended by dreadful 

 calamities, the Act of Mediation by Bonaparte in 1803 organised 

 Switzerland into nineteen cantons, of which Bern was one, Aargau 

 and Vaud being definitively separated from it. In 1815 a new federal 

 pact was framed, and was guaranteed by the allied powers. The 

 territories of the former bishop of Basel which had been annexed to 

 France were given to the canton of Bern, which thus became again one 

 of the largest and by far the most populous canton of all Switzerland. 

 The constitution of the canton at the same time was again made more 

 aristocratical ; 200 of the members of the sovereign council were 

 chosen from among the burghers of Bern by a commission of the 

 council itself, the remaining 99 being chosen from the rest of the 

 canton by the electoral colleges of the various districts. The old 

 patrician families resumed their influence over the elections, and the 

 office of councillor was again for life. The city of Bern became for 

 periods of two years and alternately with Zurich and Liizern the 

 seat of the Swiss Diet, which thus conferred upon the canton the 

 privileges of the vorort, or directing canton of the confederation. In 

 1831 a complete and radical change was made in the constitution of 

 the canton. The election of the members in town and country was 

 given to the respective constituencies, the number of members 

 returned by each district being in proportion to its population ; the 

 superiority of the burghers of Bern over the country was effaced, all 

 privileges of persons and families were abolished, the censorship was 

 suppressed, a municipal organisation was given to the communes, the 

 debates of the sovereign council were made public, and other regula- 

 tions of a popular nature were enacted. Bern thus became a 

 democratic republic, and has ever since taken the lead of the movement 

 party in Switzerland. In the revolution of Switzerland which was 

 effected in 1847, and by which the confederation of independent 

 cantons was changed into a compact republic directed by a central 

 government, Bern became the sovereign canton, and the city of 

 Bern was chosen by the National Council, 1848, as the capital of 

 Switzerland. [SWITZERLAND.] 



The language of the people of the canton of Bern is the Swiss- 

 German, but various dialects prevail in the different districts or 

 valleys. The dialect of the Ober-Hasli is peculiar, and is said to 

 contain many Swedish words or roots. Almost all the educated 

 people of the towns, and especially of Bern, understand and speak 

 French. In some of the valleys of the former bishopric of Basel, 

 French is spoken by the people in general. 



BERN, the capital of the canton of Bern, and since 1848 of the 

 whole of Switzerland, was founded in 1191 by Berchthold orBerthold V., 

 duke of Zahringeu, for the purpose of keeping in check his refractory 

 nobility. In 1218 Bern was made an imperial city by the emperor 

 Frederick II. A great fire destroyed the whole town in 1405, after 

 which it was rebuilt on its present regular plan. 



Bern is situated in 46 56' 54" N. lat., 7 26' E. long., on a somewhat 

 long and elevated peninsula, about 1600 feet above the sea, formed 

 by the river Aar, which runs on three sides of it ; the fourth is open 

 to the west and fortified. There is a stone bridge over the Aar, about 

 260 feet long. The town, which contains 27,475 inhabitants, 

 according to the Census of March 1850, may justly be reckoned 

 among the most elegant cities in Europe. Its style of building is 

 very regular, without appearing monotonous ; the streets, which are 

 purified by rills of water and flanked by houses built of massive 

 stone, are oroad, and run parallel from east to west ; they have for 

 the most part arcades on both sides with good shops, and communi- 

 cate by cross streets. There is a great number of fountains in the 

 city, many of them ornamepted with statues of mythic or historic 

 personages. On the upper fountain in the principal street is a bear 

 (the favourite device of the town) armed cap-a-pie. Indeed the 

 animal both living and in effigy seems in great favour and request in 

 Bern. In the main street also are three ancient watch-towers, one of 

 which, the clock-tower, dates from 1191, and though now in the 

 centre of the town, it guarded the outer wall of Berchthold's Founda- 

 tion. This tower contains some curious clock-striking machinery, 

 which puts in motion a great number of small figures, including a 

 procession of bears of course. 



Of all the buildings the Miinster, or Cathedral, is the most 

 remarkable. It is built in the gothic style, and is 160 feet long and 

 80 feet broad ; the steeple is left unfinished. The west entrance is 

 adorned with sculptures representing the last judgment. On the 

 windows are painted the coats of arms of the burghers of Bern. On 

 the walls are tablets inscribed with the names of the Bernese who fell 

 fighting against the French in 1798. The church of the Holy Ghost 

 is distinguished for its simple modern architecture. Among other 

 large and elegant buildings are the Biirgerspital and Inselspital 

 (citizen and island hospital), which latter alone forms a whole street. 

 The town-hall is an old and heavy building, which presents nothing 

 remarkable. The corn-magazine, a large and splendid building, rests 

 on thirty-four pillars. The new prison and house of correction, built 

 of freestone, is the largest edifice of the kind in Switzerland. Tho 

 arsenal, the orphan-house, the theatre, the casino, the library, and the 

 museum, are also fine buildings. The museum contains a fine 



