Canton of Bern
The canton of Bern or Berne is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the canton of Jura and the canton of Solothurn to the north. To the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and canton of Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais. East of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau.
Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. The Hohenstaufen emperors had granted these valleys reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were largely autonomous.
Bernese Highlands
The Berner Oberland, is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton, and one of the canton's five administrative regions.
History of Bern
The city of Bern, founded in 1191 and first mentioned in a document in 1208, grew to become the biggest aristocratic city-state north of the Alps and a major power in the Old Swiss Confederacy. The former extent of Bern included the cantons of Bern, Vaud and large parts of Aargau.
Coat of arms of Bern
The coat of arms of Bern, along with the associated flag and heraldic colours, are used both by the Swiss city of Bern and by the canton of the same name. They were also used by the former district of Bern until its abolition in 2009.
Swiss peasant war of 1653
The Swiss peasant war of 1653 was a popular revolt in the Old Swiss Confederacy at the time of the Ancien Régime. A devaluation of Bernese money caused a tax revolt that spread from the Entlebuch valley in the Canton of Lucerne to the Emmental valley in the Canton of Bern and then to the cantons of Solothurn and Basel and also to the Aargau.
Hans Gieng
Hans Gieng was a Swiss Renaissance sculptor best known for his public fountain figures in the Old Town of Bern as well as Fribourg.
Kaspar Brunner
Kaspar Brunner was a Swiss mechanic best known for his construction of the clockwork of the Zytglogge, Bern's medieval clock-tower, in 1527–30.
Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen (Bern)
The Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen is a 16th-century fountain in the Gerechtigkeitsgasse in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is the only Bernese fountain to retain all original design elements, and is listed as a cultural heritage of national significance.
Mattequartier
The Mattequartier is a historic section in the Old City of Bern in Bern, Switzerland.
Franz Rudolf Frisching
Franz Rudolf Frisching (1733–1807) was a Bernese patrician, officer, politician and industrialist.
Interlaken Monastery
Interlaken Monastery was a convent of the Augustinian Canons Regular from about 1133 until 1528 at Interlaken in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Grünenberg family
Grünenberg was a medieval Swiss noble family. The family was active from the middle of the 12th century until the 15th century in the Swiss Plateau, mostly in the Bernese Oberaargau. The family also had branches that owned land in Alsace and in southern Bavaria, especially in the Markgräflerland and in Breisgau. About one hundred members of the family are known today. The family name comes from Grünenberg Castle in Melchnau in the Canton of Bern.
Plateau de Diesse
Plateau de Diesse is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland, located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Diesse, Lamboing and Prêles merged into the municipality of Plateau de Diesse.
Ittigen Castle
Ittigen Castle is a historical country house in Ittigen in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Biberstein Castle
Biberstein Castle is a castle in the municipality of Biberstein in the Swiss canton of Aargau.