1.
Old City (Bern)
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The Old City is the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. Built on a hill surrounded on three sides by the river Aare, its compact layout has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the twelfth to the fifteenth century. The Old City is home to Switzerlands tallest cathedral as well as churches, bridges. In addition to 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, numerous buildings in the Old City have been designated as Swiss Cultural Properties of National Significance, as well as the entire Old City. The earliest settlements in the valley of the Aare date back to the Neolithic period, during the second century BC the valley was settled by the Helvetii. Following the Roman conquest of Helvetia a small Roman settlement was established near the Old City and this settlement was abandoned during the second century AD. From that time until the founding of Bern the area remained sparsely settled, the history of the city of Bern proper begins with its founding by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen in 1191. Local legend has it that the duke vowed to name the city after the first animal he met on the hunt, both the name of the city and its heraldic beast, come from this legend. At that time, much of todays Switzerland was under the authority of the house of Zähringen, the Zähringer leaders, although with no actual duchy of their own, were styled dukes by decree of the German king and exercised imperial power south of the Rhine. To establish their position there, they founded or expanded numerous settlements, including Fribourg, Bern, Burgdorf, the area chosen by Berchtold V was a hilly peninsula surrounded by the Aare on three sides. This location made the city easy to defend and influenced the development of the city. The long, narrow shape of the made the city develop as several long. The only major cross streets developed along the city walls, which were moved to allow the city to expand, therefore, the cross streets mark the stages of development in the Old City of Bern. On the eastern end of the peninsula a small fort, called Castle Nydegg, was founded by Berchtold IV in the half of the twelfth century. Either when the fort was built or in 1191, the city of Bern was founded around the end of the peninsula. The first expansion of Bern occurred as the city was founded, most likely the first city started at Nydegg Castle and reached to the Zytglogge. The city was divided by three streets, which stretched from the Castle to the city wall
2.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
3.
Bern Minster
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The Bern Minster is a Swiss Reformed cathedral, in the old city of Bern, Switzerland. Built in the Gothic style, its construction started in 1421 and its tower, with a height of 100.6 m, was only completed in 1893. It is the tallest cathedral in Switzerland and is a Cultural Property of National Significance, the Minster of Bern is located on the southern side of the Aare peninsula. The cathedral is oriented east and west like the rest of the Old City of Bern, to the north, Münstergasse runs along the side of the building. The west façade of the Münster dominates Münsterplatz, on the south side of the cathedral is the Münsterplattform. It is a three nave basilica without a transept, the entire cathedral is 84.2 meters long and 33.68 m wide. The central nave is 39.37 m long by 11.10 m wide and is 20.70 m high. The two side naves are very similar in dimensions, the nave is 52.50 m long. They are both 6.45 m wide and 10.40 m high, the altar house and choir together are 25.20 m long,10.92 m wide and 19.40 m high. The cathedral has a tower in the west, which is 100.60 m high. Below the tower, there is a 10.15 m long by 10.46 m wide, there are a total of ten bays in the building. The central nave has five of these bays, each of the side naves has two bays, with side chapels built against the exterior walls. The last bay is within the choir, the central nave walls are supported by fourteen flying buttresses. Each buttress starts at a column which rises above the roof of the side naves. The buttresses rise at an angle of 43° 30’, the lower side of the buttresses are decorated with egg-shaped cut outs, with vesica piscis and spandrel designs. The majority of the building is built from local sandstone, the vaults are built of brick. In the 18th Century, limestone sheathing was added to the pillars, most of the sandstone came from a quarry at Ostermundingen. Additional material came from three quarries, each with differing color and quality
4.
Fur clothing
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Fur clothing is clothing made of furry animal hides. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, thought to have widely used as hominids first expanded outside Africa. Some view fur as luxurious and warm, however others reject it due to moral beliefs, the term a fur is often used to refer to a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals. Controversy exists regarding the wearing of fur coats, due to animal cruelty concerns, Fur is generally thought to have been among the first materials used for clothing and bodily decoration. The exact date when fur was first used in clothing is debated and it is known that several species of hominoids including Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis used fur clothing. Fur is still worn in most mild and cool climates around the world due to its superior warmth, from the days of early European settlement, up until the development of modern clothing alternatives, fur clothing was popular in Canada during the cold winters. The invention of synthetic textiles for insulating clothing led to fur clothing falling out of fashion. Fur is still used by people and developed societies, due to its availability. The Inuit peoples of the Arctic relied on fur for most of their clothing, and it forms a part of traditional clothing in Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Scandinavia. It is also associated with glamour and lavish spending. A number of consumers and designers—notably British fashion designer and outspoken animal rights activist Stella McCartney—reject fur due to moral beliefs and perceived cruelty to animals. Animal furs used in garments and trim may be dyed bright colors or with patterns, often to exotic animal pelts, alternatively they may be left their original pattern. Fur may be shorn down to imitate the feel of velvet, some of these are more highly prized than others, and there are many grades and colors. In Europe and Asia, cheap and plentiful dog and cat fur is sold under different names to disguise the origin from shoppers in the United States, such as dog fur being labeled Mongolian Wolf. One example of this was a coat being labeled as having fur from a raccoon, the manufacturing of fur clothing involves obtaining animal pelts where the hair is left on. Workers exposed to fur dust created during fur processing have been shown to have reduced pulmonary function in direct proportion to their length of exposure, in contrast, leather made from any animal hide involves removing the fur from the skin and using only the tanned skin. However, the use of wool involves shearing the animals hair from the living animal, fake fur designates any synthetic material that attempts to mimic the appearance and feel of real fur. The chemical treatment of fur to increase its felting quality is known as carroting, a furrier is a person who makes fur products such as fur garments, fur blankets etc. and repairs, alters, cleans, or otherwise deals in furs of animals
5.
Butcher
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A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or do any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments, a butcher may be employed by supermarkets, grocery stores, butcher shops and fish markets, slaughter house, or may be self-employed. An ancient trade, whose duties may date back to the domestication of livestock, today, many jurisdictions offer trade certifications for butchers. Some areas expect a three-year apprenticeship followed by the option of becoming a master butcher, butchery is a traditional line of work. In the industrialized world, slaughterhouses use butchers to slaughter the animals, the steps include stunning, exsanguination, skinning or scalding and dehairing, evisceration and splitting. Secondary butchery involves boning and trimming primal cuts in preparation for sale, historically, primary and secondary butchery were performed in the same establishment, but the advent of methods of preservation and low cost transportation has largely separated them. In parts of the world, it is common for butchers to perform many or all of the butchers duties, where refrigeration is less common, these skills are required to sell the meat of slaughtered animals. Some butchers sell their goods in specialized stores, commonly termed a butcher shop, butchers at a butcher shop may perform primary butchery, but will typically perform secondary butchery to prepare fresh cuts of meat for sale. These shops may also sell related products, such as food supplies, baked goods. Butcher shops can have a variety of animal types, meat cuts. Additionally, butcher shops may focus on a culture, or nationality. Some butcher shops, termed meat delis, may include a delicatessen. In the United States and Canada, butcher shops are becoming common because of the increasing popularity of supermarkets. A primal cut is a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass during butchering, different countries and cultures make these cuts in different ways, and primal cuts also differ between type of carcass. The British, American and French primal cuts all differ in some respects, a notable example is fatback, which in Europe is an important primal cut of pork, but in North America is regarded as trimmings to be used in sausage or rendered into lard. The primal cuts may be complete or cut further. See also Butcher In various periods and cultures, the butcher has been applied to people who act cruelly to other human beings or slaughter them
6.
Federal Palace of Switzerland
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The Federal Palace refers to the building in Bern housing the Swiss Federal Assembly and the Federal Council. It consists of an assembly building and two wings housing government departments and a library. The two chambers where the National Council and the Council of States meet are separated by the Hall of the Dome, the dome itself has an external height of 64 m, and an internal height of 33 m. The mosaic in the center represents the Federal coat of arms along with the Latin motto Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno, the coat of arms of the Canton of Jura, created in 1979, was placed outside of the mosaic. The name in German and Romansh both mean federal house, whereas the French and Italian names both translate to Federal Palace, the building was designed by the architect Hans Auer and its inauguration took place on 1 April 1902. The total cost, at the time, was 7,198,000 Swiss Francs, as reported in a study by the Federal parliamentary services, the noise caused by human activities in the chamber of the National Council is clearly too loud. Bundesplatz Hotel Bellevue Palace Official website Federal Palace in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
