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.
Aare
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The Aare or Aar is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. There are more than 40 hydroelectric plants along the course of the Aare River, the rivers name dates to at least the La Tène period, and it is attested as Nantaror Aare valley in the Berne zinc tablet. The name was Latinized as Arula/Arola/Araris, the Aare rises in the great Aargletschers of the Bernese Alps, in the canton of Bern and west of the Grimsel Pass. The Finsteraargletscher and Lauteraargletscher come together to form the Unteraargletscher, which is the source of water for the Grimselsee. The Oberaargletscher feeds the Oberaarsee, which flows into the Grimselsee. Right after Innertkirchen it is joined by its first major tributary, less than 1 kilometre later the river carves through a limestone ridge in the Aare Gorge. It is here that the Aare proves itself to be more than just a river, a little past Meiringen, near Brienz, the river expands into Lake Brienz. Near the west end of the lake it receives its first important tributary. It then runs across the plain of the Bödeli between Interlaken and Unterseen before flowing into Lake Thun. Near the west end of Lake Thun, the river receives the waters of the Kander. Lake Thun marks the head of navigation, on flowing out of the lake it passes through Thun, and then flows through the city of Bern, passing beneath eighteen bridges and around the steeply-flanked peninsula on which the Old City is located. The river soon changes its flow for a due westerly direction. From the upper end of the lake, at Nidau, the river issues through the Nidau-Büren Channel, also called the Aare Canal, and then runs east to Büren. A short distance further, below Brugg it receives first the Reuss, its major tributary, and shortly afterwards the Limmat, its second strongest tributary. It now turns to north, and soon becomes itself a tributary of the Rhine, the Rhine, in turn, empties into the North Sea after crossing into the Netherlands. New York, NY, Columbia University Press, the Columbia Gazetteer of the World. New York, NY, Columbia University Press, leipzig, Germany, Veriag von Gustav Mayer. Gresswell, R. Kay, Huxley, Anthony, eds, standard Encyclopedia of the Worlds Rivers and Lakes
4.
Watermill
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A watermill or water mill is a mill that utilizes hydropower. It is a structure that uses a wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling, rolling. Such processes are needed in the production of material goods, including flour, lumber, paper, textiles. Thus watermills may be comprise gristmills, sawmills, paper mills, textile mills, hammermills, trip hammering mills, rolling mills, wire drawing mills. The former type can be divided, depending on where the water hits the wheel paddles, into undershot, overshot, breastshot. Another way to water mills is by an essential trait about their location, tide mills use the movement of the tide. The earliest evidence of a wheel is probably the Perachora wheel. The earliest written reference is in the technical treatises Pneumatica and Parasceuastica of the Greek engineer Philo of Byzantium, the British historian of technology M. J. T. The sakia gear is, already developed, for the first time attested in a 2nd-century BC Hellenistic wall painting in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Greek geographer Strabon reports in his Geography a water-powered grain-mill to have existed near the palace of king Mithradates VI Eupator at Cabira, Asia Minor, before 71 BC. The Roman engineer Vitruvius has the first technical description of a watermill, dated to 40/10 BC and he also seems to indicate the existence of water-powered kneading machines. The Greek epigrammatist Antipater of Thessalonica tells of an overshot wheel mill around 20 BC/10 AD. He praised for its use in grinding grain and the reduction of human labour, Hold back your hand from the mill, you grinding girls, even if the cockcrow heralds the dawn, sleep on. If we learn to feast toil-free on the fruits of the earth, the Roman encyclopedist Pliny mentions in his Naturalis Historia of around 70 AD water-powered trip hammers operating in the greater part of Italy. There is evidence of a mill in 73/4 AD in Antioch. It is likely that a stamp mill was used at Dolaucothi to crush gold-bearing quartz. The stamps were operated as a batch of four working against a large conglomerate block, similar anvil stones have been found at other Roman mines across Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal. The 1st-century AD multiple mill complex of Barbegal in southern France has been described as the greatest known concentration of power in the ancient world
5.
Hydroelectricity
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Hydroelectricity is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015 hydropower generated 16. 6% of the total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 33 percent of global hydropower in 2013, China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 920 TWh of production in 2013, representing 16.9 percent of domestic electricity use. The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a source of renewable electricity. The hydro station consumes no water, unlike coal or gas plants, the average cost of electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U. S. cents per kilowatt-hour. With a dam and reservoir it is also a source of electricity since the amount produced by the station can be changed up or down very quickly to adapt to changing energy demands. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and perform other tasks. In the mid-1770s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique which described vertical-, by the late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with hydraulics. The growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well, in 1878 the worlds first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland, England by William George Armstrong. It was used to power an arc lamp in his art gallery. The old Schoelkopf Power Station No.1 near Niagara Falls in the U. S. side began to produce electricity in 1881. The first Edison hydroelectric power station, the Vulcan Street Plant, began operating September 30,1882, in Appleton, Wisconsin, by 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the U. S. and Canada. By 1889 there were 200 in the U. S. alone, at the beginning of the 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in mountains near metropolitan areas. Grenoble, France held the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism with over one million visitors, by 1920 as 40% of the power produced in the United States was hydroelectric, the Federal Power Act was enacted into law. The Act created the Federal Power Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land, as the power stations became larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes to include flood control, irrigation and navigation. Federal funding became necessary for development and federally owned corporations, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. Hydroelectric power stations continued to become larger throughout the 20th century, Hydropower was referred to as white coal for its power and plenty. Hoover Dams initial 1,345 MW power station was the worlds largest hydroelectric station in 1936
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
7.
Church of the Holy Ghost, Bern
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The Church of the Holy Ghost is a Swiss Reformed Church in Bern, Switzerland. The Swiss heritage site of national significance building is located at Spitalgasse 44 in the Old City of Bern and it is one of largest Swiss Reformed churches in Switzerland. The first church was a built for the Holy Ghost hospital. The chapel, hospital and abbey were first mentioned in 1228 and this building was replaced by the second church between 1482 and 1496. During the 15th century, the Holy Ghost Abbey began to slowly decline, in 1528 the church was secularized by the reformers and the last two monks at the Abbey were driven out of Bern. During the following years it was used as a granary, in 1604 it was again used for religious services, as the hospital church for the Oberer Spital. At that time the church had a capacity of about 750. The second church was demolished in 1726 to make way for a new church building, following an 11-year planning phase, in 1726-29 the third church was built by Niklaus Schiltknecht. This church was built out of a sandstone in the baroque style. Until 1865 it was located west of the Christoffelturm and the Christoffelturm Church, however, these buildings were demolished to make way for the new train station. During the 1726 construction of the church, Roman religious objects were discovered under the foundation, from this find, it appears likely that the church sits on the site of an old Roman temple. The first organ in the new church was installed in 1804, the church has six bells, one of the two largest was cast in 1596 and the other in 1728. The four other bells were all cast in 1860, the interior is supported by 14 monolithic columns made of sandstone and has a free-standing pulpit in the northern part of the nave. Much like the St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva, the Church of the Holy Ghost holds about 2,000 people and is one of the largest Protestant churches in Switzerland, from 1693 to 1698 the hospitals chief minister was the Pietist theologian, Samuel Heinrich König. In 1829 and 1830, the vicar of the church was the poet Jeremias Gotthelf, paul Hofer und Luc Mojon, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Bern Band V, die Kirchen der Stadt Bern 58. In, Allgemeine Bauzeitung,1888 from Anno Infos über die Heiliggeistkirche auf g26. ch
8.
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
9.
Zytglogge
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The Zytglogge is a landmark medieval tower in Bern, Switzerland. Built in the early 13th century, it has served the city as guard tower, prison, clock tower, centre of urban life and it is a heritage site of national significance, and part of the Old City of Bern, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. When it was built around 1218–20, the Zytglogge served as the tower of Berns western fortifications. These were erected after the citys first westward expansion following its de facto independence from the Empire, at that time, the Zytglogge was a squat building of only 16 metres in height. At this time, the Zytglogge also received its first slanted roof, in the great fire of 1405, the tower burnt out completely. It suffered severe damage that required thorough repairs, which were not complete until after the last restoration in 1983. The prison cells were abandoned and a clock was first installed above the gate in the early 15th century, probably including an astronomical clock. This clock, together with the bell cast in 1405, gave the Zytglogge its name. In the late 15th century, the Zytglogge and the other Bernese gate towers were extended and decorated after the Burgundian Romantic fashion, the Zytglogge received a new lantern, four decorative corner towerlets, heraldic decorations and probably its stair tower. The astronomical clock was extended to its current state, in 1527–30, the clockwork was completely rebuilt by Kaspar Brunner, and the gateway was overarched to provide a secure foundation for the heavy machinery. The Zytglogges exterior was repainted by Gotthard Ringgli and Kaspar Haldenstein in 1607–10, the corner towerlets were removed again some time before 1603. Both façades were again repainted in the Rococo style by Rudolf von Steiger in 1890, in 1981–83, the Zytglogge was thoroughly renovated again and generally restored to its 1770 appearance. In the advent season and from Easter until the end of October, the Bernese German Zytglogge translates to Zeitglocke in Standard German and to time bell in English, Glocke means bell in German, as in the related term glockenspiel. A time bell was one of the earliest public timekeeping devices, the name of Zytglogge was first recorded in 1413. Previously, the tower was referred to as the kebie and after its post-1405 reconstruction, the Zytglogge has an overall height of 54.5 metres, and a height of 24 metres up to the roof-edge. Its rectangular floor plan measures 11.2 by 10.75 metres, the wall strengths vary widely, ranging from 260 centimetres in the west, where the tower formed part of the city walls, to 65 centimetres in the east. The outward appearance of the Zytglogge is determined by the 1770 renovation, only the late Gothic cornice below the roof and the stair tower are visible artifacts of the towers earlier history. The main body of the tower is divided into the plinth, whose exterior is made of alpine limestone
10.
Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen (Bern)
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The Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen is a 16th-century fountain in the Gerechtigkeitsgasse in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is the only Bernese fountain to all original design elements. Thanks to its figure, Hans Giengs famous statue of Lady Justice. The iconic figure was copied throughout Switzerland up until the middle of the 17th century, the statue is a copy of the original, which was largely destroyed by vandals in 1986. The fountain consists of a main basin and two smaller spillover basins. The main basin, made out of unadorned limestone plates held together with a ring, bears the date of one of the renovations. In the centre of the basin, bronze tubes emerge from the central pedestal. Atop it stands a narrow, festooned stone pillar decorated by an acanthus frieze, the life-sized statue on the pillar is Iustitia, Lady Justice, the personification of justice. She is portrayed standing in gracious counterpoise holding her traditional attributes — sword of justice in her hand, a balance in her left hand. Her costume is fashioned in a manner, with sandaled feet, one knee bared. At the feet of Justice, four smaller busts crowd the pedestal, a Pope, an Emperor, a Sultan, all figures have closed their eyes as in submission. They represent the Four Earthly Powers, the four forms of government according to Renaissance humanism, theocracy, monarchy, autocracy, the ensemble represents the supremacy of Justice over all Earthly authorities, a variant of the medieval pictorial formula of virtue defeating vice. Divine Justice was a frequent element of political discourse in Reformation-era Bern, in the view of the reformators, doing justice according to Gods word was the highest duty of all authority, superseding feudal rights. Such arguments were used, among others, to justify Berns conquest of Vaud in 1536 from the dukes of Savoy. The blindfold implies that justice ought to be done without respect to rank or standing, Giengs Iustitia is a symbol of republican justice, and was a forceful public reminder of the Bernese Republics authority through law. Giengs Iustitia was greatly influential on fountain designers up until the middle of the 17th century, in Switzerland alone, eleven fountains of Justice remain, and several others have probably been destroyed. Direct copies exist in Solothurn, Lausanne, Boudry, Cudrefin and Neuchâtel, designs influenced by the Bernese statue are found in Aarau, Biel, Burgdorf, Brugg, Zürich and Luzern. The fountain was constructed in 1543, essentially in its current state and its current name is first recorded in 1687
