Altstadt Bern and its sandstone arcades above the Aare

Altstadt Bern, the medieval core of Bern above the Aare, is defined by long sandstone arcades and a UNESCO-listed street plan that still shapes the city.

Altstadt Bern is the medieval core of Switzerland’s federal city, laid out on a narrow spur above the River Aare and still largely shaped by its thirteenth-century street plan. Founded in 1191 by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen, the old town was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983 under the name Old City of Berne, recognising a compact urban fabric where later building phases sit within an early planned layout.

A planned medieval city on a river loop

The old town occupies a long, shallow ridge nearly encircled by the Aare, giving Altstadt Bern a distinct topography of streets running along the spine and steep drops towards the riverbanks.Old City of Berne The medieval plan is marked by a sequence of longitudinal main streets, cross lanes and aligned plots, laid out after the foundation of Bern in 1191 and respected through successive extensions westwards along the ridge.1191 gegründeten Stadt Bern

This planned structure is a central reason why UNESCO lists the Old City of Berne as a cultural World Heritage Site, citing the coherence of the townscape and the way twentieth-century functions have been incorporated without breaking the original grid.UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site since 1983 Within the streets, sandstone-fronted houses and public buildings form continuous facades punctuated by arcades and fountains, so the old town appears as one extended ensemble rather than a collection of isolated monuments.

Sandstone fronts, arcades and fountains

The most distinctive feature of Altstadt Bern is the long chain of covered arcades, known locally as Lauben, that runs along the ground floors of the historic buildings on the principal streets.6 km Laubengänge These arcades create continuous sheltered walkways at street level, with shops, workshops and entrances set behind arches while the upper storeys project outwards to the line of the road.

Most of the frontages in the old town are built in pale Bernese sandstone, giving Altstadt Bern a distinctive colour and texture when seen along entire streets or from across the Aare.sandstone arcades above the Aare Renaissance figure fountains stand at intervals along the streets, with sculpted columns rising from basins to carry allegorical or historical figures, adding vertical accents to the otherwise horizontal rhythm of arcades and roofs.Figurenbrunnen aus der Renaissance

Zytglogge and other landmarks within the old town

Among the landmarks of Altstadt Bern, the Zytglogge stands out as a medieval tower embedded in the street line, carrying a large clock and astronomical dial above a passageway.landmark medieval tower in Bern Built around 1218–1220 as a gate tower in the western fortifications of the young city, it later lost its defensive role as Bern extended further west and took on various civic functions, including prison and clock tower.

The present clock mechanism dates from 1530, when Caspar Brunner installed a new movement that still drives the main dial and the ornate astronomical display on the tower’s facade.mechanism which has functioned since he installed it in 1530 Elsewhere in the old town, the cathedral (Münster), arcaded guild houses and bridges across the Aare form a sequence of viewpoints from which the compact roofscape and sandstone walls of Altstadt Bern can be seen as a single historic cityscape.

Visiting Altstadt Bern: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Altstadt Bern occupies the historic hill in the centre of Bern, encircled by the Aare, and is reached directly from Bern’s main railway station via the arcaded streets.
• The streets of the old town follow the crest of a ridge, with gentle gradients along the main axes and steeper side streets dropping towards the river, so some approaches involve sustained uphill or downhill walking.
• Stone paving, arcades and narrow carriageways dominate the historic core, and several bridges connect the old town to districts across the Aare with views back towards the medieval roofscape.
• The official language is German and the currency is the Swiss franc.

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Frequently asked questions about Altstadt Bern

Where is Altstadt Bern located?

Altstadt Bern forms the historic centre of Bern, Switzerland, on a ridge almost encircled by the River Aare.

What should visitors expect when walking through the old town?

Visitors encounter continuous arcades, sandstone-fronted houses, fountains and towers along gently curving streets, with occasional steep lanes leading down towards the river.

What makes Altstadt Bern distinctive among historic city centres?

The combination of a coherent medieval street plan, long covered arcades in Bernese sandstone and landmarks such as the Zytglogge tower together gives the old town a recognisable character.