- Alternate uses: See Berne (disambiguation).
The capital of Switzerland
Inhabitants: 142,000 (fourth most populous city after Zurich, Basle and Geneva.
It is also the capital of Berne Canton[?], the second most populous of Switzerland's 26 cantons.
The city was founded in 1191 by the duke Berthold V of Zähringen who allegedly named the new city after a bear he had killed (Berne has had bears for centuries. One can visit the bears in the bear pit off the Nydegbrücke.)
In 1353 Berne joined the young Confederation.
The Zytglogge
The most famous monument of Berne is the Zytglogge, the monumental clock.
Illustrious Bernese are the scientist Albrecht von Haller[?], the poet Albert Bitzius, the painters Ferdinand Hodler[?] and Paul Klee. German-born physicist Albert Einstein worked out his theory of relativity in Berne.
The old city of Berne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.