BERN'S
BEARS
The Bear Park - Tourist Center
The live bear tradition in Bern celbrates 500 years in 2013. The
fond affection the Bernese have for their bears is longstanding
and unbreakable. Like all relationships, they have had to endure
loss and renewal, say goodbye to old friends and greet the new.
The old bear pit of Bern, the Bärengraben, where long living
Pedro, the city’s former beloved bear endured into his old
age, lolling his furry heavy girth in the old pit for the eyes
of children and families, mostly ignoring the occasional object
which would tumble his way from above. Pedro was put to sleep in
2009, at the age of 28, grizzled and goitered in bear years, even
as the new Bear Park was being constructed around him. The new
Bern Bear Park which covers 6000 square meters along the river,
offers the current furry inhabitants, Björk and Finn and their growing kids Berna and Ursina, a more
natural environment than the old confined pit, providing an open
space and recreational opportunities for both the captive city
symbols and for the throngs of visitors ar cubs.
The name of the city of Bern comes from a variation of the German
word for bears, named, according to the favorite legend in 1191
by the city’s founder, Duke Berchtold the Fifth of Zähringen.
The duke, from a German dynasty, had acquired the land in what
is now Switzerland and thought a flat topped peninsula where
the Aure River encircled in a sweeping curve would make the perfect
spot for a castle and town to manage his domain. An avid hunter,
he went on a quest into the woods and proclaimed he would name
his fortified village (burg) after the first animal he killed.
He encountered a bear, and so kept his promise.
The
Bernese grew quite powerful over the centuries, ruling much of
southwest Switzerland from the shores of Lake Geneva to border
of Burgundy. The tradition of keeping live bears in the moat which
surrounded the old city defensive wall harkens back to the Battle
of Novara in 1513 in which the Swiss beat back the French invasion
of Northern Italy and the southern Alps by King Louis XII. As a
trophy of victory, the Bernese troops brought back a live bear
they had captured, which they held in captivity in the city moat
near the old city’s central Bear Square (Bärenplatz).
The animal began to appear on the heraldic symbols of the city
at this time and the Bernese conferred upon the bear, its significance,
meaningful to this day. The Bear Pit of Bern was moved and rebuilt
in four different locations of the years, but in 1857, found its
present location near the Nydeggbrücke, built in 1844. The
new park provides a path through the enclosures along the riverside
bear caves, with infared cameras and web cams to see what the bears
are up to, and audio guide in multiple languages and a mobile phone
app guide. The bears reach the open park and their swimming pool
through a tunnel.
Visiting the Bern Bear Park
The
Bear Park is open every day of the year. Entry is free. The entrance
is at the location of the old Bärengraben at the city end
of the bridge. The visitor’s center has amuseum, a movie on
the history of Bern called the Bern Show and a micro-brewery restaurant.
The Bern tourism office in the center can help with activities
while in Bern. A guided group tour of the old bear pit is offered as
well. The center has a lift for the disabled. The Bear Park can
be reached by city Bus Number 12, or a walk down the old central
street from the symbolic Bern Clock (see Tour
Bern’s
Clock) and past the apartment where Bern’s
other most famous resident lived (see Einstein’s
House Bern). © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Baren Park
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articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel
Europe and WLPV, LLC. and
may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Young Fellini
photo courtesy Musee L'Elesee.
SEE
ALSO:
KORNHAUSKELLER & GALLERY BAR BERN
