Kramgasse
Encyclopedia
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It was the center of urban life in Bern up until the 19th century. Today, it is a popular shopping street. Its length, slight curve and long line of Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s combine to produce Bern's most impressive streetscape.
The Kramgasse and its buildings are a heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
and part of the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Cultural World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
that encompasses the Old City.
Topography
The Kramgasse is some 330 metres (1,082.7 ft) long and lies at the center of the old city. It is the western half of the central axis of the city's oldest part, the Zähringerstadt, built right after the founding of the city in 1191. It is bounded to the west by the ZytgloggeZytglogge
The Zytglogge tower 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 civic memorial....
, Bern's iconic clock tower that served as the city's main gate tower in the 12th century. In the east, the Kreuzgasse, literally a "crossroads
Crossroads (culture)
In folk magic and mythology, crossroads may represent a location "between the worlds" and, as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place...
", separates it from the other half of the old main street, the Gerechtigkeitsgasse
Gerechtigkeitsgasse
-External links:...
. Several narrow alleys and passageways connect the Kramgasse to the parallel Rathausgasse
Rathausgasse
The Rathausgasse is one of the streets in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. It is part of the Zähringerstadt which was built during the foundation of the city in 1191. It runs from the transverse Kreuzgasse, where the name changes to Postgasse to Kornhausplatz...
in the north and the Münstergasse
Münstergasse
The Münstergasse is one of the streets in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. It is part of the Zähringerstadt which was built during the foundation of the old city in 1191. However, until 1967 it was parts of several other streets...
in the south.
The Kramgasse cannot be reached by car without a special permit. It is accessible by foot, bike or by means of the Bernmobil bus line no. 12 that runs through it and has stops at either end of the street (Zytglogge
Zytglogge
The Zytglogge tower 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 civic memorial....
and Rathaus). Both sides of the Kramgasse are covered with Lauben
Lauben
Lauben is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria in Germany....
, stone arcades
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
that protect pedestrians from inclement weather.
History
The Kramgasse was known as the Märitgasse (Swiss German for "Market Alley") up until the 15th century and as the Vordere Gasse during the 16th century. The changes in name reflect the street's changes in character. In medieval times, it served as the city's marketplaceMarketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
, but after the Reformation
Reformation in Switzerland
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate and population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matters in Zürich and spread to several other cantons of the Old Swiss...
the market stands were gradually replaced by stores. The street remained the commercial center of the city up until the middle of the 19th century, its heyday being the 1840s.
Over the centuries, the street was slowly gentrified
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
. Throughout the 19th century, residents complained about the waste, smell and noise associated with the Schaal, an open hall of butcher's stalls vis-à-vis the Simsonbrunnen
Simsonbrunnen
The Simsonbrunnen or Samson fountain is a fountain on the Kramgasse in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Bern.-History:...
. The Schaal was eventually demolished in 1938 and a conservatory built in its place, disrupting the medieval streetscape. Local legend has it that a calf
Calf
Calves are the young of domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle, or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal.-Terminology:...
once flayed alive here still haunts the place of its death with frightful bleats.
In the second half of the 19th century, the commercial significance of the Kramgasse waned as business moved to the newer, western part of the city and the authorities shut down the many noisy cellar taverns. At the turn of the 20th century, the Kramgasse was already a tourist attraction. Beginning in the 1920s, buses and tramways were routed through it, and from the 1970s on, motor traffic was gradually prohibited throughout the lower Old City. The number of apartments on the Kramgasse steadily dwindled as they came to be replaced by shops and offices. In 2005, the street was thoroughly renovated and its cobblestone
Cobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
pavement replaced. The city ditch (Stadtbach) running through the middle of the street since medieval times is now visible again through metal gratings.
Buildings
Apart from a few cellars, only fragments of the current buildings on the Kramgasse date from before 1500. Many of the private town-houses retain elements from the Late Gothic period. There are very few preserved 17th century façades. Between 1705 and 1745, the façades and parts of the interior of 72 of the street's 85 buildings were rebuilt in the Baroque styleBaroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
, many of them by the noted architect Albrecht Stürler or his students.
Three fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s decorate the street. At the eastern crossroads, the Kreuzgassbrunnen was the model for all other obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
fountains of Bern; it was built 1778–79 by Christian Reist and Johann Conrad Wiser. In the center, the Simsonbrunnen
Simsonbrunnen
The Simsonbrunnen or Samson fountain is a fountain on the Kramgasse in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Bern.-History:...
was built in 1527 and decorated with a figure by Hans Gieng
Hans Gieng
Hans Gieng was a Swiss Renaissance sculptor best known for his public fountain figures in the Old Town of Bern as well as Fribourg.- Biography :...
of Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
taming the lion in 1543. The Zähringerbrunnen
Zähringerbrunnen
The Zähringerbrunnen is a fountain on Kramgasse in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Bern.-History:...
at the western end of the street is Bern's first figure-topped fountain, an interesting combination of historical tradition and heraldic personification. It was built by Hans Hiltprand in 1535, depicting an armoured bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
– Bern's heraldic beast – bearing the arms of the house of Zähringen
Zähringen
Zähringen is the name of an old German family that founded a large number of cities in what are today Switzerland and Baden-Württemberg. While the junior line that first assumed the title Duke of Zähringen, a cadet branch of the House of Baden, became extinct in 1218, the senior line persists and...
.
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
's since 1527; the 1824 hardwood interior of the drugstore is unique as the earliest witness of the Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
in Bern. The cellar of house no. 4 dates from the 13th century, Bern's oldest building period. House no. 7 is completely preserved in its state of 1559 and the city's most impressive ensemble of secular Late Gothic architecture; its rich interior is preserved in the Historical Museum
Historical Museum of Bern
The Historical Museum of Bern is the second largest historical museum in Switzerland. It was built in 1894 by the Neuchâtel architect André Lambert...
. No. 19 was built together with no. 21 in 1735–40 and is representative of the Bernese Régence
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
style; it was used as a family town house up until the 1970s. No. 29, the Zunfthaus zu Kaufleuten ("Merchants' Guildhouse") is the most significant Late Baroque Bernese town house, built 1718–20 by Niklaus Schiltknecht and equipped with a guild hall with impressive Baroque boiseries and furniture. No. 17–21 are the headquarters of the police department of the canton of Bern, in the course of whose establishment here in the 1950s the historical interior was largely destroyed. No. 41 features one of the few Humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
house mottoes that survived the 18th century building boom; it reads: "What's most beautiful is highest justice, what's best is to be healthy, but what's most joyful is to attain what one desires."
The Zunfthaus zu Metzgern ("Butchers' Guildhouse"), no. 45, is a 1769 construction by Rudolf Augst, a student of Niklaus Sprüngli. No. 61 features the first use of the colossal order in a private building in Bern; its back-house, Münstergasse no. 56, is one of the few purely pre-Baroque town houses. No. 54 is recognised as one of the finest works of Bernese town house architecture and as the best work of Albrecht Stürler. No. 81, in turn, has been characterised as a low-key masterpiece by Niklaus Sprüngli because of its tensely elegant, barely adorned façade.
Famous residents
House no. 49, the EinsteinhausEinsteinhaus
The Einsteinhaus is a museum and a former residence of Albert Einstein. It is located on Kramgasse No. 49 in Bern, Switzerland....
, was the residence of Albert
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
and Mileva Einstein from 1903 to 1905 and the place where Einstein wrote his Annus Mirabilis Papers
Annus Mirabilis Papers
The Annus Mirabilis papers are the papers of Albert Einstein published in the Annalen der Physik scientific journal in 1905. These four articles contributed substantially to the foundation of modern physics and changed views on space, time, and matter...
. The house is now a small museum and memorial to the great physicist. Einstein's apartments were on the first floor, above the restaurant Zum untern Juker.
Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist and poet.-Early life:He was born of an old Swiss family at Bern. Prevented by long-continued ill-health from taking part in boyish sports, he had the more opportunity for the development of his precocious mind...
, the Bernese naturalist, resided in no. 25 in the 1750s. Federal Councillor
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
Max Petitpierre
Max Petitpierre
Max Petitpierre was a Swiss politician, jurist and member of the Swiss Federal Council, heading the Political Department ....
lived in no. 61 during his time in office. Other notable Bernese who lived on the Kramgasse include two Schultheisse, Niklaus Friedrich von Steiger
Niklaus Friedrich von Steiger
Niklaus Friedrich von Steiger was a Swiss politician and statesman.From 1787–1798 he was elected Schultheiss of Bern, Switzerland. He was the leader of the political faction that resisted the French invasion in 1798 and participated in the battle of Grauholz.-References:...
and Karl Friedrich von Tscharner (in no. 61 and 74, respectively), illustrator Albert Lindegger
Albert Lindegger
Albert Lindegger or Lindi was a Swiss painter and illustrator, best known as a political satirist....
(in no. 82 and 17) and art historian Wilhelm Stein (in no. 43).
Amenities
The Kramgasse is one of Bern's more upmarket shopping streets. Among others, it features antiquaries, drugstores, bakeries, banks, jewelers' stores, bookstores, art galleries, boutiqueBoutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
s, restaurants, furniture stores, opticians' stores, furriers, watch dealerships and wine cellars.
Bern's oldest cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, the Capitol, is located on Kramgasse, as are a number of small theaters, mostly set up in the medieval cellars (Kellertheater).
External links
- Website of the Kramgassleist, the Kramgasse residents' association.
- Kramgasse livecam provided by the Bern Tourist Association.