DESTINATION IDEAS
   England
   Germany
   Italy
   France
   Austria
   Belgium
   Croatia
   Ireland
   Wales
   Switzerland
   Castles
   Museums
   Cathedrals
   War History
   Family Travel
   Wine & Food
   Motorsports
   Romantic Hotels

Switzerland Image

BERN
HOTEL DEALS

BARGAIN SEARCH
HOTELS
AIRFARES
AUTO & RAIL

 

Swiitzerland Castles Book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bargain Travel Europe guide to Europe on a budget for unusual destinations,
holiday travel tips and secret spots missed by travel tours.




 


ZYTGLOGGE CLOCK TOWER - BERN
Glockenspiel Clock Landmark Tour

Bern Zytglogge Clock Tower photoThe question can be asked, can a straight line be drawn from a medieval clock to the atom and space travel? A cause and effect theory one can ponder on a flight to or from Switzerland. Every day at 4 minutes before the hour, tourists in Bern gather below the famous Clock Tower, the Zytglogge, to watch the dancing figures of the glockenspiel mechanism of twirling bears and a crowing rooster, leading to the striking of the bell by the bearded Chronos, the Greek god of time, a ritual which has been a center attraction in the Swiss capital city since the 15th Century. It was while riding on a city tram car on his way home from his job at the Bern patent office that Albert Einstein looked back at the clock receding from him and imagined what would happen if he were traveling at the speed of light, the face in the tower would appear stopped while his own pocket watch on the tram would keep ticking along.

The beautiful medieval clock tower of Bern was first built around 1218 as a watchtower on the western gate fortification walls of the old middle-ages city. It was used for a time as a prison for what were called prostitutes, but actually woman convicted of having sex with priests, Pfaffendirnen. The walls were torn down with the expansion of the city but the tower remained. The first mention of a clock in the tower was in 1405 and the current mechanism created by Bern clockmaker, Kasper Bruner in 1530. To cast the clockworks, he built forge inside the tower which remains in the clock room near his signed and dated work, still wound by hand and powered by the weight of a swinging pendulum (see Watchmaking Museum La Chaux-de-Fonds) .

Bern Zytglogge Astronomical Clock photThe Bern Zytglogge clock actually has two faces, the main time clock and an astronomical clock, showing the movements of the zodiac against the turning of the Earth represented by the black night sky, the cobalt blue of dawn and the powder blue sky of day. The skies are crisscrossed with golden lines of the horizon and the tropics. The gold gilded bell striker or jacquemart who stands high in the cupola abave the large main clock face has been clanging the large hour bell since the 16th Century, but the gold added as seen today restored to the form it has been since 1770. The tram cars of Bern’s modern transportation system still trundle past the clock as they have since Einstein’s musings on his relativity theory. On any visit to Bern you can join the crowds below the tower to catch the hourly show or if you want a closer look, guided tours of the inside of the Zytglogge (Swiss Bernese dialect of German “zeit glock”, or simply “time clock”).

Tours

Bern Clock Tower Bears photoThe guided tours offered meet at the clock at 2:30pm daily, last about 50 minutes and cost 15 chf for adults and 7.50 chf for children. The tour allows a chance climb the ancient wooden stairs to wind the clock mechanism. Inside are miniature constructions of how the town has changed over the centuries, a close up at the whimsical figures of the bears of the glockenspiel, views of the city roof tops, and a look out at all the faces gathered for the hourly chiming of the bells, looking up to watch you watching them watch Chronos swing his hammer. Perhaps you can even imagine Albert Einstein heading home to his apartment just down the street (see Einstein’s House Bern), looking back at you, imagining you stuck in time at the speed of light. After all, in time everything’s relative. © Bargain Travel Europe

Find best hotel and travel deals in Bern on TripAdvisor

Web Info
Zytglogge Tour

These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.

SEE ALSO: 

BERN BEAR PARK

KORNHAUSKELLER & GALLERY BAR

BUCHERER BALL CLOCK LUCERNE

ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK OF ORLOJ PRAGUE

YORK MINSTER CATHEDRAL ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK

DIJON JACQUEMART