BERNE, capital of the canton of the same name, and since 1849 the permanent seat of the Swiss government and diet, and the residence of the foreign ministers. It stands on a sandstone promontory formed by the winding of the river Aar, which nearly surrounds it, at an elevation of 1710 feet above the sea. Lat. 46. 57. N. Long. 7. 25. E. Berne was founded A.D. 1191 by Duke Berchtold of Zähringen, and gradually became a refuge for those who were oppressed by feudal exactions. In 1218 it was declared a free and imperial city by the Emperor Frederic. It thenceforward increased in importance, and excited the jealousy of the neighbouring states. They combined against it with the nobility of Berne, but were completely defeated in the battle near Laupen, June 21. 1339, by the Bernese, under Rodolph Von Erlach, to whose memory a bronze statue has been erected in the Münster-platz. In 1352 it joined the Swiss confederation. A fire destroyed the city in 1405; but it was afterwards rebuilt on the same plan. The Aar is here crossed by two fine stone bridges, one of which is 900 feet long, with a central arch 150 feet wide, and 93 feet high.
Viewed from a distance Berne presents a striking appearance. Situated within view of the snowy range of the Bernese Alps, the landscape is one of indescribable sublimity. The interior of the town itself is imposing. "It is impossible," says Stapfer, "for a stranger not to be struck with the breadth of the streets, and with the equal height and beautiful appearance of the houses, all of hewn stone, adorned with arcades, the pillars of which support the first floor; but he cannot help feeling a kind of sad solitude which pervades the almost deserted streets, the tide of passengers who traverse the thoroughfares being concentrated under the arcades. A very small number of striking edifices interrupt this row of singular habitations, all constructed on the same plan, and presenting in their general aspect the appearance of a large convent. Among these are the cathedral and the guildhall in the middle of the city, on the southern and northern sides of the declivity on which Berne is situated; two magnificent hospitals; an asylum for orphans; a large corn-granary; a mint, and two towers for public uses. These are the only buildings which break the line of perfect republican equality which reigns in the rest of the town."
Berne possesses a university (founded in 1834), a great number of educational establishments and admirable charitable institutions, a valuable museum, a public library of 40,000 volumes, and several literary and scientific societies. Although, properly speaking, not a commercial city, it carries on some trade in cloth, printed calico, muslin, silk stuffs, silk and cotton stockings—articles fabricated in the manufactories of the town. The climate is severely cold in winter, the town being situated at so considerable an elevation above the level of the sea. The population, comprehending that of the villages under the town's jurisdiction, is reckoned at 27,000.