Zytglogge Clock Tower
The Zytglogge (Clock Tower) is one of Bern's most well-known landmarks, and it is situated right in the middle of all the city's other well-known landmarks in the Old Town. Bern's typical streets, lanes, and buildings all have fascinating stories to tell. The Clock Tower, which was once a city gate, now draws tourists from all over the world.
Large crowds gather in front of the clock tower in Bern's Old Town to watch the unique performance that always occurs at this time. The clock is about to strike the hour. Young and old visitors come from far and wide to see the mechanical figures, which include a procession of bears, a jester, a golden rooster, and Chronos, the god of time.
However, in the interior of the tower, time seems to have stopped. Visitors are transported back in time by medieval clockwork mechanisms, thick stone walls, and enormous wooden beams. Those who climb the 130 steps inside the structure are rewarded with a stunning view of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, complete with tiled roofs, terraces, and narrow lanes. When the sky is clear, you can see all the way to the Bernese Oberland's peaks.
A fortified guard tower was built there first, followed by a prison, a lookout and fire observation tower, and then a clock tower. This landmark has served the city of Bern in a variety of ways over the years, but it has always been important. The former guard tower gradually found itself closer and closer to the city center as Bern continued to develop and expand its city limits. Following the terrible fire of 1405, the building was rebuilt and given a new name.
It began telling time for the people of Bern as the Zytglogge (Clock Tower). Its location as the official timekeeper could not be more central, and from then on, the locals listened for it to strike the hours.
The tower was also an authoritative structure in the capital city for other matters. Official travel times, for example, were measured from the Clock Tower and marked on stones along cantonal roads. The ancient length measurements of cubit and fathom, which are still marked in the tower entrance as meter and double meter today, served as a reference length and for official checks.
The astrolabium, an astronomical calendar clock, and the musical mechanism installed in 1530 are the tower's most notable features.
A crowing rooster heralds the start of an entertaining spectacle just before the hourglass strikes. The quarter-hour chimes can be heard from the tower, bears perform their hourly routine, a jester jokingly signals the hour too early, and Chronos, the god of time, flips his hourglass. Finally, Hans von Thann's gilded figure swings Chronos' scepter to strike the hour.
The astrolabium's hands move slightly slower but just as precisely. The astronomical calendar clock's discs are artfully arranged above the Zytglogge Clock Tower's entrance. With the earth in the center, both fixed and rotating spheres form an exact replica of the constellations. The sun, moon, and stars orbit our planet in the orbits we can see from Earth.
The northern hemisphere's complex display always shows the current zodiac sign, moon phase, sunrise and sunset times, and the date. The space above the astrolabium is adorned with frescoes of the five planetary gods from Roman mythology.
Year of construction: 1191 and rebuilt in the 15th century
Total Height: 179 feet ( 54.5 m)
Location: Bern, Switzerland
