This guide covers six places in and around Bern's old town that are easy to fit into one day: the Justice Fountain, the Rathaus, two churches at opposite ends of the old town, and two museums across the river in the Kirchenfeld quarter. The old town itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and these places show its civic side, its churches and the collections that Bern has gathered since the 19th century, from Burgundian war booty to a famous rescue dog.
The Justice Fountain (Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen)
The Justice Fountain stands in the middle of Gerechtigkeitsgasse, the lower, eastern end of the long main street of the old town. It was built in 1543 and looks essentially the same today. The statue on top, by the sculptor Hans Gieng, shows Lady Justice with a blindfold, a sword in her right hand and scales in her left. At her feet are four small busts: a pope, an emperor, a sultan and a Schultheiss, the head of the old Bernese republic. They stand for theocracy, monarchy, autocracy and the republic, all subject to the same justice.
In the early hours of 13 October 1986 the statue was pulled off its column with ropes and largely destroyed. The attack was generally blamed on the Groupe Bélier, a youth group of Jura separatists, and one man was later convicted. Since 1988 a copy has stood on the fountain; the damaged original is kept at the Bern Historical Museum, which also appears in this guide.
- The four busts at Justice's feet: see if you can tell the pope, the emperor, the sultan and the Schultheiss apart.
- The painted column and the trough, typical of the 16th-century figure fountains that line the main streets of the old town.
Bern City Hall (Rathaus)
A short walk north of the main street, on Rathausplatz, stands the late Gothic Rathaus. After a great fire destroyed much of the city in 1405, building began in 1406 and was finished around 1417; the grand outdoor staircase was added between 1430 and 1450. It is still a working building: the parliament of the canton of Bern, the cantonal government and the city parliament all meet here. A renovation from 1940 to 1942 removed later neo-Gothic additions and brought the exterior back to an older look. Bern City Hall is one of the stops on our scavenger hunt.
- The grand outdoor staircase from the 15th century leading up to the main entrance, and the coats of arms on the facade.
Nydeggkirche
At the far eastern end of the old town, where the town began, stands the Nydeggkirche. It was built between 1341 and 1346 on the site of Nydegg Castle, the fortress built around 1190 by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen, the founder of Bern. The townspeople pulled the castle down in the 13th century. The tower dates from 1480–1483, and after a fire in 1568 it was rebuilt in 1571, which gives it much of its present shape. In 1863 the church was extended to the west, with an entrance from the Nydegg Bridge. The Nydeggkirche is one of the stops on our scavenger hunt.
- The bronze reliefs by Marcel Perincioli on the main door and the bridge entrance, showing scenes from the life of Jesus.
Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit)
At the opposite, western end of the old town, opposite the railway station, the Heiliggeistkirche is one of the largest Protestant churches in Switzerland, with room for about 2,000 people. It was built in sandstone between 1726 and 1729 to designs by Niklaus Schiltknecht, in Baroque style, on the site of a much older chapel of the Holy Spirit hospital, first mentioned in 1228, which stood outside the western gate of the medieval town. Roman religious objects found under the foundations in 1726 suggest there may once have been a Roman temple here. The Heiliggeistkirche is one of the stops on our scavenger hunt.
- Inside, the fourteen sandstone columns, each cut from a single block, and the free-standing pulpit in the nave.
Bern Historical Museum and Einstein Museum
Across the Kirchenfeld Bridge, on Helvetiaplatz, the Bern Historical Museum looks like a castle from the late Middle Ages. In fact it was built in 1894 by the Neuchâtel architect André Lambert, who borrowed from several 15th- and 16th-century castles. It is the second largest history museum in Switzerland. Its best-known treasures are the tapestries and other booty taken from the camp of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, after the Swiss confederates defeated him in the Burgundian Wars of 1474–1477.
The Einstein Museum inside the building began as a temporary exhibition in 2005, a hundred years after Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity while working in Bern, and later became permanent. It tells the story of his life and work, including his years in the city. The Historical Museum and Einstein Museum is the finish of our scavenger hunt route.
- The facade and towers facing Helvetiaplatz, and the Burgundian tapestries inside, woven in the 15th century.
Natural History Museum and Barry
Around the corner on Bernastrasse is the Natural History Museum, founded in 1832. Its present building opened in 1936, and it is known for its more than 220 life-sized dioramas. Many of the African animals come from an expedition in 1923–24 by Bernhard von Wattenwyl and his daughter Vivienne, and there are also large displays of Swiss mammals and birds, Alpine minerals and meteorites.
The most famous exhibit is Barry, a St Bernard who worked as a rescue dog at the Great St Bernard Hospice in the Alps from 1800 to 1812. He is credited with saving more than 40 lives. A popular story says he was killed by a soldier he was trying to rescue, who took him for a wolf, but this is a legend: in fact Barry was brought to Bern after twelve years' service and died there at about 14. His body went to the museum, and in 1923 the mount was reworked to look like the St Bernards of that time. The museum is not on our scavenger hunt route, but it is a short walk from the finish.
- Barry himself, in his own display case, and the dioramas of African animals from the 1920s expedition.
How to see them in one walk
Start at the Heiliggeistkirche by the railway station and walk east along the main street of the old town, through Spitalgasse, Marktgasse and Kramgasse. Turn left to Rathausplatz for the City Hall, then go back to the main street and continue down Gerechtigkeitsgasse to the Justice Fountain. Keep going downhill to the Nydeggkirche at the eastern tip. Then walk back up past the Minster and cross the Kirchenfeld Bridge to Helvetiaplatz for the Historical Museum and Einstein Museum, and finish around the corner at the Natural History Museum.
See Bern with World City Trail
Our Bern scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from the Heiliggeistkirche to the Historical Museum and Einstein Museum. The Heiliggeistkirche, the City Hall, the Nydeggkirche and the Historical Museum are all stops, along with the Käfigturm, the Parliament Building, the Stadttheater, the UNESCO old town, the Zähringen Fountain and the Minster. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Bern, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Bern scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Bern →
Play the outdoor escape game in Bern →
Facts checked in October 2026.