Getting across Fribourg’s river is an experience and a lesson in history. Drive or walk from shore to shore on this structure that has survived time.
Switzerland’s Bern Bridge, or the Pont de Berne, in Fribourg provides a picturesque way of crossing the Sarine River that flows through the city. Travel across the bridge to reach the farther shore as people have been doing since 1653.
Timber trestles replaced the original stone in 1853. A new roof followed about 30 years later. Visit the Bern Bridge today to admire its sturdiness, tested daily with vehicular traffic, including buses. Stand on the walkway in the middle of the bridge and look up at the impressive early engineering of the structure’s wooden trusses.
Although the bridge is definitely a historic construction and the oldest one in Fribourg, it wasn’t the first crossing at this site. Its predecessor and two others dating back to the 13th century were built just 100 years after the city was founded. Prior to their construction a boat was the only means of getting across the river and staying dry.
Consider the dismay of those early residents when the bridge was dismantled in 1340 when Bernese invaders posed a threat to the town. Today, residents have an understandable affinity for this ancient structure that is the city’s single covered bridge.
To complete the fortification of the town, the Bern Gate was built about the same time as the original bridge. The gate’s walls were heightened first in the late 14th century and again in the early 15th century to its current height of 79 feet (24 meters). Visit the gate near the bridge with its hillside walls descending to the river’s edge.
The area around the Bern Bridge and the walls of the fortress make the old part of the city charming for its quaintness. The assortment of stores, restaurants and cafés on both shores add to the overall interest.
Find the bridge just east of the center of Fribourg. The Swiss Puppet Museum is a 3-minute walk away. Stroll through the area and be sure to take pictures of Bern Bridge, as it is truly one of Switzerland’s treasures.
