Bern Part 2: Kirchenfeld, Marzili, Matte, and Greater Bern
Book: Fodor’s Essential Switzerland (3rd Edition)
Author: Fodor’s Travel
ISBN: 9781640977280
Part 1 was arcades, bears, and fountains. Part 2 crosses the Aare into museum land, river beaches, and the suburbs where Paul Klee finally gets his own building.
Kirchenfeld: museums in a planned district
Kirchenfeld south of the Altstadt was laid out in 1881 with embassies, consulates, and most of Bern’s museums in one walkable cluster.
Fodor’s suggests a loop starting at Casinoplatz. Cross Kirchenfeldbrücke and look down at the Matteschwelle weir steering water through the Matte district. August 2005 floods put Matte under water so deep people needed boat rescues. To your right: Bundeshaus and the Marzili lawns.
Kunsthalle Bern (1918) shows living artists in a tradition that includes Kandinsky, Johns, Nauman, and Grandma Moses. CHF8.
Bernisches Historisches Museum / Einstein Museum: Second floor is all Einstein (550 objects, 70 films). Ground floor has global collections. Basement covers Bern history: armor, Münster treasure, tapestries seized from Charles the Bold in 1476, original fountain statues by Hans Gieng. CHF16 to CHF18.
Naturhistorisches Museum: Barry the St. Bernard who saved 40+ people in the Alps (1800 to 1812) is the star attraction. Minerals, fossils, 200 wildlife dioramas.
Museum für Kommunikation: Interactive exhibits on body language, postal history, telecom evolution. All signage in English. CHF15.
Schweizerisches Alpines Museum: Mountaineering culture, Himalayan media, Andean surveying, Alpine cooking. CHF18.
Steinhalle restaurant next to the history museum does rotating five- and six-course menus with biodynamic wines. Politicians and museum-goers overlap at lunch.
Marzili and Matte: the Aare lifestyle
Downhill from the Altstadt along the river, Marzili and Matte are where Bern stops being a postcard and starts being a summer city.
Hot days bring 10,000+ people to the grass: swimming the cold, fast Aare, lounging on towels, using handrails to avoid drifting too far downstream. Some sections allow nude bathing.
Schwellenmätteli terrace restaurant sits at the water’s edge with a glass barrier between you and whitewater. Mediterranean dishes, Sunday brunch, cocktails.
Gartenrestaurant Marzilibrücke on the Marzili side serves fondue inside heated gondolas in winter and gourmet pizza in the garden in summer.
Restaurant zum Zähringer in Matte has house-made pasta from the “Ravioli King” and a terrace over the Aare.
Matte Brennerei distills its own gin and absinthe in a semi-industrial riverside bar with a pool table.
Hammam & Spa Oktogon in a former gasworks offers Middle Eastern steam, scrub, soak. Women-only Tuesdays. Day admission CHF51.
Third-Saturday flea market on Mühleplatz May to October feels like an antiques tag sale.
Ride the funicular back up when your legs give out.
Greater Bern: modern edges
North and east of center, neighborhoods drop the medieval act.
Zentrum Paul Klee in Schöngrün is the big draw. Renzo Piano’s undulating complex holds about 200 Klee works at a time from the world’s largest collection. Kindermuseum Creaviva lets kids (and adults) make art with paint-spattered freedom. Ensemble Paul Klee concerts in the auditorium. Bus 12 from Hauptbahnhof, 10 minutes.
Gurten is Bern’s local hill, 1,000 feet above the city. Three-minute funicular from Wabern (Tram 9). Labels 200+ distant peaks. Largest playground in Bern with bumper cars and kiddie train. Toboggan run March to October. Funicular CHF13 round-trip. Hotel guests ride free with Bern Ticket.
Grand Casino Bern at Kursaal runs until 4 am Thursday, 5 am Friday and Saturday.
Paul Klee sidebar note: born near Bern, spent most of his life in Switzerland, but remained German by father’s nationality. Returned from Bauhaus exile in 1933 when Nazis labeled him degenerate. Ashes rest in Schosshalde cemetery next to the center.
Nightlife and culture spillover
From Part 1’s listings that bleed into Part 2’s geography: Kornhauskeller bar in a vaulted underground cathedral of whiskey. Du Théâtre club until 3:30 am weekends. Mahogany Hall jazz since forever. Stadttheater for opera and drama.
My take
Bern only fully clicks when you leave the arcade loop. Kirchenfeld is a museum binge in an afternoon. Marzili is where you understand why locals tolerate winter: they earn this river all summer. Paul Klee Center is the emotional opposite of the Münster’s Gothic darkness. Bright, wavy, full of color and kids painting walls.
My order: Altstadt morning, Kirchenfeld museums after lunch, Marzili swim at golden hour, Gurten sunset if legs allow.