Allegories in Stone: The Fountains of Bern
Bern · Switzerland
- Audio guide
- 4 languages
- Offline
Stroll through the historic center to discover the vivid stone figures that have guarded these streets for centuries. You will encounter whimsical, frightening, and noble sculptures that tell the story of the city's values and folklore. This walk reveals how simple water sources were transformed into a public gallery of civic art.
The walk
Stops 1–6 of 11. The rest are in the app.
Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen
A sixteenth-century symbol of republican law that survived French invaders and modern separatists.
Zähringerbrunnen
A sixteenth-century tribute to Bern's founder featuring an armored bear and a cub.
Kindlifresserbrunnen
A sixteenth-century fountain featuring an ogre eating children, sparking centuries of debate over its true meaning.
Pfeiferbrunnen
A Renaissance bagpiper born from a Dürer woodcut and a hotel for traveling minstrels.
Anna Seiler Fountain
A tribute to the woman who founded Bern's first hospital, standing on a recycled Roman pillar.
Mosesbrunnen
A sixteenth-century fountain featuring a horned Moses born from a biblical translation error.
Stop 7
Stop 8
Stop 9
- 5 more stops in the app
Data: OpenStreetMap contributors and Google Places
More walks in Bern
8 walks
How a walk works
5 more stops in the app
This page shows the first 6 of 11 stops. The rest of the walk, and the guide who narrates it, are in the app.
Pick a walk
Every stop is a real place, already in walking order.
Pocket your phone
Follow the line on the live map, or download the walk before you lose signal.
Listen as you arrive
On a narrated walk the story starts on its own at each stop, so your eyes stay on the place.
Free to install · Every city’s featured walk is free, start to finish.
A guide who talks
Narration at every stop, starting on its own as you arrive — phone in your pocket.
The route, followed
A live map with the turns called out, and a way back whenever you wander off it.
In four languages
English, French, Spanish and Arabic — the words and the voice, not just the labels.
Or build your own
Pick the places you actually want and the app works out the order to walk them in.
The unglamorous things
Toilets, pharmacies, cash points and water, without leaving the walk.
No signal needed
Download a walk before you go and it works under a souk roof or on a plane.
Picks up where you left off
Stop for lunch, come back tomorrow, and the walk is exactly where you left it.