Editing Bern (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Bern}}
{{For timeline}}

=== Early history ===
[[File:Untertorbrücke Tschachtlanchronik.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Construction of the [[Untertorbrücke]] (Lower Gate Bridge) in Bern, [[Tschachtlanchronik]], late 15th century]]

No [[archaeological]] evidence that indicates a settlement on the site of today's city centre prior to the 12th century has been found so far. In antiquity, a [[Celts|Celtic]] ''[[oppidum]]'' stood on the ''Engehalbinsel'' (peninsula) north of Bern, fortified since the second century BC (late [[La Tène period]]), thought to be one of the 12 ''oppida'' of the [[Helvetii]] mentioned by [[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Caesar]]. During the [[Germania Superior|Roman era]], a [[Gallo-Roman]] ''[[vicus]]'' was on the same site. The Bern zinc tablet has the name ''Brenodor'' ("dwelling of Breno"). In the Early Middle Ages, a settlement in [[Bümpliz]], now a city district of Bern, was some {{convert|4|km|0|abbr=on}} from the medieval city.

The medieval city is a foundation of the [[Zähringer]] ruling family, which rose to power in [[Upper Burgundy]] in the 12th century. According to 14th-century historiography (''Cronica de Berno'', 1309), Bern was founded in 1191 by [[Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen]].

In 1218, after Berthold died without an heir, Bern was made a [[free imperial city]] by the ''[[Goldene Handfeste]]'' of [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]].

=== Old Swiss Confederacy ===
In 1353, Bern joined the [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Swiss Confederacy]], becoming the eighth canton of the formative period of 1353 to 1481.

Bern invaded and conquered [[Aargau]] in 1415 and [[Vaud]] in 1536, as well as other smaller territories, thereby becoming the largest [[city-state]] north of the [[Alps]]. By the 18th century, it comprised most of what is today the [[canton of Bern]] and the [[canton of Vaud]].

[[File:MerianBern.jpg|thumb|left|Bern in 1638]]
The city grew out towards the west of the boundaries of the peninsula formed by the river [[Aare]]. The ''[[Zytglogge]]'' tower marked the western boundary of the city from 1191 until 1256, when the ''Käfigturm'' took over this role until 1345. It was succeeded by the ''[[Christoffelturm]]'' (formerly located closer to the site of the modern-day railway station) until 1622. During the [[Thirty Years' War]], two new fortifications – the so-called big and small ''[[Schanze]]'' (entrenchments) – were built to protect the whole area of the peninsula.

After a major blaze in 1405, the city's original wooden buildings were gradually replaced by [[half-timbered]] houses, and subsequently the [[sandstone]] buildings which came to be characteristic for the Old Town. Despite waves of [[Bubonic plague|pestilence]] that hit Europe in the 14th century, the city continued to grow, mainly due to [[immigration]] from the surrounding countryside.<ref>{{HDS|209|Bern: Development of the settlement and the population}}</ref>

During the 18th century, the city of Bern was at one point the largest shareholder in the [[South Sea Company]], a British [[joint-stock company]] which was involved in the [[Atlantic slave trade]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Illien |first=Noele |date=2020-11-19 |title=Banking and slavery: Switzerland examines its colonial conscience |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/19/banking-slavery-switzerland-examines-its-colonial-conscience |access-date=2023-11-15 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> From 1689 to 3 March 1798 in the town was printed, in [[French language|French]], the biweekly newspaper ''[[Gazette de Berne]]'', which reflected the opinions of Bern,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bertholet |first1=Auguste |url=https://www.sgeaj.ch/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/bertholet-kapossy-la-physiocratie-et-la-suisse-2023.pdf |title=La Physiocratie et la Suisse |last2=Kapossy |first2=Béla |publisher=Slatkine |year=2023 |isbn=9782051029391 |location=Geneva |language=fr}}</ref> usually hostile to the politics of [[Pre-revolutionary France]].<ref>{{HDS|043041|author=Ernst Bollinger|Gazette de Bern}}</ref>

=== Modern history ===
[[File:Johann Heinrich Müller, 1825-1894 H01b Bern.JPG|thumb|left|Bern c.&nbsp;1870.<br>Etching by [[commons:Category:Johann Heinrich Müller (1825-1894)|Heinrich Müller]]]]
Bern was occupied by [[First French Republic|French]] troops in 1798 during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], when it was stripped of parts of its territories. It regained control of the [[Bernese Oberland]] in 1802, and following the [[Congress of Vienna]] of 1814, it newly acquired the [[Bernese Jura]]. At this time, it once again became the largest canton of the Confederacy as it stood during the [[Restoration (Switzerland)|Restoration]] and until the secession of the [[canton of Jura]] in 1979.

On 28 November 1848, during the [[Revolutions of 1848|revolutions that year]], a majority of the new Swiss [[Federal Assembly of Switzerland|Federal Assembly]] deputies chose Bern as the [[Federal City]] (seat of the government) of the newly created [[Switzerland as a federal state|Swiss federal state]], ahead of [[Zürich]] and [[Lucerne]]. Bern was chosen as not to concentrate all the power in the economic powerhouse of Zürich, while Catholic and conservative Lucerne had been part of the [[Sonderbund War|Sonderbund]] during the war a year before. In addition, Bern had a more central location and was supported by the French-speaking cantons due to proximity to them. However, the constitution doesn't define Bern as official capital of Switzerland, but as the seat of government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stephens) |first=(Translated from French by Thomas |title=Why is Bern the capital of Switzerland? |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/-federal-city-_why-is-bern-the-capital-of-switzerland-/44577476 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |date=28 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

A number of congresses of the [[socialist]] [[First International|First]] and [[Second International]]s were held in Bern, particularly during [[World War I]] when Switzerland was neutral; see [[Bern International]].

The city's population rose from about 5,000 in the 15th century to about 12,000 by 1800 and to above 60,000 by 1900, passing the 100,000 mark during the 1920s. Population peaked during the 1960s at 165,000 and has since decreased slightly, to below 130,000 by 2000. As of September 2017, the resident population stood at 142,349, of which 100,000 were Swiss citizens and 42,349 (31%) resident foreigners. A further estimated 350,000 people live in the immediate [[urban agglomeration]].<ref>municipal statistics,[http://www.bern.ch/leben_in_bern/stadt/statistik/in_kuerze] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222114804/http://www.bern.ch/leben_in_bern/stadt/statistik/in_kuerze|date=22 December 2010}} includes 6,816 weekend commuters not included in the federal statistics of 123,466.{{cite web |title=Statistik Schweiz - Aktuellste Daten |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/02/blank/dos/result.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126162846/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/02/blank/dos/result.html |archive-date=26 November 2010 |access-date=8 December 2010}}</ref>