VEILED BY ASTRONOMY IN BERN

-text and photos Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
design Florin Alexandru Stancu-

Before starting to Bern in 28 June 2017
I had the precaution to photograph
the last Alpine Moon and the last Alpine Sun on my itinerary
just because I knew I could see them reproduced
on the astronomical pearl of the Swiss Capital, the Zytglogge Tower.

Then I left the Lehman Lake
and, on the road, I enjoyed the beauty of the Swiss landscapes.

Surprisingly, making a tour in Bern’s historical centre on a cloudy weather,
I saw the Sun only for a few moments
over the second important tower with astronomical valences,
Kafigturm,
built in the 13th century and modernized later,
which also has the Sun and the Moon reproduced on its clock.

Here are sequences from my tour in Bern
(which was founded in the 12th century,
and became a member of the Swiss Confederacy in the 14th century,
a flourishing city-state in the 15th-18th centuries
and the Capital of Switzerland since 1848),
including the Palace of the Parliament
(built in 1902)
and the cathedral
(founded in 1421, initially Catholic
and, since the 16th century, Reformed after Confessio Helvetica).

However, because the Sun re-appeared in the sky
right after I had ended my tour crossing the Aare River,
I preferred to connect him to the final of this project,
which includes sequences from the most astronomical part of Bern:
the Zytglogge Tower
(initially built in 1218,
with the astronomical mechanism added in the 15th century,
including the Zodiac and the reproduction of the Sun and of the Moon)
and Einstein’s House
(where, in 1903-1905,
the genial astronomer conceived the law of relativity).

ASTRONOMIC BERN
-architectural astro-photo-poem-

In Bern, between Astro-Tower and Einstein’s House
I felt dramatically realistic.

Only when the Sun strongly shone again
I felt… relatively optimistic!