About this place
The Bern Minster is the crowning monument of the UNESCO old town, a late-Gothic cathedral begun in 1421 under the Strasbourg master builder Matthäus Ensinger and finished only in 1893, when its slender spire finally reached 100.6 metres and became the tallest in the country. Raised on a sandstone terrace that drops sharply toward the river, the church anchors the southern edge of the old-town peninsula and gathers the surrounding lanes toward its west front. That front is dominated by the celebrated Last Judgment portal, an unusually complete ensemble of medieval sculpture that survived the Protestant Reformation almost intact when nearly everything else inside the church was stripped away. Inside, the vast single-roofed nave holds prized stained glass and Switzerland's largest bell, while outside the tower stairs climb to a viewing platform that opens onto the rooftops, the loop of the Aare, and the distant line of the Alps.
Key facts
- 100.6 metres — Height of the spire, the tallest cathedral tower in Switzerland
- 1893 year — The tower was finally completed, 472 years after building began
- 344 steps — Climb up the tower stairs to the viewing platform over the old town
📍 Münsterplatz 1, 3011, Bern