About this place
The Bundeshaus is the seat of Swiss democracy, a symmetrical, neo-Renaissance complex stretching just over 300 metres along the edge of the old town, high above a loop of the Aare. Built in three phases across the second half of the nineteenth century and crowned by a great green cupola completed in 1902, it houses both the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council, the seven-member executive that quietly runs the country. In front of it opens the Bundesplatz, once a simple parade ground and now the symbolic heart of the nation. On market days it fills with stalls of vegetables and flowers, and in summer 26 fountains, one for each canton, shoot straight up from the bare stone paving while children splash between them. In autumn the square becomes a canvas for the famous Rendez-vous Bundesplatz light show projected onto the palace facade. Few capitals let visitors get this close to the building where their government sits.
Key facts
- 300 metres — Length of the symmetrical sandstone complex stretched along the old town terrace
- 26 fountains — Water jets on Bundesplatz, one for every Swiss canton, erupting straight from the paving
- 64 metres — Height of the copper central dome rising above the parliament chamber
📍 Bundesplatz 3, 3011, Bern