Bern Minster
Bern Minster, dedicated to St Vincent, towers over the medieval old town of the Swiss capital and carries the tallest church spire in Switzerland at 100.6 metres. Construction of the late-Gothic church began in 1421, a vast civic undertaking that replaced an earlier chapel, but the great west tower was not finished until 1893, when nineteenth-century enthusiasm at last completed the medieval design.
The minster's glory is the elaborately carved tympanum over the main portal, depicting the Last Judgement with more than two hundred painted figures, one of the most important works of late-Gothic sculpture in Europe and a rare survivor of the iconoclasm that followed the Reformation. When Bern embraced Protestantism in 1528, the building's many altars and images were removed, but this masterpiece of the western portal was spared.
Visitors who climb the 312 steps of the tower are rewarded with panoramic views over the Aare river, the red rooftops of the UNESCO-listed old town and the distant Bernese Alps. Now a Reformed church, the minster remains the spiritual and visual centre of Bern, its bells, including Switzerland's largest, still ringing out over the city.
- Location
- 46.9472, 7.4514
- Local time
- 00:33 (Europe/Zurich)
🕘 Visiting hours
| Mon–Sat | 10:00–17:00 |
| Sun | 11:30–17:00 |
Tower closes 16:30; occasional service closures.
✨ Saints & blessed venerated here
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Saint Vincent of Saragossa Saint
Patron to whom the minster is dedicated.
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John the Baptist Saint
Featured among figures of the Last Judgment portal archivolt.
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Saint Paul the Apostle Saint
Depicted among the apostles in the portal archivolt.
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Saint Stephen Saint
Subject of a stained-glass window in the minster.
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Virgin Mary Saint
Originally the central portal figure; shown in the archivolt.
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Michael the Archangel Saint
Central sword-bearing figure of the Last Judgment portal.
Care & donations
Bernese Minster Foundation (Berner Münster-Stiftung)
Tower admission fees and donations fund preservation
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