Bärengraben
The bear pits across the Nydegg Bridge from the old town of Bern, Switzerland.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither Here Nor There | Bill Bryson | subject | Bryson crosses the bridge to see Bern’s famous bears and finds the pits empty. |
Neither Here Nor There — Bill Bryson (1991)
Source: Readwise highlight
I crossed the high, arched Nydegg Bridge to see the famous bear pits
- Role: subject
- In the book: Chapter 17. The city’s name derives from the German word for bear, so it keeps bears as mascots, “but the pits were empty”, with no sign to explain why and local families as puzzled as he is. Straight after, he tries the Einstein museum in the physicist’s old flat on Kramgasse and finds the door locked and dusty, and no sign anywhere in town that Einstein had lived there.
- Why it matters: Two failed tourist outings in a row are the comic heart of his Bern visit, a city he otherwise finds a relief after Geneva. (The Kramgasse flat isn’t pinned: no standard-source coordinate was found for it.)