Einstein’s Bern
(Originally published in 2015)
Albert Einstein spent several of his most significant scientific years living in Bern, the political capital of Switzerland, as a newly declared Swiss citizen. This city, even today, acknowledges his presence and how the city itself somehow contributed to his brilliant research.
Bern is not a big city. Actually, as for my own references, there are no really big cities in Switzerland. But Bern, as many others, has an amazing long story. A small part of that story involves a German-born physicist named Albert Einstein. His arrival to Bern was not quite fancy at first. After a long time trying to get a steady job, initially in a university, he settled with an analyst position at the Swiss Patent Office. This job provided not only the required income for Einstein to finally make a home with his family, but also the opportunity to devote some time to develop what later became the Relativity Theory.
Yes, Bern has its own allure that has marveled thousands of visitors each year. And I was one of them a while ago.
I recently remembered my visit to Bern, while reading Einstein’s biography, by Walter Isaacson. The old photographs included in this book showed the classical icons of the city as they were captured on film a century ago. But I instantly remembered standing right there with my own camera.
Talking about Bern’s icons, undoubtedly Kramgasse, the main street holds most of them. For example, Einstein’s house was located Kramgasse N° 49. Also, the Historical Museum of Bern holds a permanent collection of items from Einstein, currently known as the Einstein Museum.
With all this Einstein reference in hand, it became impossible not to go back to my Bern photo folder and check some of the most recognizable photos from that beautiful Swiss City and try to imagine the great Einstein walking the same streets I did.
So here’s a brief set of pictures I wanted to share with you.
Bern’s Kramgasse and one of the clock towers. A classic and recognizable view of Switzerland political center. I started with this photo, because of the obvious graphic ressemblence to that of the Special Relativity chapter in the book.
Bern’s clock tower and one of the classic statues, close-up. I love details that speak a lot about the history and spirit of the destination. In this case I composed this tight combination with one of the classic clocks and the omnipresent statues.
A view of the River Aare crossing Bern. This is also another iconic view of the city and even on a gray-cloudy day it has its own attractive factor. The bridge is one Albert Einstein must have crossed while living in Bern.
Bern’s Historical Museum. Originally was the Swiss National Museum that later got moved to Zürich, but here lies one of Einstein most complete historical collections.
Kramgasse at dusk. I wanted to close this Bern photo set with an almost-night shot of Kramgasse. The special characteristic of this image is the abscense of people, almost abstracting the time component from it.
