Description of the attraction
The Niedeggbrücke Bridge connects the eastern part of the Old Town with new buildings on the other side of the Are River. The bridge is located very close to the famous Bear Pit, an area that contains the symbols of the city of Bern, after which it is named - live bears. It is very convenient to observe the movements of animals directly from the Niedeggbrücke bridge.
This bridge was built parallel to the already existing old bridge Untertorbrücke, which can be seen on the left side of the bridge when facing the Old Town. Before the construction of the Niedeggbrücke bridge, and this happened in 1840-1844, Untertorbrücke was the only crossing of the Are river.
The Niedeggbrücke Bridge is named after the Niedeggkirche church, which rises on the banks of the river. With the advent of the new bridge, the beloved church was overshadowed by a brighter and more eye-catching structure that completely changed the face of Old Bern. The 190-meter-long bridge is higher in height than the neighboring residential buildings.
The company that financed the construction of the bridge received from the city the right to levy a trade duty on everyone who crossed the Are River. For this, four customs pavilions were built at the ends of the bridge. Local residents and visitors to the city paid taxes until 1853, when a part of the Swiss Federal Constitution came into force, removing all internal taxes on travel and trade. The customs pavilions were closed, and the bridge passed into the possession of the canton. In 1850, the Tiefenaubrücke bridge was built, which offered a more convenient entry into the Old Town. Only local residents who lived nearby began to use the Niedeggbrücke Bridge. This changed in the 1920s when the city expanded to the southeast and the Niedeggbrücke Bridge became in demand again.
The old pavilions now house residential apartments. One of them houses a popular restaurant.
