The late gothic church before 1893.
Gabriel Ludwig Lory - helveticarchives.ch
View on the cathedral from the Casinoplatz, 1939.
Rdb By Dukas / Klameth
Building protection measures as a precaution against possible bombing during World War II, 1940.
Rdb By Dukas / Klameth
A stonemason works on a sandstone block in the 'Münsterbauhütte' - the cathedral's craft atelier, 1941.
Rdb By Dukas / Klameth
A view of Bern's old town with the cathedral in the background, 1939.
Rdb By Dukas / Klameth
The 234 finely crafted worldwide famous sandstone figures on the cathedral portal represent the Last Judgment.
Keystone / Tschanz-hofmann
Young citizens of Bern stand under the main portal of the cathedral in front of the lectern on the occasion of the national celebration of 1952.
RDB / ATP / Lörtscher
The choir stalls were made between 1522 and 1525 by Jacob Ruess and Heini Seewagen. The carvings depict biblical scenes and people from everyday life.
Mike Lehmann
From 1421, generations of builders worked according to the rules and architectural style of the late Gothic on this masterpiece, which was only completed in 1893. The last long-standing renovation of the Minster Tower was completed in 2017.
Berthold Steinhilber/laif
The Minster's tower from above.
Keystone / Gaetan Bally
Cleaning the tympanum above the main entrance. Because of birds building nets, the poor souls need a scrub every six years.
Tomas Wüthrich / 13 Photo
Climbing on the minster: The flag of the Vietnamese Liberation Front (FNL), attached to the top by young people at night, is taken down by the police. (Sergius Golowin)
Staatsarchiv des Kantons Bern, Fotonachlass Margrit Baumann
The late Gothic windows date from between 1441 and 1455 and are 12 metres high. The two to the right of the central window date from 1868 and show scenes from the New Testament.
Andreas Praefcke
Buddhist monks say a prayer for the victims of the seaquake in Southeast Asia. Wednesday, January 5, 2005, at the funeral service in the Münster in Bern on the occasion of the National Day of Mourning.
Keystone / Yoshiko Kusano
View of Bern’s Old Town at the blue hour during cherry blossom season, with Nydegg Church on the left, Minster in the middle, and the Parliament building on the right.
Keystone / Martin Kober
The fire brigade rescues the tower warden from his apartment in the cathedral. During the main exercise of Bern's fire brigade, the population is allowed to watch up close.
Keystone / Lukas Lehmann
View on the cathedral's tower.
Keystone / Peter Klaunzer
Dutch and French football fans visit Bern's minster during the European Championship of 2008.
Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella
A wonderful evening over the roofs of Bern.
Reuters / Stefan Wermuth
The Bern Minster is the main work of the Swiss late Gothic period.
As a landmark of what was once the largest city-state north of the Alps, it still towers over Bern’s old town. Its foundation stone was laid in 1421. Illness, lack of money, military campaigns and other problems delayed the construction and so the tower ended at a height of about 55m around 1588. It was not until the 19th century that the helmet in the neo-Gothic style was completed at a height of 101m.
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You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.