In the 12th century, the Duke of Zahringen, admiring a beautiful bend in the picturesque Aare River in central Switzerland, decided it was an ideal location to build a settlement.

He promised to name the town after the first animal he killed during a hunt. It turned out to be a bear, and so the city of Berne was born. Perhaps it's a good thing, too. Switzerland would probably not be what it is today, if its future capital had been named weasel, or wood grouse.

Ever since, the city had kept mascot bears in a rather unseemly pit, but in the 21st century, our idea of how to treat animals has changed, and so, it was time for Berne to do something about its bears.

The city's brand new bear park is still right in the center of town and, in fact, takes up an enormous chunk of prime real estate on the river with a view of Berne's medieval old town.

But luxury properties, even for bears, do not come cheap. Berne's mayor, Alexander Tschaeppat, said costs exploded from original estimates of around 11 million Swiss francs ($9.5 million, or €7.3 million) to more than 22 million.

One of the factors could be the bears' own private swimming pool. A section of the river has been blocked off just for them with a barrier to keep the bears in and human swimmers out.

The bears are still a bit shy about their new surroundings, according to bear keeper, Bernd Schildger, but they are being fed whole Alaska salmon to get them used to their new luxury lifestyle.

Berne's new Bear Park is set for a grand opening on Sunday, October 25, with a big public celebration for all the citizens of Berne, who we now know, really love their bears.


Imogen Foulkes / gb
Editor: Andreas Illmer