Hour stones in the canton of Bern
Hour stones are worked stone blocks that have been set up at regular intervals on the roadside of important country roads. In the canton of Bern they show chiseled distance taxes in hours from the city of Bern ( Zytgloggeturm ).
history
The city and republic of Bern have had hour stones placed on their territory (star-shaped from Bern) since the 18th century. They indicated the distance of human locomotion, mostly on foot or at best on horseback, in hours. Up to the year 1837, an hour's walk measured 18,000 amber shoes (= 5279 m, corresponding to a shoe of approx. 29.33 cm). After that, the Swiss mileage with 16,000 Swiss feet and 4800 m (one foot = 30 cm) applied. The stones were mainly arranged on the right side of the road from Bern. As a result, the previous hour stones were moved.
The hour stones in the canton of Bern are recorded in the inventory of historical traffic routes in Switzerland (IVS) and have been protected by a government council resolution (RRB 3283/1978) since 1978. They may only be relocated or restored in consultation with the specialist organization ViaStoria , whereby they should be left as close as possible to their original location and not changed.
After the introduction of the metric system in 1875, the majority of these "worn out" hour markers were not simply cleared away. This can be interpreted as a sign that they were seen as a valuable cultural asset at an early stage . In some cases, lost copies were even replaced by new ones.
Of the approx. 150 hour stones that were erected at that time (approx. 130 of them in today's canton area) only approx. 95 stones have survived. They are listed in the stone inventory of the Canton of Bern and can be accessed online.
photos
Hour stone at Frienisberg BE
Hour stone XII hours of Bern , municipality of Kandergrund
The last stone of the hour on the Bern – Gemmi pass route at the entrance to Kandersteg
Web links
- www. Stundensteine.ch Website with pictures of hour stones
literature
- Berchtold Weber: hour stones in the canton of Bern. In: Bern journal for history and local history. Vol. 38 (1976), pp. 73-82, doi: 10.5169 / seals-245914 .