The city of Bern or Berne is the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The official language of Bern is German. The spoken language is the Swiss German dialect Bernese German.The historic center of Bern has been featured in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1983, and Bern is among the world’s top ten cities for the best quality of life.

The city was originally built on a hilly peninsully surrounded by the river Aare but outgrew these natural boundaries in the 19th century. A number of bridges were built to allow the city to grow beyond the Aare.

Bern is built on very uneven ground. There are several dozens of meters in height difference from the quarters on the Aare (Matte, Marzili) to the higher ones (Kirchenfeld, Länggasse).