The Bernese Bear, Berthold of Zähringen and the French

An Anniversary Mintage?

This off-metal strike in gold, minted around 1591, was created with the dies of a Dicken that commemorates the founding of the city of Bern. It depicts Berthold V of Zähringen, the founder of Bern. After the Reformation, Berthold V replaced St. Vincent, who had frequently appeared on coins previously, because a saint no longer aligned with the city’s Reformed identity.

Berthold of Zähringen founded Bern in 1191 – which means that 1591 marked the 400th anniversary of this event. Did the people of Bern celebrate this occasion? Historical sources reveal nothing about it. Celebrating city anniversaries only became customary much later. It would therefore be nice to think that our Ducat was minted in the anniversary year of the city, though this cannot be proven.

Berthold of Zähringen Kills the Bear

In any case, shortly before 1591, the city councilors had the council chamber repainted. They commissioned Huguenot painter Humbert Mareschet to depict Bern’s history on several large panels. The bear hunt played a central role in this: When Berthold of Zähringen decided to found a town on the River Aare, a large forest had to be cleared for it. The duke planned to hunt there one last time. He wanted to name his new town after the animal he killed during this hunt. He killed a bear – the largest and most dangerous predator in Switzerland at the time. Therefore, Berthold named his new town Bern, which was very fitting. After all, for a time, Bern was more powerful militarily than the most influential rulers in the Western world.

The off-metal strike in gold of the Dicken created around 1591 refers to this founding legend in its spiral-shaped inscription. It reads - translated from the original Latin -, “Duke Berthold of Zähringen founded Bern in the year of our Lord 1191”. The obverse depicts Bern’s heraldic animal, the bear.

Mighty Bern Kept Mighty Bears

It didn’t stop at the heraldic animal, though. The people of Bern wanted an actual bear. We know that they had one as early as 1441. That is very early indeed. At that time, owning a menagerie of wild animals was the privilege of the most powerful rulers. By owning a bear, Bern asserted its claim to equal power. And the city was in a position to enforce this claim: In 1477, Bern and its allies defeated the richest and most powerful man in Europe, Charles the Bold, in just three battles. A city like that was certainly entitled to take a bear from a king. This is precisely what happened after the defeat of King Louis XII of France at Novara in 1513.

The French Take Their Bears Back

A nation can remember specific events for a very long time. When the French marched into Bern in 1798, they took the descendants of their bear back with them. In a mocking gesture, they left a newborn, dead bear cub in Bern. The loss of their heraldic animals pained the Bernese people almost more than the plundering of their treasury. The Bernese had the dead cub stuffed. It can still be seen today at the Bern Historical Museum. And, of course, they soon procured a replacement – even before Napoleon had been defeated. The Bear Park, by the way, which has since been completely rebuilt, remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals alike.

Rarity and Condition

Even the silver version of this coin, known as the “Spiral Dicken”, is extremely rare and considered one of the great rarities of Bernese numismatics. This specimen, struck in gold with a weight of 3 Ducats, is the only one available on the market. The coin first appeared in the sale of the Theodor Grossmann Collection at Leo Hamburger in December 1926. At that time, it sold for 1,600 Reichsmarks. This was considered the highest price ever paid for a Swiss coin up to that point. For context, a high-ranking official earned approximately 12,000 to 30,000 Reichsmarks per year, and a house in a city like Nuremberg cost between 5,000 and 15,000 Reichsmarks.

* Illustration on top of this page: Berthold V of Zähringen kills the bear. Painting from 1585/6 by Humbert Mareschet, formerly decorating the council chamber in Bern. Bern Historical Museum. Photo: KW.