Across the Aare

The Kirchenfeld Bridge has stretched across the Aare in Bern since 1883, a 751-foot iron bridge carried by two enormous arches high above the river. Built when horse-drawn traffic still ruled the streets, it became one of the landmark works of Swiss iron engineering.

From above, though, the bridge becomes only one layer of the scene — the turquoise Aare, red-tiled rooftops, dense green trees and the old ironwork cutting across the valley.

Bern has a way of making serious engineering look like it was simply placed there to complete the landscape.