Einstein in Bern

As you can see, today's post is not a summer one 😊 I have visited the Einstein's museum in Bern a few months ago and as life happened I haven't managed to share it with you here before. Bern is one of my favourite cities in Switzerland and I never pass an opportunity to visit it. It is much more quiet, friendly and cosy than for example Zurich that is more international and let's say fun. The only disadvantage is that it's about 3 hours drive from where we live, so we don't visit it often enough.

You can see the river Aare in many videos because people use it as some sort of public transportation in summer when they take all kind of floaties and float on the river from work in summer. It's a funny sight when you see what kind of floaties there are. If I happen to be in Bern in summer again I will for sure share it with you here as well. But today we'll talk about history and Einstein and his life in Bern at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Einstein museum is part of the Bern History museum which you can find in this building. It's the museum that holds special exhibitions, such as Terracotta Army that I have visited here some years ago. It's an impressive place and as it was a cold day I was happy to hide inside.

Einstein lived in Bern when he developed his E=mc² formula for his theory of relativity. Today, there are guided tours which take you through his bachelor as well as married life, the places that he visited with his wife, and so on. The city commemorated this important part of its history with a bench dedicated to Einstein. And when you come here you can see next to the most famous physicist of all times.

When you enter the museum you can walk directly to the Einstein part, but as I like history too I chose to enjoy the entire exhibition.

There were many religious as well as secular objects, but as it goes in museums of history, the religious objects prevailed.

In the part from the early middle ages to the ancient regime I could see many remains of various objects and many artworks from the period between 400 - 1700.

I don't remember how many paintings there were, but each of them was pointing out the fact that it doesn't matter who you are and what you do, one day the death will find you too. The main message was that in the end we are all equal.

The kings will be welcomed by the death too...

As well as religious representatives...

This part of the exposition really caught my attention as we all strive to achieve more and more and compare ourselves to others all our lives when in the end it all doesn't matter at all.

What I enjoy as well are models of cities. I find it interesting to see how they grew and developed over a certain period of time. And that detailed work is amazing too!

I could spend hours and hours staring at this model, but the time was pressing me as I came to the museum in the afternoon and only had an hour or so to see the rest.

The glory and decline of the ancient regime shows Bern during it's golden time of the 17th and 18th century. This mayoral throne from the city halls shows how much power the mayor had in that time. You could say that he was like a king.

These porcelain figures are a highlight of the exposition, especially when you're interested in working with clay/porcelain. Those hand painted details are amazing.

Ladies in heavy dresses and gentlemen in wigs - picture perfect from the past...

A series of paintings by Reinhard shows realistic impressions of all kinds of people from all over Switzerland. You can see the wealthy standing next to the poor...

The last part before approaching the Einstein museum is the oriental collection of Henri Moser, a vivid traveller from Schaffhausen where we live.

Finally the Einstein museum!

When I entered the museum I was not sure what to feel. It's like the museum of mirrors or some other impressions. There were moments when I actually got scared because I thought I was about to fall, or I saw myself in a mirror when I didn't expect it. I saw myself in so many mirrors that I got confused - a truly strange experience. Or a really cool one!

On the way, there are many screens showing videos from Einstein's professional as well as private life. His struggles during the Nazi regimes as well as his early scientist days.

This is exactly how I picture Einstein when I hear his name - smile and his crazy hair. It might remind me a bit of my own picture when I look in the mirror every morning 😁

Then there is a part that is not so interactive, but more educational. You can still watch many short film or listen to interviews with Einstein. There are also his diaries, newspapers with articles about him, his Jewish identity, early childhood, parental home, some correspondence, return to Germany, emigration to the USA and so on. If you know a bit about Einstein, you will find everything that you expect and much more in the museum.

I've learned most about him and other Jewish scientists during my adult life by reading books and watching documentaries. I have realized that during my studies we only learned about his achievements, but his life was not mentioned once. We only learned about his theory of relativity, but his persecution was not mentioned. I wish that these topics were covered more in the curriculum as we need to learn about our mistakes, so that we don't repeat them. This museum was a great eye opener for me.

The museum does also offer some beautiful views of Bern. I believe that during a clear day I could see the Alps too. I'm just not sure in which direction...

What started as an attempt to warm up ended as a great learning experience, and I am sure that it was not my last visit of this museum.

Thank you for reading!

Until next time...