Bearing It Up

There are relatively few cities with meaningful names, and most of them are named after a ruler or some other kind of political or religious leader (such as, for example, Washington or Wellington). Such city names are difficult to celebrate without creating a personality cult. As opposed, generic animal names can be easily turned into an inoffensive and, often, cute brand. Bern has taken a full advantage of the opportunity. In fact, it might have even gone a step too far. 

Bears are ubiquitous in Bern, and they greet citizens and visitors from everywhere - both in name and in person. The persons had for more than a century-and-a-half been located in what's known as "Bear Pit" (in the above picture) - a one-species zoo that fell somewhat short of a zoo.

Formally speaking, the bears were being taken a good care of: they were safe (the pit consisted of two halves, one of them being restricted to cubs - so that they wouldn't get stepped on incidentally or mauled by grownups who weren't related to them), had plenty of food and water, and even exercise opportunities. Most probably, they felt content and didn't really mind being stared and shouted at, or sharing their space with bread crumbs, orange peels and such. Yet, there was something profoundly wrong and undignified about that "prisoner feel" and a lack of privacy for creatures who gave their name to the city. And there were complaints. It took quite some time to rectify the situation but eventually it did happen: a park was created in the vicinity of the Pit, and a tunnel was built to connect the two. The new generations of bears have still been able to use the exercise equipment but now they had a choice: with the Bear Park available to them, the Pit became an option rather than a necessity. Fittingly, the former cubs area was turned into a souvenir shop.

The name, unlike actual bears, would create no such controversies and prove to be much easier to handle. Not only there is a "Bear Square" in the heart of the old town but also some streets/lanes and pharmacies have "bear" in their names - not to mention a "green fleet" of city trams...