To spot the Pfeiferbrunnen, look ahead for a tall, colorful fountain between Spitalgasse 16 and 17, topped by a lively figure in a red cap playing a bagpipe.
Welcome to the Pfeiferbrunnen, or as I like to call it, Bern’s answer to “who’s making all that music?” Picture yourself here in the 1500s: the street is bustling, merchants are calling out, and right in the center stands a bagpiper-well, a statue of one-perched atop this striking column. The air hums with medieval energy as the fountain’s creator, Hans Gieng, puts the finishing touches on the figure in 1546.
Back then, this fellow wasn’t called Pfeiferbrunnen but Storchenbrunnen, because it stood near the inn “Zum Storchen.” The inn was always packed with traveling musicians and performers-a sort of medieval gig venue. People passing by heard music day and night, so it made perfect sense to carve a musician onto this fountain. Not just any musician, mind you, but a bagpiper, a wink to a famous engraving by Dürer. Apparently, Bern couldn’t resist a good tune, and neither could its visitors!
It wasn’t just about the music, though. Being a city musician in Bern was a pretty sweet gig. Trumpeters, pipers, and even cantors held special privileges. The Pfeiferbrunnen’s figure used to have a little parchment scroll attached to the tree trunk behind him, proudly describing the official recognition that the musicians’ brotherhood got from the city in 1507. Imagine that scroll, rustling lightly in the wind as everyone stopped to read about the musicians’ monopoly-no unlicensed pipers allowed! The city basically said, “Play on, but only if you’re in the club.”
As the years rolled by, this fountain endured a lot-crumbling, sprucing up, getting repainted more often than your average living room. By the 1870s it was so worn out that restorers couldn’t even read the original writing on the scroll anymore. Wind the clock forward to 1874, and suddenly our bagpiper is not just patched up but strutting around in the city’s colors, just like official pipers once wore.
Believe it or not, the Pfeiferbrunnen moved a bit in 1919 to make way for the growing city traffic. Pipers may love a parade, but even they can’t stop a tram. Through all the years, his music has never stopped flowing, thanks to fresh Bernese drinking water bubbling through the fountain. So the next time you hear a bagpipe, just remember: here in Bern, it’s a symbol of freedom, festivity, and maybe a hint to tip your local busker!
