Berner Minster Foundation

Institution: Berner Minster Foundation Published January 1, 2022

The Bern Minster is a Swiss reformed cathedral, in the old city of Bern, Switzerland. Built in the Gothic style, its construction started in 1421. Its tower, with a height of 100.6 m, was only completed in 1893. It is the tallest cathedral in Switzerland and is a cultural property of national significance. The Minster is the landmark of the city of Bern and can be regarded as the most prominent building in Bern’s old town, which is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Construction and restoration work on this valuable building has been going on uninterruptedly for 600 years. Over the years, a large number of planning and execution documents have been produced, which are of great importance for understanding the construction measures and the historical development of this unique cultural asset. In addition to the various plans, photographic documentation of actual conditions and for before/after comparisons has always been produced. In addition to the plans and photographs, basic texts and various literature about Bern Minster were also stored in PDF/A form. Around 4,000 objects, digital-born and retro- digitized, were processed, analysed and converted into a format suitable for archiving and now stored in AWA.