Built in 1191 as the western gate to the then-smaller city, Bern's Clock Tower is as old as Bern itself.

The tower dominates the central city with its steep copper spire; its astronomical clock workings were added in 1530, about the time of the Reformation. From the 16th-19th centuries this was the authoritative clock in Bern; all clocks were set according to this one. At five minutes before each hour visitors gather before the clock to watch its nearly 500-year-old workings perform.