The Bahnhofplatz is a plaza in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. It was built following the destruction of the Christoffelturm

Christoffelturm

The Christoffelturm was a tower built between the years 1344 and 1346. It was located in the old part of the Swiss city of Bern, in the upper section of Spitalgasse, near Holy Spirit Church....

which had been part of the third city wall. It is located north of Bubenbergplatz

Bubenbergplatz

The Bubenbergplatz is a plaza in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. It is part of the area outside the third city walls...

 and surrounds the Heiliggeistkirche and Bern's central train station. It is part of the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Cultural World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 that encompasses the Old City.

History

Following the destruction of the third city wall and the Christoffelturm in 1830-32, a plaza was opened up between the Burgerspital and Neuengasse

Neuengasse

The Neuengasse is one of the streets in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. It is part of the Äussere Neustadt which was built during the third expansion of the city in 1344 to 1346. It runs from Waisenhausplatz in the east toward the main train station...

. Initially the plaza was known as Kasernenplatz (Barracks

Barracks

Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

 Plaza) due to the neighboring cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 barracks, though the name quickly changed to Spitalplatz (Hospital Plaza) due to the nearby Burgerspital. The plaza was the site of the cabbage market in Bern.

In June 1857, the SCB completed a line between Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 and Bern. Then, two years later the Bern-Thun

Thun

Thun is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with about 42,136 inhabitants , as of 1 January 2006....

 line opened and on 2 July 1860 another line reached Thörishaus, now part of Köniz

Köniz

Köniz is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With a population of 38,793 inhabitants , the municipality is one of the 15 most populous cities in Switzerland.- History :...

. While the rail lines were being built, a cental train station was built on the northern end of the plaza. During the construction of the new station, the plaza was renamed Bahnhofplatz. On 1 January 1901, the SCB was nationalized and the Bern station went over to the newly formed Swiss Federal Railways.