Date

Jan 02 2025

Time

All Day

Berchtold’s Day

Berchtold’s Day celebrated as Berchtoldstag this day is a public holiday in the following parts of Switzerland: Aargau, Bern, Fribourg, Glarus, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Thurgau, Vaud, Zug and Zurich. It commemorates Duke Berchtold V, who founded Bern, the capital of Switzerland, in the twelfth century. The story goes that Duke Berchtold V went on a hunting trip, declaring he would name the city after the first animal he killed.  After killing a bear, ‘bern’ in German, he named the future capital city. On Berchtold’s Day, the people of Switzerland celebrate with friends and family. As nuts traditionally form part of the celebration, some speculate it was in fact a squirrel the Duke caught, rather than a bear.