Bern's cathedral is capped with a 330-foot-tall tower,
the highest in Switzerland.
While it was built as a Catholic church,
later, in the 16th century, with the Reformation,
it became Protestant.
That's why it's so sparsely decorated.
The Swiss Protestants were iconoclasts.
They considered statues of saints and Catholic art
to be false idols, distractions from god,
and destroyed them.
This church was originally adorned
with 26 different little chapels and altars,
each dedicated to a different saint
or the Virgin Mary.
When the Reformation
came to town in 1528,
all that was swept away.
The focus was shifted away from images
and to the pulpit, from where Protestant preachers
shared the word of god, not in Latin,
but in the people's language.
[ Organ playing ]
Browsing through this barren place of worship,
you can sense
the effectiveness of one man preaching from the pulpit
to an undistracted congregation.
Climbing the spire, you'll see
protestants had absolutely no problem with great bells.
This is the biggest bell of Switzerland.
And it's over 10 tons.
And we are also very proud that we have
the highest tower of Switzerland.
It's over 100 meters.
Exactly 101 meters.
[ Bell tolls ]
Steves: Art lovers enjoy Bern's Paul Klee Center.
With its wavy building mirroring
the wavy landscape,
Italian architect Renzo Piano's building
celebrates the creative spirit
of the Swiss-born artist, Paul Klee.
While famous as a painter,
Klee embraced all forms of creative expression.
The center, which fosters music and theater,
as well as the visual arts,
has a mission --
to bring art to the people.
A generous zone is devoted to a children's workshop.
Kids love Paul Klee, and kids always
teach the art snobs a thing or two
with their interpretations.
The shadow theater sparks young imaginations.
Artistically, you just can't put Klee in a box.
His paintings, mostly from the 1920s and '30s,
are playful,
yet enigmatic.
Audio guides let you enjoy klee's favorite music
as you wander through his paintings.
He experimented in pointillism,
as you see in ad parnassum.
His art is full of symbolism --
or maybe we just think so.
Insula dulcamara -- literally, "bittersweet island" --
is a good example
of Klee's abstract hieroglyph style.
It's a puzzle.
He pairs opposites.
Man, woman.
Air, water.
It's 1938.
Is that a submarine on the horizon,
evoking the rise of fascism?
Perhaps the black figures are death,
in a spring-like landscape, which is eternal.
And when the sun comes out, it seems
everyone's heading for the banks of the Aare River.
The riverside park is
a lively playground.
The Bernese, proud of their very clean river
and their basic ruddiness, have a tradition --
sort of a wet paseo.
On summer days, they hike upstream,
then float back into town.
[ Whooping ]
[ Laughing ]
For something to write home about,
join the locals and the trout
in a float down the river.