The Simsonbrunnen or

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

fountain is a fountain on the

Kramgasse The Kramgasse ("Grocers Alley") is one of the principal streets in the Old City of Bern, the medieval city centre of Bern, Switzerland. It was the center of urban life in Bern until the 19th century.de Capitani, 8. Today, it is a popular shop ...

in the Old City of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

of the

Old City of Bern The Old City (german: Altstadt) is the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. Built on a narrow hill bordered on three sides by the river Aare, its compact layout has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the twelfth ...

History

The fountain represents the biblical story of Samson killing a lion found in . According to the story, Samson was born to a sterile Israelite couple on the conditions that his mother and her child (Samson) abstain from all alcohol and that he never shave or cut his hair. Because of his commitment to live under these conditions, Samson is granted great strength. As a young man he falls in love with a Philistine woman and decides to marry her. At this time, the Philistines ruled over the Israelites and Samson's decision to marry one causes great concern among his family. He calms their concerns and travels to marry his love. On the way he is attacked by the lion and with his incredible strength kills the lion. Later, he sees that bees have built a

honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey ...

in the lion's body. He uses this event as the basis of a riddle, which when not answered, gives him a pretext to attack the Philistines and lead an unsuccessful rebellion. The fountain, built in 1544 by Hans Gieng, is modeled after the ''Simsonbrunnen'' in

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissens ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 46.947932, N, 7.450406, E, region:CH-BE_type:landmark, name=Simsonbrunnen, display=title Fountains in Bern