Junkerngasse

The Junkerngasse connects to the generally parallel Gerechtigkeitsgasse and to the Nydegggasse in the east, and continues as the Münstergasse to the west. It is connected to the Gerechtigkeitsgasse by small alleyways leading north (Oberes and Unteres Gerechtigkeitsgässchen). The Bubenbergrain descends through the Bubenbergtor, a former city gate, towards the river Aare in the south. ==History==

The street was called Kirchgasse ("Church Lane") up until the 16th century, and was renamed from Edle Gasse ("Noble Lane") to Junkerngasse in the 17th century. The earlier records are fragmentary, but at some time between 1430 and 1468 the city's earliest town hall was demolished at the Junkerngasse's the western end. Since then, the general structure of the street has remained unchanged. The pavement was replaced in 1998. ==Buildings==

The street's only fountain is the Junkerngassbrunnen, a plain Stockbrunnen adorned with a 17th-century figure of a lion bearing a lance and the Bubenberg arms. No. 21, the von Scharnachthal house, is one of Berne's most elegant Early Baroque works by Friedrich May. No. 43 (1784–86) is exemplary for Bernese architecture at the threshold between Late Baroque and Classicism. No. 22 was the workshop of painter Friedrich Traffelet (1897–1954); it features a humorous façade painting of 1913. The Erlacherhof ("Erlach Court"), no. 47, is the most significant private building, in historical and architectural terms, of the Old City. The house opposite the Erlacherhof on Junkerngasse No. 38 belonged to the legendary Bond Girl Ursula Andress. The Zeerlederhaus, no. 51, is noted for the 1897 painting by Rudolf Münger on its late Gothic façade. In the ownership of the Swiss Confederation since 1934, it is now used for ceremonial events by the Federal Council. ==References==