Description:

Obverse

Bern Onion Market with a bear in the background.


The Onion Market is a traditional public festival held on the 4th Monday of November each year. Farmers from the countryside surrounding Bern bring more than 50 tonnes of onions – in artistically woven plaits – and garlic to the Federal capital. Colourful market stalls offer visitors ceramic pottery, spiced bread, vegetables and mementos. To help resist the winter cold, hot mulled wine is served at many stands.


The bustle starts at 5.00a.m. when thousands of visitors from Switzerland and abroad begin to stream through the town. This is the day when cheese pie, onion pie and onion soup are on offer in the restaurants, spreading a spicy aroma. Younger visitors liberally scatter confetti in the streets, and have fun at the fairground.


The Onion Market is what remains of a one-time fourteen-day autumn fair (St Martin's market) of which there are records dating back to the 15th century. The onions themselves first appear in mid-19th century documents, at the time when the railway lines were built from the growing areas in the Seeland region to Bern.

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Lettering:
CONFOEDERATIO 2011

HELVETICA

10

B

FR