Everybody knows London, where the kings and queens of England were crowned and where the United Kingdom crowns kings and queens to this day. We know Rome where emperors were crowned for a thousand years. Most might know Aachen as the place where the kings of the Eastern Franks were crowned. But do you know Solothurn, where the kings of Burgundy were crowned for over 500 years?
Bern (or Berne, or Berna) is usually referred to as the capital of Switzerland, which it isn't. The first mistake lies in calling the Confoederatio Helvetica Switzerland; Switzerland doesn't exist. And of the Helvetian Confederation, it is the seat of the Federal Government and as such is quite simply called Federal City and never capital. The Swiss constitution shuns the term capital. Bern's history goes back quite a long way before all that happened, and part of that history allows you to go shopping in town on a rainy day without getting wet.
