Käfigturm

The Käfigturm dominates the entrance to the Old City with its heavy, square stone tower and a clock face that dates back to the seventeenth century. It served as the second city gate for Bern when the settlement expanded westward in the mid-thirteenth century. For two hundred years, this structure held the city prison, housing debtors and common criminals behind thick walls. Inside, the original iron rings used to chain prisoners still remain fixed to the cold stone floor of the lower chambers.