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Biel/Bienne commune (Bern canton, Switzerland)

See also:

Biel/Bienne district
Bern canton
Switzerland
Das Bieler Juliuspanner (by Alfred Zesiger, 1907, German)
Die ältesten Siegel der Stadt Biel (by Werner Bourquin, 1922, German)
Das Bieler Wappen (biel-bienne.ch, German)
Armoiries biennoises (biel-bienne.ch, French)

Biel/Bienne

image by Pascal Gross

Gules two Axes Argent in saltire.
Zeljko Heimer, 21 December 2001

Biel/Bienne is totally bilingual French/German hence the two different names quite always associated. Everything in the city is written in both languages, from streets to shops. This bilingualism seems to date back to the Middle Ages, this characteristic having been revived by the arrival of many [francophone] people coming from Jura to work in the horological industry during the 19th century.
Pascal Gross, 20 December 2001

Canting emblem with the axe (in German Axt or Beil; in Swiss German Biel, Bieli).
The city was originally entirely German-speaking.

Miscellaneous Pictures

Julius Banner (1512, source: [b7b42])

Freischar flag of Biel (1844 or 1845), with Confederate Cross. The Freischar troops of Biel took their flag also to the Sonderbund War in 1847 (b/w photo, source: [b7b42]).

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