Region und Stadt Burgdorf entdecken - Discovering Burgdorf's region and city

1. Mühlegasse (Kornhausquartier) Los geht’s! Wir beginnen unseren historischen Spazier- gang im Bereich der heutigen unteren Altstadt. Schon vor der Gründung der Stadt war dieser Teil ein Weiler namens «Holzbrunnen». Mit der Einmündung des Mühlebachs erhielt die Unterstadt ein fliessendes Gewässer, das von mehreren Mühlen genutzt werden konnte. Andere vom Wasser abhän- gige Industrien (Gerber, Färber usw.) siedelten sich in der Gegend an, und der untere Teil der Altstadt entwickelte sich zu einem Gewerbegebiet. 1. Mühlegasse (Granary District) Let’s go! We start our historical walk in the area of today’s lower old town. Even before the foundation of the city this part was a hamlet called ‘Holzbrunnen’. With the diverting of the Mühlebach stream, the lower town got a running water, which could be used by several mills. Other water-dependent industries (tanners, dyers, etc.) settled in the area, and the lower part of the old town developed into an industrial area. 2. Stalden Bridge, Stalden rerouting (‘Schnägg’) Now we need to conquer a few meters in elevation to get from the lower town to the upper old town. A long stairway leads to the Stalden Bridge (Staldenbrücke), our first des- tination. From here we can look back down at the path we have just taken, the so-called Stalden, or ‘Schnägg’ (snail) in the local parlance. Before the Stalden was built, the street led straight up, i.e. without an intermediate loop, to the upper old town (Oberstadt). But this street, which was called ‘Spi- talrain’ until the 19th century, was so steep that it presented an almost insurmountable obstacle for carts and carriages. The rerouting was carried out between 1829 and 1834 un- der the supervision of cantonal chief engineer Johann Rudolf Gatschet. To overcome the difference in elevation between the upper and the lower old town, a bridge and a 400 m long road loop were built. Ru n dg a n g A l t s t a d t , Ob e r s t a d t To u r o f t h e o l d t own c e n t r e , Ob e r s t a d t