Dawn was breaking as my husband and I emerged from the train station and walked into Bern’s Old Town. We passed the Zytglogge, Bern’s landmark medieval clock tower, and made our way into the oldest part of the Swiss city. At Bundesplatz, or Parliament Square, the aromas of onion and cheese tarts mingled with the cinnamon and cloves of mulled wine and cider. Braids of red and yellow onions, carefully bound together with flowers and ribbons, draped from wires above the stands. Bern’s annual onion party was in full swing.
We were eager to immerse ourselves in the colorful festivities. I’ve been to the Onion Market in Bern twice, once on a frosty, clear morning, and recently, under an umbrella for the better part of the day. Both times, the Bernese were out in force, enjoying a festival atmosphere that is uniquely their own.
A Living Tradition
The Bern Onion Market, called “Zibelemärit” in Swiss German, is a traditional folk festival held annually on the fourth Monday of November to celebrate the onion harvest. Over 200 market stands line the city’s Old Town streets, selling beautiful onion braids, toys fashioned from onions, and plenty of sweet and savory festival foods. An astonishing 50 tons of onions underpin an event listed with UNESCO as one of Switzerland’s living traditions.
The pre-dawn atmosphere of Zibelemärit is unique, with many locals arriving before the market opens in search of the most colorfully decorated onions or perhaps the longest onion braids. The market opens at 6:00 a.m., and by 7:00 a.m., the streets of the Old Town fill as trains from across the country empty visitors into the city.
From Martinmas to Zibelmärit
The Onion Market has a centuries-long history, though its origins are unclear. One of the best-known and most popular legends among the citizens of Bern holds that Zibelemärit dates back to the 15th century, when the people of Bern allowed farmers from neighboring Friburg to sell onions in the city as a reward for their help after the devastating fire of 1405.
In the Middle Ages, Martinmas, or St. Martin’s Day, marked the transition from the summer half-year to the winter half-year. An accompanying market featured festive meals, processions, and torchlit parades. Market vendors mainly sold goods for the coming winter months. Bern Canton used the occasion to settle accounts and collect taxes.
Today, Zibelemärit is still a between-season festival, with only the first day of the Martinmas Fair observed and onions as the centerpiece. Market stalls sell onion braids, winter vegetables, sweet and savory festival foods, and Swiss-themed souvenirs. A few stalls sell ceramic memorabilia, reminiscent of the region’s famous Bernese peasant pottery. Crowds gather at Bundesplatz and the adjacent Bärenplatz. Local restaurants and cafes open before daybreak, offering a range of Swiss culinary specialties.
The event begins before dawn and continues until after sunset, a quintessentially Swiss combination of Märitstimmung, or market atmosphere, and street party. Old customs hold, with meals featuring onion tarts, fondue, and raclette. In the afternoon, children chase each other through the streets, throwing colorful confetti.
Onion Market Foods and Gifts
As my husband and I made our way through the increasingly crowded market, we sampled the market’s culinary offerings: onion tarts, of course, but not only. There was onion soup, onion pizza by the slice, and other savory treats, such as Berner rösti, which adds diced bacon to the classic Swiss potato dish. Mulled wine, red and white, provided a warming accompaniment.
The locals were out in force, enjoying beloved, hearty specialties such as fondue and raclette. Popular sweet treats included Apfelchüechli, apple fritters served with vanilla sauce or cinnamon and sugar, and Mandelbärli, a Bern confectionery made of almonds.
The main attraction of the market is the profusion of braided onion and garlic strands and garlic-onion combinations. Traditional, artistically plaited onion braids or necklaces of wrapped candies—which, in the past, I was told, would have been made of tiny onions—are colorful mementos of this event, along with a variety of clever, kitschy onion souvenirs.
The festival brings a harvest-season mood to early Christmas shopping. Typical market items, especially textiles, jewelry, ceramics, and toys, make great holiday presents. A few stands at Zibelemärit offer mugs, bowls, and other ceramic items that evoke a rustic folk heritage.
Bern’s Swiss History Lesson
Bern is one of Switzerland’s most picturesque cities. Founded in 1200 by Duke Bertold V of Zähringen, it has a compact medieval heart largely intact, its kilometers of arcades and gabled buildings a joy to explore any time of year. Efficient public transport provides easy access to the Paul Klee Center and other attractions outside the city center.
Perched high above the Aare River, Bern offers a distinct visual perspective from Zurich, Lucerne, or Basel. A day at the Onion Market adds a cultural layer that is uniquely Bernese. Visitors who arrive earlier or stay on in Bern can enjoy both the historical city, with its museums and sandstone public buildings, and its once-a-year party hat.
Bern provides the backstory to much of Swiss history: as a German imperial town under the Hohenstaufen kings, as an independent city republic and member of the Old Swiss Confederacy and the restored confederacy of the early 19th century, and finally, as the seat of Switzerland’s federal government since 1848.
In 1983, UNESCO recognized Bern as a dynamic city in which most of the historic buildings from diverse periods have retained their integrity, and with a medieval plan that remains intact. Zibelmärit has been named to the list of The Living Traditions of Switzerland. And the city is the gateway to Switzerland’s Berner Oberland, with its fabled peaks: the Monch, the Eiger, and the Jungfrau.
A Zibelmärit Street Party
As the sky began to lighten, the crowd grew progressively younger. Parents queued for garlic bread and mulled wine, toddlers sleeping alongside in their prams. Eager little hands reached up for Magenbrot, a gingerbread-like spiced biscuit, and Meitschibei, horseshoe-shaped Bernese pastries filled with sweetened hazelnuts.
By midday, attention had shifted from onion braids to street-party antics. Costumed characters crisscrossed the market, singing. Youngsters bopped people on the head with plastic hammers, a hit-and-run sort of fun. Pink and green confetti speckled the streets and people. The silly atmosphere reminded my husband and me a bit of the children’s day at Fasnacht, Basel’s carnival, albeit without all the masks. By 6:00 p.m., the party was over, and another edition of Zibelemärit was a wrap.
If You Go
- The festivities begin early. Swiss National Railways brings travelers to Bern from Zurich, Lucerne, or Basel in about an hour, even in the early morning. For guests staying in the city itself, trams run from 5:00 a.m.
- Bern’s Tourist Office offers a range of special accommodation deals in the Old Town, making it even easier to visit the Onion Market as soon as it opens.
- For many years, on the Sunday before the Zibelemärit, intrepid swimmers, some sporting Santa’s hats, gather for Zibeleschwümme, or “onion swim,” a 500-meter plunge in the icy waters of the Aare River. To observe this ritual, check the Bern Tourism website for the particulars.
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- Ascona, Switzerland, Celebrates the Chestnut
Read more from Anita at: Anita’s Feast
