En 1790, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre publie un conte philosophique, la Chaumière indienne, sous forme de dialogue, qui paraît dans le cinquième volume des Études de la nature. Il est alors célèbre. Intendant du Jardin des plantes (1792), professeur de morale à l’École normale (1794), il entre à l’Institut lors de sa création (1795). Honoré par l’Empire, il partage ses dernières années entre son logement de l’Institut et sa propriété d’Éragny, où il meurt le 21 janvier 1814. L’année suivante paraîtront les Harmonies de la nature, suite affaiblie des Études.
Disciple de Rousseau, dans la mesure où il place le bonheur et la vertu en dehors de la société, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre subit aussi son influence littéraire. Mais, précurseur du romantisme, il est également l’inspirateur du Chateaubriand du Voyage en Amérique, d’Atala et du Génie du christianisme.
A. M.-B.
➙ Exotisme.
M. Souriau, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre d’après ses manuscrits (Soc. fr. d’impr. et de libr., 1904). / A. Duchêne, les Rêveries de Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (Alcan, 1935). / F. Ley, Benjamin Constant, Chateaubriand, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Madame de Staël et Madame de Krüdener (Aubier, 1967). / J. J. Simon, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre ou le Triomphe de Flore (Nizet, 1968).
Berne
En allem. Bern, capit. fédérale (« Bundesstadt ») de la Suisse, ch.-l. du canton de Berne (1 004 000 hab.), sur l’Aar ; 158 000 hab. (Bernois).
Géographie
Le site de la capitale fédérale est déterminé par la morphologie glaciaire et par la vallée de l’Aar. Berne est entourée par une série de hauteurs (Grauholz, Bantiger, Ostermundigenberg) qui dépassent 900 m d’altitude et qui donnent au site primitif l’allure d’un bassin topographique. La plupart de ces élévations consistent en éléments de molasses tertiaires qui dominent la ville de 130 à 400 m. Les glaciations quaternaires qui ont envahi le site, au Würm, ont laissé des traces profondes. Le retrait progressif provoqua la formation de toute une série de moraines qui déterminent le paysage dominant des environs de la ville. Les espaces entre les moraines sont en partie occupés par des éléments fluvio-glaciaires (Schotterfelder) appelés, dans la toponymie locale, Felder. On compte au moins une quinzaine de ces derniers. L’Aar s’est incisé dans le matériel morainique, décrivant des méandres, dont l’un délimite la vieille ville : le cours d’eau s’est encaissé d’environ 40 à 60 m dans les éléments glaciaires ainsi que dans la molasse. Les chenaux glaciaires ont influencé le tracé des principales routes de l’agglomération. Le site de la ville a donc été déterminé par l’Aar. L’essor de l’agglomération tient cependant, essentiellement, à sa situation géographique, au contact du monde alpin et du Mittelland. L’histoire a encore favorisé le canton de Berne, puisque c’est le seul à participer aux trois régions naturelles : Alpes, Mittelland, Jura. Berne se situe sur la large vallée de l’Aar, qui mène vers les cols alpins, en passant par l’Oberland bernois. C’est plutôt en fonction des passages alpins qu’en fonction des voies de circulation propres au Mittelland que la situation de Berne est remarquable, car, dès l’époque romaine, le principal axe de circulation traversant le Mittelland passait assez loin de la ville.
Le site primitif de celle-ci se trouve à l’emplacement de la vieille ville actuelle, sur une presqu’île délimitée par un méandre de l’Aar. L’encaissement de celui-ci assurait à la ville une protection naturelle sur trois côtés ; seul le côté ouest était sans défense naturelle. L’emplacement originel de la ville correspond à une langue de terre de 1 km de long, d’ouest en est, et de 300 à 400 m de large, du nord au sud. Ce n’est qu’en 1461 qu’on construisit un pont de pierre (l’Untertorbrücke) assurant le passage. La ville devait s’étendre vers l’ouest par étapes successives : en 1346, la limite ouest se situait à proximité de la gare actuelle.
Dans la vieille ville, les rues principales, au nombre de trois, s’ordonnent parallèlement à l’axe de la ville. Leur nombre augmente au fur et à mesure que l’on s’éloigne vers l’ouest, à l’approche des quartiers nouveaux. Des rues transversales, coupant les principales à angle droit, donnent au plan un air géométrique qui contraste avec les villes médiévales plus anciennes. La rue perpendiculaire la plus large servait, à l’origine, de place du marché. Les premières maisons étaient encore construites entièrement en bois ; la population vivait du travail des « Felder » et « Acker », lieux-dits qu’on retrouve encore de nos jours au-delà de l’Aar.
Les fréquents incendies amenèrent le remplacement des constructions en bois par des maisons en pierre de style gothique tardif ou baroque. La pierre de taille fut fournie par les carrières de molasse gréseuse des environs. Les constructions massives des patriciens sont encore en partie conservées. Berne l’ancienne présente, du fait des coloris gris découlant de l’usage presque exclusif du grès, un aspect quelque peu austère, qui, cependant, est atténué par la présence de fleurs de géranium aux balcons et aux fenêtres. Cet aspect s’explique peut-être aussi par le fait que la ville était, avant tout, un point d’appui militaire, son rôle commercial et politique étant une acquisition tardive.
F. R.
L’histoire
De nombreux vestiges trouvés dans une presqu’île de l’Aar, au nord-ouest de la ville actuelle, démontrent la présence des Celtes, des Helvètes et des Romains à cet endroit. Selon certains chroniqueurs, l’origine de Berne ne remonterait qu’à 1191, lorsque le duc Berthold (Berchtold) V de Zähringen fit entourer de murs et de fossés les habitations situées autour du château de Nydegg ; selon la légende, il déclara qu’il donnerait à la nouvelle ville le nom du premier animal tué au cours d’une chasse — ce fut un ours (Bär en allemand ; d’où Bärn = Bern). Mais il est fort probable que, dès l’époque franco-mérovingienne, une bourgade importante profitait de la position commerciale du croisement des routes qui vont du nord et de l’ouest en Italie. Inféodée à la politique italienne des Hohenstaufen, Berne fut considérée comme tête d’étape de l’armée impériale, et le nom de Barna (issu de Verona ?) se trouve déjà sur une carte établie en 1154, donc un demi-siècle avant la fondation présumée.
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