Wasserspeier Bern

Imagine wandering through Bern's cobblestone streets. Your eyes spot a Swiss 5-cent coin – one of those golden pieces of money you can literally buy nothing with in Switzerland. Would you bow down to grab it? Most Swiss probably wouldn’t because – yes – we are all very, very rich (sarcasm off). But what if you spotted a whole bunch of 5 franc coins – those large, heavy silver coins with the head of what most people mistake for William Tell on it (it’s actually a nameless peasant)? Of course, you would bow down! Everyone would, right?

In Münstergasse, there happens to be always some coins laying around. So go there and grab them!

(Spoiler Alert – if you don’t wanna know what happens next, stop reading now and go get the money before anybody else does)

You will notice shortly that the coins are stuck. All of them. They won’t move a bit. Then there is that noise – pffft - like air released from a balloon. A second later, you will be wet. Where did that come from?  After the first shock, you will spot a pipe on a roof that releases just enough water every 12 seconds to make the trapped individual down in the street a little wet.

The water trap is an installation by a local artist called Luciano Andreani, who also made the “step” sculpture just a stone’s throw away on Casinoplatz. There might be no better place to sit next to, have a sandwich, and watch art take revenge on the greedy.