Thun-Panorama

The 200-year-old painting of the town of Thun with the backdrop of the Bernese Apls is the oldest surviving work of its kind. The monumental rotunda is 7.5 metres high and 38 metres long. Artist Marquard Wocher from Basel sketched the 360° picture while sitting on a house rooftop in the town. This unusal "rooftop" perspective provides one with a voyeuristic view into homes and onto swares and alleys as inhabitants go about theri daily lives. In great detail, Wocher highlights the comings and goings of about 300 people on an early morning in 1808.
It was first shown in Basel and after the artist's death it was presented to Thun as a gift. The painting was forgotten untill it has been possible to restore the work thanks to the efforts of the Eidgenössische Gottfried-Keller-Stiftung. It has been accessible to the public since 1961 in a specially constructed round building in Schadaupark.