French Church, Medieval church building in Yellow Quarter, Bern, Switzerland

The French Church is a former Dominican monastery church on Zeughausgasse, built in the last two decades of the 13th century. Its nave and choir are covered by an original timber roof frame from around 1310. A triumphal arch separating nave and choir carries a large fresco of the Last Judgment, painted around 1450 and rediscovered during the 1991 restoration.

Built in the last two decades of the 13th century by the Dominicans, settled in Bern since 1269, the church was originally dedicated to Peter and Paul and known as the Predigerkirche. After the Reformation of 1528 the choir became a granary in 1534. French-language services have been held here since 1623, and after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 the church became a refuge for Huguenot exiles, which gave it its present name.

French has been the language of worship here since 1623, and after the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes the church became a refuge for Huguenot exiles. Its name comes from the French-speaking Reformed parish that still uses it. Bern's choirs often perform large works in the nave, and concerts are regularly held on the 1991 Goll organ.

The church stands at Zeughausgasse 8, at the corner with Predigergasse, in Bern's old town. The nave and the choir are now two separate rooms joined by a cross passage with a door to each. The choir, restored to its full height in 1991, serves as a quiet chapel. Concerts are regularly held on the 1991 Goll organ.

The Last Judgement fresco above the arch between nave and choir, painted around 1450, was hidden for centuries and only rediscovered during the 1991 restoration. The church also keeps a 1991 Goll organ with 66 stops on four manuals, set in a case built in 1828 by Franz Josef Remigius Bossart.