History
Origin On the Gran San Bernardo Pass, at 2469 m above sea level, in the 11th century the canons founded a hospice to provide shelter for travelers and pilgrims. Large mountain dogs were kept in that place since the middle of the 17th century for surveillance and protection. The presence of these dogs is iconographically documented as early as 1695 and in writing in a memorandum of the hospice of 1707. The dogs were soon used as companions and above all for the rescue of travelers lost in the snow and fog. The Great Saint Bernard dogs have saved the lives of numerous people, protecting them from white death. In the 19th century, the chronicles in various languages and the oral accounts of the soldiers who crossed the pass with Napoleon Bonaparte in 1800 spread the fame of the Saint Bernard (then called “Cane Barry”) throughout Europe. The legendary Barry became the archetype of rescue dogs.
The direct ancestors of the Saint Bernard dog were the large farmer’s dogs, very common in the area. In a few generations they were bred according to a pre-established ideal model, giving rise to the present breed. Heinrich Schumacher from Holligen, near Bern, was the first who, in 1867, began to draw up certificates of descent for his dogs.
In February 1884, the “Dog Genealogical Register” (“Schweizerische Hundestammbuch” – SHSB) began to be drawn up. The first inscription was that of the Saint Bernard Léon, and the following 28 also involved Saint Bernard dogs. On March 15, 1884, the Swiss St. Bernard Club was founded in Basel. On the occasion of an international cynological congress, on 2 June 1887, the Saint Bernard was officially recognized as a Swiss breed and the breed standard was declared mandatory. The St. Bernard has been the Swiss national dog ever since.