BERCEUSE (Fr. for a “lullaby,” from berceau, a cradle), a cradle-song, the German Wiegenlied, a musical composition with a quiet rocking accompaniment.
BERCHEM (or Berghem), NICOLAAS (1620-1683), Dutch painter, was born at Haarlem. He received instruction from his father (Pieter Claasz van Haarlem) and from the painters Van Goyen, Jan Wils and Weenix. It is not known why he called himself Berchem (or Berighem, and other variants). His pictures, of which he produced an immense number, were in great demand, as were also his etchings and drawings. His landscapes are highly esteemed; and many of them have been finely engraved by John Visscher. His finest pictures are at the Amsterdam Museum and at the Hermitage, St Petersburg.
BERCHTA (English Bertha), a fairy in South German mythology. She was at first a benevolent spirit, the counterpart of Hulda in North German myth. Later her character changed and she came to be regarded as a witch. In Pagan times Berchta had the rank of a minor deity.
BERCHTESGADEN, a town of Germany, beautifully situated on the south-eastern confines of the kingdom of Bavaria, 1700 ft. above the sea on the southern declivity of the Untersberg, 6 m. S.S.E. from Reichenhall by rail. Pop. (1900) 10,046. It is celebrated for its extensive mines of rock-salt, which were worked as early as 1174. The town contains three old churches, of which the early Gothic abbey church with its Romanesque cloister is most notable, and some good houses. Apart from the salt-mines, its industries include toys and other small articles of wood, horn and ivory, for which the place has long been famous. The district of Berchtesgaden was formerly an independent spiritual principality, founded in 1100 and secularized in 1803. The abbey is now a royal castle, and in the neighbourhood a hunting-lodge was built by King Maximilian II. in 1852.
BERCK, a bathing resort of northern France, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, 25 m. S. of Boulogne by rail. Pop. (1906) 7638. It comprises two parts—Berck-Ville, 1½ m. from the shore, and Berck-Plage, the latter with a fine sandy beach. There are two children’s hospitals, the climate proving peculiarly beneficial in the treatment of scrofulous affections. About 150 boats are employed in the fisheries, and herrings form the staple of an active trade. Boat-building and fish-curing are carried on.