This chapter investigates the role of Bern as a ‘translating city' in the nineteenth century, with a focus on the translation policy of the Swiss federal state between 1848 and 1914. Institutional translation is studied from the government's perspective, at the pivot point between translation practice and translation management, through a thematic and diachronic analysis of digitized archival material: the annual reports of the Federal Council. After mapping the areas and flows of translation, the chapter outlines directions for further research on topics suggested by the data, such as staff and resources. The results show that a key element of translation policy lay in a selective approach to translation, which was allowed by the federal framework, coupled with a partial institutionalization that left room for unconventional resources. However, this policy began to be discussed and challenged in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, with the shift towards semi-direct democracy.