Bergeist Kennels:
  In the Swiss Alps a legend is told about a mans head carved out of a tree trunk. 
The top of his head is the trunk and his face and flowing beard are carved out of 
the roots. The carving should be hung in your barn or home with its eyes looking 
at the door. The spirit of the carving will keep your home safe and protect it 
from unwanted travelers. This carving is called a Berg Geist or Berg Geister.
  In the winter of 1983 Bonnie and I took our first trip to Switzerland together. 
During our visit  we decided to buy a Berg Geist to hang in our home. We found 
an old man of the mountain that told us in broken English that the Berg Geist would  
protect us and  bring us great happiness in the future. That same day as we were 
walking through the snow back to our hotel we saw two of the most beautiful dogs 
we had ever seen sitting so politely by there masters. We could see in their eyes 
they were happy in the cool snow and very loyal to their owner. Having two golden 
retrievers at the time and being a little home sick for them we stopped and petted 
the dogs. These dogs were the most beautiful and well behaved dogs we had ever seen. 
They were Bernese Mountain Dogs. From that day on we had an interest in the 
Swiss breed. We thought that Berg Geist was an appropriate name for a Bernese Mountain 
Dog. Since they originated in the mountains of Switzerland and they were bred to guard 
the farm. (In addition to carting the milk and cheese to the market.)

The Berg Geister  hanging on the wall watching who come in and out of our door has 
been the topic of many conversations with friends over the years. And the  Bernese 
Mountain Dogs have brought our family so much joy and happiness that we thought the 
name would be a good kennel name.

The direct German translation for Berg Geist is Berg: Mountain 
Geist: ghost. We decided to combine the words and drop the extra 
g and call our kennel name Bergeist.