They kind of look like a salom gate for kayaks or something but there are not enough of them, and they are too high off the river (probably about 4 feet+).
Any ideas?
Was swimming in the Aare river the other day (Bern) and my friend asked me what are those things hanging over the river. Normally there are two on each section and each one has two vertical steel poles dangling down. I notice this is not unique to Bern/Aare and is probably quite common throughout Switzerland, perhaps even Europe.
Unless of course the river is low and quiet at the moment, and a couple of feet higher in level during the fast-flowing kayak season...
They are for this type of boating sport:
^Yup, they are for the "Pontoniere".