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Basel

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Basel
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Basel Travel Guide

  • About Basel
Rooted on the banks of the Rhine at the meeting point of France, Germany and Switzerland, Basel lays claim to one of the choicest crossroad locations in Europe. The city is customarily overshadowed by the likes of Zurich and Geneva, but a youthful, trend-conscious vibe and some handsome modern architecture make it more than worthy of a few days of exploration.The success of annual art fair Art Basel – usually held in June – has helped bolster the city’s reputation in recent decades. Much of the action happens at the Kunstmuseum Basel, which houses Switzerland’s largest public art collection in a vast neo-Palladian building that dates from 1936. Works by Hans Holbein, Auguste Rodin (including the famous Burghers of Calais), and Lucas Cranach line its walls, as do pieces by Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Edouard Manet. Other galleries include Mitart, which showcases the work of contemporary artists, and the Ludwig Collection of sculpture, drawn from ancient Greece and Rome.Comprehensive though the choice of galleries is, there’s plenty more art to be found outside their walls. Sculptures are dotted around the city, as are classical and modern fountains, along with buildings designed by some of the most famous names in contemporary architecture, including Renzo Piano, Richard Meier and Frank Gehry. The period features aren’t half bad either, with the cobbled streets and colourful facades of the historic old town proving enchanting.Finest of all of these is the Rathaus (city hall) which has dominated the Marktplatz for more than 500 years and has an elaborate tower which has now been pressed into service as a viewing platform. From the top, you can see most of the city spread out below, straddling the icy blue waters of the Rhine.The river, once the source of nearly all the wealth that flowed into Basel, remains a key part of city life. In the summer, Basel’s inhabitants, whether students or bankers, flock to the river’s banks to sunbathe, stroll or simply relax in the sunshine. Many jump in for a bracing dip, while every August, thousands of swimmers hop in for the annual Rheinschwimmen and simply float downstream.In recent times, the city’s most famous son is tennis maestro Roger Federer, and each October sees Basel host an international indoor men’s competition that routinely draws some of the biggest players on the circuit. Federer himself, who was once a ball boy at the tournament, has won on seven occasions (and counting).
  • Basel History
Basel started life as a Celtic settlement, with the Romans following hot on their heels. Their Basel was known as Augusta Raurica, with building commencing in 44BC, just upstream from today’s city centre, near to the Basel Minister.By 374AD, the city had become known as Basilia, an important trading hub which got its own bishopric in the 7th century. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the young city, with its first outside attack coming in 917 courtesy of the Hungarians. Still licking their wounds, the citizens erected a city wall to keep future invaders away, although it would be badly damaged when a blaze ripped through the city in 1185.The 1300s weren’t much kinder: an earthquake destroyed much of the city and the Black Death, which swooped across Europe, took thousands of lives. Townsfolk, living in terror and horrified by the seemingly unending deaths, turned on their Jewish neighbours, accusing them of poisoning the wells. In January 1349, 600 Jews were rounded up, tied together and burnt alive in an island hut in the middle of the River Rhine.Despite being decimated by the Black Death, the city bounced back in its wake, establishing itself as a centre for the fledgling print industry. In 1488, the Schwabe publishing house opened and is still printing books today, while the success of the printer Johann Froben helped make the city the epicentre of the country’s book trade.The opening of Basel University in 1460 attracted some of the world’s greatest thinkers. Theologian Desiderius Erasmus and philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Jung are all among its alumni. Following the Swabian War of 1499, Basel was asked to become the eleventh canton of the Swiss Confederation, joining in 1501.Not long after, the city joined the rest of Switzerland in becoming Protestant, swiftly establishing itself as a haven for co-religionists fleeing persecution elsewhere. Left untouched by the Napoleonic Wars, Basel also benefited from Swiss neutrality during both World Wars. Today, it remains a hub for literature – and possesses some of the most well-preserved mediaeval buildings in Europe.
  • Did you know?
De humani corporis fabrica, the first book ever written on human anatomy, was published in Basel in 1543. In 1471 the city of Basel found a chicken, passing for a rooster, guilty of laying a egg ‘in defiance of natural law.’ It was burnt at the stake. Psychedelic drug LSD was invented in Basel by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1938.
  • Weather in Basel
Basel is a city that is blessed with 3,500 hours of sunshine each year, whilst average monthly rainfall is low at just 90mm (0.3ft). Basel enjoys a temperate climate with average summer highs of around 18°C (64°F) in summer and 2°C (35°F) in winter. This belies the fact however that summer highs can peak as high as 35°C (95°F). In winter it can snow but it rarely settles for long periods.

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