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There are traces of a settlement at the nearby
From the donation by 
In 1412 (or earlier), the well-known Gasthof zum Goldenen Sternen was established. Basel became the focal point of western Christendom during the 15th century
The city had remained neutral through the
Basel has an area, , of . Of this area, or 4.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 3.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 86.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 6.1% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 40.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 24.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 8.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 2.5% is used for growing crops and 1.3% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
accessed 18-April-2011 Of the population in the municipality 58,560 or about 35.2% were born in Basel and lived there in 2000. There were 1,396 or 0.8% who were born in the same canton, while 44,874 or 26.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 53,774 or 32.3% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 898 live births to Swiss citizens and 621 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 1,732 deaths of Swiss citizens and 175 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 834 while the foreign population increased by 446. There were 207 Swiss men and 271 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 1756 non-Swiss men and 1655 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 278 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1138 people. This represents a
accessed 19 June 2010 , there were 70,502 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 70,517 married individuals, 12,435 widows or widowers and 13,104 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.58 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 10.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a
accessed 28 January 2011 there were 96,640 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 35,958. There were 11,957 single room apartments and 9,702 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 84,675 apartments (87.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 7,916 apartments (8.2%) were seasonally occupied and 4,049 apartments (4.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.6 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent an average apartment in Basel was 1118.60
2003 data accessed 26 May 2010 The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.74%.
From the , 41,916 or 25.2% were
Basel has Switzerland's only cargo port, through which goods pass along the navigable stretches of the
Basel has long held an important place as a rail hub. Three railway stations—those of the German, French and Swiss networks—lie within the city (although the Swiss (
Home/Aktuell - Fähri Verein Basel
Basel has an extensive public transportation network serving the city and connecting to surrounding suburbs, including a large
France-Switzerland (from east to west)
* Road crossings (with French road name continuation)
** Kohlenstrasse (Avenue de Bâle, Huningue). This crossing replaces the former crossing Hüningerstrasse further east.
** Elsässerstrasse (Avenue de Bâle, Saint-Louis)
** Autobahn A3 (
As the biggest town in the Northwest of Switzerland numerous public and private health centres are located in Basel. Among others the Universitätsspital Basel and the Universitätskinderspital Basel. The
The city of Basel, located in the north west of Switzerland, is one of the most dynamic economic regions of Switzerland.
, Basel had an unemployment rate of 3.7%. , 19.3% of the working population was employed in the
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 49.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 18.7% used a private car.
The
Going to Basel
" ''
Basel hosts Switzerland's oldest university, the
Basel has five public gymnasiums (', ', ', ', '), each with its own profiles (different focus on major subjects, such as visual design, biology and chemistry, Italian, Spanish, or Latin languages, music, physics and applied mathematics, philosophy/education/psychology, and economics and law) that entitles students with a successful
accessed 4 May 2012 A memorial to
Basel is also host to an array of buildings by internationally renowned architects. These include the
;Churches and monasteries :
''Badischer Bahnhof'' (German Baden's railway station) with fountain,
The Basel museums cover a broad and diverse spectrum of 
*
Beyeler Museum (Fondation Beyeler)
* Botanical Garden Base
*
The
swissinfo.ch, written 2008-7-15, retrieved 13 July 2012 The Basel Tattoo annual parade, with an estimated 125,000 visitors, is considered the largest event in Basel. The event is now sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), making it the official
''
. 20 Minuten, 20min.ch, published 23 February 2009 Established in 1874, Zoo Basel is the oldest zoo in Switzerland and, by number of animals, the largest. Through its history, Zoo Basel has had several breeding successes, such as the first worldwide Indian rhinoceros birth Eröffnung des Panzernashornhauses
. Zoo Basel, written 2006-09-26, retrieved 3 December 2009 and Greater flamingo hatch in a zoo. These and other achievements led Forbes Travel to rank Zoo Basel as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world in 2008.Forbes Travel
GetListy, retrieved 26 March 2010 Despite its international fame, Basel's population remains attached to Zoo Basel, which is entirely surrounded by the city of Basel. Evidence of this is the millions of donations money each year, as well as Zoo Basel's unofficial name: locals lovingly call "their" zoo "''Zolli''" by which is it known throughout Basel and most of Switzerland.
Basel has a reputation in Switzerland as a successful sporting city. The association football, football club 
A large indoor tennis event takes place in Basel every October. Some of the best Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP-professionals play every year at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, Swiss Indoors, including Switzerland's biggest sporting hero and frequent participant Roger Federer, a Basel native who describes the city as "one of the most beautiful cities in the world".
The annual Basel Rhine Swim draws several thousand visitors to the city to swim in or float on the Rhine.
While football and ice hockey are by far the most popular sports, basketball has a very small but faithful fan base. The top division, called the Swiss Basketball League, SBL, is a semi-professional league and has one team from the Basel region, the "Birstal Starwings".
Two players from Switzerland are currently active in the NBA, Thabo Sefolosha and Clint Capela. As in most European countries, and contrary to the U.S., Switzerland has a club-based rather than a school-based competition system. The Starwings Basel are the only first division basketball team in German-speaking Switzerland.
The headquarters of the International Handball Federation, IHF (International Handball Federation) is located in Basel.
Basel Dragons AFC have been playing Australian rules football, Australian Football in the AFL Switzerland league since 2019.
Notable people who were born or grew up in Basel:
* Gaspard Bauhin (1560–1624), botanist and anatomist
* Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593–1650) an engraver
* Johannes Buxtorf II (1599–1664) a Protestant Christian Hebraist
* Jacob Bernoulli, (1654–1705) mathematician
*
File:St. Albantor.jpg, St. Alban Gate
File:Rathaus (2122646923).jpg, Basel Town Hall, Rathaus, Basel's Town Hall
File:RFHS-3033.jpg, Protestant Cathedral
File:Basel 2006 840.JPG, Gemsberg
File:Basel 2012-08 Mattes 1 (89).JPG,
Official tourism siteOverview of museums in Basel or basel museumsWebsite of the regional television of Basel – Enjoy daily news and stories about Baselcity, Baselland and the green Fricktal and Laufental, together with its citizens
{{Authority control Basel, Cultural property of national significance in Basel-Stadt Municipalities of Basel-Stadt Cantonal capitals of Switzerland Cities in Switzerland Populated places on the Rhine Port cities and towns in Switzerland Free imperial cities Germany–Switzerland border crossings France–Switzerland border crossings Border tripoints Turkish communities outside Turkey
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= 
. Currently, the spelling ''Basel'' is most often used, to match the official German spelling. In French ''Basle'' was still in use in the 18th century, but was gradually replaced by the modern French spelling ''Bâle''. In Icelandic, the city is recorded as ''Buslaraborg'' in the 12th-century itinerary ''Allschwil
, neighboring_municipalities= Baselland (BL), Binningen, Buschwiller (FR-68), Hégenheim (FR-68), Neuwiller (FR-68), Oberwil, Saint-Louis (FR-68), Schönenbuch
, twintowns = Pfullendorf (Germany), Blaj (Romania)
}
Allschwil () is a town a ...
(BL), Hégenheim
Hégenheim (; ; Alsatian: ''Hagena'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is adjacent to the Swiss town of Allschwil, and is part of the Basel urban area.
Geography
Hégenheim is a small town located ...
(FR-68), Binningen Binningen may refer to:
* Binningen, Switzerland
Binningen ( Swiss German: ''Binnige'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. It is nestled in a valley, on a plateau, and on ...
(BL), Birsfelden
Birsfelden (Swiss German: ''Birsfälde'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Arlesheim (district), Arlesheim in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.
History
Birsfelden is first menti ...
(BL), Bottmingen
Bottmingen (Swiss German: ''Bottmige'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Land in Switzerland.
History
Bottmingen is first mentioned in 1246 as ''Bothmingen''.
Geography
Bottmingen has an area, , of . Of this ...
(BL), Huningue
Huningue (; german: Hüningen; gsw-FR, Hinige) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department of Alsace in north-eastern France. Huningue is a northern suburb of the Swiss city of Basel. It also borders Germany (Weil am Rhein, a suburb of Basel locate ...
(FR-68), Münchenstein
Münchenstein (Swiss German: ''Minggestai'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland.
Historical records
Münchenstein is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Kekingen''. In 1270, it was mentio ...
(BL), Muttenz
Muttenz is a municipality with a population of approximately 17,000 in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. It is located in the district of Arlesheim and next to the city of Basel.
History
Under the Roman Empire a hamlet called Montetum ...
(BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen
Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.
Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...
(BS), Saint-Louis (FR-68), Weil am Rhein
Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...
(DE-BW)
, twintowns = Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
, website = www.bs.ch
Basel ( , ), also known as Basle ( ),french: Bâle ; it, Basilea ; rm, label=Sutsilvan
Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Putèr: ; Sutsilvan: , , ; Jauer: ) is a Gallo-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grison ...
, Basileia; other rm, Basilea . is a city in northwestern Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
on the river Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
. Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
and Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
) with about 175,000 inhabitants. The official language of Basel is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, but the main spoken language is the local Basel German Basel German or Baseldytsch (Standard German: ''Baseldeutsch'') is the dialect of the city of Basel, Switzerland.
The dialect of Basel forms a Low Alemannic linguistic exclave in the High Alemannic region.
Phonetics and phonology Consonants ...
dialect.
Basel is commonly considered to be the cultural capital of Switzerland and the city is famous for its many museums
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
, including the Kunstmuseum, which is the first collection of art accessible to the public in the world (1661) and the largest museum of art in Switzerland, the Fondation Beyeler
The Beyeler Foundation or Fondation Beyeler with its museum in Riehen, near Basel ( Switzerland), owns and oversees the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, which features modern and traditional art. The Beyeler Foundation museum includes a ...
(located in Riehen
Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.
Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...
), the Museum Tinguely
The Museum Tinguely is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland that contains a permanent exhibition of the works of Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely. Located in the Solitudepark by the Rhine, the museum was designed by the Ticinese architect ...
and the Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
, which is the first public museum of contemporary art in Europe. Forty museums are spread throughout the city-canton, making Basel one of the largest cultural centres in relation to its size and population in Europe.
The University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
, Switzerland's oldest university (founded in 1460), and the city's centuries-long commitment to humanism
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
, have made Basel a safe haven at times of political unrest in other parts of Europe for such notable people as Erasmus of Rotterdam
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
, the Holbein Hans Holbein may refer to:
* Hans Holbein the Elder
Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter.
Life
Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsa ...
family, Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
, Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
, and in the 20th century also Hermann Hesse
Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...
and Karl Jaspers
Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jasper ...
.
Basel was the seat of a Prince-Bishopric starting in the 11th century, and joined the Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th century ...
in 1501. The city has been a commercial hub and an important cultural centre since the Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
and pharmaceutical industries
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
in the 20th century. In 1897, Basel was chosen by Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
as the location for the first World Zionist Congress
The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני העו ...
, and altogether the congress was held there ten times over a time span of 50 years, more than in any other location. The city is also home to the world headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks".
The BIS carries out its work thr ...
. The name of the city is internationally known through institutions like the Basel Accords
The Basel Accords refer to the banking supervision accords (recommendations on banking regulations) issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS).
Basel I was developed through deliberations among central bankers from major countries ...
, Art Basel
Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
and FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...
.
In 2019 Basel was ranked the tenth most liveable city in the world by Mercer
Mercer may refer to:
Business
* Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925)
* Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City
* Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...
.
Name
The name of Basel is first recorded as ''Basilia'' in the 3rd century (237/8), at the time referring to the Roman castle.This name is mostly interpreted as deriving from the personal name ''Basilius'', from a toponym ''villa Basilia'' (" estate of Basilius") or similar. Another suggestion derives it from a name ''Basilia'' attested in northern France as a development of ''basilica'', the term for a public or church building (as inBazeilles
Bazeilles () is a commune in the Ardennes department in the Grand Est region of northern France. On 1 January 2017, the former communes of Rubécourt-et-Lamécourt and Villers-Cernay were merged into Bazeilles.
The inhabitants of the commune are ...
), but all of these names reference early church buildings of the 4th or 5th century and cannot be adduced for the 3rd-century attestation of ''Basilia''.''Basileam applicuerunt'' (AD 237 or 238). Andres Kristol: ''Basel BS (Basel Stadt)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG).'' Centre de dialectologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld/Stuttgart/Wien 2005, und Éditions Payot, Lausanne 2005, , S. 125.
By popular etymology, or simple assonance, the basilisk
In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the ''Naturalis Historia'' of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene is ...
becomes closely associated with the city, used as heraldic supporter
In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up.
Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the co ...
from 1448, represented on coins minted by the city, and frequently found in ornaments.
The Middle French
Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which:
* the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...
form ''Basle'' was adopted into English, but this form gradually fell out of use although it continues to be used in some sections of British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
including the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan
''Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan'' ("A Guide and List of Cities") is an itinerary written by Níkulás Bergsson (a.k.a. Nikolaos), the abbot of the monastery of Þverá in Eyjafjörður, Northern Iceland.
It is a guidebook for pilgrims about the ...
''.
History
Early history
There are traces of a settlement at the nearby Rhine knee
The Rhine knee or Rhine's knee (german: Rheinknie) is the name of several distinctive bends in the course of the river Rhine.
Basel
In Basel, the Rhine changes its westerly direction of flow in an angle of 90 degrees to a northerly direction, alo ...
from the early La Tène period
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
(5th century BC). In the 2nd century BC, there was a village of the Raurici
The Rauraci or Raurici were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the Upper Rhine region, around the present-day city of Basel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Rauracis'' and ''Rauracorum'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. ...
at the site of ''Basel-Gasfabrik'' (to the northwest of the Old City, and likely identical with the town of ''Arialbinnum'' that was mentioned on the ''Tabula Peutingeriana
' (Latin Language, Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire.
The m ...
''). The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an ''oppidum
An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
'' on the site of Basel Minster
Basel Minster (German: ''Basler Münster'') is a religious building in the Swiss city of Basel, originally a Catholic cathedral and today a Reformed Protestant church.
The original cathedral was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and Got ...
, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul.
Munatius Planctus
In Roman Gaul
Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ...
, Augusta Raurica
Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roma ...
was established some from Basel as the regional administrative centre, while a ''castrum
In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...
'' (fortified camp) was built on the site of the Celtic ''oppidum''. In AD 83, the area was incorporated into the Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of Germania Superior
Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesontio' ...
. The Roman Senator Munatius Plancus
Lucius Munatius Plancus ( – ) was a Roman senator, consul in 42 BC, and censor in 22 BC with Paullus Aemilius Lepidus. Along with Talleyrand eighteen centuries later, he is one of the classic historical examples of men who have m ...
is known as the traditional founder of Basel since the Renaissance. Roman control over the area deteriorated in the 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the ''Provincia Maxima Sequanorum
The Sequani were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper river basin of the Arar river (Saône), the valley of the Doubs and the Jura Mountains during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Sequanos'' by Caesar (mid- ...
'' formed by Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
. '' Basilia'' is first named by the Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...
in his Res Gestae as part of the Roman military fortifications along the Rhine in the late 4th century.
The Germanic confederation of the Alemanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled; one such event was the Battle of Solicinium
The Battle of Solicinium was fought in 368 between a Roman army and the Alemanni. The Roman force was led by Emperor Valentinian I, and they managed to repel the Alemanni but suffered heavy losses during the battle.
Background
After the death ...
(368). However, in the great invasion of AD 406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and a large part of the Swiss Plateau
The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau (german: Schweizer Mittelland; french: plateau suisse; it, altopiano svizzero) is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of ...
.
The Duchy of Alemannia
Alamannia, or Alemannia, was the kingdom established and inhabited by the Alemanni, a Germanic peoples, Germanic tribal confederation that had broken through the Roman ''Upper Germanic Limes, limes'' in 213.
The Alemanni expanded from the Main ...
fell under Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
rule in the 6th century.
The Alemannic and Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
settlement of Basel gradually grew around the old Roman castle in the 6th and 7th century. It appears that Basel surpassed the ancient regional capital of Augusta Raurica
Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roma ...
by the 7th century; based on the evidence of a gold ''tremissis
The tremissis or tremis (Byzantine Greek, Greek: τριμίσιον, ''trimision'') was a small solid gold coin of Late Antiquity. Its name, meaning "a third of a unit", formed by analogy with semissis (half of a unit), indicated its value rela ...
'' (a small gold coin with the value of a third of a ''solidus
Solidus (Latin for "solid") may refer to:
* Solidus (coin), a Roman coin of nearly solid gold
* Solidus (punctuation), or slash, a punctuation mark
* Solidus (chemistry), the line on a phase diagram below which a substance is completely solid
* S ...
'') with the inscription ''Basilia fit'', Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century.
Basel at this time was part of the Archdiocese of Besançon
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. A separate bishopric of Basel
The Prince-Bishopric of Basel (german: Hochstift Basel, Fürstbistum Basel, Bistum Basel) was an ecclesiastical principality within the Holy Roman Empire, ruled from 1032 by prince-bishops with their seat at Basel, and from 1528 until 1792 at Po ...
, replacing the ancient bishopric of Augusta Raurica
Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roma ...
, was established in the 8th century. Under bishop Haito
Haito (or Hatto or Heito) {c.762-March 17, 836) was the abbot of Reichenau Abbey and Bishop of Basel.
Biography
Haito was born in 763, of a noble family of Swabia. At the age of five, along with his brother Wadilcoz, he entered the Abbey of Reiche ...
(r. 806–823), the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle (replaced by a Romanesque structure consecrated in 1019).
At the partition of the Carolingian Empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lom ...
through the Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...
in 843, Basel was first given to West Francia
In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...
and became its German exclave. It passed to East Francia
East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...
with the Treaty of Meerssen
The Treaty of Mersen or Meerssen, concluded on 8 August 870, was a treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as Lotharingia, by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of ...
of 870. Basel was destroyed by the Magyars
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...
in 917. The rebuilt town became part of Upper Burgundy
The Kingdom of Upper Burgundy was a Frankish dominion established in 888 by the Welf king Rudolph I of Burgundy on the territory of former Middle Francia. It grew out of the Carolingian margraviate of Transjurane Burgundy (''Transjurania'', ) s ...
, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
in 1032.
Prince-Bishopric of Basel
From the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy
Rudolph III (french: Rodolphe, german: Rudolf; – 6 September 1032), called the Idle or the Pious, was the king of Burgundy from 993 until his death. He was the last ruler of an independent Kingdom of Burgundy, and the last male member of the Bu ...
of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey
Moutier-Grandval Abbey was a Benedictine abbey near the villages of Moutier and Grandval in today's Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It was founded around 640, when Grandval already existed; Moutier g ...
and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II of Metz
Adalbero II of Metz ( la, Adalberonis or la, label=none, Adalberus; c. 958 - 14 December 1005) was a Catholic bishop of the 10th and 11th centuries. From 984 until his death he was the bishop of Verdun and bishop of Metz. He was the son of Frederi ...
in 999 until the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, Basel was ruled by Prince-Bishops.
In 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel (known locally as the ''Münster'') began under Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler ...
.
In the 11th to 12th century, Basel gradually acquired the characteristics of a medieval city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
.
The main market place is first mentioned in 1091. The first city walls were constructed around 1100 (with improvements made in the mid-13th and in the late 14th century).
A city council of nobles and burghers is recorded for 1185, and the first mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
, Heinrich Steinlin of Murbach, for 1253.
The first bridge across the Rhine was built in 1225 under bishop Heinrich von Thun Heinrich may refer to:
People
* Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
(at the location of the modern Middle Bridge), and from this time the settlement of ''Kleinbasel'' gradually formed around the bridgehead on the far river bank. The bridge was largely funded by Basel's Jewish community who had settled there a century earlier.Habicht, Peter, ''Basel – A Center at the Fringe'' (Basel: Christoph Merian Verlag, 2006) pp. 43, 55, 70, 79. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river "between Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
and the sea".
The first city guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
were the furriers
Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...
, established in 1226. A total of about fifteen guilds were established in the course of the 13th century, reflecting the increasing economic prosperity of the city. The Crusade of 1267
The Crusade of 1267 was a military expedition from the Upper Rhenish regions of the Holy Roman Empire for the defence of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was one of several minor crusades of the 1260s that resulted from a period of Papally-sponsore ...
set out from Basel.
Political conflicts between the bishops and the burghers began in the mid-13th century and continued throughout the 14th century. By the late 14th century, the city was for all practical purposes independent although it continued to nominally pledge fealty to the bishops.
The House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
attempted to gain control over the city. This was not successful, but it caused a political split among the burghers of Basel into a pro-Habsburg faction, known as ''Sterner'', and an anti-Habsburg faction, the ''Psitticher''.
The Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
reached Basel in 1348. The Jews were blamed, and an estimated 50 to 70 Jews were executed by burning on 16 January 1349 in what has become known as the Basel massacre
Between the 12th century and modern times, the Switzerland, Swiss city of Basel has been home to three Jewish quarter (diaspora), Jewish communities. The medieval community thrived at first but ended violently with the Basel massacre of 1349. As w ...
.
The Basel earthquake of 1356 destroyed much of the city along with a number of castles in the vicinity.
A riot on 26 February 1376, known as ''Böse Fasnacht'', led to the killing of a number of men of Leopold III, Duke of Austria
Leopold III (1 November 1351 – 9 July 1386), known as the Just, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1365. As head and progenitor of the Leopoldian line, he ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Carinthia, Styria an ...
. This was seen as a serious breach of the peace
Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct.
Public ord ...
, and the city council blamed "foreign ruffians" for this and executed twelve alleged perpetrators. Leopold nevertheless had the city placed under imperial ban
The imperial ban (german: Reichsacht) was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by the Imperial Diet, or by courts like the League of the Holy Court (''Vehmgericht'') or th ...
, and in a treaty of 9 July, Basel was given a heavy fine and was placed under Habsburg control.
To free itself from Habsburg hegemony, Basel joined the Swabian League of Cities
The Swabian League of Cities (German: ''Schwäbischer Städtebund'') was a primarily military alliance between a number of free imperial cities in and around the area now defined as south-western Germany. Its objective was the maintenance of th ...
in 1385, and many knights of the pro-Habsburg faction, along with duke Leopold himself, were killed in the Battle of Sempach
The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the lo ...
the following year.
A formal treaty with Habsburg was made in 1393.
Basel had gained its de facto independence from both the bishop and from the Habsburgs and was free to pursue its own policy of territorial expansion, beginning around 1400.
The unique representation of a bishops' crozier
A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...
as the heraldic charge in the coat of arms of Basel
Each of the 26 modern cantons of Switzerland has an official flag and a coat of arms.
The history of development of these designs spans the 13th to the 20th centuries.
List
The cantons are listed in their order of precedence given in the federal ...
first appears in the form of a gilded wooden staff in the 12th century.
It is of unknown origin or significance (beyond its obvious status of bishop's crozier), but it is assumed to have represented a relic, possibly attributed to Saint Germanus of Granfelden.
This staff (known as ''Baselstab'') became a symbol representing the Basel diocese, depicted in bishops' seals of the late medieval period.
It is represented in a heraldic context in the early 14th century, not yet as a heraldic charge but as a kind of heraldic achievement flanked by the heraldic shields of the bishop. The staff is also represented in the bishops's seals of the period.
The use of the ''Baselstab'' in black as the coat of arms of the city was introduced in 1385.
From this time, the ''Baselstab'' in red represented the bishop, and the same charge in black represented the city.
The blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
of the municipal coat of arms is ''In Silber ein schwarzer Baselstab'' (Argent, a staff of Basel sable). In 1400, Basel was able to purchase the towns of Liestal
Liestal (, Standard ), formerly spelled Liesthal, is the capital of Liestal District and the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, south of Basel.
Liestal is an industrial town with a cobbled-street Old Town.
The official language of Li ...
, Homburg and Waldenburg with its surrounding territory.
In 1412 (or earlier), the well-known Gasthof zum Goldenen Sternen was established. Basel became the focal point of western Christendom during the 15th century Council of Basel
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
(1431–1449), including the 1439 election of antipope Felix V
Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451), nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and Duke of Savoy from 1416 to 1440. He was the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was a claimant to the papa ...
. In 1459, Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...
endowed the University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
, where such notables as Erasmus of Rotterdam
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
and Paracelsus
Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.
He w ...
later taught. At the same time the new craft of printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
was introduced to Basel by apprentices of Johann Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs ...
. In 1461, the land around Farnsburg
Farnsburg Castle (german: Ruine Farnsburg) is a castle in the municipality of Ormalingen in the canton of Basel-Land in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Farnsburg was built in 1330 by the Lords of Thierste ...
became a part of Basel.
The Schwabe publishing house
Schwabe Verlag in Basel is the oldest printing and publishing house in the world. The company is based on the Offizin founded by Johannes Petri after 1488 and has since been an independent Swiss family business.
Schwabe publishes about 120 book ...
was founded in 1488 by Johannes Petri and is the oldest publishing house still in business. Johann Froben also operated his printing house in Basel and was notable for publishing works by Erasmus. In 1495, Basel was incorporated into the Upper Rhenish Imperial Circle; the Bishop of Basel was added to the Bench of the Ecclesiastical Princes of the Imperial Diet. In 1500 the construction of the Basel Münster
Basel Minster (German: ''Basler Münster'') is a religious building in the Swiss city of Basel, originally a Catholic cathedral and today a Reformed Protestant church.
The original cathedral was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and Go ...
was finished. In 1521 so was the bishop. The council, under the supremacy of the guilds, explained that henceforth they would only give allegiance to the Swiss Confederation, to whom the bishop appealed but in vain.
As a member state in the Swiss Confederacy
The city had remained neutral through the Swabian War
The Swabian War of 1499 ( gsw, Schwoobechrieg (spelling depending on dialect), called or ("Swiss War") in Germany and ("War of the Engadin") in Austria) was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Hab ...
of 1499 despite being plundered by soldiers on both sides. The Treaty of Basel ended the war and granted the Swiss confederates exemptions from the emperor Maximillian's taxes and jurisdictions, separating Switzerland ''de facto'' from the Holy Roman Empire.Rappard, William, '' Collective Security in Swiss Experience 1291–1948'' (London, 1948) p. 85 ff
On 9 June 1501, Basel joined the Swiss Confederation as its eleventh canton. It was the only canton that was asked to join, not the other way round. Basel had a strategic location, good relations with Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
and Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...
, and control of the corn imports from Alsace, whereas the Swiss lands were becoming overpopulated and had few resources. A provision of the Charter accepting Basel required that in conflicts among the other cantons it was to stay neutral and offer its services for mediation.Habicht, Peter, ''Basel – A Center at the Fringe'' (Basel 2006) p. 65 ffBonjour, Edgar ''et al.'' ''A short History of Switzerland'' (Oxford, 1952) p. 139 ff
In 1503, the new bishop Christoph von Utenheim refused to give Basel a new constitution; whereupon, to show its power, the city began to build a new city hall.
In 1529, the city became Protestant under Oecolampadius
Johannes Oecolampadius (also ''Œcolampadius'', in German also Oekolampadius, Oekolampad; 1482 – 24 November 1531) was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition from the Electoral Palatinate. He was the leader of the Protestant f ...
and the bishop's seat was moved to Porrentruy
Porrentruy (, fc, Poérreintru , german: Pruntrut) is a Swiss municipality and seat of the district of the same name located in the canton of Jura.
Porrentruy is home to National League team, HC Ajoie.
History
The first trace of human pre ...
. The bishop's crook was however retained as the city's coat of arms. For centuries to come, a handful of wealthy families collectively referred to as the "Daig" played a pivotal role in city affairs as they gradually established themselves as a ''de facto'' city aristocracy.
The first edition of ''Christianae religionis institutio'' (''Institutes of the Christian Religion
''Institutes of the Christian Religion'' ( la, Institutio Christianae Religionis) is John Calvin's seminal work of systematic theology. Regarded as one of the most influential works of Protestant theology, it was published in Latin in 1536 (at th ...
'' – John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
's great exposition of Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
doctrine) was published at Basel in March 1536.
In 1544, Johann von Brugge, a rich Dutch Protestant refugee, was given citizenship and lived respectably until his death in 1556, then buried with honors. His body was exhumed and burnt at the stake in 1559 after it was discovered that he was the Anabaptist David Joris
David Joris (c. 1501 – 25 August 1556, sometimes Jan Jorisz or Joriszoon; formerly anglicised David Gorge) was an important Anabaptist leader in the Netherlands before 1540.
Life
Joris was probably born in Flanders, the son of Marietje Ja ...
.
In 1543, ''De humani corporis fabrica
''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (Latin, lit. "On the fabric of the human body in seven books") is a set of books on human anatomy written by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) and published in 1543. It was a major advance in the history ...
'', the first book on human anatomy, was published and printed in Basel by Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius (Latinized from Andries van Wezel) () was a 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, ''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric of the human body'' '' ...
(1514–1564).
There are indications Joachim Meyer
Joachim Meyer (ca. 1537–1571) was a self described Freifechter (literally, Free Fencer) living in the then Free Imperial City of Strasbourg in the 16th century and the author of a fechtbuch '' Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechten ...
, author of the influential 16th-century martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
text ''Kunst des Fechten'' ("The Art of Fencing"), came from Basel. In 1661 the '' Amerbaschsches Kabinett,'' a vast collection of exotic artifacts, coins, medals and books was purchased by Basel. It was to become to the first public museum of art. Its collection became the core of the later Basel Museum of Art.
The Bernoulli family, which included important 17th- and 18th-century mathematicians such as Jakob Bernoulli
Jacob Bernoulli (also known as James or Jacques; – 16 August 1705) was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He was an early proponent of Leibnizian calculus and sided with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz during the Leib ...
, Johann Bernoulli
Johann Bernoulli (also known as Jean or John; – 1 January 1748) was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is known for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and educating L ...
and Daniel Bernoulli
Daniel Bernoulli FRS (; – 27 March 1782) was a Swiss mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel. He is particularly remembered for his applications of mathematics to mechan ...
, were from Basel. The 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
was born in Basel and studied under Johann Bernoulli.
Modern history
In 1792, the Republic of Rauracia, a revolutionaryFrench client republic
A sister republic (french: république sœur) was a republic established by French armies or by local revolutionaries and assisted by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars. These republics, though nominally independent, ...
, was created. It lasted until 1793. After three years of political agitation and a short civil war in 1833 the disadvantaged countryside seceded from the Canton of Basel, forming the half canton of Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...
. Between 1861 and 1878 the city walls were slighted
Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...
.
On 3 July 1874, Switzerland's first zoo, the Zoo Basel
Zoo Basel is a non-profit zoo in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Its official name is ''Zoologischer Garten Basel'' — or in English: Basel Zoological Garden. Basel residents affectionately call it ''Zolli''.
, opened its doors in the south of the city towards Binningen Binningen may refer to:
* Binningen, Switzerland
Binningen ( Swiss German: ''Binnige'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. It is nestled in a valley, on a plateau, and on ...
.
In 1897 the first World Zionist Congress
The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני העו ...
was held in Basel. Altogether the World Zionist Congress was held in Basel ten times, more than in any other city in the world.
On 16 November 1938, the psychedelic drug LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann (11 January 1906 – 29 April 2008) was a Swiss chemist known for being the first to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann's team also isolated, named and synthesiz ...
at Sandoz
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
Laboratories in Basel.
In 1967, the population of Basel voted in favor of buying three works of art by painter Pablo Picasso which were at risk of being sold and taken out of the local museum of art, due to a financial crisis on the part of the owner's family. Therefore, Basel became the first city in the world where the population of a political community democratically decided to acquire works of art for a public institution. Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
was so moved by the gesture that he subsequently gifted the city with an additional three paintings.
Basel as a historical, international meeting place
Basel has often been the site of peace negotiations and other international meetings. TheTreaty of Basel (1499)
The Treaty of Basel of 22 September 1499 was an armistice following the Battle of Dornach, concluding the Swabian War, fought between the Swabian League and the Old Swiss Confederacy.
The treaty restored the status quo ante territorially. Eight ...
ended the Swabian War
The Swabian War of 1499 ( gsw, Schwoobechrieg (spelling depending on dialect), called or ("Swiss War") in Germany and ("War of the Engadin") in Austria) was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Hab ...
. Two years later Basel joined the Swiss Confederation
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. The Peace of Basel
The Peace of Basel of 1795 consists of three peace treaties involving France during the French Revolution (represented by François de Barthélemy).
*The first was with Prussia (represented by Karl August von Hardenberg) on 5 April;
*The seco ...
in 1795 between the French Republic
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and Prussia and Spain ended the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...
against France during the French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
. In more recent times, the World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...
held its first congress in Basel from 29 August through 31 August 1897. Because of the Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
, the (Socialist) Second International
The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...
held an extraordinary congress at Basel in 1912. In 1989, the Basel Convention
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations ...
was opened for signature with the aim of preventing the export of hazardous waste
Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous waste is a type of dangerous goods. They usually have one or more of the following hazardous traits: ignitability, reactivity, co ...
from wealthy to developing nations
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
for disposal.
Geography and climate
Location
Basel is located in Northwestern Switzerland and is commonly considered to be the capital of that region. It is close to the point where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, and Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. , the Swiss Basel agglomeration was the third-largest in Switzerland, with a population of 541,000 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland (municipal count as of 2018). The initiative ''Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB)'' of 62 suburban communes including municipalities in neighboring countries, counted 829,000 inhabitants in 2007.Topography
Basel has an area, , of . Of this area, or 4.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 3.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 86.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 6.1% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 40.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 24.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 8.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 2.5% is used for growing crops and 1.3% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
Climate
Under the Köppen system, Basel features anoceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(Köppen: ''Cfb''), although with notable continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
influences due to its relatively far inland position with cool to cold, overcast
Overcast or overcast weather, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization, is the meteorological condition of clouds obscuring at least 95% of the sky. However, the total cloud cover must not be entirely due to obscuring phenomena near t ...
winters and warm to hot, humid summers.
The city averages 118.2 days of rain or snow annually and on average receives of precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
. The wettest month is May during which time Basel receives an average of of rain. The month with the most days of precipitation is also May, with an average of 11.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 8.4 days.
Politics
The city of Basel functions as the capital of the Swiss half-canton ofBasel-Stadt
Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as t ...
.
Canton
The canton Basel-Stadt consists of three municipalities:Riehen
Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.
Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...
, Bettingen, and the city Basel itself. The political structure and agencies of the city and the canton are identical.
City
Quarters
The city itself has 19 quarters: * ''Grossbasel'' (Greater Basel): :1 Altstadt Grossbasel :2 Vorstädte :3 Am Ring :4 Breite :5 St. Alban :6 Gundeldingen :7 Bruderholz :8 Bachletten :9 Gotthelf :10 Iselin :11 St. Johann * ''Kleinbasel'' (Lesser Basel): :12 Altstadt Kleinbasel :13 Clara :14 Wettstein :15 Hirzbrunnen :16 Rosental :17 Matthäus :18 Klybeck :19 KleinhüningenGovernment
The city's and canton's executive, the Executive Council (''Regierungsrat''), consists of seven members for a mandate period of 4 years. They are elected by any inhabitant valid to vote on the same day as the parliament, but by means of a system of Majorz, and operates as a collegiate authority. The president (german: link=no, Regierungspräsident(in)) is elected as such by a public election, while the heads of the other departments are appointed by the collegiate. The current president isBeat Jans
Beat Jans (born 12 July 1964, Basel) is a Swiss politician of the Social Democratic Party (SP) and a member of the National Council of Switzerland.
Education
He completed his apprenticeship as a farmer in 1985 and followed up on his studies ...
. The executive body holds its meetings in the red Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
(german: link=no, Rathaus) on the central ''Marktplatz''. The building was built in 1504–14.
, Basel's Executive Council is made up of three representatives of the SP (Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
) including the president, two LDP ( Liberal-Demokratische Partei of Basel), and one member each of Green Liberals (glp), and CVP (Christian Democratic Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
). The last election was held on 25 October and 29 November 2020 and four new members have been elected.
Barbara Schüpbach-Guggenbühlis is State Chronicler (''Staatsschreiberin'') since 2009, and Marco Greiner is Head of Communication (''Regierungssprecher'') and Vice State Chronicler (''Vizestaatsschreiber'') since 2007 for the Executive Council.
Parliament
The city's and canton's parliament, theGrand Council of Basel-Stadt
The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (german: Grosser Rat) is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of th ...
(Grosser Rat), consists of 100 seats, with members (called in German: ''Grossrat/Grossrätin'') elected every 4 years. The sessions of the Grand Council are public. Unlike the members of the Executive Council, the members of the Grand Council are not politicians by profession, but they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Basel allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the parliament. The delegates are elected by means of a system of Proporz
''Proporz'' (, from german: Proportionalität, "proportionality") is a long-standing practice in the Second Austrian Republic in which positions in government are distributed between political parties in a manner proportional to their electoral or ...
. The legislative body holds its meetings in the red Town Hall (''Rathaus'').
The last election was held on 25 October 2020 for the mandate period (''Legislatur'') of 2021–2025. , the Grand Council consist of 30 (-5) members of the Social Democratic Party (SP), 18 (+5) ''Grün-Alternatives Bündnis (GAB)'' (a collaboration of the Green Party (GPS), its junior party, and Basels starke Alternative (BastA!)), 14 (-1) Liberal-Demokratische Partei (LDP), 11 (-4) members of the Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...
(SVP), 8 (+5) Green Liberal Party (glp), 7 (-3) The Liberals (FDP), 7 (-) Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), 3 (+2) Evangelical People's Party (EVP), and one each representative of the ''Aktive Bettingen (AB)'' and ''Volks-Aktion gegen zuviele Ausländer und Asylanten in unserer Heimat'' (VA).
The left parties missed an absolute majority by two seats.
Federal elections
National Council
In the 2019 federal election the most popular party was the Social Democratic Party (SP) which received two seats with 34% (−1) of the votes. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party (GPS) (19.4%, +7.3), the LPS (14.5%, +3.6) and the FDP (5.8, −3.5), which are chained together at 20.3%, (+0.1), the SVP (11.3%, ), and the Green Liberal Party (GLP) (5%, +0.6), CVP (4.1%, -1.9). In the federal election, a total of 44,628 votes were cast, and thevoter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was 49.4%.
On 18 October 2015, in the federal election the most popular party was the Social Democratic Party (SP) which received two seats with 35% of the votes. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (20.2%), the SVP (16.8%), and the Green Party (GPS) (12.2%), each with one seat. In the federal election, a total of 57,304 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was 50.4%.
Council of States
On 20 October 2019, in the federal electionEva Herzog
Eva Herzog (born 25 December 1962) is a Swiss politician who has represented Basel-Stadt in the Council of States since 2019. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS).
Education
Between 1981 and 1988 she studied History, Econom ...
, member of the Social Democratic Party (SP), was elected for the first time as a State Councillor () in the first round as single representative of the canton of Basel-Town and successor of Anita Fetz in the national Council of States () with an absolute majority of 37'210 votes.
On 18 October 2015, in the federal election State Councillor (german: link=no, Ständerätin) Anita Fetz
Anita Fetz (born 19 March 1957 in Basel) is a Swiss politician of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) and a former member of the National Council and the Council of States in Switzerland.
Early life and education
After graduati ...
, member of the Social Democratic Party (SP), was re-elected in the first round as single representative of the canton of Basel-Town in the national Council of States () with an absolute majority of 35'842 votes. She has been a member of it since 2003.
International relations
Twin towns, sister cities and partner regions
Basel has twosister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
and a twinning among two states:
* US state of Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, since 2002
* Shanghai, China, since 2007
* Toyama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...
, Japan, since 2009
* Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
, US, since 2011
* Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...
, Ivory Coast, since 2021
* Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea, since 2022
Partner cities
*Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, Netherlands, since 1945
Demographics
Population
The canton of Basel (slightly more than the city itself) has a population () of 201,971, of whom 36.9% are resident foreign nationals. Over the 10 years of 1999–2009 the population has changed at a rate of −0.3%. It has changed at a rate of 3.2% due to migration and at a rate of −3% due to births and deaths.Swiss Federal Statistical Officeaccessed 18-April-2011 Of the population in the municipality 58,560 or about 35.2% were born in Basel and lived there in 2000. There were 1,396 or 0.8% who were born in the same canton, while 44,874 or 26.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 53,774 or 32.3% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 898 live births to Swiss citizens and 621 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 1,732 deaths of Swiss citizens and 175 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 834 while the foreign population increased by 446. There were 207 Swiss men and 271 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 1756 non-Swiss men and 1655 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 278 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1138 people. This represents a
population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
of 0.9%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Superweb database – Gemeinde Statistics 1981–2008accessed 19 June 2010 , there were 70,502 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 70,517 married individuals, 12,435 widows or widowers and 13,104 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.58 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 10.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
or a rent-to-own
Rent-to-own, also known as rental purchase or rent-to-buy, is a type of legally documented transaction under which tangible property, such as furniture, consumer electronics, motor vehicles, home appliances, real property, and engagement rin ...
agreement).
, there were 86,371 private households in the municipality, and an average of 1.8 persons per household. There were 44,469 households that consist of only one person and 2,842 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 88,646 households that answered this question, 50.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 451 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 20,472 married couples without children, 14,554 married couples with children There were 4,318 single parents with a child or children. There were 2,107 households that were made up of unrelated people and 2,275 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 5,747 single family homes (or 30.8% of the total) out of a total of 18,631 inhabited buildings. There were 7,642 multi-family buildings (41.0%), along with 4,093 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (22.0%) and 1,149 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.2%). Of the single family homes 1090 were built before 1919, while 65 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (3,474) were built between 1919 and 1945.Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 – Gebäude und Wohnungenaccessed 28 January 2011 there were 96,640 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 35,958. There were 11,957 single room apartments and 9,702 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 84,675 apartments (87.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 7,916 apartments (8.2%) were seasonally occupied and 4,049 apartments (4.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.6 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent an average apartment in Basel was 1118.60
Swiss franc
The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...
s (CHF) per month (US$890, £500, €720 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 602.27 CHF (US$480, £270, €390), a two-room apartment was about 846.52 CHF (US$680, £380, €540), a three-room apartment was about 1054.14 CHF (US$840, £470, €670) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2185.24 CHF (US$1750, £980, €1400). The average apartment price in Basel was 100.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Rental prices2003 data accessed 26 May 2010 The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.74%.
Historical population
Language
Most of the population () speaks German (129,592 or 77.8%), with Italian being second most common (9,049 or 5.4%) and French being third (4,280 or 2.6%). There are 202 persons who speak Romansh.Religion
From the , 41,916 or 25.2% were Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, while 39,180 or 23.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 4,567 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Church may refer to:
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand
* State church of the Roman Empire
* True Orthodox church
See also
* Orthodox (di ...
(or about 2.74% of the population), 459 individuals (or about 0.28% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church and 3,464 individuals (or about 2.08% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 12,368 individuals (or about 7.43% of the population) who were Muslim, 1,325 individuals (or about 0.80% of the population) who were Jewish, however only members of religious institutions are counted as such by the municipality, which makes the actual number of people of Jewish descent
''Zera Yisrael'' ( he, זרע ישראל, , meaning "Seed fIsrael") is a legal category in Jewish law that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally of Jewish ethnicity according to religious criteria. ...
living in Basel considerably higher. There were 746 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, 947 individuals who were Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and 485 individuals who belonged to another church. 52,321 (or about 31.41% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 8,780 individuals (or about 5.27% of the population) did not answer the question.
Infrastructure
Quarters
Basel is subdivided into 19 quarters (''Quartiere''). The municipalities ofRiehen
Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.
Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...
and Bettingen, outside the city limits of Basel, are included in the canton of Basel-Stadt as rural quarters (''Landquartiere'').
Transport
Basel's airport is set up for airfreight; heavy goods reach the city and the heart ofcontinental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
from the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
by ship along the Rhine. The main European routes for the highway and railway transport of freight cross in Basel. The outstanding location benefits logistics corporations, which operate globally from Basel. Trading firms are traditionally well represented in the Basel Region.
Port
Basel has Switzerland's only cargo port, through which goods pass along the navigable stretches of the Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and connect to ocean-going ships at the port of Rotterdam
The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List o ...
.
Air transport
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area, french: Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse-Fribourg, it, Aeroporto di Basilea-Mulhouse-Friburgo, rm, Eroport da Basilea-Mu ...
is operated jointly by two countries, France and Switzerland, although the airport is located completely on French soil. The airport itself is split into two architecturally independent sectors, one half serving the French side and the other half serving the Swiss side; prior to Schengen
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
there was an immigration inspection point at the middle of the airport so that people could "emigrate" to the other side of the airport.
Railways
Basel has long held an important place as a rail hub. Three railway stations—those of the German, French and Swiss networks—lie within the city (although the Swiss (Basel SBB
Basel SBB railway station (german: Bahnhof Basel SBB, or in earlier times ''Centralbahnhof'' or ''Schweizer Bahnhof'') is the central railway station in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Opened in 1854, and completely rebuilt in 1900–1907, it is E ...
) and French ( Bâle SNCF) stations are actually in the same complex, separated by Customs and Immigration facilities). Basel Badischer Bahnhof
Basel Badischer Bahnhof (literally "Basel Baden Railway station", the name referring to the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways, which built the station) is a railway station situated in the Swiss city of Basel. The station is situated on Swiss s ...
is on the opposite side of the city. Basel's local rail services are supplied by the Basel Regional S-Bahn ,french: RER trinational de Bâle
, image = Logo trireno black.svg
, alt = logo trireno
, imagesize = 180
, image2 = Basel 2012-08 Mattes 1 (283).JPG
, alt2 = S-Bahn train at B ...
. The largest goods railway complex of the country is located just outside the city, spanning the municipalities of Muttenz and Pratteln. The new highspeed ICE
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
railway line from Karlsruhe to Basel was completed in 2008 while phase I of the TGV Rhin-Rhône line, opened in December 2011, has reduced travel time from Basel to Paris to about 3 hours.
Roads
Basel is located on the A3 motorway. Within the city limits, five bridges connect Greater and Lesser Basel (downstream): * Schwarzwaldbrücke (built 1972) * Wettsteinbrücke (current structure built 1998, original bridge built 1879) * Mittlere Rheinbrücke (current structure built 1905, original bridge built 1225 as the first bridge to cross the Rhine) * Johanniterbrücke (built 1967) * Dreirosenbrücke (built 2004, original bridge built 1935)Ferries
A somewhat anachronistic yet still widely used system ofreaction ferry
A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the water. Such ferries operate faster and more effectively in rivers with strong currents.
Some reaction ferri ...
boats links the two shores. There are four ferries, each situated approximately midway between two bridges. Each is attached by a cable to a block that rides along another cable spanning the river at a height of . To cross the river, the ferryman orients the boat around 45° from the current so that the current pushes the boat across the river. This form of transportation is therefore completely hydraulically driven, requiring no outside energy sourceHome/Aktuell - Fähri Verein Basel
Public transport
Basel has an extensive public transportation network serving the city and connecting to surrounding suburbs, including a large tram network
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
. Today, Basel has the largest tramway in terms of kilometers of rail tracks in Switzerland.Appenzeller, Stephan (1995).p.55 Historically, only Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
had a larger one at some point.
The green-colored local trams
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
and buses are operated by the Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe
Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB) is a public transport operator in the Switzerland, Swiss city of Basel, and is wholly owned by canton of Basel-Stadt, which consists of city of Basel and the municipalities of Bettingen and Riehen. The BVB was f ...
(BVB). The yellow-colored buses and trams are operated by the Baselland Transport
Baselland Transport AG (BLT) is a Swiss public transport operator in the cantons of Basel-Land, Basel-Stadt, Solothurn and in France. The BLT was founded in 1974, and is owned by the Canton of Basel-Land, located to the south of the city. It ...
(BLT), and connect areas in the nearby half-canton of Baselland to central Basel. The BVB also shares commuter bus lines in cooperation with transit authorities in the neighboring Alsace region in France and Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
region in Germany. The Basel Regional S-Bahn ,french: RER trinational de Bâle
, image = Logo trireno black.svg
, alt = logo trireno
, imagesize = 180
, image2 = Basel 2012-08 Mattes 1 (283).JPG
, alt2 = S-Bahn train at B ...
, the commuter rail network connecting to suburbs surrounding the city, is jointly operated by SBB, SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
and DB.
Border crossings
Basel is located at the meeting point of France, Germany, and Switzerland; because it sits on the Swiss national border and is beyond theJura Mountains
The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...
, many within the Swiss military
The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, sol ...
reportedly believe that the city is indefensible during wartime. It has numerous road and rail crossings between Switzerland and the other two countries. With Switzerland joining the Schengen Area
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
on 12 December 2008, immigration checks were no longer carried out at the crossings. However, Switzerland did not join the European Union Customs Union
The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekel ...
(though it did join the EU Single Market) and customs checks are still conducted at or near the crossings.
France-Switzerland (from east to west)
* Road crossings (with French road name continuation)
** Kohlenstrasse (Avenue de Bâle, Huningue). This crossing replaces the former crossing Hüningerstrasse further east.
** Elsässerstrasse (Avenue de Bâle, Saint-Louis)
** Autobahn A3 (A35 autoroute
The A35 autoroute is a toll free motorway in northeastern France. It is also known as the ''Autoroute des cigognes'' and the ''Voie Rapide du Piémont des Vosges''. It connects the German border in the Rhine valley with the Swiss frontier vi ...
, Saint-Louis), crossing Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...
, Colmar
Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...
and Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
.
** EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area, french: Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse-Fribourg, it, Aeroporto di Basilea-Mulhouse-Friburgo, rm, Eroport da Basilea-Mu ...
– pedestrian walkway between the French and Swiss sections on Level 3 (departures) of airport.
** Burgfelderstrasse (Rue du 1er Mars, Saint Louis)
* Railway crossing
** Basel SBB railway station
Basel SBB railway station (german: Bahnhof Basel SBB, or in earlier times ''Centralbahnhof'' or ''Schweizer Bahnhof'') is the central railway station in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Opened in 1854, and completely rebuilt in 1900–1907, it is E ...
Germany-Switzerland (clockwise, from north to south)
* Road crossings (with German road name continuation)
** Hiltalingerstrasse (Zollstraße, Weil am Rhein
Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...
). Tram 8 goes along this road to Weil am Rhein. The extension opened in 2014; it used to end before the border.
** Autobahn A2 ( Autobahn A5, Weil am Rhein
Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...
)
** Freiburgerstrasse (Baslerstraße, Weil am Rhein
Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...
)
** Weilstrasse, Riehen
Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.
Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...
(Haupstraße, Weil am Rhein
Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...
)
** Lörracherstrasse, Riehen
Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.
Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...
(Baslerstraße, Stetten, Lörrach
Lörrach () is a town in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the capital of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, including the ...
)
** Inzlingerstrasse, Riehen
Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.
Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...
(Riehenstraße, Inzlingen
Inzlingen is a village in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
From the Fondation Beyeler, a famous art collection in Riehen in the canton Basel Stadt, Switzerland, the street Inzlingerstrasse goes uphill to Inz ...
)
** Grenzacherstrasse (Hörnle, Grenzach-Wyhlen
Grenzach-Wyhlen is a municipality in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, 7 km east of Basel, and 8 km south of Lörrach. It has borders to Inzlingen and Rheinfelden ...
)
* Railway crossing
** Between Basel SBB and Basel Badischer Bahnhof
Basel Badischer Bahnhof (literally "Basel Baden Railway station", the name referring to the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways, which built the station) is a railway station situated in the Swiss city of Basel. The station is situated on Swiss s ...
– Basel Badischer Bahnhof, and all other railway property and stations on the right bank of the Rhine belong to DB and are classed as German customs territory. Immigration and customs checks are conducted at the platform exit tunnel for passengers leaving trains here.
Additionally there are many footpaths and cycle tracks crossing the border between Basel and Germany.
Health
As the biggest town in the Northwest of Switzerland numerous public and private health centres are located in Basel. Among others the Universitätsspital Basel and the Universitätskinderspital Basel. The anthroposophical
Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers ...
health institute Klinik-Arlesheim (formerly known as Lukas-Klinik and Ita-Wegman-Klinik) are both located in the Basel area as well. Private health centres include the Bethesda Spital and the Merian Iselin Klinik. Additionally the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute is located in Basel too.
Energy
Basel is at the forefront of a national vision to more than halve energy use in Switzerland by 2050. To research, develop and commercialise the technologies and techniques required for the country to become a 2000 Watt society, a number of projects have been set up since 2001 in the Basel metropolitan area. These include demonstration buildings constructed toMinergie
Minergie is a registered quality label for new and refurbished low-energy-consumption buildings. This label is mutually supported by the Swiss Confederation, the Swiss Cantons and the Principality of Liechtenstein along with Trade and Industry. T ...
or ''Passivhaus
"Passive house" (german: Passivhaus) is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, which reduces the building's ecological footprint. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or coo ...
'' standards, electricity generation from renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
sources, and vehicles using natural gas, hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
and biogas
Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a ...
.
A building construction law was passed in 2002 also which stated that all new flat roofs must be greened leading to Basel becoming the world's leading green roof city. This was driven by an energy saving programme.
A hot dry rock geothermal energy
An enhanced geothermal system (EGS) generates geothermal electricity without the need for natural convection, convective hydrothermal resources. Until recently, geothermal power systems have exploited only resources where naturally occurring heat ...
project was cancelled in 2009 since it caused induced seismicity in Basel Induced seismicity in Basel led to suspension of its hot dry rock enhanced geothermal systems project. A seismic-hazard evaluation was then conducted, resulting in the cancellation of the project in December 2009. Basel, Switzerland sits atop a hist ...
.
Economy
The city of Basel, located in the north west of Switzerland, is one of the most dynamic economic regions of Switzerland.
, Basel had an unemployment rate of 3.7%. , 19.3% of the working population was employed in the secondary sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...
and 80.6% was employed in the tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
. There were 82,449 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which women made up 46.2% of the workforce.
the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employee, employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to me ...
jobs was 130,988. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 13, of which 10 were in agriculture and 4 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 33,171 of which 24,848 or (74.9%) were in manufacturing, 10 were in mining and 7,313 (22.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 97,804. In the tertiary sector; 12,880 or 13.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 11,959 or 12.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 6,120 or 6.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4,186 or 4.3% were in the information industry, 10,752 or 11.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 13,695 or 14.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 6,983 or 7.1% were in education and 16,060 or 16.4% were in health care.
, there were 121,842 workers who commuted into the municipality and 19,263 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 6.3 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 23.9% of the workforce coming into Basel are coming from outside Switzerland, while 1.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statwebaccessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 49.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 18.7% used a private car.
The Roche Tower
Roche Tower (german: Roche-Turm) is a skyscraper in the Switzerland, Swiss city of Basel. At 178 metres, it is the second List of tallest buildings in Switzerland, tallest building in the country.
The building, also known as "Building 1" (german: ...
, designed by Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd.,
" Herzog & de Meuron. Retrieved on 11 October 2012. "Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. R ...
, is 41 floors and high, upon its opening in 2015 it has become the tallest building in Switzerland. Basel has also Switzerland's third tallest building (" Herzog & de Meuron. Retrieved on 11 October 2012. "Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. R ...
Basler Messeturm
The Basler Messeturm (Basel Trade Fair Tower) is the third tallest building in Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen ( ...
, ) and Switzerland's tallest tower ( St. Chrischona TV tower, ).
Chemical industry
The Swisschemical industry
The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. The ...
operates largely from Basel, and Basel also has a large pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
. Novartis
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
,Chen, Aric.Going to Basel
" ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. 11 June 2006. Retrieved on 12 January 2010. Syngenta
Syngenta AG is a provider of agricultural science and technology, in particular seeds and pesticides with its management headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It is owned by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
Syngenta was founded in 2 ...
, Ciba Specialty Chemicals
Ciba was a chemical company based in and near Basel, Switzerland. "Ciba" stood for "Chemische Industrie Basel" (Chemical Industries Basel). It was formed as the non-pharmaceuticals elements of Novartis were spun out in 1997, following the merger ...
, Clariant
Clariant AG is a Swiss multinational speciality chemicals company, formed in 1995 as a spin-off from Sandoz. The company is focused on four business areas: care chemicals (consumer and industrial); catalysis; natural resources (oil & mining, mine ...
, Hoffmann-La Roche
F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...
, Basilea Pharmaceutica
Basilea Pharmaceutica is a multinational specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It was formed as a spin-off entity from the drug giant Hoffmann–La Roche in October 2000. It is engaged in the development of antib ...
and Actelion are headquartered there. Pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals have become the modern focus of the city's industrial production.
In addition, Basel is a major European hub for Biotech and Biopharmaceuticals. There are plenty of small and mid-sized start-ups. The vibrant VC scene also supports this.
Banking
Banking is important to Basel: *UBS AG
UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...
maintains central offices in Basel.
* The Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks".
The BIS carries out its work thr ...
is located within the city and is the central banker's bank. The bank is controlled by a board of directors, which is composed of the elite central bankers of 11 countries (US, UK, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden).
:According to the BIS, "The choice of Switzerland for the seat of the BIS was a compromise by those countries that established the BIS: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. When consensus could not be reached on locating the Bank in London, Brussels or Amsterdam, the choice fell on Switzerland. An independent, neutral country, Switzerland offered the BIS less exposure to undue influence from any of the major powers. Within Switzerland, Basel was chosen largely because of its location, with excellent railway connections in all directions, especially important at a time when most international travel was by train."
:Created in May 1930, the BIS is owned by its member central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union,
and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
s, which are private entities. No agent of the Swiss public authorities may enter the premises without the express consent of the bank. The bank exercises supervision and police power over its premises. The bank enjoys immunity from criminal and administrative jurisdiction, as well as setting recommendations which become standard for the world's commercial bank
A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit.
It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...
ing system.
* Basel is also the location of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is a committee of banking supervisory authorities that was established by the central bank governors of the Group of Ten (G10) countries in 1974. The committee expanded its membership in 2009 a ...
, which is distinct from the BIS. It usually meets at the BIS premises in Basel. Responsible for the Basel Accord
The Basel Accords refer to the banking supervision accords (recommendations on banking regulations) issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS).
Basel I was developed through deliberations among central bankers from major countries ...
s (Basel I
Basel I is the first Basel Accord. It arose from deliberations by central bankers from major countries during the late 1970s and 1980s. In 1988, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in Basel, Switzerland, published a set of minimum ca ...
, Basel II
Basel II is the second of the Basel Accords, which are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. It is now extended and partially superseded by Basel III.
The Basel II Accord was publis ...
and Basel III
Basel III is the third Basel Accord, a framework that sets international standards for bank capital adequacy, stress testing, and liquidity requirements. Augmenting and superseding parts of the Basel II standards, it was developed in response to ...
), this organization fundamentally changed Risk management within its industry.
* Basel also hosts the headquarters of the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation
Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) is an independent, not-for-profit foundation under Swiss law active in the field of sustainable urban infrastructure. The CEO of GIB is Louis Downing.
Activities
GIB supports various stakeholders, su ...
, which is active in the field of sustainable infrastructure (financing).
Air
Swiss International Air Lines
Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
, the national airline of Switzerland, is headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area, french: Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse-Fribourg, it, Aeroporto di Basilea-Mulhouse-Friburgo, rm, Eroport da Basilea-Mu ...
in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel. Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair
Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport (german: Crossair AG für europäischen Regionalluftverkehr) was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, ne ...
was headquartered near Basel.
Media
''Basler Zeitung
''Basler Zeitung'' (literally: "Basler Newspaper"), or ''BaZ'', is a Swiss German-language regional daily newspaper, published in Basel.
History and profile
''Basler Zeitung'' was created in 1977 through the merger of the '' Basler Nachricht ...
'' ("BaZ") and ''bz Basel'' are the local newspapers. The local TV station is called ''Telebasel''. The German-speaking Swiss Radio and Television SRF company, part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation
The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (german: Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft; french: Société suisse de radiodiffusion et télévision; it, Società svizzera di radiotelevisione; rm, Societad Svizra da Radio e Televisiun; SRG ...
SRG SSR, holds offices in Basel as well. The academic publishers Birkhäuser
Birkhäuser was a Swiss publisher founded in 1879 by Emil Birkhäuser. It was acquired by Springer Science+Business Media in 1985. Today it is an imprint used by two companies in unrelated fields:
* Springer continues to publish science (particu ...
, Karger
Karger Publishers (also: Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers, S. Karger AG) is an academic publisher of scientific and medical journals and books. The current CEO is Daniel Ebneter.
History
The company was founded in 1890 in Berlin by Sam ...
and MDPI
MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) is a publisher of open access scientific journals. Founded by Shu-Kun Lin as a chemical sample archive, it now publishes over 390 peer-reviewed, open access journals. MDPI is the largest op ...
are based in Basel.
Trade fairs
Important trade shows includeArt Basel
Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
, the world's most important fair for modern and contemporary art, Baselworld
Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show is a global trade show of the international watch, jewellery and gem industry, organized each spring in the city of Basel, Switzerland, at the Messeplatz.
The last Baselworld was held March 21–26, 2019. In 2 ...
(watches and jewelry), Swissbau (construction and real estate) and Igeho (hotels, catering, take-away, care). The Swiss Sample Fair ("Schweizer Mustermesse") was the largest and oldest consumer fair in Switzerland. It was held from 2007 to 2019 and took place in Kleinbasel on the right bank of the Rhine.
Education
BesidesHumanism
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
the city of Basel has also been well known for its achievements in the field of mathematics. Among others, the mathematician Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
and the Bernoulli family
The Bernoulli family () of Basel was a patrician family, notable for having produced eight mathematically gifted academics who, among them, contributed substantially to the development of mathematics and physics during the early modern period.
...
have done research and been teaching at the local institutions for centuries. In 1910 the Swiss Mathematical Society was founded in the city and in the mid-twentieth century the Russian mathematician Alexander Ostrowski
Alexander Markowich Ostrowski ( uk, Олександр Маркович Островський; russian: Алекса́ндр Ма́ркович Остро́вский; 25 September 1893, in Kiev, Russian Empire – 20 November 1986, in Mont ...
taught at the local university.
In 2000 about 57,864 or (34.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 27,603 or (16.6%) have completed additional higher education (either university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
or a ''Fachhochschule
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
''). Of the 27,603 who completed tertiary schooling, 44.4% were Swiss men, 31.1% were Swiss women, 13.9% were non-Swiss men and 10.6% were non-Swiss women.
In 2010 11,912 students attended the University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
(55% female). 25% were foreign nationals, 16% were from canton of Basel-Stadt. In 2006, 6162 students studied at one of the nine academies of the FHNW (51% female).
, there were 5,820 students in Basel who came from another municipality, while 1,116 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Universities
Basel hosts Switzerland's oldest university, the University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
, dating from 1460. Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
, Paracelsus
Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.
He w ...
, Daniel Bernoulli
Daniel Bernoulli FRS (; – 27 March 1782) was a Swiss mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel. He is particularly remembered for his applications of mathematics to mechan ...
, Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
, Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history. Sigfri ...
, Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
, Tadeusz Reichstein
Tadeusz Reichstein (20 July 1897 – 1 August 1996) was a Polish-Swiss chemist and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (1950), which was awarded for his work on the isolation of cortisone.
Early life
Reichstein was born into a Pol ...
, Karl Jaspers
Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jasper ...
, Carl Gustav Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
and Karl Barth
Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...
worked there. The University of Basel is currently counted among the 90 best educational institutions worldwide.
In 2007, the ETH Zurich
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
(Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich) established the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in Basel. The creation of the D-BSSE was driven by a Swiss-wide research initiative SystemsX, and was jointly supported by funding from the ETH Zürich, the Swiss Government, the Swiss University Conference (SUC) and private industry.
Basel also hosts several academies of the ''Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Fachhochschule NW (FHNW)'': the FHNW Academy of Art and Design, FHNW Academy of Music, and the FHNW School of Business.
Basel is renowned for various scientific societies, such as the Entomological Society of Basel (Entomologische Gesellschaft Basel, EGB), which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005.
Volksschule
In 2005 16,939 pupils and students attended the ''Volksschule'' (the obligatory school time, including ''Kindergarten'' (127), primary schools (''Primarschule'', 25), and lower secondary schools (''Sekundarschule'', 10), of which 94% visited public schools and 39.5% were foreign nationals. In 2010 already 51.1% of all pupils spoke another language than German as their first language. In 2009 3.1% of the pupils visited special classes for pupils with particular needs. The average amount of study in primary school in Basel is 816 teaching hours per year.Upper secondary school
In 2010 65% of the youth finished their upper secondary education with a vocational training and education, 18% finished their upper secondary education with a Federal Matura at one of the five gymnasiums, 5% completed a ''Fachmaturität'' at the ''FMS'', 5% completed a ''Berufsmaturität'' synchronously to their vocational training, and 7% other kind of upper secondary maturity. 14.1% of all students at public gymnasiums were foreign nationals. The Maturity quota in 2010 was on a record high at 28.8% (32.8 female, 24.9% male).
Basel has five public gymnasiums (', ', ', ', '), each with its own profiles (different focus on major subjects, such as visual design, biology and chemistry, Italian, Spanish, or Latin languages, music, physics and applied mathematics, philosophy/education/psychology, and economics and law) that entitles students with a successful Matura
or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...
graduation to attend universities. And one ''Fachmaturitätsschule'', the ''FMS'', with six different major subjects (health/natural sciences, education, social work, design/art, music/theatre/dance, and communication/media) that entitles students with a successful Fachmatura graduation to attend ''Fachhochschule
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
n''. Four different ''höhere Fachschulen'' (higher vocational schools such as ''Bildungszentrum Gesundheit Basel-Stadt'' (health), ''Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel'' (trade), ''Berufsfachschule Basel'', ''Schule für Gestaltung Basel'' (design)) allows vocational students to improve their knowledge and know-how.
International schools
As a city with a percentage of foreigners of more than thirty-five percent and as one of the most important centres in the chemical and pharmaceutical field in the world, Basel counts several international schools including: ''Academia International School'', ''École Française de Bâle'', ''Freies Gymnasium Basel'' (private), ''Gymnasium am Münsterplatz'' (public), '' Schweizerisch-italienische Primarschule Sandro Pertini'',International School Basel
The International School of the Basel Region AG (ISBR AG) is an English-speaking school for students from ages 3–19 (PYP1-DP2). ISB is an authorised International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, and offers the following programmes:
*IB Di ...
and SIS Swiss International School
The SIS Swiss International Schools are a group of 17 private day schools in Switzerland, Germany and Brazil offering continuous education from kindergarten through to college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational inst ...
.
Libraries
Basel is home to at least 65 libraries. Some of the largest include; the Universitätsbibliothek Basel (main university library), the special libraries of the University of Basel, the ''Allgemein Bibliotheken der Gesellschaft für Gutes und Gemeinnütziges (GGG) Basel'', the Library of the ''Pädagogische Hochschule'', the Library of the ''Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit'' and the Library of the ''Hochschule für Wirtschaft''. There was a combined total () of 8,443,643 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 1,722,802 items were loaned out.Culture
Main sights
The red sandstoneMünster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
, one of the foremost late-Romanesque/early Gothic buildings in the Upper Rhine, was badly damaged in the great earthquake of 1356, rebuilt in the 14th and 15th century, extensively reconstructed in the mid-19th century and further restored in the late 20th century.Basel Münster website – Architecture 20th centuryaccessed 4 May 2012 A memorial to
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
lies inside the Münster. The City Hall from the 16th century is located on the Market Square and is decorated with fine murals on the outer walls and on the walls of the inner court.
Basel is also host to an array of buildings by internationally renowned architects. These include the Beyeler Foundation
The Beyeler Foundation or Fondation Beyeler with its museum in Riehen, near Basel (Switzerland), owns and oversees the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, which features modern and traditional art. The Beyeler Foundation museum includes a s ...
by Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...
, or the Vitra complex in nearby Weil am Rhein, composed of buildings by architects such as Zaha Hadid
Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...
(fire station), Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions.
His works are considered ...
(Design Museum
The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...
), Álvaro Siza Vieira
Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira (born 25 June 1933) is a Portuguese architect, and architectural educator. He is internationally known as Álvaro Siza () and in Portugal as Siza Vieira ().
Early life and education
Siza was born in Matosin ...
(factory building) and Tadao Ando
is a Japanese autodidact architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize.
Early life
Ando was born a few m ...
(conference centre). Basel also features buildings by Mario Botta
Mario Botta (born 1 April 1943) is a Swiss architect.
Career
Botta designed his first building, a two-family house at Morbio Superiore in Ticino, at age 16. He graduated from the Università Iuav di Venezia (1969). While the arrangements of spa ...
(Jean Tinguely Museum and Bank of International settlements) and Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd.,
" Herzog & de Meuron. Retrieved on 11 October 2012. "Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. R ...
(whose architectural practice is in Basel, and who are best known as the architects of " Herzog & de Meuron. Retrieved on 11 October 2012. "Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. R ...
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
in London and the Bird's Nest in Beijing, the Olympia stadium, which was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics). The city received the Wakker Prize
The Wakker Prize (German: ''Wakkerpreis'', French: ''Prix Wakker'', Italian: ''Premio Wakker'') is awarded annually by the Swiss Heritage Society to a Municipality of Switzerland for the development and preservation of its architectural herita ...
in 1996.
Heritage sites
Basel features a great number of heritage sites of national significance. These include the entire Old Town of Basel as well as the following buildings and collections:
;Churches and monasteries :Old Catholic
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...
''Prediger Kirche'' (church), ''Bischofshof'' with Collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...
at Rittergasse 1, ''Domhof'' at Münsterplatz 10–12, former Carthusian
The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...
House of St Margarethental, Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Church of St Antonius, ''Lohnhof'' (former Augustinians
Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
Collegiate Church), Mission 21, Archive of the ''Evangelisches Missionswerk Basel'', Münster of Basel (cathedral), Reformed
Reform is beneficial change
Reform may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
*''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
'' Elisabethenkirche'' (church), Reformed ''Johanneskirche'' (church), Reformed ''Leonhardskirche'' (church, former Augustinians
Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
Abbey), Reformed ''Martinskirche'' (church), Reformed ''Pauluskirche'' (church), Reformed ''Peterskirche'' (church), Reformed ''St. Albankirche'' (church) with cloister and cemetery, Reformed ''Theodorskirche'' (church), Synagoge at Eulerstrasse 2
;Secular buildings:
''Badischer Bahnhof'' (German Baden's railway station) with fountain, Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks".
The BIS carries out its work thr ...
, ''Blaues Haus (Reichensteinerhof)'' at Rheinsprung 16, ''Bruderholzschule'' (school house) at Fritz-Hauser-Strasse 20, ''Brunschwiler Haus'' at Hebelstrasse 15, '' Bahnhof Basel SBB'' (Swiss railway station), ''Bürgerspital'' (hospital), ''Café Spitz (Merianflügel)'', ''Coop Schweiz'' company's central archive, Depot of the ''Archäologischen Bodenforschung des Kanton Basel-Stadt'', former Gallizian Paper Mill and Swiss Museum of Paper, former ''Klingental-Kaserne'' (casern) with ''Klingentaler Kirche'' (church), ''Fasnachtsbrunnen'' (fountain), ''Feuerschützenhaus'' (guild house of the riflemen) at Schützenmattstrasse 56, ''Fischmarktbrunnen'' (fountain), ''Geltenzunft'' at Marktplatz 13, ''Gymnasium am Kohlenberg (St Leonhard)'' (school), ''Hauptpost'' (main post office), ''Haus zum Raben'' at Aeschenvorstadt 15, ''Hohenfirstenhof'' at Rittergasse 19, ''Holsteinerhof'' at Hebelstrasse 30, Markgräflerhof
The Markgräflerhof is a baroque palace in Basel, Switzerland, built by the margraves of Baden-Durlach, who used it as an extraterritorial residence as their principality including its residences was often the victim of wars and armies. The ma ...
a former palace of the margraves of Baden-Durlach
The Margraviate of Baden-Durlach was an early modern territory of the Holy Roman Empire, in the upper Rhine valley, which existed from 1535 to 1771. It was formed when the Margraviate of Baden was split between the sons of Margrave Christopher ...
, ''Mittlere Rhein Brücke'' (Central Rhine Bridge), ''Stadtcasino'' (music hall) at Steinenberg 14, ''Ramsteinerhof'' at Rittergasse 7 and 9, Rathaus (town hall), ''Rundhof'' building of the ''Schweizerischen Mustermesse'', ''Safranzunft'' at Gerbergasse 11, ''Sandgrube'' at Riehenstrasse 154, ''Schlösschen'' (Manor house) Gundeldingen, ''Schönes Haus'' and ''Schöner Hof'' at Nadelberg 6, ''Wasgenring'' school house, ''Seidenhof'' with painting of Rudolf von Habsburg, ''Spalenhof'' at Spalenberg 12, ''Spiesshof'' at Heuberg 7, city walls, Townhouse (former post office) at Stadthausgasse 13 / Totengässlein 6, ''Weisses Haus'' at Martinsgasse 3, ''Wildt'sches Haus'' at Petersplatz 13, ''Haus zum Neuen Singer'' at Speiserstrasse 98, ''Wolfgottesacker'' at Münchensteinerstrasse 99, ''Zerkindenhof'' at Nadelberg 10.
;Archaeological sites: The Celtic Settlement at ''Gasfabrik'', ''Münsterhügel'' and ''Altstadt'' (historical city, late La Tène and medieval settlement).
;Museums, archives and collections: Basel calls itself the ''Cultural Capital of Switzerland''.
Among others, there is the Anatomical Museum of the University Basel, Berri-Villen and Museum of Ancient Art Basel and Ludwig Collection, Former Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
''Barefoot'' Order Church and Basel Historical Museum
The Basel Historical Museum (german: Historisches Museum Basel) is one of the largest and most important museums of its kind in Switzerland and a heritage site of national significance. It opened in 1892. The museum is divided into three building ...
, Company Archive of Novartis, ''Haus zum Kirschgarten'' which is part of the Basel Historical Museum
The Basel Historical Museum (german: Historisches Museum Basel) is one of the largest and most important museums of its kind in Switzerland and a heritage site of national significance. It opened in 1892. The museum is divided into three building ...
, Historic Archive Roche and Industrial Complex Hoffmann-La Roche, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Caricature & Cartoon Museum Basel
Cartoonmuseum Basel is the only museum and centre of excellence in Switzerland devoted exclusively to the art of narrative drawing, be it in comics, graphic novels, comics reportage, cartoons, satirical drawings or animated films. It collects ...
, Karl Barth-Archive, ''Kleines Klingental'' (Lower Klingen Valley) with Museum Klingental, Art Museum of Basel, hosting the world's oldest art collection accessible to the public, Natural History Museum of Basel
Natural History Museum Basel (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Basel) is a natural history museum in Basel, Switzerland that houses wide-ranging collections focused on the fields of zoology, entomology, mineralogy, anthropology, osteology and pal ...
and the Museum of Cultures Basel
The Museum of Cultures in Basel ( German: Museum der Kulturen Basel) is a Swiss museum of ethnography with large and important collections of artifacts, especially from Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a contine ...
, Museum of Modern Art Basel with the E. Hoffmann collection, Museum Jean Tinguely Basel, Music Museum, Pharmacy Historical Museum of the University of Basel, Poster Collection of the School for Design (''Schule für Gestaltung''), Swiss Business Archives, Sculpture Hall, Sports Museum of Switzerland, Archives of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, UBS
UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...
AG Corporate Archives, University Library with manuscripts and music collection, Zoological Garden (''Zoologischer Garten'').
Theatre and music
Basel is the home of theSchola Cantorum Basiliensis
The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...
, founded in 1933, a worldwide centre for research on and performance of music from the Medieval through the Baroque eras. Theater Basel
Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas.
Because the theatre does not ha ...
, chosen in 1999 as the best stage for German-language performances and in 2009 and 2010 as "Opera house of the year" by German opera magazine ''Opernwelt
''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...
'', presents a busy schedule of plays in addition to being home to the city's opera and ballet companies. Basel is home to the largest orchestra in Switzerland, the Sinfonieorchester Basel The Sinfonieorchester Basel (Symphony Orchestra Basel; Swiss abbreviation SOB) is a symphony orchestra based in Basel, Switzerland. Its principal concert venue is the ''Musiksaal'' of the Stadtcasino. In addition, the orchestra accompanies ballet ...
. It is also the home of the Basel Sinfonietta
The Basel Sinfonietta is a Swiss orchestra, based in Basel.
History
The Basel Sinfonietta was founded in 1980, as a self-governing ensemble, by a group of young musicians with a focus on contemporary classical music. The orchestra has presented ...
and the Kammerorchester Basel
The chamber orchestra Kammerorchester Basel (also: Kammerorchesterbasel) was founded in Basel, Switzerland, in 1984. In the tradition of Paul Sacher's ''Basler Kammerorchester'', its focus is on both early music and contemporary classical music. ...
, which recorded the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
for the Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
label, led by its music director Giovanni Antonini
Giovanni Antonini (born 1965) is an Italian conductor and soloist on the recorder and baroque transverse flute. He studied in his native Milan, and attended the Civica Scuola di Musica in that city and the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. In 1 ...
. The Schola Cantorum and the Basler Kammerorchester were both founded by the conductor Paul Sacher
Paul Sacher (28 April 190626 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron and billionaire businessperson. At the time of his death Sacher was majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was considered the third richest person i ...
, who went on to commission works by many leading composers. The Paul Sacher Foundation, opened in 1986, houses a major collection of manuscripts, including the entire Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
archive.
The baroque orchestras La Cetra and Capriccio Basel are also based in Basel.
In May 2004, the fifth European Festival of Youth Choirs (Europäisches Jugendchorfestival, or EJCF) opened; this Basel tradition started in 1992. Host of the festival is the local Basel Boys Choir
The Basel Boys Choir (Knabenkantorei Basel ''KKB is a boys' choir based in Basel, Switzerland; it grew out of the boys' choir of the Protestant Church of Basel-City, founded by Hermann Ulbrich in 1927. Today the choir is non-denominational. The ...
.
In 1997, Basel contended to become the " European Capital of Culture", though the honor went to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
.
Museums
The Basel museums cover a broad and diverse spectrum of collections
Collection or Collections may refer to:
* Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department
* Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service
* Collection agency, agency to collect cash
* Collection ...
with a marked concentration in the fine arts. They house numerous holdings of international significance. The over three dozen institutions yield an extraordinarily high density of museums compared to other cities of similar size and draw over one million visitors annually.
Constituting an essential component of Basel culture and cultural policy, the museums are the result of closely interwoven private and public collecting activities and promotion of arts and culture going back to the 16th century. The public museum collection was first created back in 1661 and represents the oldest public collection in continuous existence in Europa. Since the late 1980s, various private collections have been made accessible to the public in new purpose-built structures that have been recognized as acclaimed examples of avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
museum architecture Museum architecture has been of increasing importance over the centuries, especially more recently.
A challenge for museum architecture is the differing purposes of the building. The museum collection must be preserved, but it also needs to be made ...
.
* Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig
The Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig (Basel Museum of Ancient Art and Ludwig Collection) is one of the many museums in the city of Basel, Switzerland and a heritage site of national significance. In 1961 the city of Basel decided to esta ...
Ancient cultures of the Mediterranean museum
* Augusta Raurica
Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roma ...
Roman open-air museum
* Basel Paper Mill
The Basel Paper Mill ( German: ''Basler Papiermühle''), also known as the Swiss Museum for Paper, Writing and Printing ( German: ''Schweizerisches Museum für Papier, Schrift und Druck'') in Basel, is primarily dedicated to papermaking, the art ...
(german: link=no, Basler Papiermühle)
* Beyeler Foundation
The Beyeler Foundation or Fondation Beyeler with its museum in Riehen, near Basel (Switzerland), owns and oversees the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, which features modern and traditional art. The Beyeler Foundation museum includes a s ...
(Foundation BeyelerBeyeler Museum (Fondation Beyeler)
* Botanical Garden Base
*
Caricature & Cartoon Museum Basel
Cartoonmuseum Basel is the only museum and centre of excellence in Switzerland devoted exclusively to the art of narrative drawing, be it in comics, graphic novels, comics reportage, cartoons, satirical drawings or animated films. It collects ...
(german: link=no, Karikatur & Cartoon Museum Basel)
* Dollhouse Museum
The Dollhouse Museum ( German: ''Puppenhausmuseum'') in Basel is the largest museum of its kind in Europe. Now known as the Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel (Toy Worlds Museum Basle). The museum is located at Barfüsserplatz in the city center.
Col ...
(german: link=no, Puppenhausmuseum) a museum housing the largest teddy bear collection in Europe.
* Foundation Fernet Branca (french: link=no, Fondation Fernet Branca) in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin
Saint-Louis (; gsw-FR, Sä-Louis; german: Sankt Ludwig) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.
The inhabitants are called ''Ludoviciens''.
History
Following the conquest of the Sundgau and other parts of ...
near Basel. Modern art collection.
* Historical Museum Basel (german: link=no, Historisches Museum Basel)
* Kunsthalle Basel
Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland. As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre and is located next to the city's ...
Modern and contemporary art museum
* Kunstmuseum Basel
The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance.
Its lineage extends back to t ...
Upper Rhenish and Flemish painting
Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century, gradually becoming distinct from the painting of the rest of the Low Countries, especially the modern Netherlands. In the early period, up to about 1520, the painting ...
s, drawings from 1400 to 1600 and 19th- to 21st-century art
* Monteverdi Automuseum
* Museum of Cultures Basel
The Museum of Cultures in Basel ( German: Museum der Kulturen Basel) is a Swiss museum of ethnography with large and important collections of artifacts, especially from Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a contine ...
(german: link=no, Museum der Kulturen Basel) Large collections on European and non-European cultural life
* Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
Art from the 1960s up to the present
* Music Museum
This worldwide list of music museums encompasses past and present museums that focus on musicians, musical instruments or other musical subjects.
Argentina
* – Mina Clavero
* Academia Nacional del Tango de la República Argentina – Buenos ...
(german: link=no, Musikmuseum) of the Basel Historic Museum
* Natural History Museum of Basel
Natural History Museum Basel (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Basel) is a natural history museum in Basel, Switzerland that houses wide-ranging collections focused on the fields of zoology, entomology, mineralogy, anthropology, osteology and pal ...
(german: link=no, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel)
* Pharmazie-Historisches Museum der Universität Basel
* Schaulager
The Schaulager is a museum in Newmünchenstein, a sub-district of Münchenstein in the canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland.
Built in 2002/2003 under commission of the Laurenz Foundation, it was designed by the renowned architectural office of ...
Modern and contemporary art museum
* Swiss Architecture Museum
The S AM Swiss Architecture Museum (german: S AM Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum) is an architecture museum in Basel, Switzerland. Through its program of temporary exhibitions and events, it contributes to international debates on architecture ...
(german: link=no, Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum)
* Tinguely Museum Life and work of the major Swiss iron sculptor Jean Tinguely
Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art s ...
* Jewish Museum of Switzerland
The Jewish Museum of Switzerland in Basel provides an overview of the religious and everyday history of the Jews in Basel and Switzerland using objects of ritual, art and everyday culture from Middle Ages, the Middle Ages to the present.
Histo ...
Events
The city of Basel is a centre for numerous fairs and events all year round. One of the most important fairs for contemporary art worldwide is theArt Basel
Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
which was founded in 1970 by Ernst Beyeler and takes place in June each year. Baselworld
Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show is a global trade show of the international watch, jewellery and gem industry, organized each spring in the city of Basel, Switzerland, at the Messeplatz.
The last Baselworld was held March 21–26, 2019. In 2 ...
, the watch and jewellery show (''Uhren- und Schmuckmesse'') one of the biggest fairs of its kind in Europe is held every year as well, and attracts a great number of tourists and dealers to the city. Live marketing company and fair organizer MCH Group
MCH Group AG is an international live marketing company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It takes in several exhibition companies in Switzerland and organizes and hosts about 90 exhibitions, including the Art Basel shows in Basel, Miami Be ...
has its head office in Basel.
The carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
of the city of Basel (''Basler Fasnacht
The Carnival of Basel (german: Basler Fasnacht) is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and takes place annually between February and March in Basel. It has been listed as one of the top fifty local festivities in Europe.
Since 2017, the Carnival ...
'') is a major cultural event in the year. The carnival is the biggest in Switzerland and attracts large crowds every year, despite the fact that it starts at exactly four o'clock in the morning (''Morgestraich'') on a winter Monday. The Fasnacht asserts Basel's Protestant history by commencing the revelry five days after Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...
and continuing exactly 72 hours. Almost all study and work in the old city cease. Dozens of fife and drum clubs parade in medieval guild tradition with fantastical masks and illuminated lanterns.
Basel Tattoo
Basel Tattoo is an annual military tattoo show performed by International military bands, display teams, popular musicians, and tattoo formations in Basel, Switzerland.
Since 2006, Basel Tattoo has had annual stage-arena performances within the B ...
, founded in 2006 by the local Top Secret Drum Corps
Top Secret Drum Corps is a drum corps based in Basel, Switzerland. With 25 drummers and colour guard section, the corps became famous for its demanding six-minute routine performed at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2003. With its invit ...
, has grown to be the world's second largest military tattoo in terms of performers and budget after the Edinburgh Military Tattoo
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of S ...
.Basel's tattoo spins to successswissinfo.ch, written 2008-7-15, retrieved 13 July 2012 The Basel Tattoo annual parade, with an estimated 125,000 visitors, is considered the largest event in Basel. The event is now sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), making it the official
military tattoo
A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase ''doe den tap toe'' ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeeper ...
of Switzerland.
Cuisine
There are a number of culinary specialties originating in Basel, including ''Basler Läckerli'' cookies and ''Mässmogge'' candies. Being located in the meeting place between Switzerland, France and Germany the culinary landscape as a whole is very varied and diverse, making it a city with a great number of restaurants of all sorts.Zoo
''Zoo Basel
Zoo Basel is a non-profit zoo in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Its official name is ''Zoologischer Garten Basel'' — or in English: Basel Zoological Garden. Basel residents affectionately call it ''Zolli''.
'' is, with over 1.7 million visitors per year, Besucherrekord beim ZolliBasler Zeitung
''Basler Zeitung'' (literally: "Basler Newspaper"), or ''BaZ'', is a Swiss German-language regional daily newspaper, published in Basel.
History and profile
''Basler Zeitung'' was created in 1977 through the merger of the '' Basler Nachricht ...
, published 23 February 2012 the most visited tourist attraction in Basel and the second most visited tourist attraction in Switzerland. Zolli beliebt. 20 Minuten, 20min.ch, published 23 February 2009 Established in 1874, Zoo Basel is the oldest zoo in Switzerland and, by number of animals, the largest. Through its history, Zoo Basel has had several breeding successes, such as the first worldwide Indian rhinoceros birth Eröffnung des Panzernashornhauses
. Zoo Basel, written 2006-09-26, retrieved 3 December 2009 and Greater flamingo hatch in a zoo. These and other achievements led Forbes Travel to rank Zoo Basel as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world in 2008.Forbes Travel
GetListy, retrieved 26 March 2010 Despite its international fame, Basel's population remains attached to Zoo Basel, which is entirely surrounded by the city of Basel. Evidence of this is the millions of donations money each year, as well as Zoo Basel's unofficial name: locals lovingly call "their" zoo "''Zolli''" by which is it known throughout Basel and most of Switzerland.
Sport
Basel has a reputation in Switzerland as a successful sporting city. The association football, football club FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...
continues to be successful and in recognition of this the city was one of the Swiss venues for the UEFA Euro 2008, 2008 European Championships, as well as Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
and Bern. The championships were jointly hosted by Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and Austria. BSC Old Boys and Concordia Basel are the other football teams in Basel.
Among the most popular sports in Switzerland is ice hockey. Basel is home to the EHC Basel which plays in the 1. Liga (ice hockey), MySports League, the third tier of the Swiss ice hockey league system. They play their home games in the 6,700-seat St. Jakob Arena. The team previously played in the National League (ice hockey), National League and the Swiss League, but they had to file for bankruptcy after the 2013-14 National League B season, 2013–14 Swiss League season.
Amongst its major sports venues, Basel features a large St. Jakob-Park, football stadium that has been awarded four stars by UEFA, a modern ice hockey arena, and a sports hall.
A large indoor tennis event takes place in Basel every October. Some of the best Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP-professionals play every year at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, Swiss Indoors, including Switzerland's biggest sporting hero and frequent participant Roger Federer, a Basel native who describes the city as "one of the most beautiful cities in the world".
The annual Basel Rhine Swim draws several thousand visitors to the city to swim in or float on the Rhine.
While football and ice hockey are by far the most popular sports, basketball has a very small but faithful fan base. The top division, called the Swiss Basketball League, SBL, is a semi-professional league and has one team from the Basel region, the "Birstal Starwings".
Two players from Switzerland are currently active in the NBA, Thabo Sefolosha and Clint Capela. As in most European countries, and contrary to the U.S., Switzerland has a club-based rather than a school-based competition system. The Starwings Basel are the only first division basketball team in German-speaking Switzerland.
The headquarters of the International Handball Federation, IHF (International Handball Federation) is located in Basel.
Basel Dragons AFC have been playing Australian rules football, Australian Football in the AFL Switzerland league since 2019.
Notable people
Notable people who were born or grew up in Basel:
* Gaspard Bauhin (1560–1624), botanist and anatomist
* Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593–1650) an engraver
* Johannes Buxtorf II (1599–1664) a Protestant Christian Hebraist
* Jacob Bernoulli, (1654–1705) mathematician
* Johann Bernoulli
Johann Bernoulli (also known as Jean or John; – 1 January 1748) was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is known for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and educating L ...
, (1667–1748) mathematician
* Johann Jakob Wettstein (1693–1754) a theologian and New Testament critic
* Maximilian Ulysses Browne (1705–1757) Austrian field marshal
* Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
, (1707–1783) mathematician, physicist and astronomer
* Johann Peter Hebel (1760–1826) a German short story writer, poet and Lutheran theologian
* Johann Jakob Herzog (1805–1882) a Swiss-German Protestant theologian
* Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history. Sigfri ...
(1818–1897) historian of art and culture.
* Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901) a symbolist painter
* Karl Barth
Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...
(1886--1968) Swiss Reformed theologian, best known for his involvement with the Confessing Church and Christian resistance to Hitler
* Rudy Burckhardt, (1914–1999) American filmmaker and photographer
* Martina Gmür (born 1979), Swiss visual artist
* Peter Zumthor, (born 1943) architect
* Heidi Köpfer, (born 1954) choreographer, dancer and video artist
* DJ Antoine, Antoine Konrad (born 1975) known as ''DJ Antoine'' a DJ and record producer
* Roger Federer, (born 1981) professional tennis player
* Granit Xhaka, (born 1992) professional footballer with 100 caps with Switzerland national football team, Switzerland
Picture gallery
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
(est. in 1460)
File:Basel, straatzicht Barfüssenplatz foto4 2013-07-27 10.01.jpg, Barfüsserplatz
File:R0014737A.jpg, Münsterplatz
File:Basel, Wettsteinbrücke met kathedraal op de achtergrond foto10 2013-07-21 09.08.jpg, Wettsteinbrücke
File:BIZ Basel.jpg, Global seat of the Bank for International Settlements
File:Haus zum Kirschgarten 2008-03-30.jpg, ''Haus zum Kirschgarten''
File:Basel - Spalentor.jpg, Spalentor
File:Basel (9486189627) (3).jpg, People swimming in the Rhine
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
* * * * * *External links
*Official tourism site
{{Authority control Basel, Cultural property of national significance in Basel-Stadt Municipalities of Basel-Stadt Cantonal capitals of Switzerland Cities in Switzerland Populated places on the Rhine Port cities and towns in Switzerland Free imperial cities Germany–Switzerland border crossings France–Switzerland border crossings Border tripoints Turkish communities outside Turkey