The Birsig is a rather small river in eastern

France 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 northern Switzerland. Its source is in the village

Biederthal Biederthal ( gsw, Bierthel) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is located on the border with Switzerland, next to the Swiss villages of Rodersdorf and Metzerlen-Mariastein. See also *Communes of the H ...

, in the French

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...

department, near the Swiss border. The Birsig is about long, and its watershed area is about . It flows variably through Swiss and French territory and through the Birsig Valley. Afterwards it passes the city of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, where it enters the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

(left bank). The river Birsig originally flowed openly through Basel, but the river was long ago channelled and its banks built up to prevent water damage to the houses. The river flowed directly along the houses in the lower part of the city, where many bridges were built over. It took the fecal waste from the houses and was therefore called "the city's big cloaca", which favoured the outbreak of cholera and

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

. Nowadays the Birsig is covered over for most of its course in Basel; there are just a few hundred meters around the city

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

where the Birsig can be seen openly.

References

External links

Photography of the Birsig kloak
Rivers of Switzerland Rivers of France International rivers of Europe Rivers of Basel-Stadt Rivers of Grand Est Rivers of Haut-Rhin {{France-river-stub