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, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (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 (BL),
Birsfelden Birsfelden (Swiss German: ''Birsfälde'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Birsfelden is first mentioned in 1274 as ''minor Rinvelden''. Around 1500 it was first mentioned as ...
(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 (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), Saint-Louis (FR-68), Weil am Rhein (DE-BW) , twintowns = Shanghai, Miami Beach , website = www.bs.ch Basel ( , ), also known as Basle ( ),french: Bâle ; it, Basilea ; rm, label= Sutsilvan, Basileia; other rm, Basilea . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...
and Geneva) with about 175,000 inhabitants. The official language of Basel is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local Basel German 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 (located in Riehen), the Museum Tinguely and the Museum of Contemporary Art, 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, Switzerland's oldest university (founded in 1460), and the city's centuries-long commitment to humanism, 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'' w ...
, the Holbein family, Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, and in the 20th century also Hermann Hesse and Karl Jaspers. 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 The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
, 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., w ...
and pharmaceutical industries in the 20th century. In 1897, Basel was chosen by Theodor Herzl 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 name of the city is internationally known through institutions like the Basel Accords,
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. In 2019 Basel was ranked the tenth most liveable city in the world by Mercer.


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 in Bazeilles), 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 becomes closely associated with the city, used as heraldic supporter from 1448, represented on coins minted by the city, and frequently found in ornaments. The Middle French 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. ...
...
. 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 '' Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan''.


History


Early history

There are traces of a settlement at the nearby Rhine knee 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 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 map is a 13th-ce ...
''). 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 ...
, 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 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 of Germania Superior. 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'' formed by Diocletian. '' Basilia'' is first named by the Ammianus Marcellinus 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 attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled; one such event was the Battle of Solicinium (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 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 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 by the 7th century; based on the evidence of a gold ''
tremissis The tremissis or tremis (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 relative to the soli ...
'' (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 * ...
'') 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, replacing the ancient bishopric of Augusta Raurica, 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 through the Treaty of Verdun in 843, Basel was first given to West Francia and became its German exclave. It passed to East Francia 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 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'', ...
, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032.


Prince-Bishopric of Basel

From the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey 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 Freder ...
in 999 until the Reformation, 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. 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, Heinrich Steinlin of Murbach, for 1253. The first bridge across the Rhine was built in 1225 under bishop Heinrich von Thun (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 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 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 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 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. 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. This was seen as a serious breach of the peace, 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 t ...
, 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 in 1385, and many knights of the pro-Habsburg faction, along with duke Leopold himself, were killed in the Battle of Sempach 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 as the heraldic charge in the coat of arms of Basel 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 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, 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 endowed the University of Basel, 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'' w ...
and Paracelsus later taught. At the same time the new craft of printing was introduced to Basel by apprentices of Johann Gutenberg. In 1461, the land around Farnsburg 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 ...
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 and
Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...
, 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's great exposition of Calvinist 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. In 1543, '' De humani corporis fabrica'', 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 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,
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 Le ...
and Daniel Bernoulli, were from Basel. The 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler was born in Basel and studied under Johann Bernoulli.


Modern history

In 1792, the Republic of Rauracia, a revolutionary French client republic, 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 Slighting, slighted. On 3 July 1874, Switzerland's first zoo, the Zoo Basel, opened its doors in the south of the city towards Binningen. 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 was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel. In 1967, the population of 1967 Basel Picasso paintings purchase referendum, 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 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. The Treaty of Basel (1499) 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 ...
. Two years later Basel joined the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The Peace of Basel in 1795 between the French First Republic, French Republic and Prussia and Spain ended the First Coalition against France during the French Revolutionary Wars. In more recent times, the World Zionist Organization held its first congress in Basel from 29 August through 31 August 1897. Because of the Balkan Wars, the (Socialist) Second International held an extraordinary congress at Basel in 1912. In 1989, the Basel Convention was opened for signature with the aim of preventing the export of hazardous waste from wealthy to developing country, developing nations 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 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.


Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Köppen system, Basel features an oceanic climate (Köppen: ''Cfb''), although with notable continental climate, continental influences due to its relatively far inland position with cool to cold, overcast winters and warm to hot, humid summers. The city averages 118.2 days of rain or snow annually and on average receives of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. 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 Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss half-canton of Basel-Stadt.


Canton

The canton Basel-Stadt consists of three municipalities: Riehen, 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 Kleinhüningen


Government

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 is Beat Jans. The executive body holds its meetings in the red Basel Town Hall, Town Hall (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 of Switzerland, Social Democratic Party) including the president, two LDP (Liberal-Demokratische Partei of Basel), and one member each of Green Liberal Party of Switzerland, Green Liberals (glp), and CVP (Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, Christian Democratic Party). 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, the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (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 Proportional representation, Proporz. 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 of Switzerland, Social Democratic Party (SP), 18 (+5) ''Grün-Alternatives Bündnis (GAB)'' (a collaboration of the Green Party of Switzerland, Green Party (GPS), its junior party, and Basels starke Alternative (BastA!)), 14 (-1) Liberal-Demokratische Partei of Basel, Liberal-Demokratische Partei (LDP), 11 (-4) members of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), 8 (+5) Green Liberal Party of Switzerland, Green Liberal Party (glp), 7 (-3) FDP.The Liberals, The Liberals (FDP), 7 (-) Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), 3 (+2) Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland, 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 Swiss federal election, 2019 federal election the most popular party was the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, Social Democratic Party (SP) which received two seats with 34% (−1) of the votes. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party of Switzerland, Green Party (GPS) (19.4%, +7.3), the Liberal Party of Switzerland, LPS (14.5%, +3.6) and the FDP.The Liberals, FDP (5.8, −3.5), which are chained together at 20.3%, (+0.1), the Swiss People's Party, SVP (11.3%, ), and the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland, Green Liberal Party (GLP) (5%, +0.6), Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, CVP (4.1%, -1.9). In the federal election, a total of 44,628 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 49.4%. On 18 October 2015, in the 2015 Swiss federal election, federal election the most popular party was the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, Social Democratic Party (SP) which received two seats with 35% of the votes. The next three most popular parties were the FDP.The Liberals, FDP (20.2%), the Swiss People's Party, SVP (16.8%), and the Green Party of Switzerland, 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 was 50.4%.


Council of States

On 20 October 2019, in the 2019 Swiss federal election, federal election Eva Herzog, member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, 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 (Switzerland), Council of States () with an absolute majority of 37'210 votes. On 18 October 2015, in the 2015 Swiss federal election, federal election State Councillor (german: link=no, Ständerätin) Anita Fetz, member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, 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 (Switzerland), 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 two Twin towns and sister cities, sister cities and a twinning among two states: * US state of Massachusetts, since 2002 * Shanghai, China, since 2007 * Toyama Prefecture, Japan, since 2009 * Miami Beach, US, since 2011 * Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since 2021 * Seoul, South Korea, since 2022


Partner cities

* Rotterdam, 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 Office
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 population growth rate of 0.9%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Superweb database – Gemeinde Statistics 1981–2008
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 Mortgage loan, mortgage or a rent-to-own 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 Wohnungen
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 Swiss francs (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 prices
2003 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 language, Romansh.


Religion

From the , 41,916 or 25.2% were Roman Catholic, while 39,180 or 23.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 4,567 members of an Orthodoxy#Christianity, Orthodox church (or about 2.74% of the population), 459 individuals (or about 0.28% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, 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 Jews in Switzerland, Jewish descent living in Basel considerably higher. There were 746 individuals who were Buddhism, Buddhist, 947 individuals who were Hinduism, Hindu and 485 individuals who belonged to another church. 52,321 (or about 31.41% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or Atheism, atheist, 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 of Riehen 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 of continental Europe from North Sea, the North Sea 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 and connect to ocean-going ships at the port of Rotterdam.


Air transport

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg 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 Agreement, Schengen 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 railway station, Basel SBB) and French (Basel SBB railway station, Bâle SNCF) stations are actually in the same complex, separated by Customs and Immigration facilities). Basel Badischer Bahnhof is on the opposite side of the city. Basel's local rail services are supplied by the Basel Regional S-Bahn. The largest goods railway complex of the country is located just outside the city, spanning the municipalities of Muttenz and Pratteln. The new highspeed Intercity Express, ICE railway line from Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway, Karlsruhe to Basel was completed in 2008 while phase I of the LGV Rhin-Rhône, 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 (Switzerland), 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 of reaction ferry 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 source
Home/Aktuell - Fähri Verein Basel


Public transport

Basel has an extensive public transportation network serving the city and connecting to surrounding suburbs, including a large Basel Trams, tram network. Today, Basel has the largest tramway in terms of kilometers of rail tracks in Switzerland.Appenzeller, Stephan (1995).p.55 Historically, only Geneva had a larger one at some point. The green-colored local light rail, trams and buses are operated by the Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB). The yellow-colored buses and trams are operated by the Baselland Transport (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 region in Germany. The Basel Regional S-Bahn, the commuter rail network connecting to suburbs surrounding the city, is jointly operated by Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, SBB, SNCF and Deutsche Bahn, 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 the Jura Mountains, many within the Swiss military 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 on 12 December 2008, immigration checks were no longer carried out at the crossings. However, Switzerland did not join the European Union Customs Union (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, Saint-Louis), crossing
Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...
, Colmar and Strasbourg. ** EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg – 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 Germany-Switzerland (clockwise, from north to south) * Road crossings (with German road name continuation) ** Hiltalingerstrasse (Zollstraße, Weil am Rhein). Tram 8 goes along this road to Weil am Rhein. The extension opened in 2014; it used to end before the border. ** Autobahn A2 (Bundesautobahn 5, Autobahn A5, Weil am Rhein) ** Freiburgerstrasse (Baslerstraße, Weil am Rhein) ** Weilstrasse, Riehen (Haupstraße, Weil am Rhein) ** Lörracherstrasse, Riehen (Baslerstraße, Stetten, Lörrach) ** Inzlingerstrasse, Riehen (Riehenstraße, Inzlingen) ** Grenzacherstrasse (Hörnle, Grenzach-Wyhlen) * Railway crossing ** Between Basel SBB and Basel Badischer Bahnhof – Basel Badischer Bahnhof, and all other railway property and stations on the right bank of the Rhine belong to Deutsche Bundesbahn, 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 University Hospital of Basel, Universitätsspital Basel and the Universitätskinderspital Basel. The Anthroposophy, anthroposophical 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, 2000 Watt society, a number of projects have been set up since 2001 in the Basel metropolitan area. These include demonstration buildings constructed to Minergie or ''Passive house, Passivhaus'' standards, electricity generation from renewable energy sources, and vehicles using natural gas, hydrogen economy, hydrogen and biogas. 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 Enhanced geothermal systems, hot dry rock geothermal energy project was cancelled in 2009 since it caused induced seismicity in Basel.


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 of the economy, secondary sector and 80.6% was employed in the Tertiary sector of the economy, tertiary sector. 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 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 – Statweb
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 Roche Tower, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, 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 (Basler Messeturm, ) and Switzerland's tallest tower (Swisscom-Sendeturm St. Chrischona, St. Chrischona TV tower, ).


Chemical industry

The Swiss chemical industry operates largely from Basel, and Basel also has a large Pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland, pharmaceutical industry. Novartis,Chen, Aric.
Going to Basel
" ''The New York Times''. 11 June 2006. Retrieved on 12 January 2010. Syngenta, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Clariant, Hoffmann–La Roche, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basilea Pharmaceutica 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 maintains central offices in Basel. * The Bank for International Settlements 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 banks, 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 banking system. * Basel is also the location of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which is distinct from the BIS. It usually meets at the BIS premises in Basel. Responsible for the Basel Accords (Basel I, Basel II Accord, Basel II and Basel III), this organization fundamentally changed Risk management within its industry. * Basel also hosts the headquarters of the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation, which is active in the field of sustainable infrastructure (financing).


Air

Swiss International Air Lines, the national airline of Switzerland, is headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel. Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair was headquartered near Basel.


Media

''Basler Zeitung'' ("BaZ") and ''bz Basel'' are the local newspapers. The local TV station is called ''Telebasel''. The German-speaking Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, Swiss Radio and Television SRF company, part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR, holds offices in Basel as well. The academic publishers Birkhäuser, Karger Publishers, Karger and MDPI are based in Basel.


Trade fairs

Important trade shows include
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 ...
, the world's most important fair for modern and contemporary art, Baselworld (watches and jewelry), Swissbau (construction and real estate) and Igeho (hotels, catering, take-away, care). The Mustermesse Basel, 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

Besides Humanism the city of Basel has also been well known for its achievements in the field of mathematics. Among others, the mathematician Leonhard Euler and the Bernoulli family 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 taught at the local university. In 2000 about 57,864 or (34.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory Education in Switzerland#Secondary, upper secondary education, and 27,603 or (16.6%) have completed additional higher education (either List of universities in Switzerland, university or a ''Fachhochschule''). 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 (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, dating from 1460. Desiderius Erasmus, Erasmus, Paracelsus, Daniel Bernoulli, Leonhard Euler, Jacob Burckhardt, Friedrich Nietzsche, Tadeusz Reichstein, Karl Jaspers, Carl Jung, Carl Gustav Jung and Karl Barth worked there. The University of Basel is currently counted among the 90 best educational institutions worldwide. In 2007, the ETH Zurich (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 Matura, 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 Mittelschule, 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 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 ''Fachhochschulen''. 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 and SIS Swiss International School.


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 sandstone Basel Minster, Münster, 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 century
accessed 4 May 2012 A memorial to Desiderius Erasmus, Erasmus 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 by Renzo Piano, or the Vitra (furniture), Vitra complex in nearby Weil am Rhein, composed of buildings by architects such as Zaha Hadid (fire station), Frank Gehry (Vitra Design Museum, Design Museum), Álvaro Siza Vieira (factory building) and Tadao Ando (conference centre). Basel also features buildings by Mario Botta (Jean Tinguely Museum and Bank of International settlements) and Herzog & de Meuron (whose architectural practice is in Basel, and who are best known as the architects of Tate Modern in London and the Beijing National Stadium, 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 in 1996.


Heritage sites

Basel features a great number of Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance, 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 Church, Old Catholic ''Prediger Kirche'' (church), ''Bischofshof'' with Collegiate church at Rittergasse 1, ''Domhof'' at Münsterplatz 10–12, former Carthusian House of St Margarethental, Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church of St Antonius, ''Lohnhof'' (former Augustinians Collegiate Church), Mission 21, Archive of the ''Evangelisches Missionswerk Basel'', Basel Münster, Münster of Basel (cathedral), Swiss Reformed Church, Reformed ''Elisabethenkirche, Basel, Elisabethenkirche'' (church), Reformed ''Johanneskirche'' (church), Reformed ''Leonhardskirche'' (church, former Augustinians 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, ''Blaues Haus (Reichensteinerhof)'' at Rheinsprung 16, ''Bruderholzschule'' (school house) at Fritz-Hauser-Strasse 20, ''Brunschwiler Haus'' at Hebelstrasse 15, ''Basel SBB railway station, 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 Basel Paper Mill, 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 a former palace of the margraves of Margraviate of Baden, Baden-Durlach, ''Mittlere Rhein Brücke'' (Central Rhine Bridge), ''Stadtcasino'' (music hall) at Steinenberg 14, ''Ramsteinerhof'' at Rittergasse 7 and 9, Seat of local government, 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 culture, 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 Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Museum of Ancient Art Basel and Ludwig Collection, Former Franciscan ''Barefoot'' Order Church and Basel Historical Museum, Company Archive of Novartis, ''Haus zum Kirschgarten'' which is part of the Basel Historical Museum, Historic Archive Roche and Industrial Complex Hoffmann-La Roche, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Caricature & Cartoon Museum Basel, Karl Barth-Archive, ''Kleines Klingental'' (Lower Klingen Valley) with Museum Klingental, Kunstmuseum Basel, Art Museum of Basel, hosting the world's oldest art collection accessible to the public, Natural History Museum of Basel and the Museum of Cultures Basel, 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 AG Corporate Archives, University Library with manuscripts and music collection, Zoological Garden (''Zoologischer Garten'').


Theatre and music

Basel is the home of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, founded in 1933, a worldwide centre for research on and performance of music from the Medieval through the Baroque eras. Theater Basel, 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'', 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. It is also the home of the Basel Sinfonietta and the Kammerorchester Basel, which recorded the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven for the Sony label, led by its music director Giovanni Antonini. The Schola Cantorum and the Basler Kammerorchester were both founded by the conductor Paul Sacher, 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 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. In 1997, Basel contended to become the "European Capital of Culture", though the honor went to Thessaloniki.


Museums

The Museums in Basel, Basel museums cover a broad and diverse spectrum of collection (museum), collections 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 museum architecture. * Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig Ancient cultures of the Mediterranean museum * Augusta Raurica Roman open-air museum * Basel Paper Mill (german: link=no, Basler Papiermühle) * Beyeler Foundation (Foundation Beyeler
Beyeler Museum (Fondation Beyeler)
* Botanical Garden Base

* Caricature & Cartoon Museum Basel (german: link=no, Karikatur & Cartoon Museum Basel) * Dollhouse Museum (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 near Basel. Modern art collection. * Basel Historical Museum, Historical Museum Basel (german: link=no, Historisches Museum Basel) * Kunsthalle Basel Modern and contemporary art museum * Kunstmuseum Basel Upper Rhine, Upper Rhenish and Flemish paintings, drawings from 1400 to 1600 and 19th- to 21st-century art * Monteverdi Automuseum * Museum of Cultures Basel (german: link=no, Museum der Kulturen Basel) Large collections on European and non-European cultural life * Museum of Contemporary Art Art from the 1960s up to the present * Music Museum (Basel), Music Museum (german: link=no, Musikmuseum) of the Basel Historic Museum * Natural History Museum of Basel (german: link=no, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel) * Pharmazie-Historisches Museum der Universität Basel * Schaulager Modern and contemporary art museum * Swiss Architecture Museum (german: link=no, Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum) * Tinguely Museum Life and work of the major Swiss iron sculptor Jean Tinguely * Jewish Musem of Switzerland, Jewish Museum of Switzerland


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 the
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 ...
which was founded in 1970 by Ernst Beyeler and takes place in June each year. Baselworld, 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 has its head office in Basel. The carnival of the city of Basel (''Carnival of Basel, Basler Fasnacht'') 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 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, founded in 2006 by the local Top Secret Drum Corps, has grown to be the world's second largest military tattoo in terms of performers and budget after the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh Military Tattoo.Basel's tattoo spins to success
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 Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), making it the official military tattoo 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'' is, with over 1.7 million visitors per year, Besucherrekord beim Zolli
Basler Zeitung, 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 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,
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...
and Bern. The championships were jointly hosted by Switzerland 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 Le ...
, (1667–1748) mathematician * Johann Jakob Wettstein (1693–1754) a theologian and New Testament critic * Maximilian Ulysses Browne (1705–1757) Austrian field marshal * Leonhard Euler, (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 (1818–1897) historian of art and culture. * Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901) a symbolist painter * Karl Barth (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

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, University of Basel (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 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
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