BASEL
Located in north-west Switzerland on the river Rhine, Basel functions as a major
industrial centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The city situated on
the Rhine borders both Germany and France. And has the potential to be the focal point
of the continent, humming with pan-European energy.
Basel is a curiously measured place, where equilibrium is everything.
During the days of the Roman Empire, the settlement of Augusta Raurica was founded
10 or 20 kilometres upstream of present Basel, and a castle was built on the hill
overlooking the river where the Basel Münster now stands. But even older Celtic
settlements have been discovered recently in the area predating the Roman castle.
The city's position on the Rhine long emphasised its importance: Basel for many
centuries possessed the only bridge over the river "between Lake Constance and the sea".
The town of Basel was called "Basilia" in Latin, and this name is documented
from the year 374 CE. In 1225–1226 the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed
by Bishop Heinrich von Thun and lesser Basel (Kleinbasel) founded as a beachhead
to protect the bridge. Basel became the focal point of western Christendom
during the 15th century. In 1459 Pope Pius II endowed the University of Basel
where such notables as Erasmus Paracelsus and Hans Holbein the Younger taught.
At the same time the new craft of printingwas introduced to Basel by apprentices of Gutenberg.
In March 1536 the first edition of Christianae religionis institutio
(Institutes of the Christian Religion) was published in Latin by John Calvin at Basel.
With both a gigantic river port – Switzerland’s only outlet to the sea – and
the research headquarters of several pharmaceutical multinationals
(including Novartis, one of the principal players in global development of GM crops and foods),
Basel nurtures its reputation as Switzerland’s wealthiest and most
discreet city. Its historic centre – dominated by the awe-inspiring Münster –
is definitely worth seeing, and the city’s long-standing patronage of the
arts has resulted in a panoply of first-rate museums and galleries – 35 in all,
including the stunning Beyeler collection, Basel’s not to be missed attraction.
Basel has a glittering medieval past endowed with some of the greatest minds
of European history (Erasmus, Holbein and Nietzsche, to name just three) and
centuries-long access to the best of three neighbouring worlds. The people
have the option of gathering wealth in a discreet and orderly fashion, saving
money shopping in France and having a better time partying in Germany.
VISITOR INFO
The first-class location and the transportation infrastructure make Basel
the top logistics center for Switzerland. Basel’s airport is set up for
airfreight; heavy goods reach the city and the heart of continental
Europe from the North Sea by ship along the Rhine. The main European
routes for the highway and railway transportation 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.
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. The new highspeed ICE railway line from Karlsruhe to Basel will
be completed in 2008 while phase I of the TGV-Est line, opened in June 2007,
has reduced travel time from Basel to Paris to 3 1/2 hours.
Basel has an extensive public transportation network of trams and buses
serving the city and connecting to surrounding suburbs. Within city limits,
five bridges connect greater and lesser Basel, from upstream to downstream:
A somewhat anachronistic yet still widely used system of 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 20 or 30 yards. 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.
HOTELS
Basel thrives on the conference and convention trade – the vast Messe is Switzerland’s
largest conference/exhibition centre, and attendees to major events often fill all
accommodation in the city (and most in neighbouring cities too). Reserving ahead is
strongly advised. As a way to service the tide of expense-account travellers, Basel’s
hoteliers tend to focus more on providing comforting extras, such as minibars and big TVs,
than on keeping prices down, and are generally more willing than their colleagues
elsewhere in Switzerland to surrender atmosphere for the sake of features.
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