Basel – a two-hour long walking
tour of the Altstadt
This guide recreates a tour made by ZIWA in 2009. Starting from the Tinguely Fountain with its iconic metal sculptures, we noted that many of the buildings in Basel are built from grey or red sandstone, including the Elizabethan church.Basel is a centre for fairs and exhibitions, and for watch-making, jewellery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, but also houses some of Switzerland's oldest churches and other historic buildings. The tourist office is located at Barfüsserplatz: take tram 11 from the Basel SBB station. You can pick up a town map here. Also see this link: https://www.basel.com/en/
Basel was a Catholic city until the Protestant reformation of 1527, and evidence of both religions can still be found in the city, which boasts 109 nationalities among its inhabitants. Many of the old churches have now been converted into museums, however. The renowned Barfüsserplatz, where the Franciscan monks used to walk barefoot, is now home to a busy flea market.
Basel is situated on the river Rhine, in a valley between two hills, and is divided into the greater and lesser cities. We climbed one of the hills to the cathedral in Münsterplatz, Basel's oldest square. The 12th century cathedral is built of the distinctive red sandstone, and was partially rebuilt after the earthquake of 1356. On the façade we noted the statues of the city's three patron saints, Mary, Henry II of Germany and his wife Kunigunde. This used to be a Celtic and a Roman site in former times, but the current building was begun in 800 in the Romanesque style, with Gothic vaulting added later. Inside the church, we saw the misericord seats, the Jesus window superimposed by a six-pointed star, and the tomb of Erasmus, the famous Dutch scholar and humanist. From the cloisters, we had a fine view of the river and its bridges, and the Black Forest and Jura.
We then descended the Augustinergasse with its former monastery, now a natural history museum, and saw the attractive baroque Weisses Haus, the Blaues Haus and other buildings used by the university. After the reformation, Basel became famous for its silk ribbon and weaving industries, which were a forerunner of the modern chemical industries. We returned to the Marktplatz with its daily fruit, vegetable and flower market, and admired the red painted façade of the 1504 City Hall building. We explored some of the small alleyways such as Sattelgasse, Schneidergasse and Imbergässlein, former home to crafts and spices, now a chic residential area.
To finish the tour, we climbed the other Basel hill to the restaurant Au Violon (see this link www.au-violon.com), housed in a former prison, where a French-style lunch offers a fine end to a fascinating and revealing tour.
Julia Newton, August 2011, updated April 2016.
