The Rhine and Basel are closely connected in reflections of beauty, economic activities, sporting and cultural events. It is a vital artery and an environment of pleasure, the river, among open-air kiosks and invigorating swims.
Equipped with Wickelfisch, the colorful waterproof bag shaped like a fish where you can put clothes and valuables, you swim breathlessly or cross the waters on ferries powered only by the force of the current. It boasts unmissable appointments throughout the year, from the Carnival included in the UNESCO World Heritage, to the world exhibition of contemporary art “Art Basel” to the Christmas markets: dazzling, scented with spices, decorated with suggestive creations with the high rotating pyramid of lights in front of the cathedral (www.claudiafarina.com/natale-a-basilea).
It is a wealthy city, excellently served by internal and external public transport; it rises in the northwest of Switzerland at the border with Germany and France, with which it shares notable fusions in buildings and gastronomy. It is a major center of financial, managerial, and industrial activities, in one of the most dynamic areas of Europe, in a region of cross-border cooperation, with a port on the Rhine that connects it to Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Strasbourg.
An economic wealth that is accompanied by an equally rich cultural offering, indeed, it supports it: this does not always happen, but here in 37 square kilometers there are 40 museums! In harmonious proximity coexist medieval, Renaissance and neoclassical buildings up to seventeenth-eighteenth century houses.
It is the realm of star architects, from the Tinguely Museum by Mario Botta to the Beyeler Foundation by Renzo Piano to the renovation and expansion of the Kunstmuseum by Herzog & de Meuron: as many as ten Pritzker Prize winners have worked in Basel. Monuments, museums, parks, restaurants and clubs are all reachable on foot or in a few minutes by ecological tram, here there is no need for cars. Getting excited about Basel also depends on its role in “Switzerland the hidden power” (see final paragraph).
Basel: two-day itinerary
The Münster Cathedral
Symbol of Basel with its slender towers on the skyline, from which the view captures the entire city and surroundings, it was built in Romanesque-Gothic style over a time span from the 11th to the 16th century. Theologian and Dutch philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam, who died in 1536, is buried here; he spent his last years in Basel to freely print his works in the best way. Above are the spires visible from afar, below the beautiful square that hosts the Christmas markets.
Town Hall Palace
Standing out in the heart of the city, in Marktplatz, the Town Hall Palace in late Gothic style with a majestic tower and a bright red facade with golden decorations, embellished in the 17th century by the sumptuous paintings of master Hans Bock. Today the building houses the Parliament and Government of Basel.
Mittlere Brücke
Inaugurated in 1226, it is one of the oldest crossings over the Rhine; it connects the historic center with Kleinbasel, the “Little Basel,” a district on the banks of the Rhine, now one of the most vibrant and loved in the city. In 1905, with the arrival of electric trams, the original bridge was replaced by the current one. At twilight, the Rhine reflects shimmering shapes and lights.
Tinguely Fountain
Among the 200 fountains in the historic center, the fountain by the brilliant Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely stands out, built where the stage of the municipal theater used to be. To remember the artistic genius loci, mechanical sculptures in motion with water games and dances emerge on a large black asphalt basin. And if you are in Basel at New Year’s Eve, arm yourself with mugs to draw from the Triton fountain…spiced wine for good luck.
Roche Towers
The Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, born in Basel and now one of the most important internationally, has completed over thirty projects in the city including the fair (Messe Basel) and the Roche towers, in the St. Johann district, the tallest skyscrapers in Switzerland: the first is 178 meters and the second 205 meters high with 50 total floors, home to the offices of the pharmaceutical company of the same name.
Novartis Campus
Novartis headquarters, a center for research and development, an eden of contemporary architecture where you can admire sculptures, installations and extraordinary buildings by star architects. The latest, inaugurated in 2022, the Novartis Pavilion by Michele De Lucchi is ring-shaped and in the evening shines with spectacular light shows, produced by thousands of solar cells integrated into the multimedia facade. Open to the public on weekdays since September 2022, it hosts a truly surprising exhibition: Wonders of Medicine, dedicated to medical research and the pharmaceutical industry, revealing the historical milestones and future projections of an evolutionary path from the textile industry, to chemistry, to pharmaceuticals. It is a special and creative space where material and immaterial culture interact with society. The wonder goes from display case to display case discovering well-known “objects” of chemistry and pharmaceuticals: Voltaren, Ovomaltine, the contraceptive pill, the glue used for the helmets of Apollo mission astronauts, and even the Ferrari red color. Other inventions will astonish visitors in the near future.
Kunstmuseum
More than 300,000 works, from the late Middle Ages to today, constitute the largest art collection in Switzerland. Among the treasures is the Amerbach Cabinet, the oldest public art collection in the world, purchased by the city in 1661 and then opened to the public. Here are two works whose value goes far beyond artistic merit and exemplify the care of the inhabitants for their city. When the owner of the works “The Two Brothers” and “Seated Harlequin” by Picasso decided to sell them to face financial troubles, the people of Basel took to the streets in 1967 shouting “All You Need Is Pablo” and purchased the paintings through a self-taxation of six million francs. Picasso was so impressed by the event that he donated three paintings and a drawing to the Kunstmuseum, visible today alongside masterpieces by Matisse, Miró, Klee, Van Gogh. The museum’s latest building, designed in 2016 by the Christ & Gantenbein firm, hosts temporary exhibitions, while Kunstmuseum Basel Gegenwart is the home of contemporary art (kunstmuseumbasel.ch).
Beyeler Foundation
Ernst and Hildy Beyeler collected over 400 works from impressionists and contemporaries; Renzo Piano designed an extraordinary building to preserve and showcase them, in a spectacular movement of volumes and water mirrors, as beautiful as Monet’s water lilies welcoming visitors from the park. Temporary exhibitions maintain high public interest in the Foundation which for 2024 has planned exhibitions of Canadian photographer Jeff Wall and Matisse. The museum is located in Riehen, just outside Basel, towards Germany (fondationbeyeler.ch).
Tinguely Museum
Another museal gem in the greenery of Solitude Park overlooking the Rhine, designed by Ticino architect Mario Botta. Since 1996, it has housed the largest collection of works by Jean Tinguely (1925–1991), an innovative and visionary Swiss artist, creator of moving and sound sculptures, gigantic and paradoxical machines. The museum’s exhibitions are often inspired by the master’s thought and preserve his legacy (tinguely.ch/en.html).
Other unmissable destinations for art lovers are: Vitra Campus which hosts part of the Vitra Design Museum collection, just across the border in Weil am Rhein, Germany, a complex of buildings designed by star architects; the Museum of Cultures designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the largest ethnographic museum in Switzerland focusing on Basel’s Carnival (mkb.ch); Haus der elektronischen Künste, an innovative center dedicated to the relationship between art, media and technology, set up in a former warehouse in Dreispitz.
Basel Historic Center
The historic center area is admired step by step, observing the colorful half-timbered houses, the historic shops, the narrow cobbled streets, bars and restaurants with outdoor tables. Do not forget the Toy Museum with an incredible collection of dolls and childhood characters; if you visit during Christmas, enter the portals and courtyards all festively decorated.
