Basel regards itself as a world metropolis. This city with its rich history on the bend of the Rhine boasts Switzerland's tallest building, the Messeturm at 105 metres.

But many Basel residents are equivocal about this claim, preferring to see their home town as modest and manageable: a pocket-sized metropolis.

Everything can be reached on foot or by tram, know here as the "Draemmli".

The old city, its alleyways lying between the Spalentor and the mediaeval cathedral, has a history stretching back 2,000 years. The Romans called it Basilia.

Names like Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, the later Pope Pius II, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Hans Holbein, Paracelsus, Matthew Merian and many other luminaries of European art and thought take on form here.

The old palais on the cathedral hill are where the first Swiss university was founded in 1460. The stones used to pave the square here reveal what the Rhine has brought down its course over the millennia, from its source in the Gotthard down to Lake Constance.

The city's history began here, with the Celts being the first to settle. Today people with time on their hands play boule or simply sit on the square.

The cathedral towering up high over the Rhine with its towers reaching up 67 metres is supposed to be the tallest building according to an old city law, but the Messeturm has since 2003 provided competition.



"We have problems similar to New York. There is too little space and we must go upwards," one city dweller says in justifying the modern skyline. He and others like him aim to compete with Zurich and are hoping for more skyscrapers.

During the Reformation the city chased out its ruling bishop, although his staff remains part of Basel's coat of arms.

The town hall, dating from the 16th century, is an imposing expression of civic pride with its brightly coloured tiles. Protestants from France and Italy found refuge here, laying the basis for prosperity in the silk weaving that sustained the city for centuries.

The chemical industry, for which the city became known, grew out of the demand for a wide range of colors for the decorative silks the silk weavers specialised in.

Here today's upper class residents made their fortunes, investing much of their profits in art.

Collecting art here dates to the Renaissance. The museum of art on St. Alban-Graben goes back to the collection of the scholar Basileus Amerbach, which the city bought in 1661.

It formed the basis for the first publicly displayed collection, long before Europe's nobility began opening their collections to the public. The museum owns the largest collection in the world of work from the Holbein family.

Basel also looks to the present day. Buildings by famous modern architects provide a stark contrast to the old buildings, among them that by Mario Botta on the right bank, which houses the bizarre metal machines of the surrealist sculptor Jean Tinguely.

The Fondation Beyeler lies in the neighbouring village of Riehen. The museum designed by Renzo Piano is a restrained building of just one storey opening onto a landscaped English park.

Daylight falls through the glass roof onto great modern painters from Monet and Cezanne via Picasso, Giacometti and Mondrian to the American artists Frank Stella, Mark Rothko and Anselm Kiefer. Visitors can sit in large white sofas to look out on the vineyards on the German side of the Rhine.

On the edge of the city works of art belonging to the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation but not on display are housed in a building much like a city car park.
While not open to the public, representatives from museums are able to view these modern works. In summer there are special exhibitions for the general public.

The Rhine has always been the key to Basel. The first bridge was built in 1225, its wooden pillars giving way to stone in 1905 so the tram could pass over.

Earlier the city turned its back on the river, building fortifications along it and using it to keep out enemies, but in the 19th century this changed and the city wall was torn down.

Promenades along the river took its place. Ferries and three more bridges made the city more accessible.

Swimming in the river is a popular summer pastime. Drifting along with the current, many swimmers tow their clothes behind them in a watertight bag. The promenades come alive with music.

The city has a wealth of natural fountains. "Anyone wanting to count the fountains has simply to count the houses," Piccolomini wrote during the Council of Basel in the middle of the 15th century. One of the most beautiful is the Fasnachts Brunnen by Jean Tinguely, where his figures made of metal from the old theatre have been bubbling and squeaking since 1977.

Once wary of strangers, Basel now emphasises its links with the rest of the world. A pillar marks where three nations come together here: Switzerland, France and Germany.

Heidemarie Puetz / dpa / Expatica
[Expatica 2008]