Basel Archives ⋆ The Passenger

March 1, 2024March 17, 2024

Red sandstone

The town hall building of Basel is a very decorative one, very playful and especially absolutely colorful. It is located at the market square in the city center and not far away from river Rhein. It was built from the year 1504 on and has a height of 47 meters. You can enter the inner courtyard and walk up through a staircase that reminded me much of the architecture at Verona, Italy. The entire buildings contains many beautiful paintings, including those of Hans Holbein der Jüngere.

March 1, 2024March 17, 2024

Spalentor

Gates of German cities were really beautiful in the past. A good example for that is the Spalentor, the oldest of the three still standing ancient city gates of Basel (the others are the St. Johann and St. Alban gates). It was finished in the year 1400 CE and is one of the most beautiful in Switzerland with its two side towers and the decorated roof. The name is probably derived from the Latin word palus meaning pile – the Spalenvorstadt which the gates protects was in the beginning only protected by a fence of wooden piles.

March 1, 2024March 17, 2024

Machinery

Jean Tinguely was a painter and sculptor from Switzerland. Most of his works can be easily recognized because they’re quite unusual: Tinguely often made sculptures looking like machines with moving parts and creating noise. A lot of them are exhibited in the Museum Tinguely at the shore of river Rhein at Basel. Inside the museum there are a lot of black buttons at the floor that you can push with your feet to activate Tinguelys inventions.

December 31, 2016June 3, 2018

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (BSL/MLH/EAP)

The international airport Basel-Mulhouse (brand name “EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg“) is something special: it dates back to 1946, is located in Saint-Louis, France and is operated by two states (France, Switzerland). It is 3,5 km afar from Basel, Switzerland and 20 km from Mulhouse, France. As it has also importance for the south-west of Germany the name of Freiburg im Breisgau was added in 1987. Continue reading “EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (BSL/MLH/EAP)”

August 19, 2012April 19, 2022

Weekend in Switzerland

The railway station Basel-Badischer Bahnhof is a station in Basel, Switzerland officially belonging to the German railway network. That is why I could reach it with my BahnCard 100 free of charge. I checked in at a small hotel close to the fair grounds and explored the city. Continue reading “Weekend in Switzerland”

August 19, 2012November 30, 2018

The Kunstmuseum

The Kunstmuseum Basel is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland located in the city center close to river Rhein. It contains 4.000 images, sculptures and installations belonging to visual arts. The building has been erected in neoclassicistic style between 1931 and 1936. Continue reading “The Kunstmuseum”

August 18, 2012November 30, 2018

Cathedral of Basel

The Basler Münster is the most important church in Basel, Switzerland. It is made of red freestone and is easily recognizable because of the geometric forms on its muticolored roof. The town lean towers can be seen from many parts of the city. It has been built between the years 1019 and 1500 CE in gothic style. Today it is used for protestant devine service. Continue reading “Cathedral of Basel”

August 18, 2012March 17, 2024

River pleasure

When the temperatures rise in summer, the inhabitants of Basel, Switzerland have their own idea how to cool down again: they pack their stuff in waterproof packs sold throughout the city and jump into river Rhein, often close to Solitudepark. They drift through the city center and you can often watch people walk back in swimming cloth and fully wet through the center.