Basel 2022

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 Basel - A Swiss City Trip Part II

  In February, I wanted to attend a concert of Bring Me the Horizon and A Day to Remember in Basel. Since I've never been to Basel before, I wanted to combine it with a sightseeing trip. At the end, the concert was postponed to next year and I was heavily thinking, if I still should go to Basel or not and luckily, I went there, having a great time. Since I already had a day of vacations on a Friday, I took the chance to take an early train to Basel to have enough time to explore the city.
  
  Basel, which was ranked among the ten cities with highest quality of life in the world in 2019, showed up with many beautiful areas to relax on the banks of the Rhine, but also around the landmark of the city, the Basel Minster. The original Catholic cathedral was built in a Romanesque and Gothic style and it characterizes the cityscape with its red sandstone architecture and colorful roof tiles, its two slim towers and the cross-shaped intersection of the main roof.

 
  Walking around the Basel City Walls was a real adventure. Even if the city's executives decided to raze the inner wall and gates to the ground, there are still parts of the surrounding outer wall, which could be saved from demolition and are still preserved as part of the city's heritage today. I also visited the Spalentor, which is regarded as one of the most beautiful gates of Switzerland. 
 
  Close to the Minster square, in front of the National Archives, I found a beautiful fountain - the so called Sevogelbrunnen. The character of Henman Sevogel was created by the Alsatian sculptor and carpenter Hans Dobel in 1530. The original fountain was erected on the market square, which had been destroyed by a flood of the Birsig river. Nowadays, the fountain consists of a hexagonal fountain trough and a column with the figure of  Henman Sevogel, holding a halberd in his right hand.
 
  In 1977, Jean Tinguely placed playful machine sculptures in a pool of water where the stage of the old city theatre used to stand, giving Basel a new landmark - the Fasnachts-Brunnen (Tinguely's Carnival Fountain). The ten iron sculptures are in constant motion and conversation with each other, like the mimes, actors and dancers who once acted on this spot. The ten sculptures have the following names:
  •  dr Theaterkopf - The Theatre Head
  • d'Spinne - The Spider
  • dr Waggler - The Wobbler
  • d' Fontääne - The Fountain
  • dr Spritzer - The Sprayer
  • dr Suuser - The Douser
  • dr Wäädel - The Rocker
  • dr Schuufler - The Scooper
  • s'Seechter - The Sifter
  • dr Querpfyffer - The Piper

  On the way back to the Basel Bad train station, I could see a beautiful 500 year-old building, dominating the market square - the Town Hall of Basel. The building is characterized by its red sandstone design - as in the case of the cathedral - and the remarkable tower. Almost all of the old town houses around the market square had to give way to larger buildings at the transaition from historism to Art Nouveau. Only the guild house of the Swiss wine people, whose members were wine merchants and wine taverns, has been preserved in the Renaissance style.
 
  By crossing the Middle Bridge, I enjoyed the amazing and beautiful view of the city around the Rhine again. The historic bridge is situated on the oldest existing bridge site across the Rine and gives a view of the old town from another perspective. On the left side of the Rhine, there is also a promenade called "Oberer Rheinweg" from where it was possible to have a nice panoramic view of the cathedral again.
 

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