Basel

Basel is the capital of Basel-Stadt demi-canton, Switzerland, situated on the Rhine at the point where the French, German, and Swiss borders meet.

Basel  was founded in AD 374 as the Roman frontier post Basilia. It was a strong military station under the Romans.

Basel was ruled by bishops of the Western church after the 5th century, and in the 11th century it became an imperial city governed by bishop-princes. 

Following the spread of the Black Death through Basel, the Jews were accused of having poisoned the wells, on account of the fact that they suffered a lower mortality rate than the local Gentiles from the pestilence. The reasons for the lower death rate of Jews from the plague were in fact due to mandatory hygiene practices outlined in their scriptures.

On January 9, 1349 the Jewish population of Basel was rounded up and incinerated. Following the massacre, it was decreed that all Jews were banned from settling in the city of Basel for 200 years. However, the city's subsequent financial collapse necessitated their early re-admittance.

On October 18, 1356 the most significant earthquake to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history destroyed Basel, and caused much destruction in a vast region extending into France and Germany.

Its university was founded in 1460 by Pope Pius II. It became famous under the Dutch scholar Erasmus, who taught there and is buried in the Münster. 

Basel was one of the literary centers of the Reformation period and many books were printed on its presses between 1468 and 1500, of which 324 are in the British Library.

In 1501 Basel joined the Swiss confederation and became a center of the Swiss Reformation movement.

Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zürich and Geneva) with 177,595 inhabitants. (2018).

The official language of Basel is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but most of the inhabitants speak the local Basel German dialect.

Basel is famous for its many museums, including the Kunstmuseum, which in 1661 became the first municipally owned and therefore open to the public museum in the world. It is the largest museum of art in Switzerland.

Forty museums are spread throughout the city-canton, making Basel one of the largest cultural centers in relation to its size and population in Europe.

Important trade shows include Art Basel, the world's most important fair for modern and contemporary art

The city is a major industrial center. Pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals have become the modern focus of the city's industrial production.

Sources Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia,  Hutchinson Encyclopedia © RM 2012. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.