30 May 2022
After Covid and after a cancellation because of poor weather, we finally had the opportunity to meet together again and explore unknown parts of the rich history of Basel! Ten Cornellians from different parts of Switzerland attended the event.
Our guide was Felix Waldmeier, whose passion to organize cultural visits in Basel was well-known to us. Indeed, we already had a tour once with him across the Rhein in Grossbasel and had been appreciating his talents as a guide: fluency in English, very well-organized, and always attending to his participants’ needs. Furthermore, Felix has been for his private interests researching historical key aspects that lead to the development of Basel and has an incredibly detailed knowledge of the history of Basel. So, we knew that during his tours everyone, not just tourists but also local folks would learn something!
We started at the “Mittlere Brücke”, on the so-called Kleinbasel side of the town. Felix had prepared copies of a very old map of Basel that we used to orient ourselves and search for reminders of the medieval ‘’industrial’’ activities from the 13th century. This was quite exciting. We learned for example that many canals had been circulating at that time in that part of the town and were an essential source of energy for mills. We could guess and sometimes see proofs on the houses where these rivers had been flowing.
Only much later around the 18th century, the dyeing industry started. We saw the site where in 1859 the first chemical dye was manufactured and so where Basel’s chemistry industry began. Felix explained the tensions between workers, industry, and city government. Following the rapid urban development tied to the economic growth, a massive immigration of workers led to many sanitary and social problems. We finished the tour at the memorable place where a plaque tells of the dyers strike of 1919 at which the Swiss Army ended up shooting and killing five strikers and wounding many others.
And, as usual, we rounded up this excellent and enriching cultural tour by sharing and enjoying a good lunch together.