Basel is located in the Rhine Valley, where the river takes a turn to the north. The "gate of Switzerland" used to be one of the few regions not covered during the Ice Age. The Rhine River has provided a natural border for millennia, bolstering ancient Roman fortifications as well as protecting neutral Switzerland from Nazi incursions during the Second World War. On the other hand, the city's somewhat submerged location has turned it into one of the few Swiss locations where none of the majestic Alps can be seen in the distance. To the north lies the Black Forest on German territory, and to the southwest the Jura hills.
Many chroniclers and researchers have written about the city on the Rhine. Among them, the local historian, archivist and publisher Rudolf Wackernagel (1855-1925) compiled a three-volume history of Basel between 1907 and 1924. With those works he strongly influenced the residents' sense of self and their place within Switzerland. Wackernagel remarked in the preface that the city's past required special treatment: "Because the powerful, the heroic is missing, the historian is forced to bring out numerous details if he wants to give the depiction an appeal, something unique, appropriate to the subject." That challenge certainly persists, even though Basel's history had many ups and downs, including a major earthquake, the Black Death and being given the exclusive right to organize exhibitions twice a year by the Holy Roman Emperor. The city's development after Wackernagel's death in 1925 involved the Depression, the upheavals of the Second World War and the boom years of the postwar period.
Storytelling thus takes centerstage in relaying my hometown's unique heritage. Having been born there and lived until age 17, I can add personal recollections and impressions to the official records and secondary sources. Basel has often been a place that arouses contradictory sentiments, ranging between infatuation and revulsion. A proud built heritage, much of it recently restored, beckons visitors today. Yet, Switzerland's industrial center has not always been this welcoming. When Friedrich Engels called his treatise, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1845, he could have been referring to Basel's overworked and underpaid laborers, the descendants of the diocese's subjects.
Class-based resentment has a long record here, dating back at least to the noble deacons who ran the Prince-Bishopric in the 13th century, keeping the flock of Catholic subjects in line. Little wonder that the diocese's downtrodden majority switched its faith to Protestantism by the 16th century. Unfortunately, that did not mean the end of their oppression. To a good extent, Basel's story remains that of an elite-run jurisdiction, where theocratic masters eventually gave way to merchants and capitalist entrepreneurs who steered civic development. At the same time, a lively arts scene, with Fasnacht, autumn fair and events at the city casino and elsewhere made life bearable. The region's residents work hard, but they also take their recreational activities seriously.
