Basel Off The Beaten Path

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The Botanical garden operated by the Basel University is a very nice green and peaceful oasis in the bustling city. It is located next to Petersplatz and Spalentor city gate. Access from each side. The garden is open daily.

Founded in 1589 (at a different location, though) it is one of the oldest of its kind. There are several greenhouses and plants/trees outdoor. Any time of the year *something* is in bloom. Particularly nice is the Tropical greenhouse where they also have some birds that sing all the time.

The official name of this institution is the "Volkshochschule beider Basel" or "Adult Education Center of Both Basels" -- meaning that it serves the two cantons of Basel-Stadt (the city) and Basel-Landschaft (the surrounding countryside).

Originally there was only one canton for both, but it was divided into the "half-cantons" of Basel-City and Basel-Country after a revolt that took place in the Basel countryside in 1833.

Of the twenty-six Swiss cantons, Basel-City is the smallest in area, being only 37 square kilometers.

VHS, Kornhausgasse 2, CH-4003 Basel

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Scriptorium Rhysprung is an old-fashioned workshop of calligraphy, just like the one of a professional writer in past centuries who worked with quills, parchment and ink. They sell both calligraphy items and artisitic writings.

This little shop is actually well on the beaten path but often overlooked. No one I spoke to had noticed it. It can be found in the street from the old bridge up Münsterberg, close to the Rhine and the bridge, in the half-timbered house on the corner of the lane that leads up to St Peter's church. It is one of those many little surprises Basel is so rich of.

The shop has rather short opening hours but even when it is closed, a glimpse through the windows is worthwhile.

Opening hours:
closed on Monday
Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday on request

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This is the church the bronze art historian Rudolf Riggenbach is explaining: Leonhardskirche.

The first church was built around 1060/1080, the crypt is still there. After the earthquake of 1356 which destroyed most of the Romanesque church, a gothic basilica was erected. Around 1480 it was turned into a hall with three naves of equal height. Steeple and choir are remnants of the Romanesque church.
Ask Rudolf Riggenbach about more details...

The church is situated on top of the hill above Barfüßerplatz and dominates the silhouette you see from that square. To reach it, take one of the small streets uphill and keep left when you reach the crest. The whole quarter with its old houses is a hidden gem.

In the square in front of Leonhardikirche I noticed the life-size bronze statue of an elderly man with beard and belly, who is looking up to the church facade. Position and gesture immediately made me recognize the colleague: this must be an art historian who is explaining the architecture of the church...

Indeed, he is.

Dr. Rudolf Riggenbach (1882-1961), nicknamed "Dingedinge", was a renowned monument conservator who managed to save and preserve a lot of cultural heritage in Basel and elsewhere. His guided tours were famous, he must have been some kind of 'original' in town. A few years after his death, the statue by Peter Moillet has been put up. "Dingedinge" is back to Basel!

More about him (in German): Biography

Monks and citizens of Basel created a canal to divert water into the city. From Münchenstein - which means 'Monks house' to St-Albans Vorstad you can walk along this St-Albans Teich (dyke) (or the other way, but this way you do not have to climb). You can start at the Botanical Garden (Tram 10, Grün 80) or from St. Jakob (Tramline 14). There are two ugly points: when crossing the high way by a tunnel (and train). On the way you can visit the gardens of a former 'house'. The track is marked with these small yellow signs.

From Basel, after walking the lovely sights of Basel's old buildings in the old town centre and along the river, I took the road that takes you over the Rhine which then follows along the Rhine crossing the border from Switzerland into France and then into Germany all in a matter of a few minutes!

About an hour or so along the Rhine you will look down from the high road and river banks over lovely Laufenburg.
Laufenburg is a lovely old town on the Rhein with the Rhein actually running right through the middle creating a natural border between Switzerland and Germany. These days everyone just walks across the bridge at will between the two countries or to the other side of town! The old border controls are still there but passports arent checked and each side of town flies its country's flag.

I stayed a night in the old town centre and woke to beautiful views of the sunrise over the river beside my hotel and the quaint old houses that my view looked over to on the other/Swiss side of the river.

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Dreiländereck (Three Countries’ Corner), marked by a futuristic rounded steel-and-glass building. This is the Restaurant Dreiländereck (061/639 95 40), a pricey and rather soulless place for eating, but not bad for a riverside coffee and bun. Just beyond the restaurant, on the very nose of the spit of land is a tall, slender sculpture pointing the way west across the Rhine (the other bank is France), north to the German customs shed 50m away, and south into Switzerland