Rhenish Switzerland
This small region highlights the cultural synthesis of the Rhine Valley and Switzerland. The city of Basel once formed the center of a Prince-Archbishopric until the Reformation, when the Protestant city joined the Swiss Confederation. As the last major port city on the Rhine, Basel feels more like a Rhenish city than a Swiss one. No trip along the Rhine is complete without a stop in one of its most beautiful cities.
- Basel: a beautiful historic city center full of architecture typical for the Upper Rhine, mainly from the Baroque period.
- The “Red” Renaissance civic architecture, e.g., Basel City Hall, Freiburg Merchant’s Hall, Liestal Cityhall, etc…
- The Alemannic Gothic architecture of the Breisgau in the South, i.e., the political and economic ties to Strasbourg and Switzerland
Basel and its small region form a remarkable cultural borderland, combining the jovial Rhineland cultures of France and Germany with the austerity of Switzerland. The result is a relaxed multi-national city in Switzerland, something otherwise unthinkable in the business districts of Zurich or the Villas of Geneva. Despite its small size, Basel has a unique cultural identity, with festivals, food, and distinctive architecture worthy of a much larger city. Basler Land and the Jura, the area around the city, are beautiful alpine foothills full of castles, picturesque villages, and forgotten ruins.
- Accommodation: 10
- Transportation: 8
- Volume/Capacity: 6
- Infrastructure: 10
- Interactivity: 8
- Context: 8
- Monuments: 8
- Quality: 8
- Abstraction: 10
- Tradition: 10
