The Port of Basel is capital of Basel-Stadt in Northern Switzerland. Lying on the Rhine River where the Birs and Wiese rivers and the Swiss, German, and French borders meet, The Port of Basel is the gateway to the Swiss Rhineland. Being so near both France and Germany, the city’s culture reflects a rich multi-national heritage. It is a major industrial center for pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The Port of Basel is Switzerland’s second largest metropolitan area, with 731 thousand inhabitants in 2008.

Settled first by the Celtic Rauraci tribe, the Romans named their fortifications there Basilia in 374 AD. For many years, Basel had the only bridge over the Rhine between the sea and Lake Constance, making in an important site for commerce and trade. After the Romans left the area, the Port of Basel was governed by prince-bishops. The 1019 Cathedral of Basel (called Munster) was built there by the German Emperor Heinrich II. An earthquake destroyed most of the city and many castles in the area in 1356, and the city invited nobles to rebuild their castles in the Port of Basel in exchange for protecting the city. In the middle 15th Century, apprentices of Johann Gutenberg introduced the craft of printing to Basel.

Switzerland’s first university was founded there in 1460 by Pope Pius II, and the oldest publishing house still in operation, Schwabe, was founded there in 1488. Many works by Erasmus, who is entombed at Munster, were published in Basel during that period.

The Port of Basel was admitted into the Swiss Confederation in 1501 after the Port of Basel separated from the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th Century, it was a center for humanism and the Protestant Reformation. In 1536, John Calvin published his Christianae religionis instituto at Basel, and the first anatomy book was published there in 1543.

With the influx of workers fleeing Counter-Reformation strife, the trade guilds held political power over the city by the 18th Century. After independence was declared in 1832, the city became the modern Basel-Stadt. In 1897, Theodor Herzl led the first congress of the World Zionist Organization in Basel.

The Port of Basel is home to many glorious historic buildings, including the 1521 Gothic town hall, a 14th Century Franciscan church that is now a museum, and three medieval gates (one – St. Paul’s Gate - is said to be the finest in Europe). The university library contains precious manuscripts by reformers Martin Luther and Erasmus, among others, and the 1662 public art gallery contains fine artwork collections.

As a major import distribution center, the Port of Basel contributes a third of Switzerland’s customs revenues. It is the site for the Bank for International Settlements. Its central location makes it the hub for railroads and air services. In addition to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, banking and machinery manufacturing are important to the city’s economy.

The Swiss Rhine Harbours (SRH) is responsible for operations and maintenance of the Port of Basel. Today, about 3 million tons of petroleum product imports pass through the Port of Basel each year, for which the port has storage capacity for one million cubic meters. In addition to petroleum products, liquid bulk cargos handled through the Port of Basel include liquid fertilizer, bitumen and molasses, chemicals, and food and food oils.

The Port of Basel receives about 1.5 million tons of iron and steel products. Other dry bulk cargoes include agricultural products, powder and granulates, food concentrates, raw and building materials, gravel and sand, machine parts, and oversized goods like ships and vehicles. The Port of Basel offers modern multi-modal facilities and connections to water, rail, and road networks.

he Port of Basel contains silos for storage of 385 thousand cubic meters of grain and sheds for 80 thousand cubic meters of other bulk materials. It includes a fuel depot with capacity for over 1.2 million cubic meters of liquid cargo. It also contains covered storage for 250 thousand cubic meters of general cargo and open storage for 250 thousand cubic meters of containerized cargo.

The City of Basel offers a wide range of historic, cultural, and contemporary experiences for world travelers. It contains many world-class museums and art galleries, some of Europe’s finest historic structures, and many amusements.

The Port of Basel offers many parks and recreational areas for enjoying leisure time. Visitors can spend many hours strolling the parks, greenbelt areas, rivers, and rural areas. One can visit the Black Forest, enjoy a picnic beside the Birs, visit the Botanical Gardens, or tour the zoo.

Tour boats and passenger ships offer year-round excursions on the Rhine in the Port of Basel. Visitors can also take land-based tours of the city’s fantastic architecture, both contemporary and historic.

The Port of Basel is well-known as a wonderland of culinary adventures. Sitting on the borders of Switzerland, Germany, and France, it has abundant bistros and gourmet restaurants where diners can enjoy a taste for every pocket.

The 1000-year-old Cathedral of Basel, known as Munster by residents, is the city’s outstanding landmark. Its sandstone walls, twin towers, and multi-colored roof tiles embrace a choir, crypt, two cloisters, and the tomb of Erasmus of Rotterdam. The Cathedral is open daily through the summer for tours.

The Port of Basel’s Basler Pfalz, on a terrace behind the Cathedral, was home to the Bishop of Basel before the Protestant Reformation. Stairs take you from the Pfalz to the landing stage for the Cathedral Ferry. A narrow gate takes you from the terrace to the cloister of the Cathedral where you’ll find the decorated gravestones of Basel’s leading families from the 16th to 19th Centuries.

The Tinguely Fountain stands today where once stood the Town Theater. In 1977, Jean Tinguely constructed amusing sculptures in a huge pool of water. The fountain is very popular and has become a modern symbol of the city.

Visitors will not want to miss Basel’s Old Town when they arrive at the Port of Basel. It has been preserved with devotion to the city’s rich history, and many 15th Century buildings now stand with modern architectural structures.

The Port of Basel is home to the world-famous “Hammering Man,” a sculpture by J. Borofsky of a 13.5-meter-tall man that has been swinging his hammer since 1989. The 8-ton sculpture is the artist’s expression of hope for all who work together to make this planet’s environment safe and healthy for all.

The Basel Art Museum (Kunstmuseum Basel) holds the oldest public art collection in the world. Highlighting collections of works by famous artists of the 19th and 20th Centuries, visitors will enjoy works by Witz, Grunewald, Cranach the Elder, Bocklin, Cezanne, van Gogh, and Gaugin, among many others.