On the Other Side

If you take the standard tour of Basel, you’ll come across the Basel Cathedral, Marktplatz and city hall, the winding streets of the old town and the city gates, and with a bit more time, you might also visit the Barfüsserplatz, the Tinguely Fountain and the Kunstmuseum. But you would be missing out on a fascinating part of Basel—Kleinbasel on the east side of the Rhine.

On 10th October, a group of Centrepoint members had the chance to discover Kleinbasel under the expert guidance of Jakob Mettler. Although many citizens of Grossbasel consider Kleinbasel to be in­ferior, Jakob emphasised the rich history of this region, dating back to the early Middle Ages. It boasted a city wall, churches, convents and social institutions as well as a group of “honourable societies” whose original function was policing, fire preven­tion and guard duty on the walls. Its dense network of canals and water mills paved the way for the industrial revolu­tion in Basel. Jakob also delved into the background of the religious upheaval in the region brought about by the Reforma­tion in 1529.

Roxane Baxter, one of the attendees, says, “I appreciated Jakob’s knowledge about the impact of the religious conflicts (ie. Protestant vs. Catholic) on the po­litical, architectural, social, financial, and economic history of Basel.”

Adrian Dubock explains what he learned from the Kleinbasel tour: “I didn’t know before that Basel was a centre of Prot­estantism surrounded all sides by Ro­man Catholics, on whom Kleinbasel had to call whenever they needed labour. I also didn’t realise that Kleinbasel has so many monasteries, nor that the old Brücke was half stone, half wood and not only made of wood as recorded on an of­ficial plaque mounted on the new Mittlere Brücke built 1904. I found it interesting to walk through passages and yards which I would have imagined were closed to the public. Jakob confidently knew where we could go.”

Jakob’s Quartet of Tours

The Kleinbasel tour was the last of Ja­kob’s four tours in 2025, which started with his “Classic Tour” around Minster Hill in April, “Women, Walls and Towers” with the Spalentor in May, and the “Saint Alban Valley” in June. The tours were ful­ly booked—sometimes overbooked—and many members enthusiastically signed up for two or more tours. A native Basler and a Centrepoint member since 2012, Jakob has been giving tours for our or­ganization since 2015 and hosted the “My Place” talks programme from 2018 to 2023. He will repeat his popular series of four tours in 2026.

As Jutta Steinbach says, “He shares his broad knowledge of Basel’s history with lively humour and funny anecdotes. We laughed a lot and I’m looking forward to the upcoming tours.”

For more information on Basel’s history, Jakob recommends Basel: A Centre at the Fringe by Peter Habicht, which is available in English at Bider & Tanner (and don’t forget to show your Centrepoint member card, as Bider& Tanner offers a privilege of 10% discount on items in their English department).

Written By Michelle Lauterbach