The history of Basel
Basel's story runs from a Roman colony on the Rhine to a modern centre of chemistry and medicine.
Roman beginnings
Upriver from today's city, the Romans founded Augusta Raurica in 44 BC. It became an important Roman town, and its remains at Augst can still be visited. A Roman fort on the hill where the Münster now stands later grew into the medieval town.
A medieval city
Basel became a bishop's seat and a trading town on the Rhine. In 1356 a major earthquake damaged the city badly, and it was rebuilt. From 1431 to 1449 Basel hosted the Council of Basel, a major church council that brought clergy and scholars from across Europe.
University and learning
In 1460 the University of Basel was founded, the first in what is now Switzerland. The city became a centre of printing and humanist scholarship. The scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam lived and worked in Basel and is buried in the Münster, and the painter Hans Holbein the Younger worked here as a young man.
Joining the Swiss Confederation
Basel joined the Swiss Confederation in 1501.
The Reformation
The city adopted the Reformation in 1529. In 1833, after a conflict between the city and its countryside, the canton divided into Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft.
Chemistry and pharma
In the 19th century Basel's silk-ribbon trade led to a dye industry, which grew into chemicals and then medicines. Roche was founded in 1896. Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz merged in 1996 to form Novartis, and the city is still a leading centre of the pharmaceutical industry. In 1897 Basel also hosted the first Zionist Congress.