BASEL, bii'zel, or BALE, hal (anciently, ba silic, royal residence, from Gk. pacrAft5s, basilens, king; basula in the Middle Ages). The capital of the half-eanton of Basel-Stadt. Switzerland; lying on both sides of the Rhine, near the north ern boundary of Switzerland (Map: Switzerland, B I). The city is situated in a charming plain over 800 feet above sea-level, and is divided by the river into Grossbasel and Kleinbasel. The former, the higher portion of the city. is on the left hank, and is connected with Kleinbasel by three bridges, one of which, the wooden Alte Briteke (Old Bridge), was built in the early part of the Thirteenth Century. The city proper shows its medieval origin, but about it are 'charming suburbs, occupied by the richer classes. The old ramparts have been leveled to form walks and promenades, the finest of these being the Sankt Alban-Anlage and the Eschengraben. in the Esehenplatz stands the Sankt ,Takob Mon ument, to the memory of the Swiss who opposed the Armagnac invaders in 1444. Other memo rials are the Strassburg Monument, by Bar tholdi, commemorating the aid given by Switzer land to the women and children of that city after the siege of 1870, and the Holbein Foun tain, restored in 1887.
Basel abounds in fine buildings, both medix val and modern. Among these may be men tioned the Ra that's or Town Hall, built in the first quarter of the Sixteenth Century; the Cathedral, said to have been begun by Em.
peror Henry I.; and the Barfilsser Kirehe, dating from the Fourteenth Century. The latter has a very high choir, and is now the quarters of the Historical Museum, whieh vies with that of Zurich as the finest in Switzerland. Other nota ble buildings are the Church of Saint Elizabeth, the Natural History and Art Museum, the Kunst Halle, containing a collection of modern paint ings, the theatre, and the post-offiee.
Basel has a university which dates from 1459. The university library has about 230.000 vol umes, and about 1500 MSS., chiefly dealing with the Reformation. The botanical gardens and the institute of natural sciences, as well as the clinics attached to the city hospitals, are also affiliated with the university. (For further de tails, see BASEL, TJNIVEllaITY OF.) Besides the university there are several high schools, and an industrial school and museum. The Historical Museum, which has been mentioned, contains some portions of the celebrated Danse Macabre, formerly a fresco in the Cathedral burial-ground and removed in 1805, besides a fine collection of mediaeval furniture. Basel was the home of the Holbeins. and the museum contains a valuable collection of their works, and those of their pupils. There are several literary, musical, his torical, and seientifie societies. A notable organ ization is the Association for Public Welfare, which cares for schools and other institutions designed for the bettering of the condition of the poor and the afflicted, such as the blind, stutter ing, etc. Basel's hospitals include a Polyelinie
supported by the State, while its mission-house and Bible Institute are world-famous.
Basel has long been the leading commercial town of Switzerland and an important manu facturing centre. For more than 200 years the chief industry has been ribbon-making, now giving employment to more than 8000 people. Other branches of industry are paper-making, silk and thread spinning, dyeing and dye-mak ing, and the preparation of the 'Baseler Leek erli,' or honey-eakes. The position of the city on the boundaries of Switzerland, Alsace, and Baden, and its location on the Rhine, here navi gable, give it great advantages for trade, and it receives more than 50 per cent. of the entire im ports of Switzerland. It is an important eeutre for the transport of the native products of the country, and as a result Basel is the most pow erful financial city of Switzerland. Besides the communications given by the Rhine and the Rhine-Rhone canals, railroads from various parts of Switzerland form a junction in Basel, per mitting connections with France.
The Basel-Stadt semi-eanton consists of the city and three parishes; the cantonal councils have general jurisdiction over the city. In 1888 the population of the city was 74,245; in 1900, 112,885. Of these over two-thirds are Protestants, less than one-third Catholics, with about 3000 Jews.
Basel had its origin in the Basilia of the Ro mans, a frontier post situated near the town of Augusta Rauracorum. It was taken in turn by the Alemanni and the Franks, and, on the partition of Charlemagne's empire, passed to Louis the German. In the Eleventh Century it enjoyed great prosperity as a free imperial city, ruled by its bishop and the chief nobility. In the course of many years the burghers acquired a large share in the municipal government, while at the same time, the authority of the city, by purchase and conquest, was extended ovCr a broad stretch of territory. Basel fought with the Swiss confederates against the Haps burgs in 1444, and formally joined the Confed eracy in 1501. The Reformation made rapid progress in Basel. The government of the city became thoroughly democratic, but toward the inhabitants of the rural districts of Basel a policy of consistent selfishness was followed, in that they were allowed share in the political life of the community for nearly three centuries. Under the impulse of the French Revolution equality of rights was established, but the city became supreme again after 1814. Civil war broke out as a restilt in I831, and continued until 1833, when the Federal Government in tervened and brought about the division of the canton into Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land. The latter immediately established democratic insti tutions, but Basel-Stadt maintained its reac tionary character till well into the second half of the Nineteenth Century. Consult Guide to Basle and Environs (Basel, 1895).