How Basel delivered world-firsts for the international cultural scene
Basel is the third largest city in Switzerland, located right on the border with France and Germany. In this unique position, bringing three countries together, it is a melting pot of ideas, histories and cultures - no wonder it has sparked many world-firsts within the cultural world.
In this blog, we'll take an artistic and cultural tour through Basel’s museums and discover some of those world-firsts.
Art and culture museums in Basel
Basel is a city of around 177,000 people. It is often known as the cultural capital of Switzerland, famed for its many museums and cultural institutions.
Around 40 different museums are to be found in Basel, which, for its size and population, makes the city one of the largest cultural centres in Europe.
The city is home to the first public art museum in the world, as well as Europe's first public museum dedicated to contemporary art. Since the 1970s, Art Basel has grown to become one of the world’s leading fairs in the international art market.
Basel's art history stretches back centuries - let's go back to the beginning.
Kunstmuseum Basel, the world's first museum
The Kunstmuseum Basel has the oldest public art collection in the world, making it one of the world's first museums.
It dates back to the 17th century when the Amerbach family assembled a cabinet of curiosities, with artefacts such as coins and medals, artworks such as paintings and sketches, and a library of books and letters.
In 1661, its owners received an offer to sell the collection to Amsterdam - however, the city of Basel and University of Basel stepped in to buy it and make the collection publicly available. From 1671, it was housed in a building in the centre of Basel.
In 1936, the museum moved to its current main building with an extension built in 2016. The museum also owns two additional buildings.
Today, more than 350 years later, the Kunstmuseum collection has grown massively.
Through donations and acquisitions, the museum now holds collections of medieval and Renaissance art alongside works from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and modernist and post-war artworks.
A cast of Auguste Rodin's sculpture from the 1880s stands in the museum's courtyard. The cast was made in 1943 and installed in 1948.
In 1967, two paintings by Pablo Picasso displayed in the museum, having been on loan, were threatened with sale and removal from the museum. Fortunately, local residents - including the local football club - rallied round and voted to buy them for Basel.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, first contemporary art museum in Europe
In 1980, Kunstmuseum Basel received donations to allow them to build the Museum für Gegenwartskunst - the Museum for Contemporary Art - now known as Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart.
This was a milestone for European museums - the first museum in Europe dedicated to contemporary art.
The museum is housed on the banks of the Rhine in a converted paper mill which was renovated in 2005.
The museum presents art from the 1960s onwards. In addition to painting and sculpture, it also has a significant collection of video art. Artists such as Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman and Paula Rego are featured in the collection.
More world-first museums in Basel
A number of other museums in Basel are among the earliest or largest in the world.
The Jewish Museum of Switzerland opened in Basel in 1966.
It was the first Jewish museum in the German-speaking world after World War II. It tells the religious and everyday history of Jewish people in Basel and Switzerland through ritual and religious artefacts, art and everyday items from the Middle Ages onwards.
The Pharmacy Museum of the University of Basel holds one of the world's largest and most significant collections of pharmaceutical objects and the history of pharmacy.
Highlights include apothecaries’ shops, historic equipment including microscopes and pharmacy ceramics from the 15th to 19th centuries.
The Anatomical Museum of the University of Basel was founded by Prof. Carl Gustav Jung in 1824. It displays original preparations of human body parts, organs and tissue - including a skeleton, prepared by Andreas Vesale in 1543 in Basel, which is the oldest anatomical skeleton in the world!
But if those are a little too gruesome for you, how about teddy bears? The Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel (Toy Worlds Museum Basel) is home to the world's largest collection of teddy bears, as well as dolls, dollhouses and toy shops.
Oldest botanical garden
The Botanical Garden of the University of Basel is located near Basel's historic old town.
It was founded in 1589 by Caspar Bauhin, making it one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. The garden displays more than 7,500 different plant species from around the globe.
Art Basel, world-leading art fair
Art Basel is one of the world's most influential international art fairs, showcasing modern and contemporary works, and visited by collectors, artists and enthusiasts.
When it was founded in 1970, more than 16,000 visitors attended to see 90 galleries and 30 publishers from 10 countries. Now taking place each June and welcoming over 80,000 visitors, Art Basel also has satellite fairs in Hong Kong, Paris and Miami Beach.
