Basel fountain

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As early as 300 AD there was a Roman water well on the Münsterplatz in Basel. It went down around 20 meters and provided the residents with drinking water.
The fish market fountain near the shipyard
The fountain in Augustinergasse is adorned with a basilisk
Swan fountain at St. Alban's Gate
Basilisk fountain

The Swiss city ​​of Basel is rich in fountains . There are currently around 200 public fountains that are operated and maintained by IWB (Industrielle Werke Basel). There are also over 120 fountains in the playgrounds of school buildings, state properties or in private gardens. Many of these fountains have a historically valuable meaning and are under monument protection . All wells in which the water flows from a well tube have fresh drinking water; that is - with three exceptions - practically all of them.

This list contains fountains which have a connection with the history of Basel or whose construction or uniqueness deserve a special mention.

Fountain story

Pisoni fountain on the Münsterplatz in Basel. Paolo Antonio Pisoni (1738–1804)
Pisoni fountain on the Münsterplatz in Basel

In the Middle Ages , the townspeople drew their water from sod wells and hole wells (local springs emerging in the urban area, which were captured and the water of which was fed into pipes to drain into a well). The oldest known Basler Sodbrunnen is the one on the Münsterplatz. It dates back to around 300, reached a depth of around 20 meters and was used to supply the residents of the cathedral hill with drinking water.

In the 13th century, a total of 13 springs emerged in the center of the city of Basel, which were used for 18 public fountains. There were also 13 private hole wells, which also obtained their water from springs. In order to be able to provide the higher parts of the city with running well water, the Augustinian Canons of St. Leonhard, founded in 1135, directed spring water from its estates towards Allschwil to its monastery before 1265. The first well, later called Spalen well, was the result of a joint effort between this monastery and the city. The water was led into the city through wooden pipes, called Teucheln ( Deicheln ). A year later, the Münster well was built, which - starting from a spring in Binningen - supplied the residents of the cathedral hill with drinking water. In the course of the following centuries, other well works such as the Riehener Werk, the Steinenwerk, the Gundeldingerwerk and the St. Alban -brunnwerk were built. The Brunnstube of the St. Alban-Brunnwerk still exists; the water from the spring flows into the Kneipptret fountain on St. Alban-Rheinweg.

As recently as the 1850s, there were over 500 public and private fountains in the city; around 220 were connected to wells, around 30 were fed by local springs and over 250 were sod wells, with which the groundwater was brought up. Due to the rapid population growth, hygienic problems arose, which is why a system of drinking water supply was introduced in 1866 - which was very advanced at the time. For this purpose, spring water was directed from Grellingen to Basel and at the same time an appropriate sewage network was provided. Little by little, all wells were connected to this new pipe network, and private households also received a pressurized water supply . As a result, the wells lost their original function as water dispensers; however, they continue to shape the cityscape.

Significant fountains

literature

  • Markus Fürstenberger (text), Pitt Rüegger (woodcuts): Basler Brunnen. Explanations with colored woodcut illustrations of 40 Basel fountains. Helgestuube, Hergiswil 1994, ISBN Hergiswilg
  • Beat Trachsler: Basel fountains from old and new times. GS, Basel 1998.
  • Christiane Widmer, Christian Lienhard: Basel and its fountains. BwieBasel Edition 01. Spalentor Verlag, Basel, 2016.

Web links

Commons : Fountains in Basel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files