À propos de ce lieu
Standing on the oldest bridge site across the Rhine between Lake Constance and the North Sea, the Mittlere Brücke has knitted Basel together for roughly eight centuries. First documented in 1223 and opened in 1226, the original crossing turned two separate riverbank villages into a single trading power and gave rise to Kleinbasel on the far shore. The bridge you walk today was rebuilt in stone between 1903 and 1905 using granite quarried from the northern face of the Gotthard massif, its seven graceful arches carrying pedestrians, cyclists and the rattling green trams the locals affectionately call the Drämmli. Midway across sits the Käppelijoch, a small stone chapel perched on the central pier that offered medieval travellers a moment of prayer and, more darkly, served as a place where condemned prisoners were dropped into the current below.
À retenir
- 1226 year — The first bridge opened here, one of the oldest Rhine crossings between Lake Constance and the North Sea
- 192 meters — The length of the current stone bridge, built from Gotthard granite and carrying seven arches
- 1634 year — The last recorded execution by drowning was carried out at the bridge's Käppelijoch chapel
📍 Mittlere Rheinbrücke, 4089, Basel