This small region highlights the cultural synthesis of the Rhine Valley and Switzerland. The city of Basel once formed the center of a Prince-Archbishopric until the Reformation, when the Protestant city joined the Swiss Confederation. As the last major port city on the Rhine, Basel feels more like a Rhenish city than a Swiss one. No trip along the Rhine is complete without a stop in one of its most beautiful cities.
Basel and its small region form a remarkable cultural borderland, combining the jovial Rhineland cultures of France and Germany with the austerity of Switzerland. The result is a relaxed multi-national city in Switzerland, something otherwise unthinkable in the business districts of Zurich or the Villas of Geneva. Despite its small size, Basel has a unique cultural identity, with festivals, food, and distinctive architecture worthy of a much larger city. Basler Land and the Jura, the area around the city, are beautiful alpine foothills full of castles, picturesque villages, and forgotten ruins.
This region is a combination of two areas, one representing the territories of the City of Basel, which earned its de facto independence and imperial immediacy after 1386 and de jure independence after 1521. The other domain represents the historical extent of the Prince-Bishops of Basel. Though their rule over the city ended in the high Middle Ages, they ruled the predominantly agricultural territories of the Jura until the end of the Holy Roman Empire.
The historical relationship between Basel and Switzerland is complicated. The Prince-Bishops had already established representation with Old Swiss Confederacy by the end of the Middle Ages, but they did not take the oath to join. In contrast, the city of Basel was much closer to the Confederacy and joined the Old Swiss Confederation in 1501. Though lands of the Bishopric would not officially join Switzerland until 1815, a select number of cities and towns were offered protection by the individual members of the Confederacy. This protection provided a de facto membership.
The territory of Basel is relatively small, and both the City and Bishopric were somewhat impoverished institutions throughout history. Though Basel enjoyed a brief period of attention during the Reformation, both the Middle Ages and the Age of Absolutism were periods of stagnation for the region. The consequence is a lack of monumental architecture, and the city, with its region, retains a very provincial character.
