Timeline of Basel

Prior to 11th century

5th century BC – Celts settle in the area

150 BC – Rauraci Celtic tribe founds a settlement (located on the northwestern outskirts of the present city)

58 BC

Rauraci together with Helvetii try to emigrate to Gaul, but are defeated at the Battle of Bibracte by Julius Caesar and sent back to their homeland

Returning Rauraci build a fortified settlement, called oppidum (located in today's Basel Cathedral hill)

c. 44 BC – Augusta Raurica is founded by the Romans

c. 15 BC – Successful colonization of the area supported by the Augustus's conquest of the central Alps

By the 2nd century AD

Has become a prosperous commercial trading centre and the capital of a local Roman province

Population reaches approximately twenty thousand people

250 AD - Powerful earthquake damages a large part of the city

c. 260 AD - Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroy Augusta Raurica

c. 300 AD

Following the loss of the Limes Germanicus and the right bank of the Rhine River, the Roman army builds a castra (fort) named Castrum Rauracense near the old site of Augusta Raurica. It was intended to serve as the headquarters of the legio I Martia and to protect a ford over the Rhine.

4th century AD

The fort grows in importance because it commands a bridge that lies along the road from Gaul to the Danube River

Emperors Constantius II and Julian assemble their armies at the Castrum Rauracense before marching to battle against the Alemanni.

Church is built near Castrum Rauracense

The fort and neighboring church become the seat of a bishop, with the bishop first being mentioned in 346.

374 AD - The town named Basilea or Basilia in Latin (from Ancient Greek Basileia, Βασιλεια meaning kingship) is documented

c. 400 AD - Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Roman troops withdraw from Castrum Rauracense and Basilea, the Germanic Alemanni settled in

7th century AD - The bishop moves to Basel and the settlement at Castrum Rauracense declines in importance

740 - Catholic diocese of Basel active (approximate date).

752 AD - A village called Augusta was first mentioned

894 AD - East Francian King Arnulf grants the church in Kaiseraugst (Castrum Rauracense) to his vassal, Anno; the church was then granted to the Abbey of St Gall and then later to the Basel Münster

917 AD – The Magyars destroyed Basel, and later burnt down the monasteries of St Gallen and Rheinau

999 AD – Rudolph III of Burgundy donates the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions (540 square miles of lands) to Bishop Adalbero II, establishing the Prince-Bishopric of Basel as a secular territory

11th-18th centuries

1019 - Basel Münster construction begins.

1032 - Town becomes seat of Prince-Bishopric of Basel, Holy Roman Empire.

1080 - City wall built (approximate date).

1226

Bridge over the Rhine constructed.

Furriers guild established.

1230 - Inner wall built (approximate date).

1349

Black Death plague.

Basel massacre.

1356 - Earthquake.

1380 - Public clock installed (approximate date).

1398 - Outer wall built.

1412 - Guesthouse "Zum Goldenen Sternen" in business (approximate date).

1431 - Council of Basel formed.

1444 - Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs.

1460 - University of Basel established.

1466 - Gesellschaft der Feuerschützen (Basel) (militia) formed.

1468 - Berthold Ruppel sets up printing press (approximate date).

1471 - University Library in operation (approximate date).

1488 - Johannes Petri sets up printing press.

1491 - Johann Froben establishes printing house (approximate date).

1495 - Basel becomes part of Upper Rhenish Imperial Circle.

1499 - City hosts Treaty of Basel.

1500 - Basel Münster rebuilt.

1501 - Canton of Basel becomes part of Swiss Confederacy.

1523 - Christoph Burckhardt becomes citizen.

1529 - City becomes Protestant; Catholic bishop moves to Porrentruy.

1536 - John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion published.

1542

Basel thaler (currency) in circulation.

Johannes Oporinus sets up printing business.

1543 - Andreas Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica published.

1559 - Skalich's Encyclopaedia published.

1662 - Amerbaschsches Kabinett established.

1774 - Population: 15,040.

1777 - Gesellschaft zur Aufmunterung und Beförderung des Guten und Gemeinnützigen founded.

1795 - City hosts Peace of Basel.

1798 - Basel frank (currency) in circulation.

19th century

1815 - Evangelical Missionary Society of Basel formed.

1821 - Natural History Museum founded.

1833 - Canton of Basel divided.

1834 - Basler Stadttheater founded.

1839 - Basler Kunstverein founded.

1840 - Income tax collection begins in the canton.

1850 - Population: 27,844 in city; 29,698 in canton.

1864 - Elisabethenkirche built.

1867 - Allgemeine Musikschule founded.

1870 - Population: 44,848 in city; 47,040 in canton.

1872 - Kunsthalle Basel inaugurated.

1874 - Zoo Basel opens.

1882 - St. Gotthard railway begins operating.

1893 - FC Basel founded.

1894 - Basel Historical Museum opens.

1897 - City hosts Zionist Organization meeting.

20th century

1900 - Population: 109,161 in city; 112,227 in canton.

1907 - Basel SBB railway station built.

1912 - City hosts Second International meeting.

1913 - Basel Badischer Bahnhof built (approximate date).

1917

Schweizer Mustermesse Basel begins.

Ethnographic Museum formed.

1923 - Silo Tower built.

1925 - Pharmazie-Historisches Museum der Universität Basel founded.

1926 - Basel Chamber Orchestra founded.

1927 - Boys' Choir of the Protestant Church of Basel-City formed.

1933

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis founded.

Gate of Spalen restored.

1945 - 4 March: Bombing by Allied forces.

1946 - Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport opens.

1954

City of Basel Music Academy formed.

St. Jakob Stadium opens.

1961 - Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig founded.

1963 - Birskopf Bridge built.

1968 - Merian Gärten (garden) established.

1969 - Basel Institute for Immunology founded.

1970

Art Basel begins.

Population: 212,857 in city; 234,945 in canton.

1977 - Basler Zeitung (newspaper) begins publication.

1979 - Cartoonmuseum Basel founded.

1980

Paper museum established.

Museum of Contemporary Art opens.

Population: 182,143 in city; 203,915 in canton.

1984 - Swiss Architecture Museum founded.

1989 - City hosts Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

1996 - Museum Tinguely opens.

1997 - Sinfonieorchester Basel formed.

1998 - Dollhouse Museum opens.

21st century

2000

Music Museum opens.

Population: 166,558 in city; 188,079 in canton; 731,167 metro.

2001 - St. Jakob-Park stadium opens.

2006 - City hosts European Curling Championships.