Basel

German-speaking Basel is located in northwest Switzerland on the Rhine River, bordering both Germany and France. The city became a focal point of European intellectual life in 1459 when Pope Pius II endowed the University of Basel, where both Erasmus and Paracelsus later taught. At the same time, the new craft of printing was introduced to Basel by apprentices of Gutenberg. The Schwabe AG publishing house was founded in 1488 by Johannes Petri and is still in business. Today, Basel possesses an array of buildings by famed architects such as Renzo Piano, Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry. Basel is also home to the internationally renowned architectural practice Herzog & de Meuron.