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The vast majority of β-meander regions in proteins are found packed against other motifs or sections of the polypeptide chain, forming portions of the hydrophobic core that canonically drives formation of the folded structure. However, several notable exceptions include the Outer Surface Protein A (OspA) variants and the Single Layer β-sheet Proteins (SLBPs) which contain single-layer β-sheets in the absence of a traditional hydrophobic core. These β-rich proteins feature an extended single-layer β-meander β-sheets that are primarily stabilized via inter-β-strand interactions and hydrophobic interactions present in the turn regions connecting individual strands.
Psi-loop motif.
The psi-loop (Ψ-loop) motif consists of two antiparallel strands with one strand in between that is connected to both by hydrogen bonds. There are four possible strand topologies for single Ψ-loops. This motif is rare as the process resulting in its formation seems unlikely to occur during protein folding. The Ψ-loop was first identified in the aspartic protease family.
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Structural architectures of proteins with β-sheets.
β-sheets are present in all-β, α+β and α/β domains, and in many peptides or small proteins with poorly defined overall architecture. All-β domains may form β-barrels, β-sandwiches, β-prisms, β-propellers, and β-helices.
Structural topology.
The topology of a β-sheet describes the order of hydrogen-bonded β-strands along the backbone. For example, the flavodoxin fold has a five-stranded, parallel β-sheet with topology 21345; thus, the edge strands are β-strand 2 and β-strand 5 along the backbone. Spelled out explicitly, β-strand 2 is H-bonded to β-strand 1, which is H-bonded to β-strand 3, which is H-bonded to β-strand 4, which is H-bonded to β-strand 5, the other edge strand. In the same system, the Greek key motif described above has a 4123 topology. The secondary structure of a β-sheet can be described roughly by giving the number of strands, their topology, and whether their hydrogen bonds are parallel or antiparallel.
β-sheets can be "open", meaning that they have two edge strands (as in the flavodoxin fold or the immunoglobulin fold) or they can be "closed β-barrels" (such as the TIM barrel). β-Barrels are often described by their "stagger" or "shear". Some open β-sheets are very curved and fold over on themselves (as in the SH3 domain) or form horseshoe shapes (as in the ribonuclease inhibitor). Open β-sheets can assemble face-to-face (such as the β-propeller domain or immunoglobulin fold) or edge-to-edge, forming one big β-sheet.
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Dynamic features.
β-pleated sheet structures are made from extended β-strand polypeptide chains, with strands linked to their neighbours by hydrogen bonds. Due to this extended backbone conformation, β-sheets resist stretching. β-sheets in proteins may carry out low-frequency accordion-like motion as observed by the Raman spectroscopy and analyzed with the quasi-continuum model.
Parallel β-helices.
A β-helix is formed from repeating structural units consisting of two or three short β-strands linked by short loops. These units "stack" atop one another in a helical fashion so that successive repetitions of the same strand hydrogen-bond with each other in a parallel orientation. See the β-helix article for further information.
In lefthanded β-helices, the strands themselves are quite straight and untwisted; the resulting helical surfaces are nearly flat, forming a regular triangular prism shape, as shown for the 1QRE archaeal carbonic anhydrase at right. Other examples are the lipid A synthesis enzyme LpxA and insect antifreeze proteins with a regular array of Thr sidechains on one face that mimic the structure of ice.
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Righthanded β-helices, typified by the pectate lyase enzyme shown at left or P22 phage tailspike protein, have a less regular cross-section, longer and indented on one of the sides; of the three linker loops, one is consistently just two residues long and the others are variable, often elaborated to form a binding or active site. <br>
A two-sided β-helix (right-handed) is found in some bacterial metalloproteases; its two loops are each six residues long and bind stabilizing calcium ions to maintain the integrity of the structure, using the backbone and the Asp side chain oxygens of a GGXGXD sequence motif. This fold is called a β-roll in the SCOP classification.
In pathology.
Some proteins that are disordered or helical as monomers, such as amyloid β (see amyloid plaque) can form β-sheet-rich oligomeric structures associated with pathological states. The amyloid β protein's oligomeric form is implicated as a cause of Alzheimer's. Its structure has yet to be determined in full, but recent data suggest that it may resemble an unusual two-strand β-helix.
The side chains from the amino acid residues found in a β-sheet structure may also be arranged such that many of the adjacent sidechains on one side of the sheet are hydrophobic, while many of those adjacent to each other on the alternate side of the sheet are polar or charged (hydrophilic), which can be useful if the sheet is to form a boundary between polar/watery and nonpolar/greasy environments. |
Beryl
Beryl ( ) is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2Si6O18. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine. Naturally occurring hexagonal crystals of beryl can be up to several meters in size, but terminated crystals are relatively rare. Pure beryl is colorless, but it is frequently tinted by impurities; possible colors are green, blue, yellow, pink, and red (the rarest). It is an ore source of beryllium.
Etymology.
The word "beryl" – – is borrowed, via and , from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος "bḗryllos", which referred to various blue-green stones, from Prakrit "veruḷiya", "veḷuriya" 'beryl'
which is ultimately of Dravidian origin, maybe from the name of Belur or "Velur", a town in Karnataka, southern India. The term was later adopted for the mineral beryl more exclusively.
When the first eyeglasses were constructed in 13th-century Italy, the lenses were made of beryl (or of rock crystal) as glass could not be made clear enough. Consequently, glasses were named "Brille" in German ("bril" in Dutch and "briller" in Danish).
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Deposits.
Beryl is a common mineral, and it is widely distributed in nature. It is found most commonly in granitic pegmatites, but also occurs in mica schists, such as those of the Ural Mountains, and in limestone in Colombia. It is less common in ordinary granite and is only infrequently found in nepheline syenite. Beryl is often associated with tin and tungsten ore bodies formed as high-temperature hydrothermal veins. In granitic pegmatites, beryl is found in association with quartz, potassium feldspar, albite, muscovite, biotite, and tourmaline. Beryl is sometimes found in metasomatic contacts of igneous intrusions with gneiss, schist, or carbonate rocks. Common beryl, mined as beryllium ore, is found in small deposits in many countries, but the main producers are Russia, Brazil, and the United States.
New England's pegmatites have produced some of the largest beryls found, including one massive crystal from the Bumpus Quarry in Albany, Maine with dimensions with a mass of around ; it is New Hampshire's state mineral. , the world's largest known naturally occurring crystal of any mineral is a crystal of beryl from Malakialina, Madagascar, long and in diameter, and weighing .
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Crystal habit and structure.
Beryl belongs to the hexagonal crystal system. Normally beryl forms hexagonal columns but can also occur in massive habits. As a cyclosilicate beryl incorporates rings of silicate tetrahedra of that are arranged in columns along the axis and as parallel layers perpendicular to the axis, forming channels along the axis. These channels permit a variety of ions, neutral atoms, and molecules to be incorporated into the crystal thus disrupting the overall charge of the crystal permitting further substitutions in aluminium, silicon, and beryllium sites in the crystal structure. These impurities give rise to the variety of colors of beryl that can be found. Increasing alkali content within the silicate ring channels causes increases to the refractive indices and birefringence.
Human health impact.
Beryl is a beryllium compound that is a known carcinogen with acute toxic effects leading to pneumonitis when inhaled. Care must thus be used when mining, handling, and refining these gems.
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Varieties.
Aquamarine and maxixe.
Aquamarine (from , "sea water") is a blue or cyan variety of beryl. It occurs at most localities which yield ordinary beryl. The gem-gravel placer deposits of Sri Lanka contain aquamarine. Green-yellow beryl, such as that occurring in Brazil, is sometimes called "chrysolite aquamarine". The deep blue version of aquamarine is called "maxixe" (pronounced mah-she-she). Its color results from a radiation-induced color center.
The pale blue color of aquamarine is attributed to Fe2+. Fe3+ ions produce golden-yellow color, and when both Fe2+ and Fe3+ are present, the color is a darker blue as in maxixe. Decoloration of maxixe by light or heat thus may be due to the charge transfer between Fe3+ and Fe2+.
In the United States, aquamarines can be found at the summit of Mount Antero in the Sawatch Range in central Colorado, and in the New England and North Carolina pegmatites. Aquamarines are also present in the state of Wyoming, aquamarine has been discovered in the Big Horn Mountains, near Powder River Pass. Another location within the United States is the Sawtooth Range near Stanley, Idaho, although the minerals are within a wilderness area which prevents collecting. In Brazil, there are mines in the states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, and Bahia, and minorly in Rio Grande do Norte. The mines of Colombia, Skardu Pakistan, Madagascar, Russia, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya also produce aquamarine.
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Emerald.
Emerald is green beryl, colored by around 2% chromium and sometimes vanadium. Most emeralds are highly included, so their brittleness (resistance to breakage) is classified as generally poor.
The modern English word "emerald" comes via Middle English "emeraude", imported from modern French via Old French "ésmeraude" and Medieval Latin , from Latin , from Greek "smaragdos" meaning 'green gem'.
Emeralds in antiquity were mined by the Egyptians and in what is now Austria, as well as Swat in contemporary Pakistan. A rare type of emerald known as a trapiche emerald is occasionally found in the mines of Colombia. A trapiche emerald exhibits a "star" pattern; it has raylike spokes of dark carbon impurities that give the emerald a six-pointed radial pattern. It is named for the "trapiche", a grinding wheel used to process sugarcane in the region. Colombian emeralds are generally the most prized due to their transparency and fire. Some of the rarest emeralds come from the two main emerald belts in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes: Muzo and Coscuez west of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, and Chivor and Somondoco to the east. Fine emeralds are also found in other countries, such as Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Russia. In the US, emeralds can be found in Hiddenite, North Carolina. In 1998, emeralds were discovered in Yukon.
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Emerald is a rare and valuable gemstone and, as such, it has provided the incentive for developing synthetic emeralds. Both hydrothermal and "flux-growth" synthetics have been produced. The first commercially successful emerald synthesis process was that of Carroll Chatham. The other large producer of flux emeralds was Pierre Gilson Sr., which has been on the market since 1964. Gilson's emeralds are usually grown on natural colorless beryl seeds which become coated on both sides. Growth occurs at the rate of per month, a typical seven-month growth run producing emerald crystals of 7 mm of thickness. The green color of emeralds is widely attributed to presence of Cr3+ ions. Intensely green beryls from Brazil, Zimbabwe and elsewhere in which the color is attributed to vanadium have also been sold and certified as emeralds.
Golden beryl and heliodor.
"Golden beryl" can range in colors from pale yellow to a brilliant gold. Unlike emerald, golden beryl generally has very few flaws. The term "golden beryl" is sometimes synonymous with "heliodor" (from Greek "hēlios – ἥλιος" "sun" + "dōron – δῶρον" "gift") but golden beryl refers to pure yellow or golden yellow shades, while heliodor refers to the greenish-yellow shades. The golden yellow color is attributed to Fe3+ ions. Both golden beryl and heliodor are used as gems. Probably the largest cut golden beryl is the flawless stone on display in the Hall of Gems, Washington, D.C., United States.
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Goshenite.
Colorless beryl is called "goshenite". The name originates from Goshen, Massachusetts, where it was originally discovered. In the past, goshenite was used for manufacturing eyeglasses and lenses owing to its transparency. Nowadays, it is most commonly used for gemstone purposes.
The gem value of goshenite is relatively low. However, goshenite can be colored yellow, green, pink, blue and in intermediate colors by irradiating it with high-energy particles. The resulting color depends on the content of Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Fe, and Co impurities.
Morganite.
Morganite, also known as "pink beryl", "rose beryl", "pink emerald" (which is not a legal term according to the new Federal Trade Commission Guidelines and Regulations), and "cesian (or "caesian") beryl", is a rare light pink to rose-colored gem-quality variety of beryl. Orange/yellow varieties of morganite can also be found, and color banding is common. It can be routinely heat treated to remove patches of yellow and is occasionally treated by irradiation to improve its color. The pink color of morganite is attributed to Mn2+ ions.
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Red beryl.
Red variety of beryl (the "bixbite") was first described in 1904 for an occurrence, its type locality, at Maynard's Claim (Pismire Knolls), Thomas Range, Juab County, Utah. The dark red color is attributed to Mn3+ ions. Old synonym "bixbite" is deprecated from the CIBJO because of the possibility of confusion with the mineral bixbyite (both named after mineralogist Maynard Bixby). Red "bixbite" beryl formerly was marketed as "red" or "scarlet emerald", but these terms involving "Emerald" terminology are now prohibited in the US.
Red beryl is very rare and has only been reported from a handful of North American locations: Wah Wah Mountains, Beaver County, Utah; Paramount Canyon, Round Mountain, Juab County, Utah; and Sierra County, New Mexico, although this locality does not often produce gem-grade stones. The bulk of gem-grade red beryl comes from the Ruby-Violet Claim in the Wah Wah Mts. of midwestern Utah, discovered in 1958 by Lamar Hodges, of Fillmore, Utah, while he was prospecting for uranium. Red beryl has been known to be confused with pezzottaite, a caesium analog of beryl, found in Madagascar and, more recently, Afghanistan; cut gems of the two varieties can be distinguished by their difference in refractive index, and the rough crystals easily by their differing crystal systems (pezzottaite trigonal, red beryl hexagonal). Synthetic red beryl is also produced. Like emerald and unlike most other varieties of beryl, the red ones are usually highly included.
While gem beryls are ordinarily found in pegmatites and certain metamorphic stones, red beryl occurs in topaz-bearing rhyolites. It is formed by crystallizing under low pressure and high temperature from a pneumatolytic phase along fractures or within near-surface miarolitic cavities of the rhyolite. Associated minerals include bixbyite, quartz, orthoclase, topaz, spessartine, pseudobrookite and hematite. |
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle, is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the River Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with 177,595 inhabitants within the city municipality limits. The official language of Basel is Swiss Standard German and the main spoken language is the local Basel German dialect.
Basel is commonly considered to be the cultural capital of Switzerland and the city is famous for its many museums, including the Kunstmuseum, which is the first collection of art accessible to the public in the world (1661) and the largest museum of art in Switzerland, the Fondation Beyeler (located in Riehen), the Museum Tinguely and the Museum of Contemporary Art, which is the first public museum of contemporary art in Europe. Forty museums are spread throughout the city-canton, making Basel one of the largest cultural centres in relation to its size and population in Europe. It is the hometown of the Art Basel, world's most prestigious and influential international art fair, showcasing modern and contemporary works from leading galleries and attracting top collectors, artists, and enthusiasts globally.
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The University of Basel, Switzerland's oldest university (founded in 1460), and the city's centuries-long commitment to humanism, have made Basel a safe haven at times of political unrest in other parts of Europe for such notable people as Erasmus of Rotterdam, the Holbein family, Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, and in the 20th century also Hermann Hesse and Karl Jaspers.
Basel was the seat of a Prince-Bishopric starting in the 11th century, and joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1501. The city has been a commercial hub and an important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the 20th century. In 1897, Basel was chosen by Theodor Herzl as the location for the first World Zionist Congress, and altogether the congress was held there ten times over a time span of 50 years, more than in any other location. The city is also home to the world headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements. The name of the city is internationally known through institutions like the Basel Accords, Art Basel and FC Basel.
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Basel is Switzerland's main centre for the pharmaceutical industry, hosting both Novartis and Roche. In 1938, the world-renowned chemist Albert Hofmann discovered LSD in Basel, where he spent most of his life. Other influential and renowned figures such as Roger Federer, Paracelsus, Matthäus Merian, Michel von Tell or Stephan Remmler are closely associated with the city or were born there. In 1734, the so-called 'Basel Problem' was solved in the city, which is regarded as one of the most important achievements in mathematics.
Basel was ranked the tenth most liveable city in the world by Mercer in 2019.
Name.
The name of Basel is first recorded as "Basilia" in the 3rd century (237/8), at the time referring to the Roman castle. This name is mostly interpreted as deriving from the personal name "Basilius", from a toponym "villa Basilia" ("estate of Basilius") or similar.
Another suggestion derives it from a name "Basilia" attested in northern France as a development of "basilica", the term for a public or church building (as in Bazeilles), but all of these names reference early church buildings of the 4th or 5th century and cannot be adduced for the 3rd-century attestation of "Basilia".
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By popular etymology, or simple assonance, the basilisk becomes closely associated with the city, used as heraldic supporter from 1448, represented on coins minted by the city, and frequently found in ornaments.
The Middle French form was adopted into English, but this form has fallen gradually out of use although it continues to be used in some sections of British English including the BBC. Currently, the spelling "Basel" is most often used, to match the official German spelling. In French was still in use in the 18th century, but was gradually replaced by the modern French spelling . In Icelandic, the city is recorded as in the 12th-century itinerary "Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan".
History.
Early history.
There are traces of a settlement at the nearby Rhine knee from the early La Tène period (5th century BC). In the 2nd century BC, there was a village of the Raurici at the site of "Basel-Gasfabrik" (to the northwest of the Old City, and likely identical with the town of "Arialbinnum" that was mentioned on the "Tabula Peutingeriana"). The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an "oppidum" on the site of Basel Minster, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul.
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In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some from Basel as the regional administrative centre, while a "castrum" (fortified camp) was built on the site of the Celtic "oppidum". In AD 83, the area was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior. The Roman Senator Munatius Plancus is known as the traditional founder of Basel since the Renaissance. Roman control over the area deteriorated in the 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the "Provincia Maxima Sequanorum" formed by Diocletian. "Basilia" is first named by the Ammianus Marcellinus in his Res Gestae as part of the Roman military fortifications along the Rhine in the late 4th century.
The Germanic confederation of the Alemanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled; one such event was the Battle of Solicinium (368). However, in the great invasion of AD 406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace and a large part of the Swiss Plateau.
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The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century. The Alemannic and Frankish settlement of Basel gradually grew around the old Roman castle in the 6th and 7th century. It appears that Basel surpassed the ancient regional capital of Augusta Raurica by the 7th century; based on the evidence of a gold "tremissis" (a small gold coin with the value of a third of a "solidus") with the inscription "Basilia fit", Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century.
Basel at this time was part of the Archdiocese of Besançon. A separate bishopric of Basel, replacing the ancient bishopric of Augusta Raurica, was established in the 8th century. Under bishop Haito (r. 806–823), the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle (replaced by a Romanesque structure consecrated in 1019).
At the partition of the Carolingian Empire through the Treaty of Verdun in 843, Basel was first given to West Francia and became its German exclave. It passed to East Francia with the Treaty of Meerssen of 870. Basel was destroyed by the Magyars in 917. The rebuilt town became part of Upper Burgundy, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032.
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Prince-Bishopric of Basel.
From the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II of Metz in 999 until the Reformation, Basel was ruled by Prince-Bishops.
In 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel (known locally as the "Münster") began under Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.
In the 11th to 12th century, Basel gradually acquired the characteristics of a medieval city.
The main market place is first mentioned in 1091. The first city walls were constructed around 1100 (with improvements made in the mid-13th and in the late 14th century). A city council of nobles and burghers is recorded for 1185, and the first mayor, Heinrich Steinlin of Murbach, for 1253. The first bridge across the Rhine was built in 1225 under bishop Heinrich von Thun (at the location of the modern Middle Bridge), and from this time the settlement of "Kleinbasel" gradually formed around the bridgehead on the far river bank. The bridge was largely funded by Basel's Jewish community who had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river "between Lake Constance and the sea". The first city guild were the furriers, established in 1226. A total of about fifteen guilds were established in the course of the 13th century, reflecting the increasing economic prosperity of the city. The Crusade of 1267 set out from Basel.
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Political conflicts between the bishops and the burghers began in the mid-13th century and continued throughout the 14th century. By the late 14th century, the city was for all practical purposes independent although it continued to nominally pledge fealty to the bishops. The House of Habsburg attempted to gain control over the city. This was not successful, but it caused a political split among the burghers of Basel into a pro-Habsburg faction, known as "Sterner", and an anti-Habsburg faction, the "Psitticher".
The Black Death reached Basel in 1348. The Jews were blamed, and an estimated 50 to 70 Jews were executed by burning on 16 January 1349 in what has become known as the Basel massacre. The Basel earthquake of 1356 destroyed much of the city along with a number of castles in the vicinity.
A riot on 26 February 1376, known as "Böse Fasnacht", led to the killing of a number of men of Leopold III, Duke of Austria. This was seen as a serious breach of the peace, and the city council blamed "foreign ruffians" for this and executed twelve alleged perpetrators. Leopold nevertheless had the city placed under imperial ban, and in a treaty of 9 July, Basel was given a heavy fine and was placed under Habsburg control. To free itself from Habsburg hegemony, Basel joined the Swabian League of Cities in 1385, and many knights of the pro-Habsburg faction, along with duke Leopold himself, were killed in the Battle of Sempach the following year. A formal treaty with Habsburg was made in 1393.
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Basel had gained its de facto independence from both the bishop and from the Habsburgs and was free to pursue its own policy of territorial expansion, beginning around 1400.
The unique representation of a bishops' crozier as the heraldic charge in the coat of arms of Basel first appears in the form of a gilded wooden staff in the 12th century. It is of unknown origin or significance (beyond its obvious status of bishop's crozier), but it is assumed to have represented a relic, possibly attributed to Saint Germanus of Granfelden. This staff (known as "Baselstab") became a symbol representing the Basel diocese, depicted in bishops' seals of the late medieval period. It is represented in a heraldic context in the early 14th century, not yet as a heraldic charge but as a kind of heraldic achievement flanked by the heraldic shields of the bishop. The staff is also represented in the bishops's seals of the period. The use of the "Baselstab" in black as the coat of arms of the city was introduced in 1385. From this time, the "Baselstab" in red represented the bishop, and the same charge in black represented the city. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is "In Silber ein schwarzer Baselstab" (Argent, a staff of Basel sable). In 1400, Basel was able to purchase the towns of Liestal, Homburg and Waldenburg with its surrounding territory.
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In 1412 (or earlier), the well-known Gasthof zum Goldenen Sternen was established. Basel became the focal point of western Christendom during the 15th century Council of Basel (1431–1449), including the 1439 election of antipope Felix V. In 1459, Pope Pius II endowed the University of Basel, where such notables as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Paracelsus later taught. At the same time the new craft of printing was introduced to Basel by apprentices of Johann Gutenberg. In 1461, the land around Farnsburg became a part of Basel.
The Schwabe publishing house was founded in 1488 by Johannes Petri and is the oldest publishing house still in business. Johann Froben also operated his printing house in Basel and was notable for publishing works by Erasmus. In 1495, Basel was incorporated into the Upper Rhenish Imperial Circle; the Bishop of Basel was added to the Bench of the Ecclesiastical Princes of the Imperial Diet. In 1500 the construction of the Basel Münster was finished.
As a member state in the Swiss Confederacy.
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The city had remained neutral through the Swabian War of 1499 despite being plundered by soldiers on both sides. The Treaty of Basel ended the war and granted the Swiss confederates exemptions from the emperor Maximillian's taxes and jurisdictions, separating Switzerland "de facto" from the Holy Roman Empire.
On 9 June 1501, Basel joined the Swiss Confederation as its eleventh canton. It was the only canton that was asked to join, not the other way round. Basel had a strategic location, good relations with Strasbourg and Mulhouse, and control of the corn imports from Alsace, whereas the Swiss lands were becoming overpopulated and had few resources. A provision of the Charter accepting Basel required that in conflicts among the other cantons it was to stay neutral and offer its services for mediation.
In 1503, the new bishop Christoph von Utenheim refused to give Basel a new constitution; whereupon, to show its power, the city began to build a new city hall.
In 1529, the city became Protestant under Oecolampadius and the bishop's seat was moved to Porrentruy. The bishop's crook was however retained as the city's coat of arms. For centuries to come, a handful of wealthy families collectively referred to as the "Daig" played a pivotal role in city affairs as they gradually established themselves as a "de facto" city aristocracy.
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The first edition of "Christianae religionis institutio" ("Institutes of the Christian Religion" – John Calvin's great exposition of Calvinist doctrine) was published at Basel in March 1536.
In 1544, Johann von Brugge, a rich Dutch Protestant refugee, was given citizenship and lived respectably until his death in 1556, then buried with honors. His body was exhumed and burnt at the stake in 1559 after it was discovered that he was the Anabaptist David Joris.
In 1543, "De humani corporis fabrica", the first book on human anatomy, was published and printed in Basel by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564).
There are indications Joachim Meyer, author of the influential 16th-century martial arts text "Kunst des Fechten" ("The Art of Fencing"), came from Basel. In 1661 the "Amerbaschsches Kabinett," a vast collection of exotic artifacts, coins, medals and books was purchased by Basel. It was to become to the first public museum of art. Its collection became the core of the later Basel Museum of Art.
The Bernoulli family, which included important 17th- and 18th-century mathematicians such as Jakob Bernoulli, Johann Bernoulli and Daniel Bernoulli, were from Basel. The 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler was born in Basel and studied under Johann Bernoulli.
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Modern history.
In 1792, the Republic of Rauracia, a revolutionary French client republic, was created. It lasted until 1793. After three years of political agitation and a short civil war in 1833 the disadvantaged countryside seceded from the Canton of Basel, forming the half canton of Basel-Landschaft. Between 1861 and 1878 the city walls were slighted.
On 3 July 1874, Switzerland's first zoo, the Zoo Basel, opened its doors in the south of the city towards Binningen.
In 1897 the first World Zionist Congress was held in Basel. Altogether the World Zionist Congress was held in Basel ten times, more than in any other city in the world.
On 16 November 1938, the psychedelic drug LSD was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel.
In 1967, the population of Basel voted in favor of buying three works of art by painter Pablo Picasso which were at risk of being sold and taken out of the local museum of art, due to a financial crisis on the part of the owner's family. Therefore, Basel became the first city in the world where the population of a political community democratically decided to acquire works of art for a public institution. Pablo Picasso was so moved by the gesture that he subsequently gifted the city with an additional three paintings.
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Basel as a historical, international meeting place.
Basel has often been the site of peace negotiations and other international meetings. The Treaty of Basel (1499) ended the Swabian War. Two years later Basel joined the Swiss Confederation. The Peace of Basel in 1795 between the French Republic and Prussia and Spain ended the First Coalition against France during the French Revolutionary Wars. In more recent times, the World Zionist Organization held its first congress in Basel from 29 August through 31 August 1897. Because of the Balkan Wars, the (Socialist) Second International held an extraordinary congress at Basel in 1912. In 1989, the Basel Convention was opened for signature with the aim of preventing the export of hazardous waste from wealthy to developing nations for disposal.
Geography and climate.
Location.
Basel is located in Northwestern Switzerland and is commonly considered to be the capital of that region. It is close to the point where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, and Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. , the Swiss Basel agglomeration was the third-largest in Switzerland, with a population of 541,000 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland (municipal count as of 2018). The metropolitan area, called the Trinational Eurodistrict of Basel (TEB), consists of 62 suburban communes including municipalities in neighboring countries, and counted 829,000 inhabitants in 2007.
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Topography.
Basel has an area, , of . Of this area, or 4.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 3.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 86.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 6.1% is either rivers or lakes.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 40.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 24.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 8.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 2.5% is used for growing crops and 1.3% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
Climate.
Under the Köppen system, Basel features an oceanic climate (Köppen: "Cfb"), with cool to cold, overcast winters and warm to hot, humid summers.
The city averages 118.2 days of rain or snow annually and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is May during which time Basel receives an average of of rain. The month with the most days of precipitation is also May, with an average of 11.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 8.4 days.
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Politics.
The city of Basel functions as the capital of the Swiss half-canton of Basel-Stadt.
Canton.
The canton Basel-Stadt consists of three municipalities: Riehen, Bettingen, and the city Basel itself. The political structure and agencies of the city and the canton are identical.
City.
Quarters.
The city itself has 19 quarters:
Government.
The city's and canton's executive, the Executive Council ("Regierungsrat"), consists of seven members for a mandate period of 4 years. They are elected by any inhabitant valid to vote on the same day as the parliament, but by means of a system of Majorz, and operates as a collegiate authority. The president () is elected as such by a public election, while the heads of the other departments are appointed by the collegiate. The current president is Beat Jans. The executive body holds its meetings in the red Town Hall () on the central "Marktplatz". The building was built in 1504–14.
, Basel's Executive Council is made up of three representatives of the SP (Social Democratic Party) including the president, two LDP (Liberal-Demokratische Partei of Basel), and one member each of Green Liberals (glp), and CVP (Christian Democratic Party). The last election was held on 25 October and 29 November 2020 and four new members have been elected.
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Barbara Schüpbach-Guggenbühlis is State Chronicler ("Staatsschreiberin") since 2009, and Marco Greiner is Head of Communication ("Regierungssprecher") and Vice State Chronicler ("Vizestaatsschreiber") since 2007 for the Executive Council.
Parliament.
The city's and canton's parliament, the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (Grosser Rat), consists of 100 seats, with members (called in German: "Grossrat/Grossrätin") elected every 4 years. The sessions of the Grand Council are public. Unlike the members of the Executive Council, the members of the Grand Council are not politicians by profession, but they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Basel allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the parliament. The delegates are elected by means of a system of Proporz. The legislative body holds its meetings in the red Town Hall ("Rathaus").
The last election was held on 25 October 2020 for the mandate period ("Legislatur") of 2021–2025. , the Grand Council consist of 30 (−5) members of the Social Democratic Party (SP), 18 (+5) "Grün-Alternatives Bündnis (GAB)" (a collaboration of the Green Party (GPS), its junior party, and Basels starke Alternative (BastA!)), 14 (−1) Liberal-Demokratische Partei (LDP), 11 (−4) members of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), 8 (+5) Green Liberal Party (glp), 7 (−3) The Liberals (FDP), 7 (-) Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), 3 (+2) Evangelical People's Party (EVP), and one each representative of the "Aktive Bettingen (AB)" and "Volks-Aktion gegen zuviele Ausländer und Asylanten in unserer Heimat" (VA).
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The left parties missed an absolute majority by two seats.
Federal elections.
National Council.
In the 2019 federal election the most popular party was the Social Democratic Party (SP) which received two seats with 34% (−1) of the votes. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party (GPS) (19.4%, +7.3), the LPS (14.5%, +3.6) and the FDP (5.8, −3.5), which are chained together at 20.3%, (+0.1), the SVP (11.3%, -5.5), and the Green Liberal Party (GLP) (5%, +0.6), CVP (4.1%, -1.9). In the federal election, a total of 44,628 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 49.4%.
On 18 October 2015, in the federal election the most popular party was the Social Democratic Party (SP) which received two seats with 35% of the votes. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (20.2%), the SVP (16.8%), and the Green Party (GPS) (12.2%), each with one seat. In the federal election, a total of 57,304 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 50.4%.
Council of States.
On 20 October 2019, in the federal election Eva Herzog, member of the Social Democratic Party (SP), was elected for the first time as a State Councillor () in the first round as single representative of the canton of Basel-Town and successor of Anita Fetz in the national Council of States () with an absolute majority of 37'210 votes.
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On 18 October 2015, in the federal election State Councillor () Anita Fetz, member of the Social Democratic Party (SP), was re-elected in the first round as single representative of the canton of Basel-Town in the national Council of States () with an absolute majority of 35'842 votes. She has been a member of it since 2003.
International relations.
Twin towns, sister cities and partner regions.
Basel has two sister cities and a twinning among two states:
Demographics.
The canton of Basel (slightly more than the city itself) has a population () of 201,971, of whom 36.9% are resident foreign nationals.
Over the 10 years of 1999–2009 the population has changed at a rate of −0.3%. It has changed at a rate of 3.2% due to migration and at a rate of −3% due to births and deaths.
Of the population in the municipality 58,560 or about 35.2% were born in Basel and lived there in 2000. There were 1,396 or 0.8% who were born in the same canton, while 44,874 or 26.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 53,774 or 32.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
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In there were 898 live births to Swiss citizens and 621 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 1,732 deaths of Swiss citizens and 175 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 834 while the foreign population increased by 446. There were 207 Swiss men and 271 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 1756 non-Swiss men and 1655 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 278 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1138 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.9%.
, there were 70,502 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 70,517 married individuals, 12,435 widows or widowers, and 13,104 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.58 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 10.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).
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, there were 86,371 private households in the municipality, and an average of 1.8 persons per household. There were 44,469 households that consist of only one person and 2,842 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 88,646 households that answered this question, 50.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 451 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 20,472 married couples without children, 14,554 married couples with children There were 4,318 single parents with a child or children. There were 2,107 households that were made up of unrelated people and 2,275 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 5,747 single family homes (or 30.8% of the total) out of a total of 18,631 inhabited buildings. There were 7,642 multi-family buildings (41.0%), along with 4,093 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (22.0%) and 1,149 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.2%). Of the single family homes 1090 were built before 1919, while 65 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (3,474) were built between 1919 and 1945.
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there were 96,640 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 35,958. There were 11,957 single room apartments and 9,702 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 84,675 apartments (87.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 7,916 apartments (8.2%) were seasonally occupied and 4,049 apartments (4.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.6 new units per 1000 residents.
the average price to rent an average apartment in Basel was 1118.60 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$890, £500, €720 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 602.27 CHF (US$480, £270, €390), a two-room apartment was about 846.52 CHF (US$680, £380, €540), a three-room apartment was about 1054.14 CHF (US$840, £470, €670) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2185.24 CHF (US$1750, £980, €1400). The average apartment price in Basel was 100.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.74%.
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Language.
In 2000, most of the population spoke German (129,592 or 77.8%), with Italian being second most common (9,049 or 5.4%) and French being third (4,280 or 2.6%). There were 202 people who spoke Romansh.
Religion.
From the , 41,916 or 25.2% were Roman Catholic, while 39,180 or 23.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 4,567 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.74% of the population), 459 individuals (or about 0.28% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church and 3,464 individuals (or about 2.08% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 12,368 individuals (or about 7.43% of the population) who were Muslim, 1,325 individuals (or about 0.80% of the population) who were Jewish, however only members of religious institutions are counted as such by the municipality, which makes the actual number of people of Jewish descent living in Basel considerably higher. There were 746 individuals who were Buddhist, 947 individuals who were Hindu and 485 individuals who belonged to another church. 52,321 (or about 31.41% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 8,780 individuals (or about 5.27% of the population) did not answer the question.
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Infrastructure.
Quarters.
Basel is subdivided into 19 quarters ("Quartiere"). The municipalities of Riehen and Bettingen, outside the city limits of Basel, are included in the canton of Basel-Stadt as rural quarters ("Landquartiere").
Transport.
Basel's airport, EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg, is set up for airfreight; heavy goods reach the city and the heart of continental Europe from the North Sea by ship along the Rhine.
Port.
Basel has Switzerland's only cargo port, through which goods pass along the navigable stretches of the Rhine and connect to ocean-going ships at the port of Rotterdam.
Air transport.
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg is operated jointly by two countries, France and Switzerland, although the airport is located completely on French soil. The airport itself is split into two architecturally independent sectors, one half serving the French side and the other half serving the Swiss side; prior to Schengen there was an immigration inspection point at the middle of the airport so that people could "emigrate" to the other side of the airport.
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Railways.
Basel has long held an important place as a rail hub. Three railway stations—those of the Swiss, French and German networks—lie within the city (although the Swiss (Basel SBB) and French (Bâle SNCF) stations are actually in the same complex, separated by Customs and Immigration facilities). Basel Badischer Bahnhof is on the opposite side of the city. Basel's local rail services are supplied by the Basel Regional S-Bahn. The largest goods railway complex of the country is located just outside the city, spanning the municipalities of Muttenz and Pratteln. The new highspeed ICE railway line from Karlsruhe to Basel was completed in 2008 while phase I of the TGV Rhin-Rhône line, opened in December 2011, has reduced travel time from Basel to Paris to about 3 hours.
Roads.
Basel is located on the A3 motorway.
Within the city limits, five bridges connect Greater and Lesser Basel (downstream):
Ferries.
A somewhat anachronistic yet still widely used system of reaction ferry boats links the two shores. There are four ferries, each situated approximately midway between two bridges. Each is attached by a cable to a block that rides along another cable spanning the river at a height of . To cross the river, the ferryman orients the boat around 45° from the current so that the current pushes the boat across the river. This form of transportation is therefore completely hydraulically driven, requiring no outside energy source.
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Home/Aktuell – Fähri Verein Basel
Public transport.
Basel has an extensive public transportation network serving the city and connecting to surrounding suburbs, including a large tram network. Today, Basel has the largest tramway in terms of kilometers of rail tracks in Switzerland. Historically, only Geneva had a larger one at some point.
The green-colored local trams and buses are operated by the Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB). The yellow-colored buses and trams are operated by the Baselland Transport (BLT), and connect areas in the nearby half-canton of Baselland to central Basel. The BVB also shares commuter bus lines in cooperation with transit authorities in the neighboring Alsace region in France and Baden region in Germany. The Basel Regional S-Bahn, the commuter rail network connecting to suburbs surrounding the city, is jointly operated by SBB, SNCF and DB.
Border crossings.
Basel is located at the meeting point of France, Germany, and Switzerland; because it sits on the Swiss national border and is beyond the Jura Mountains, many within the Swiss military reportedly believe that the city is indefensible during wartime. It has numerous road and rail crossings between Switzerland and the other two countries. With Switzerland joining the Schengen Area on 12 December 2008, immigration checks were no longer carried out at the crossings. However, Switzerland did not join the European Union Customs Union (though it did join the EU Single Market) and customs checks are still conducted at or near the crossings.
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France-Switzerland (from east to west)
Germany-Switzerland (clockwise, from north to south)
Additionally there are many footpaths and cycle tracks crossing the border between Basel and Germany.
Health.
As the biggest town in the Northwest of Switzerland numerous public and private health centres are located in Basel. Among others the Universitätsspital Basel and the Universitätskinderspital Basel. Private health centres include the Bethesda Spital and the Merian Iselin Klinik. Additionally the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute is located in Basel too.
Energy.
Basel is at the forefront of a national vision to more than halve energy use in Switzerland by 2050. To research, develop and commercialise the technologies and techniques required for the country to become a 2000 Watt society, a number of projects have been set up since 2001 in the Basel metropolitan area. These include demonstration buildings constructed to Minergie or "Passivhaus" standards, electricity generation from renewable energy sources, and vehicles using natural gas, hydrogen and biogas.
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A building construction law was passed in 2002 also which stated that all new flat roofs must be greened leading to Basel becoming the world's leading green roof city. This was driven by an energy saving programme.
A hot dry rock geothermal energy project was cancelled in 2009 since it caused induced seismicity in Basel.
Economy.
The city of Basel, located in the north west of Switzerland, is one of the most dynamic economic regions of Switzerland.
, Basel had an unemployment rate of 3.7%. , 19.3% of the working population was employed in the secondary sector and 80.6% was employed in the tertiary sector. There were 82,449 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which women made up 46.2% of the workforce.
the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 130,988. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 13, of which 10 were in agriculture and 4 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 33,171 of which 24,848 or (74.9%) were in manufacturing, 10 were in mining and 7,313 (22.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 97,804. In the tertiary sector; 12,880 or 13.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 11,959 or 12.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 6,120 or 6.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4,186 or 4.3% were in the information industry, 10,752 or 11.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 13,695 or 14.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 6,983 or 7.1% were in education and 16,060 or 16.4% were in health care.
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, there were 121,842 workers who commuted into the municipality and 19,263 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 6.3 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 23.9% of the workforce coming into Basel are coming from outside Switzerland, while 1.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 49.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 18.7% used a private car.
The first Roche Tower, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is 41 floors and high, upon its opening in 2015 it has become the tallest building in Switzerland. Roche Tower-2 was opened in 2022, has 50 floors and is Switzerland's tallest buildung.. Basel has also Switzerland's third tallest building (Basler Messeturm, ) and Switzerland's tallest tower (St. Chrischona TV tower, ).
Chemical industry.
The Swiss chemical industry operates largely from Basel, and Basel also has a large pharmaceutical industry. Novartis, Syngenta, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Clariant, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basilea Pharmaceutica, and Actelion are headquartered there. Pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals have become the modern focus of the city's industrial production.
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In addition, Basel is a major European hub for Biotech and Biopharmaceuticals. There are plenty of small and mid-sized start-ups. The vibrant VC scene also supports this.
Banking.
Banking is important to Basel:
Air.
Swiss International Air Lines, the national airline of Switzerland, is headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel. Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair was headquartered near Basel.
Media.
"Basler Zeitung" ("BaZ") and "bz Basel" are the local newspapers. The local TV station is called "Telebasel". The German-speaking Swiss Radio and Television SRF company, part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR, holds offices in Basel as well. The academic publishers Birkhäuser, Karger and MDPI are based in Basel.
Trade fairs.
Important trade shows include Art Basel, the world's most important fair for modern and contemporary art, Baselworld (watches and jewelry, now discontinued), Swissbau (construction and real estate) and Igeho (hotels, catering, take-away, care). The Swiss Sample Fair ("Schweizer Mustermesse") was the largest and oldest consumer fair in Switzerland. It was held from 2007 to 2019 and took place in Kleinbasel on the right bank of the Rhine.
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Education.
Besides Humanism the city of Basel has also been well known for its achievements in the field of mathematics. Among others, the mathematician Leonhard Euler and the Bernoulli family have done research and been teaching at the local institutions for centuries. In 1910 the Swiss Mathematical Society was founded in the city and in the mid-twentieth century the Russian mathematician Alexander Ostrowski taught at the local university. In 2000 about 57,864 or (34.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 27,603 or (16.6%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a ). Of the 27,603 who completed tertiary schooling, 44.4% were Swiss men, 31.1% were Swiss women, 13.9% were non-Swiss men and 10.6% were non-Swiss women.
In 2010 11,912 students attended the University of Basel (55% female). 25% were foreign nationals, 16% were from canton of Basel-Stadt. In 2006, 6162 students studied at one of the nine academies of the FHNW (51% female).
, there were 5,820 students in Basel who came from another municipality, while 1,116 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
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Universities.
Basel hosts Switzerland's oldest university, the University of Basel, dating from 1460. Erasmus, Paracelsus, Daniel Bernoulli, Leonhard Euler, Jacob Burckhardt, Friedrich Nietzsche, Tadeusz Reichstein, Karl Jaspers, Carl Gustav Jung, and Karl Barth worked there. The University of Basel is currently counted among the 90 best educational institutions worldwide.
In 2007, the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich) established the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in Basel. The creation of the D-BSSE was driven by a Swiss-wide research initiative SystemsX, and was jointly supported by funding from the ETH Zürich, the Swiss Government, the Swiss University Conference (SUC) and private industry.
Basel also hosts several academies of the "Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz|Fachhochschule NW (FHNW)": the FHNW Academy of Art and Design, FHNW Academy of Music, and the FHNW School of Business.
Basel is renowned for various scientific societies, such as the Entomological Society of Basel (Entomologische Gesellschaft Basel, EGB), which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005.
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Volksschule.
In 2005 16,939 pupils and students attended the "Volksschule" (the obligatory school time, including "Kindergarten" (127), primary schools ("Primarschule", 25), and lower secondary schools ("Sekundarschule", 10), of which 94% visited public schools and 39.5% were foreign nationals. In 2010 already 51.1% of all pupils spoke another language than German as their first language. In 2009 3.1% of the pupils visited special classes for pupils with particular needs. The average amount of study in primary school in Basel is 816 teaching hours per year.
Upper secondary school.
In 2010 65% of the youth finished their upper secondary education with a vocational training and education, 18% finished their upper secondary education with a Federal Matura at one of the five gymnasiums, 5% completed a "Fachmaturität" at the "FMS", 5% completed a "Berufsmaturität" synchronously to their vocational training, and 7% other kind of upper secondary maturity. 14.1% of all students at public gymnasiums were foreign nationals. The Maturity quota in 2010 was on a record high at 28.8% (32.8 female, 24.9% male).
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Basel has five public gymnasiums (', ', ', ', ""), each with its own profiles (different focus on major subjects, such as visual design, biology and chemistry, Italian, Spanish, or Latin languages, music, physics and applied mathematics, philosophy/education/psychology, and economics and law) that entitles students with a successful Matura graduation to attend universities. And one "Fachmaturitätsschule", the "FMS", with six different major subjects (health/natural sciences, education, social work, design/art, music/theatre/dance, and communication/media) that entitles students with a successful Fachmatura graduation to attend . Four different "höhere Fachschulen" (higher vocational schools such as "Bildungszentrum Gesundheit Basel-Stadt" (health), "Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel" (trade), "Berufsfachschule Basel", "Schule für Gestaltung Basel" (design)) allows vocational students to improve their knowledge and know-how.
International schools.
As a city with a percentage of foreigners of more than thirty-five per cent and as one of the most important centres in the chemical and pharmaceutical field in the world, Basel counts several international schools including: "Academia International School", "École Française de Bâle", "Freies Gymnasium Basel" (private), "Gymnasium am Münsterplatz" (public), "Schweizerisch-italienische Primarschule Sandro Pertini", International School Basel, BLIS Baselland International School. and SIS Swiss International School.
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Libraries.
Basel is home to at least 65 libraries. Some of the largest include; the Universitätsbibliothek Basel (main university library), the special libraries of the University of Basel, the "Allgemein Bibliotheken der Gesellschaft für Gutes und Gemeinnütziges (GGG) Basel", the Library of the "Pädagogische Hochschule", the Library of the "Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit" and the Library of the "Hochschule für Wirtschaft". There was a combined total () of 8,443,643 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 1,722,802 items were loaned out.
Culture.
Main sights.
The red sandstone Münster, one of the foremost late-Romanesque/early Gothic buildings in the Upper Rhine, was badly damaged in the great earthquake of 1356, rebuilt in the 14th and 15th century, extensively reconstructed in the mid-19th century and further restored in the late 20th century. A memorial to Erasmus lies inside the Münster. The City Hall from the 16th century is located on the Market Square and is decorated with fine murals on the outer walls and on the walls of the inner court.
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Basel is also host to an array of buildings by internationally renowned architects. These include the Beyeler Foundation by Renzo Piano, or the Vitra complex in nearby Weil am Rhein, composed of buildings by architects such as Zaha Hadid (fire station), Frank Gehry (Design Museum), Álvaro Siza Vieira (factory building), and Tadao Ando (conference centre). Basel also features buildings by Mario Botta (Jean Tinguely Museum and Bank of International settlements) and Herzog & de Meuron (whose architectural practice is in Basel, and who are best known as the architects of Tate Modern in London and the Bird's Nest in Beijing, the Olympia stadium, which was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics). The city received the Wakker Prize in 1996.
Heritage sites.
Basel features a great number of heritage sites of national significance.
These include the entire Old Town of Basel as well as the following buildings and collections:
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Among others, there is the Anatomical Museum of the University Basel, Berri-Villen and Museum of Ancient Art Basel and Ludwig Collection, Former Franciscan "Barefoot" Order Church and Basel Historical Museum, Company Archive of Novartis, "Haus zum Kirschgarten" which is part of the Basel Historical Museum, Historic Archive Roche and Industrial Complex Hoffmann-La Roche, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Caricature & Cartoon Museum Basel, Karl Barth-Archive, "Kleines Klingental" (Lower Klingen Valley) with Museum Klingental, Art Museum of Basel, hosting the world's oldest art collection accessible to the public, Natural History Museum of Basel and the Museum of Cultures Basel, Museum of Modern Art Basel with the E. Hoffmann collection, Museum Jean Tinguely Basel, Music Museum, Pharmacy Historical Museum of the University of Basel, Poster Collection of the School for Design ("Schule für Gestaltung"), Swiss Business Archives, Sculpture Hall, Sports Museum of Switzerland, Archives of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, UBS AG Corporate Archives, University Library with manuscripts and music collection, Zoological Garden ("Zoologischer Garten").
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Theatre and music.
Basel is the home of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, founded in 1933, a worldwide centre for research on and performance of music from the Medieval through the Baroque eras. Theater Basel, chosen in 1999 as the best stage for German-language performances and in 2009 and 2010 as "Opera house of the year" by German opera magazine "Opernwelt", presents a busy schedule of plays in addition to being home to the city's opera and ballet companies. Basel is home to the largest orchestra in Switzerland, the Sinfonieorchester Basel. It is also the home of the Basel Sinfonietta and the Kammerorchester Basel, which recorded the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven for the Sony label, led by its music director Giovanni Antonini. The Schola Cantorum and the Basler Kammerorchester were both founded by the conductor Paul Sacher, who went on to commission works by many leading composers. The Paul Sacher Foundation, opened in 1986, houses a major collection of manuscripts, including the entire Igor Stravinsky archive.
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The baroque orchestras La Cetra and Capriccio Basel are also based in Basel.
In May 2004, the fifth European Festival of Youth Choirs (Europäisches Jugendchorfestival, or EJCF) opened; this Basel tradition started in 1992. Host of the festival is the local Basel Boys Choir.
In 1997, Basel contended to become the "European Capital of Culture", though the honor went to Thessaloniki.
In 2025, Basel will host the Eurovision Song Contest at St. Jakobshalle, becoming the third Swiss city to host the competition after Lugano in 1956 and Lausanne in 1989.
Museums.
The Basel museums cover a broad and diverse spectrum of collections with a marked concentration in the fine arts. They house numerous holdings of international significance. The over three dozen institutions yield an extraordinarily high density of museums compared to other cities of similar size and draw over one million visitors annually.
Constituting an essential component of Basel culture and cultural policy, the museums are the result of closely interwoven private and public collecting activities and promotion of arts and culture going back to the 16th century. The public museum collection was first created back in 1661 and represents the oldest public collection in continuous existence in Europe. Since the late 1980s, various private collections have been made accessible to the public in new purpose-built structures that have been recognized as acclaimed examples of avant-garde museum architecture.
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Events.
The city of Basel is a centre for numerous fairs and events all year round. One of the most important fairs for contemporary art worldwide is the Art Basel which was founded in 1970 by Ernst Beyeler and takes place in June each year. Baselworld, the watch and jewellery show ("Uhren- und Schmuckmesse") one of the biggest fairs of its kind in Europe is held every year as well, and attracts a great number of tourists and dealers to the city. Live marketing company and fair organizer MCH Group has its head office in Basel.
The carnival of the city of Basel ("Basler Fasnacht") is a major cultural event in the year. The carnival is the biggest in Switzerland and attracts large crowds every year, despite the fact that it starts at exactly four o'clock in the morning ("Morgestraich") on a winter Monday. The Fasnacht asserts Basel's Protestant history by commencing the revelry five days after Ash Wednesday and continuing exactly 72 hours. Almost all study and work in the old city cease. Dozens of fife and drum clubs parade in medieval guild tradition with fantastical masks and illuminated lanterns.
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Basel Tattoo, founded in 2006 by the local Top Secret Drum Corps, has grown to be the world's second largest military tattoo in terms of performers and budget after the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The Basel Tattoo annual parade, with an estimated 125,000 visitors, is considered the largest event in Basel. The event is now sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), making it the official military tattoo of Switzerland.
The city will host the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 at the St. Jakobshalle arena.
Cuisine.
There are a number of culinary specialties originating in Basel, including "Basler Läckerli" cookies and "Mässmogge" candies. Being located in the meeting place between Switzerland, France and Germany the culinary landscape as a whole is very varied and diverse, making it a city with a great number of restaurants of all sorts.
Zoo.
Zoo Basel is, with over 1.7 million visitors per year, the most visited tourist attraction in Basel and the second most visited tourist attraction in Switzerland.
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Established in 1874, Zoo Basel is the oldest zoo in Switzerland and, by number of animals, the largest. Through its history, Zoo Basel has had several breeding successes, such as the first worldwide Indian rhinoceros birth and Greater flamingo hatch in a zoo. These and other achievements led "Forbes" Travel to rank Zoo Basel as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world in 2008.
Despite its international fame, Basel's population remains attached to Zoo Basel, which is entirely surrounded by the city of Basel. Evidence of this is the millions of donations money each year, as well as Zoo Basel's unofficial name: locals lovingly call "their" zoo "Zolli" by which is it known throughout Basel and most of Switzerland.
Sport.
Amongst its major sports venues, Basel features a large football stadium that has been awarded four stars by UEFA, a modern ice hockey arena, and a sports hall.
The football club FC Basel is successful and in recognition of this the city was one of the Swiss venues for the 2008 European Championships, along with Geneva, Zürich and Bern. The championships were jointly hosted by Switzerland and Austria. BSC Old Boys and Concordia Basel are the other football teams in Basel.
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Among the most popular sports in Switzerland is ice hockey. Basel is home to EHC Basel, who play in the MySports League, the third tier of the Swiss ice hockey league system. They play their home games in the 6,700-seater St. Jakob Arena. The team previously played in the National League and the Swiss League, but filed for bankruptcy after the 2013–14 Swiss League season.
Basketball has a very small but faithful fan base. The top division, called the SBL, is a semi-professional league and has one team from the Basel region, the "Birstal Starwings". One player from Switzerland is currently active in the NBA, Clint Capela. As in most European countries, but unlike the U.S., Switzerland has a club-based rather than a school-based competition system. The Starwings Basel are the only first division basketball team in German-speaking Switzerland.
A large indoor tennis event takes place in Basel every October. Some of the best ATP-professionals play every year at the Swiss Indoors, previously including Switzerland's biggest sporting hero Roger Federer, a Basel native who describes the city as "one of the most beautiful cities in the world".
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In July 2022, the women's water polo players of the WSV Basel secured their 11th national championship title.
Basel GAA, a Gaelic games club, is also located in Basel. Basel Dragons AFC have been playing Australian Football in the AFL Switzerland league since 2019.
The annual Basel Rhine Swim draws several thousand visitors to the city to swim in or float on the Rhine.
The headquarters of the IHF (International Handball Federation) is located in Basel.
Notable people.
Notable people who were born or grew up in Basel: |
Black Russian
The Black Russian is a cocktail of vodka and coffee liqueur. It contains 50 ml vodka and 20 ml coffee liqueur, per IBA specified ingredients.
The drink is made by pouring the vodka and coffee liqueur over ice cubes or cracked ice in an old-fashioned glass and stirring. The Black Russian is often garnished with a lemon slice and a Luxardo maraschino cherry on a stick.
History.
The Black Russian cocktail first appeared in 1949 and is ascribed to Gustave Tops, a Belgian barman, who created it at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels in honor of Perle Mesta, then United States Ambassador to Luxembourg. The cocktail owes its name to the use of vodka, a typical Russian spirit, and the blackness of the coffee liqueur. |
Bunnies & Burrows
Bunnies & Burrows (B&B) is a role-playing game (RPG) inspired by the 1972 novel "Watership Down". Published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1976, the game is centered on intelligent rabbits. It introduced several innovations to role-playing game design, being the first game to encourage players to have non-humanoid roles, and the first to have detailed martial arts and skill systems. Fantasy Games Unlimited published a similar second edition in 1982. Frog God Games published a revised third edition in 2019 from the original authors. The game was also modified and published by Steve Jackson Games as an official "GURPS" supplement in 1992.
As rabbits, player characters are faced with dangers mirroring those in the real world. The only true "monsters" in the game are humans, but there are many predators and natural hazards. The characters' position in the food chain promotes an emphasis on role-playing and problem solving over combat.
History.
Originally published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1976, only two years after the first role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons" was published; this edition is now long out of print. The game was inspired by Richard Adams' fantasy novel "Watership Down", and the players were given the opportunity to take on the role of rabbits. As such, the game emphasized role-playing over combat for, according to Steffan O'Sullivan, "You're playing a rabbit, after all – how much combat do you want to do?" David M. Ewalt, in his book "Of Dice and Men", commented that "Bunnies & Burrows" "pushed setting even farther" than other early RPGs like "Dungeons & Dragons" and "En Garde!", as the "player characters were intelligent rabbits and had to compete for food, avoid predators, and deal with internal warren politics".
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It was the first role-playing game to allow for animal characters, and the first to have rules for martial arts.
Building on this first edition, in 1979, B. Dennis Sustare wrote "Different Worlds Present the World of Druid's Valley: A Bunnies & Burrows Campaign" in "Different Worlds", a magazine published by Chaosium. It detailed how to combine the world of "Bunnies & Burrows" with other fantasy worlds. This was followed by the mini-adventure "The Jackrabbits' Lair", written by Daniel J. Maxfield, in "Pegasus", a magazine published by Judges Guild.
A second edition of "Bunnies & Burrows" was printed in 1982 by Fantasy Games Unlimited, although the continuing popularity of the first edition is evidenced by how it was still being actively played in 2008.
During a rise of "retro" games in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Steve Jackson Games entered negotiations with Dennis Sustare and Scott Robinson, the current owners of the "Bunnies & Burrows" copyright, to publish an official "GURPS" supplement. In 1988, O'Sullivan wrote an unofficial conversion of "Bunnies & Burrows" to "GURPS" while the negotiations continued. He indicated that he hoped to one day work on the official supplement. "GURPS Bunnies & Burrows" was published in 1992.
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The setting also had an unofficial conversion in 2004 to be used in "Risus: The Anything RPG" by Boyd Mayberry, under their "Rules for Free Fan-Supplements and Articles".
In 2019, Frog God Games released a 3rd edition of the game after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Gameplay.
"Bunnies & Burrows" was the first role-playing game to allow for non-humanoid play. In addition, it was also the first role-playing game to have detailed martial arts rules (renamed "Bun Fu" in GURPS Bunnies & Burrows) and the first attempt at a skill system. For its time, the game was considered by some "light years" ahead of the Original "Dungeons & Dragons".
Players of "Bunnies & Burrows" take the role of rabbits as their player characters. Interaction with many different animal species is part of normal gameplay. Humans, whose thought processes and motivations are completely alien, are the only monster to be encountered.
"Bunnies & Burrows" has the advantage of offering players an intuitive grasp of relative dangers and appropriate actions not possible in game worlds that are substantially fictional. For example, a player is told their character is confronted with a fox. There is an immediate intuition on the amount of peril a rabbit is facing. Since player characters are substantially weaker than many of the dangers they face, the game is one of the first to encourage problem solving and outwitting obstacles, rather than out-fighting them.
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The mechanics of the role-playing game system were created specifically for "Bunnies & Burrows", common at the time of its original publishing. It features eight abilities and eight classes. The task resolution system is based on rolls of percentile dice. Although newer systems have updated game mechanics significantly, the ideas presented in "Bunnies & Burrows" created the framework for modern role-playing games.
Reception.
Steve Jackson reviewed "Bunnies & Burrows" in "The Space Gamer" No. 10. He concluded that ""B & B" is probably worth the retail price [...] at least to a FRP fan. The writing style is intelligent, lucid, and occasionally witty; the rules are workable [...] the art, as I think I pointed out, is so bad it's great; and the whole idea is appealing."
One commentator asserted that the game had "incredible role-playing potential", but the concept of role-playing rabbits can be viewed as bizarre, and as such they believed that most people thought it was stupid when it was first released.
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James Davis Nicoll in 2020 for "Black Gate" said "In most games, the PCs are functionally apex predators. Not so in B. Dennis Sustare and Scott Robinson's "Watership Down"-inspired "Bunnies and Burrows", in which you play a rabbit, a tasty, tasty rabbit. Filled with legitimately innovative game mechanics, it provided a combat system the rabbits were very ill-advised to use, as well as a skill system hampered only by the fact the rabbits were, well, as smart as rabbits. Human NPCs fill the Cosmic Horror niche: enigmatic, powerful, and deadly."
In his 2023 book "Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground", RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, ""B&B" is the first game to push beyond the fantasy battle boundaries established by "Dungeons & Dragons". This step [helped] the hobby arrive at the sort of indie games that focus on collaborative storytelling and lightweight, intuitive rules." |
Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum, colloquially known as Bundy, is a dark rum owned by Diageo. It is produced in Bundaberg East, Queensland, Australia, by the Bundaberg Distilling Company. In 2010, the Bundaberg Distilling Company was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.
History.
Bundaberg Rum originated because the local sugar mills had a problem with what to do with the waste molasses after the sugar was extracted. Molasses was heavy and difficult to transport, and the costs of converting it to stock feed were rarely worth the effort. Sugar men first began to think of the profits that could be made from distilling. The key meeting was held at the Royal Hotel on 1 August 1885. W. M. C. Hickson served as the chairman, and other notables in attendance included all the big sugar mill owners of that time: W. G. Farquhar, F. L. Nott, T. Austin, J. Gale, S. McDougall, T. Penny, S. H. Bravo and A. H. Young. All became the first directors of the company, which started with a capital of £5,000 converted into $9,725.18.
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The Bundaberg Distilling Company began its operations in 1888, and Bundaberg rum was first produced in 1889. Production ceased from 1907 to 1914, and from 1936 to 1939, after fires, the second of which caused rum from the factory to spill into the nearby Burnett River. Many fish were killed due to the liquor runoff into the river.
Christsen Pty Ltd operated their own Bundaberg Rum bottling plant in Bourbong Street, Bundaberg, at the rear of their large grocery and hardware business in the centre of town. The spirit was sold at UP and OP strength from their business.
In 1961, the company introduced the polar bear as its unusual choice of mascot, to imply that the rum could ward off the coldest chill.
In 2000, the Bundaberg Rum company and the distillery were sold to British company Diageo. In 2014, a decision by Diageo to relocate the bottling operations of Bundaberg Rum to the western Sydney suburb of Huntingwood resulted in job losses in Bundaberg. The decision drew criticism from various levels of Queensland politics. The Premier, Campbell Newman, said it was a disappointing move, particularly for a region that had suffered devastating floods in recent years. Bundaberg mayor, Mal Forman, was also disappointed and concerned about the tourism impact.
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A Diageo spokeswoman later clarified the situation, saying some premium products, such as the Master Distillers Collection, would continue to be bottled in Bundaberg. "This was not a decision we have taken lightly, however it is a necessary one to ensure the longer term sustainability of the distillery. We remain absolutely committed to Bundaberg and the distillery and will continue to invest and focus on our core business of distilling, maturing and blending great quality rum in Bundaberg as we have done for the last 125 years."
Distillery.
The Bundaberg Rum distillery is open to visitors for tours of the facility. There is also a museum which offers free samples of Bundaberg Rum products for visitors in a historic Queenslander house. The Big Bundy Bottle is also outside of the bond store. A new $8.5 million visitor centre opened to the public in August 2016 replacing the smaller historic house next door.
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Bundaberg Rum Distillery was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "location". The State Library of Queensland holds correspondence and financial records from the Bundaberg Distilling Co. Ltd. Records for years 1907 to 1946.
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Sponsorship.
Bundaberg Rum is a major sponsor of the Australian Wallabies rugby union team and also sponsors the Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series. Bundaberg is also a sponsor of the NSW Waratahs. Bundaberg Rum sponsored the rugby league ANZAC Test till 2009. Bundaberg Rum signed a 5-year deal with the NRL to be the official dark rum of the NRL. They are also the naming-rights sponsor of NRL Friday Night Football.
From 2009 until 2011, Bundaberg Rum sponsored V8 Supercar team Walkinshaw Racing.
Recognition.
Bundaberg Rum has been distinguished with numerous awards. In 2011, Bundaberg Rum's Master Distillers' Collective rum was launched, with the first three releases, the 10 Year Old, Port Barrel and Golden Reserve, winning awards in the global stage.
Advertising.
Bundaberg Rum has also been criticised for targeting its advertising towards young people and boys, through television commercials during NRL broadcasts, and other promotions. A series of advertisements featuring the Bundaberg Rum bear, a polar bear known as Bundy R. Bear, were produced by advertising agency Leo Burnett to align the product 'with a larrikin approach to Australian mateship'. The Bundaberg Rum bear first appeared in 1961. It was designed to soften rum's aggressive image and broaden its appeal from the traditional older male drinker to a more sociable audience. The advertisements have been cited as a favourite among Australia's youth. |
Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William.
The mountain is a popular destination, attracting an estimated 150,000 visitors a year, around three-quarters of which use the Mountain Track from Glen Nevis. The mountain has hosted a foot race since 1898. The cliffs of the north face are among the highest in Scotland, providing classic scrambles and rock climbs of all difficulties for climbers and mountaineers. They are also the principal locations in Scotland for ice climbing. The cliffs of the north face can be viewed from the Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut, a private alpine hut.
The summit is above sea level and is the highest land in any direction for . The summit is a stony plateau (a felsenmeer). It features a number of monuments and the ruins of an observatory which was continuously staffed between 1883 and 1904. The meteorological data collected during this period is still important for understanding Scottish mountain weather. C. T. R. Wilson was inspired to invent the cloud chamber after a period spent working at the observatory.
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Ben Nevis is the namesake for a distillery at its base, a packet ship, a mountain in Svalbard, a mountain in Hong Kong, and a cartoon character.
Etymology.
The name comes from the Gaelic , meaning "mountain of the Nevis" (referring to the river that skirts the base of the mountain). The river's name is of unclear origin. William J. Watson derived it from Old Gaelic *"Nemess", "venomous one", from "ne(i)m", "venom". W. F. H. Nicolaisen, however, favoured a derivation from the Indo-European root *"nebh"-, which is connected with water and clouds, giving a meaning of "the moist one" or "the misty one".
As with many Scottish mountains, Ben Nevis is often referred to locally simply as "the Ben".
Geography.
Ben Nevis forms a massif with its neighbours to the northeast, , to which it is linked by the Arête, and . All four are Munros.
The western and southern flanks of Ben Nevis rise in about above the River Nevis flowing down Glen Nevis – the longest and steepest hill slope in Britain – with the result that the mountain presents an aspect of massive bulk on this side. To the north, by contrast, cliffs drop some to ().
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In addition to the main summit, Ben Nevis has two subsidiary "tops" listed in Munro's Tables, both of which are called ("red hill"). The higher of these, at , is to the northwest, and is often mistaken for Ben Nevis itself in views from the Fort William area. The other () juts out into Glen Nevis on the mountain's southwestern side. A lower hill, (), is further west, forming a saddle with Ben Nevis which contains a small loch, . The tourist path from Glen Nevis skirts the side of this hill before ascending Ben Nevis's broad western flank.
Summit.
The summit of Ben Nevis comprises a large stony plateau of about . The summit is an example of a felsenmeer, a surface covered by rocks that are not exposed by mass wasting. The highest point is marked with a large, solidly built cairn atop which sits an Ordnance Survey trig point. The summit is the highest ground in any direction for before the Scandinavian Mountains in western Norway are reached.
The Peace Memorial, on the summit, is a cairn which was erected on V J Day, 15 August 1945, by the Young Men's Class of Vicar Street Methodist Church, Dudley, led by Bert Bissell, "to the glory of God and in memory of the fallen of all races". They carried the materials, including a 2cwt memorial stone, to the summit. The inscription declares it to be "Britain's highest war memorial". A second plaque was added in 1965, brought by helicopter: "A tribute to the fallen of all nations from the youth associated with the World Federation of United Nations Associations and the International Student Movement of the United Nations." It is variously known as the Ben Nevis War Memorial, Ben Nevis Peace Memorial, or The Fort William-Dudley Memorial and Peace Cairn A 2006 proposal to move the cairn to the foot of the Ben, was opposed by people in both Fort William and Dudley.
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The view from the UK's highest point is extensive. Under ideal conditions, it can extend to over , including such mountains as the Torridon Hills, Morven in Caithness, Lochnagar, Ben Lomond, Barra Head and to Knocklayd in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
In 2016, the height of Ben Nevis was officially remeasured to be 1344.527m by Ordnance Survey. The height of Ben Nevis will therefore be shown on new Ordnance Survey maps as instead of the now obsolete value of .
Climate.
Ben Nevis has a highland tundra climate ("ET" in the Köppen classification). Ben Nevis's elevation, maritime location and topography frequently lead to cool and cloudy weather conditions, which can pose a danger to ill-equipped walkers. According to the observations carried out at the summit observatory from 1883 to 1904, fog was present on the summit for almost 80% of the time between November and January, and 55% of the time in May and June. The average winter temperature was around , and the mean monthly temperature for the year was . In an average year the summit sees 261 gales, and receives of rainfall, compared to only in nearby Fort William, in Inverness and in London. Rainfall on Ben Nevis is about twice as high in the winter as it is in the spring and summer. Snow can be found on the mountain for approximately 7 months out of the year.
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Geology.
Ben Nevis is all that remains of a Devonian volcano that met a cataclysmic end in the Carboniferous period around 350 million years ago. Evidence near the summit shows light-coloured granite (which had cooled in subterranean chambers several kilometres beneath the surface) lies among dark basaltic lavas (that form only on the surface). The two lying side by side is evidence the huge volcano collapsed in on itself creating an explosion comparable to Thera (2nd millennium BC) or Krakatoa (1883).
The mountain is now all that remains of the imploded inner dome of the volcano.
Its form has been extensively shaped by glaciation.
Research has shown igneous rock from the Devonian period (around 400 million years ago) intrudes into the surrounding metamorphic schists; the intrusions take the form of a series of concentric ring dikes. The innermost of these, known as the Inner Granite, constitutes the southern bulk of the mountain above , and also the neighbouring ridge of ; forms part of the Outer Granite, which is redder in colour. The summit dome itself, together with the steep northern cliffs, is composed of andesite and basaltic lavas.
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History.
The first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis was made on 17 August 1771 by James Robertson, an Edinburgh botanist, who was in the region to collect botanical specimens. Another early ascent was in 1774 by John Williams, who provided the first account of the mountain's geological structure. John Keats climbed the mountain in 1818, comparing the ascent to "mounting ten St. Pauls without the convenience of a staircase". The following year William MacGillivray, who was later to become a distinguished naturalist, reached the summit only to find "fragments of earthen and glass ware, chicken bones, corks, and bits of paper". It was not until 1847 that Ben Nevis was confirmed by the Ordnance Survey as the highest mountain in Britain and Ireland, ahead of its rival Ben Macdui.
A meteorological observatory on the summit was first proposed by the Scottish Meteorological Society (SMS) in the late-1870s, at a time when similar observatories were being built around the world to study the weather at high altitude. In the summer of 1881, Clement Lindley Wragge climbed the mountain daily to make observations (earning him the nickname "Inclement Rag"), leading to the opening on 17 October 1883 of a permanent observatory run by the SMS. The building was staffed full-time until 1904, when it was closed due to inadequate funding. The twenty years worth of readings still provide the most comprehensive set of data on mountain weather in Great Britain.
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In September 1894, C. T. R. Wilson was employed at the observatory for a couple of weeks as temporary relief for one of the permanent staff. During this period, he witnessed a Brocken spectre and glory, caused by the sun casting a shadow on a cloud below the observer. He subsequently tried to reproduce these phenomena in the laboratory, resulting in his invention of the cloud chamber, used to detect ionising radiation.
The ruins of the observatory can still be seen on the summit. An emergency shelter has been built on top of the observatory tower for the benefit of those caught out by bad weather.
The first path to the summit was built at the same time as the observatory and was designed to allow ponies to carry up supplies, with a maximum gradient of one in five. The opening of the path and the observatory made the ascent of the mountain increasingly popular, all the more so after the arrival of the West Highland Railway in Fort William in 1894. Around this time the first of several proposals was made for a rack railway to the summit, none of which came to fruition.
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In 1911, an enterprising Ford dealer named Henry Alexander ascended the mountain in a Model T as a publicity stunt. The ascent was captured on film and can be seen in the archives of the British Film Institute. A statue of Alexander and the car was unveiled in Fort William in 2018.
In 2000, the Ben Nevis Estate, comprising all of the south side of the mountain including the summit, was bought by the Scottish conservation charity the John Muir Trust.
On 17 May 2006, a piano that had been buried under one of the cairns on the peak was uncovered by the John Muir Trust, which owns much of the mountain. The piano is believed to have been carried up for charity by removal men from Dundee over 20 years earlier.
Outdoor recreation.
Hiking and climbing.
Ben Nevis is a popular hiking destination, with 150,000 people a year visiting the peak.
The 1883 Pony Track to the summit (also known as the "Ben Path", the "Mountain Path" or the "Tourist Route") remains the simplest and most popular route of ascent. It begins at Achintee on the east side of Glen Nevis about from Fort William town centre, at around above sea level. Bridges from the Visitor Centre and the youth hostel now allow access from the west side of Glen Nevis. The path climbs steeply to the saddle by Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe (colloquially known as the 'Halfway Lochan') at 570 m, then ascends the remaining up the stony west flank of Ben Nevis in a series of zig-zags.
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A route popular with experienced hillwalkers starts at Torlundy, a few miles north-east of Fort William on the A82 road, and follows the path alongside the . It can also be reached from Glen Nevis by following the Pony Track as far as , then descending slightly to the Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut (known as the CIC Hut), a private mountain hut above sea level, owned by the Scottish Mountaineering Club The route then ascends and continues along the Arête ("CMD Arête") before climbing steeply to the summit of Ben Nevis. This route involves a total of of ascent and requires modest scrambling ability and a head for heights. In common with other approaches on this side of the mountain, it has the advantage of giving an extensive view of the cliffs of the north face, which are hidden from the Pony Track.
The north face of Ben Nevis is riven with buttresses, ridges, towers and pinnacles, and contains many classic scrambles and rock climbs. It is of major importance for British winter climbing, with many of its routes holding snow often until late April. It was one of the first places in Scotland to receive the attention of serious mountaineers; a partial ascent and, the following day, a complete descent of Tower Ridge in early September 1892 is the earliest documented climbing expedition on Ben Nevis. (It was not climbed from bottom to top in entirety for another two years). The Scottish Mountaineering Club's Charles Inglis Clark hut was built below the north face in Coire Leis in 1929. Because of its remote location, it is said to be the only genuine alpine hut in Britain.
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Tower Ridge is the longest of the north face's four main ridges, with around of ascent. It is not technically demanding (its grade is Difficult), and most pitches can be tackled unroped by competent climbers, but it is committing and very exposed. Castle Ridge (Moderate), the northernmost of the main ridges, is an easier scramble, while Observatory Ridge (Very Difficult), the closest ridge to the summit, is "technically the hardest of the Nevis ridges in summer and winter". Between the Tower and Observatory Ridges are the Tower and Gardyloo Gullies; the latter takes its name from the cry of (French for "watch out for the water") formerly used in Scottish cities as a warning when householders threw their waste out of a tenement window into the street. The gully's top wall was the refuse pit for the summit observatory.
The north face contains dozens of graded rock climbs along its entire length, with particular concentrations on the Buttress (below the Munro top of NW) and around the North-east Buttress and Observatory Ridge. Classic rock routes include "Rubicon Wall" on Observatory Buttress (Severe) – whose second ascent in 1937, when it was considered the hardest route on the mountain, is described by W. H. Murray in "Mountaineering in Scotland" – and, on , "Centurion" and "The Bullroar" (both HVS), "Torro" (E2), and "Titan's Wall" (E3), these four described in the SMC's guide as among "the best climbs of their class in Scotland".
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Many seminal lines were recorded before the First World War by pioneering Scottish climbers like J. N. Collie, Willie Naismith, Harold Raeburn, and William and Jane Inglis Clark. Other classic routes were put up by G. Graham Macphee, Dr James H. B. Bell and others between the Wars; these include Bell's "Long Climb", at reputedly the longest sustained climb on the British mainland. In summer 1943 conscientious objector Brian Kellett made a phenomenal seventy-four repeat climbs and seventeen first ascents including fourteen solos, returning in 1944 to add fifteen more new lines, eleven solo, including his eponymous HVS on Gardyloo buttress. Much more recently, an extreme and as yet ungraded climb on Echo Wall was completed by Dave MacLeod in 2008 after two years of preparation.
The north face is also one of Scotland's foremost venues for winter mountaineering and ice climbing and holds snow until quite late in the year; in a good year, routes may remain in winter condition until mid-spring. Most of the possible rock routes are also suitable as winter climbs, including the four main ridges; Tower Ridge, for example, is grade IV on the Scottish winter grade, having been upgraded in 2009 by the Scottish Mountaineering Club after requests by the local Mountain Rescue Team, there being numerous benightments and incidents every winter season.
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In February 1960 James R. Marshall and Robin Clark Smith recorded six major new ice routes in only eight days including Orion Direct (V,5 400m); this winter version of Bell's Long Climb was "the climax of a magnificent week's climbing by Smith and Marshall, and the highpoint of the step-cutting era".
Hill running.
The history of hill running on Ben Nevis dates back to 1895. William Swan, a barber from Fort William, made the first recorded timed ascent up the mountain on or around 27 September of that year, when he ran from the old post office in Fort William to the summit and back in 2 hours 41 minutes.
The following years saw several improvements on Swan's record, but the first competitive race was held on 3 June 1898 under Scottish Amateur Athletic Association rules. Ten competitors ran the course, which started at the Lochiel Arms Hotel in Banavie and was thus longer than the route from Fort William; the winner was 21-year-old Hugh Kennedy, a gamekeeper at Tor Castle, who finished (coincidentally with Swan's original run) in 2 hours 41 minutes.
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Regular races were organised until 1903, when two events were held; these were the last for 24 years, perhaps due to the closure of the summit observatory the following year. The first was from Achintee, at the foot of the Pony Track, and finished at the summit; It was won in just over an hour by Ewen MacKenzie, the observatory roadman. The second race ran from new Fort William post office, and MacKenzie lowered the record to 2 hours 10 minutes, a record he held for 34 years.
The Ben Nevis Race has been run in its current form since 1937. It now takes place on the first Saturday in September every year, with a maximum of 500 competitors taking part. It starts and finishes at the Claggan Park football ground on the outskirts of Fort William, and is long with of ascent. Due to the seriousness of the mountain environment, entry is restricted to those who have completed three hill races, and runners must carry waterproofs, a hat, gloves and a whistle; anyone who has not reached the summit after two hours is turned back. As of 2018, the record for the men's race has stood unbroken since 1984, when Kenny Stuart of Keswick Athletic Club won with a time of 1:25:34. The record for the women's race of 1:43:01 was set in 2018 by Victoria Wilkinson.
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Extreme sports.
Ben Nevis is becoming popular with ski mountaineers and boarders. The Red Burn () just to the North of the tourist path gives the easiest descent, but most if not all of the easier gullies on the North Face have been skied, as has the slope once adorned by the abseil poles into . No 4 gully is probably the most skied. Although Tower scoop makes it a no-fall zone, Tower Gully is becoming popular, especially in May and June when there is spring snow.
In 2018 Jöttnar pro team member Tim Howell BASE jumped off Ben Nevis which was covered by BBC Scotland.
On 6 May 2019, a team of highliners completed a crossing above the Gardyloo Gully, a new altitude record for the UK. Also in May 2019, a team of 12, led by Dundee artist Douglas Roulston carried a tall statue of the DC Thomson character Oor Wullie to the top of the mountain. The statue, which had been painted by Roulston with a 360-degree scene of the view from the summit was later sold at the Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail charity auction to raise money for a number of Scottish children's charities.
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Ben Nevis is one of the three mountains climbed in the National Three Peaks Challenge, where participants aim to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, often within 24 hours and using motor transport between them. The total height climbed is and the distance walked , with about of driving. It has been estimated that some 30,000 people attempt the challenge each year, often as part of organised groups, and the impact on the local areas has been criticised. Various records have been set for the challenge, including James Forrest's fastest self-supported completion in 16 days, 13 hours, 59 mins in 2021 and Imogen Boddy's fastest female completion on foot, with support, in 6 days 5 hours 43 mins, in 2024. In 2022 the Nevis Landscape Trust introduced a registration system for charity events on Ben Nevis.
Safety.
Ben Nevis's popularity, climate and complex topography contribute to a high number of mountain rescue incidents. In 1999 there were 41 rescues and four fatalities on the mountain. It has also been estimated that there are several deaths annually on Ben Nevis.
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Two avalanches occurred on Ben Nevis in 2009 and 2016, causing the deaths of two people on each occasion. In another two avalanches that occurred in 1970 and 2019, three people died on each occasion. A climber died in an avalanche on the north face of the mountain in 2022.
Navigation.
Some incidents arise over difficulties in navigating to or from the summit, especially in poor visibility. The problem stems from the fact that the summit plateau is roughly kidney-shaped and surrounded by cliffs on three sides; the danger is particularly accentuated when the main path is obscured by snow. Two precise compass bearings taken in succession are necessary to navigate from the summit cairn to the west flank, from where a descent can be made on the Pony Track in relative safety.
In the late 1990s, Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team erected two posts on the summit plateau to assist walkers attempting the descent in foggy conditions. These posts were subsequently cut down by climbers, sparking controversy in mountaineering circles on the ethics of such additions. Critics argued that cairns and posts are an unnecessary man-made intrusion into the natural landscape, which create a false sense of security and could lessen mountaineers' sense of responsibility for their own safety.
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In 2009, the Nevis Partnership moved and erected a number of -tall cairns on the summit plateau to aid navigation. Subsequently, the John Muir Trust cleared a number of smaller informal cairns in 2016 which had been erected by visitors, which were seen as dangerous as they could confuse walkers using them for navigation.
In popular culture.
The Ben Nevis Distillery is a single malt whisky distillery at the foot of the mountain, near Victoria Bridge to the north of Fort William. Founded in 1825 by John McDonald (known as "Long John"), it is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland, and is a popular visitor attraction in Fort William. The water used to make the whisky comes from the , the stream that flows from Ben Nevis's northern corrie. "Ben Nevis" 80/‒ organic ale is, by contrast, brewed in Bridge of Allan near Stirling.
"Ben Nevis" was the name of a White Star Line packet ship which in 1854 carried the group of immigrants who were to become the Wends of Texas. At least another eight vessels have carried the name since then.
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A mountain in Svalbard is also named Ben Nevis, after the Scottish peak. It is high and is south of the head of Raudfjorden, Albert I Land, in the northwestern part of the island of Spitsbergen. Hung Fa Chai, a hill in Northeast New Territories of Hong Kong was given the name Ben Nevis by British surveyors in 1901.
Wee Ben Nevis was a character appearing in "The Beano" comic for a few years from 1974, drawn by Vic Neill, in a feature described by Auberon Waugh as having "strong undertones of Scottish Nationalism by its untrue suggestion that Scotsmen have superhuman strength despite their diminutive stature". |
Bipolar I disorder
Bipolar I disorder (BD-I; pronounced "type one bipolar disorder") is a type of bipolar spectrum disorder characterized by the occurrence of at least one manic episode, with or without mixed or psychotic features. Most people also, at other times, have one or more depressive episodes. Typically, these manic episodes can last at least 7 days for most of each day to the extent that the individual may need medical attention, while the depressive episodes last at least 2 weeks.
It is a type of bipolar disorder and conforms to the classic concept of manic-depressive illness, which can include psychosis during mood episodes.
Diagnosis.
The essential feature of bipolar I disorder is a clinical course characterized by the occurrence of one or more manic episodes or mixed episodes. Often, individuals have had one or more major depressive episodes. One episode of mania is sufficient to make the diagnosis of bipolar disorder; the person may or may not have a history of major depressive disorder. Episodes of substance-induced mood disorder due to the direct effects of a medication, or other somatic treatments for depression, substance use disorder, or toxin exposure, or of mood disorder due to a general medical condition need to be excluded before a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder can be made. Bipolar I disorder requires confirmation of only 1 full manic episode for diagnosis, but may be associated with hypomanic and depressive episodes as well. Diagnosis for bipolar II disorder does not include a full manic episode; instead, it requires the occurrence of both a hypomanic episode and a major depressive episode. Serious aggression has been reported to occur in one out of every ten major, first-episode, BD-I patients with psychotic features, the prevalence in this group being particularly high in association with a recent suicide attempt, alcohol use disorder, learning disability, or manic polarity in the first episode.
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Bipolar I disorder often coexists with other disorders including PTSD, substance use disorders, and a variety of mood disorders. Studies suggest that psychiatric comorbidities correlate with further impairment of day-to-day life. Up to 40% of people with bipolar disorder also present with PTSD, with higher rates occurring in women and individuals with bipolar I disorder. A diagnosis of bipolar 1 disorder is only given if bipolar episodes are not better accounted for by schizoaffective disorder or superimposed on schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder, or a psychotic disorder not otherwise specified.
Medical assessment.
Regular medical assessments are performed to rule-out secondary causes of mania and depression. These tests include complete blood count, glucose, serum chemistry/electrolyte panel, thyroid function test, liver function test, renal function test, urinalysis, vitamin B12 and folate levels, HIV screening, syphilis screening, and pregnancy test, and when clinically indicated, an electrocardiogram (ECG), an electroencephalogram (EEG), a computed tomography (CT scan), and/or a magnetic resonance imagining (MRI) may be ordered. Drug screening includes recreational drugs, particularly synthetic cannabinoids, and exposure to toxins.
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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5).
In May 2013, American Psychiatric Association released the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). There are several proposed revisions to occur in the diagnostic criteria of Bipolar I Disorder and its subtypes. For Bipolar I Disorder 296.40 (most recent episode hypomanic) and 296.4x (most recent episode manic), the proposed revision includes the following specifiers: with psychotic features, with mixed features, with catatonic features, with rapid cycling, with anxiety (mild to severe), with suicide risk severity, with seasonal pattern, and with postpartum onset. Bipolar I Disorder 296.5x (most recent episode depressed) will include all of the above specifiers plus the following: with melancholic features and with atypical features. The categories for specifiers will be removed in DSM-5 and criterion A will add or there are at least 3 symptoms of major depression of which one of the symptoms is depressed mood or anhedonia. For Bipolar I Disorder 296.7 (most recent episode unspecified), the listed specifiers will be removed.""
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The criteria for manic and hypomanic episodes in criteria A & B will be edited. Criterion A will include "and present most of the day, nearly every day", and criterion B will include "and represent a noticeable change from usual behavior". These criteria as defined in the DSM-IV-TR have created confusion for clinicians and need to be more clearly defined.
There have also been proposed revisions to criterion B of the diagnostic criteria for a Hypomanic Episode, which is used to diagnose For Bipolar I Disorder 296.40, Most Recent Episode Hypomanic. Criterion B lists "inflated self-esteem, flight of ideas, distractibility, and decreased need for sleep" as symptoms of a Hypomanic Episode. This has been confusing in the field of child psychiatry because these symptoms closely overlap with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Treatment.
Medication.
Mood stabilizers are often used as part of the treatment process.
Antidepressant-induced mania occurs in 20–40% of people with bipolar disorder. Mood stabilizers, especially lithium, may protect against this effect, but some research contradicts this.
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A frequent problem in these individuals is non-adherence to pharmacological treatment; long-acting injectable antipsychotics may contribute to solving this issue in some patients.
A review of validated treatment guidelines for bipolar disorder by international bodies was published in 2020.
Prognosis.
Bipolar I usually has a poor prognosis, which is associated with substance abuse, psychotic features, depressive symptoms, and inter-episode depression. A manic episode can be so severe that it requires hospitalization. An estimated 63% of all BP-I related mania results in hospitalization. The natural course of BP-I, if left untreated, leads to episodes becoming more frequent or severe over time. But with proper treatment, individuals with BP-I can lead a healthy lifestyle.
Education.
Psychosocial interventions can be used for managing acute depressive episodes and for maintenance treatment to aid in relapse prevention. This includes psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), family-focused therapy (FFT), interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT), and peer support.
Information on the condition, importance of regular sleep patterns, routines and eating habits and the importance of compliance with medication as prescribed. Behavior modification through counseling can have positive influence to help reduce the effects of risky behavior during the manic phase. Additionally, the lifetime prevalence for bipolar I disorder is estimated to be 1%. |
Bacardi
Bacardi Limited ( , , ) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 by the Spanish businessman Facundo Bacardí Massó, Bacardi Limited has been family-owned for seven generations, and employs more than 8,000 people with sales in approximately 170 countries. Bacardi Limited is the group of companies as a whole and includes Bacardi International Limited.
Bacardi Limited is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, and has a board of directors led by the original founder's great-great-grandson, Facundo L. Bacardí, the board's chairman. The company’s Cathedral of Rum in Puerto Rico, the largest rum distillery in the world, produces 85% of Bacardi rum worldwide, while the remaining 15% originates from distilleries in Mexico and India.
History.
Early history.
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Moving from the experimental stage to a more commercial endeavour as local sales began to grow, Facundo and his brother José purchased a Santiago de Cuba distillery on October 16, 1862, which housed a still made of copper and cast iron. In the rafters of this building lived fruit bats – the inspiration for the Bacardi bat logo. It was the idea of Doña Amalia, Facundo's wife, to adopt the bat to the rum bottle when she recognized its symbolism of family unity, good health, and good fortune to her husband's homeland of Spain. This logo was pragmatic considering the high illiteracy rate in the 19th century, enabling customers to easily identify the product.
The 1880s and 1890s were turbulent times for Cuba and the company. Emilio Bacardí, Don Facundo's eldest son, known for his forward thinking in both his professional and personal life and a passionate advocate for Cuban Independence was imprisoned twice for having fought in the rebel army against Spain in the Cuban War of Independence.
Emilio's brothers, Facundo and José, and their brother-in-law Enrique 'Henri' Schueg, remained in Cuba with the difficult task of sustaining the company during a period of war. With Don Facundo's passing in 1886, Doña Amalia sought refuge by exile in Kingston, Jamaica. At the end of the Cuban War of Independence during the US occupation of Cuba, "The Original Cuba Libre" and the Daiquiri cocktails were both created, with the then Cuban based Bacardí rum. In 1899, Emilio Bacardí became the first democratically elected mayor of Santiago, appointed US General Leonard Wood.
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During his time in public office, Emilio established schools and hospitals, completed municipal projects such as the famous Padre Pico Street and the Bacardi Dam, financed the creation of parks, and decorated the city of Santiago with monuments and sculptures. In 1912, Emilio and his wife travelled to Egypt, where he purchased a mummy (still on display) for the future Emilio Bacardi Moreau Municipal Museum in Santiago de Cuba. In Santiago, his brother Facundo M. Bacardí continued to manage the company along with Schueg, who began the company's international expansion by opening bottling plants in Barcelona (1910) and New York City (1916). The New York plant was soon shut down due to Prohibition, yet during this time Cuba became a hotspot for US tourists, kicking off a period of rapid growth for the Bacardi company and the onset of cocktail culture in America.In 1922, the family completed the expansion and renovation of the original distillery in Santiago, increasing the site's rum production capacity. In 1930 Schueg oversaw the construction and opening of Edificio Bacardí in Havana, regarded as one of the finest Art Deco buildings in Latin America, as the third generation of the Bacardí family entered the business. In 1927, Bacardi ventured outside the realm of spirits for the first time, with the introduction of an authentic Cuban Malt beer: Hatuey beer.
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Bacardi's success in transitioning into an international brand and company was due mostly to Schueg, who branded Cuba as "The home of rum", and Bacardí as "The king of rums and the rum of Kings". Expansion began overseas, first to Mexico in 1931, where architects Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Felix Candela designed office buildings and a bottling plant in Mexico City during the 1950s. The building complex was added to the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Site list on 20 November 2001. In 1936, Bacardi began producing rum on U.S. territory in Puerto Rico after Prohibition which enabled the company to sell rum tariff-free in the United States. The company later expanded to the United States in 1944 with the opening of Bacardi Imports, Inc. in Manhattan, New York City.
During World War II, the company was led by Schueg's son-in-law, José "Pepin" Bosch. Pepin founded Bacardi Imports in New York City and became Cuba's Minister of the Treasury in 1949.
Cuban Revolution.
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In 1965, over 100 years after the company was established in Cuba, Bacardi established new roots and found a new home with global headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda. In February 2019, Bacardi's CEO, Mahesh Madhavan, stated that Bacardí's global headquarters would remain in Bermuda for the next "500 years" and that "Bermuda is our home now."
In 1999, Otto Reich, a lobbyist in Washington on behalf of Bacardí, drafted section 211 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, FY1999, a bill that became known as the Bacardi Act. Section 211 denied trademark protection to products of Cuban businesses expropriated after the Cuban revolution, a provision sought by Bacardí. The act was aimed primarily at the Havana Club brand in the US. The brand was created by the José Arechabala S.A. and nationalised without compensation in the Cuban revolution, the Arechabala family left Cuba and stopped producing rum. They, therefore, allowed the US trademark registration for "Havana Club" to lapse in 1973. Taking advantage of the lapse, the Cuban government registered the mark in the US in 1976. This new law was drafted to invalidate the trademark registration. Section 211 has been challenged unsuccessfully by the Cuban government and the European Union in US courts. It was ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and 2002. The US Congress has yet to re-examine the matter. The Cuban government assigned the brand to Pernod Ricard in 1993.
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Bacardi rekindled the story of the Arechabala family and Havana Club in the United States when it launched the AMPARO Experience in 2018, an immersive play experience based in Miami, the city with the highest population of Cuban exiles. AMPARO "is the story of the family's entire history being erased and their heritage 'stolen'" according to playwright Vanessa Garcia.
Bacardi in the United States.
In 1964, Bacardi opened new US offices in Miami, Florida. Exiled Cuban architect Enrique Gutierrez created a hurricane-proof building using a system of steel cables and pulleys that allowed the building to move slightly in the event of a strong shock. The steel cables are anchored into the bedrock and extend through marble-covered shafts up to the top floor, where they are led over large pulleys. Outside, on both sides of the eight-story building, more than 28,000 tiles painted and fired by Brazilian artist Francisco Brennand, depicting abstract blue flowers, were placed on the walls according to the artist's exact specifications.
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In 1973, the company commissioned the square building in the plaza. Architect Ignacio Carrera-Justiz used cantilevered construction, a style invented by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright observed how well trees with taproots withstood hurricane-force winds. The building, raised off the ground around a central core, features four massive walls made of sections of inch-thick hammered glass mural tapestries designed and manufactured in France. The striking design of the annex, affectionately known as the 'Jewel Box' building, came from a painting by German artist Johannes M. Dietz.
In 2006, Bacardi USA leased a 15-story headquarters complex in Coral Gables, Florida. At the time, Bacardi had employees in seven buildings across Miami-Dade County.
Bacardi vacated its former headquarters buildings on Biscayne Boulevard in Midtown Miami. The building currently serves as the headquarters of the National YoungArts Foundation. Miami citizens began a campaign to label the buildings as "historic". The Bacardi Buildings Complex has been a locally protected historic resource since Oct. 6, 2009, when it was designated by unanimous decision by the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board.
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In 2007 Chad Oppenheim, the head of Oppenheim Architecture + Design, described the Bacardi buildings as "elegant, with a Modernist [look combined with] a local flavour". In April 2009, University of Miami professor of architecture Allan Schulman said "Miami's brand is its identity as a tropical city. The Bacardi buildings are exactly the sort that resonate with our consciousness of what Miami is about."
The American headquarters is in Coral Gables, Florida.
Bacardi and Cuba today.
Bacardi drinks are not easily found in Cuba today. The main brand of rum in Cuba is Havana Club, produced by a company that was confiscated and nationalized by the government following the revolution. Bacardi later bought the brand from the original owners, the Arechabala family. In partnership with the French company Pernod Ricard, the Cuban government sells its Havana Club products internationally, except in the United States and its territories. Bacardi created the Real Havana Club rum based on the original recipe from the Arechabala family, manufactures it in Puerto Rico, and sells it in the United States. Bacardi continues to fight in the courts, attempting to legalize their Havana Club trademark outside the United States.
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Acquisitions.
Bacardi Limited has made numerous acquisitions to diversify away from the eponymous Bacardí rum brand.
In 1993, Bacardi merged with Martini & Rossi, the Italian producer of Martini vermouth and sparkling wines, creating the Bacardi-Martini group. Other associated brands include the Real Havana Club, Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur, DiSaronno Amaretto, Eristoff vodka, Cazadores Tequila, B&B and Bénédictine liqueurs.
In 1998, Bacardi company acquired John Dewar & Sons, Ltd and Bombay Sapphire from Diageo for $2 billion.
In 2004, Bacardi purchased Grey Goose, a French-made vodka, from Sidney Frank for $2 billion.
In 2006 Bacardi purchased New Zealand vodka brand 42 Below.
In 2018, Bacardi purchased tequila manufacturer Patrón Spirits Company for $5.1 billion.
In 2023, Bacardi acquired the super-premium mezcal brand, Ilegal Mezcal.
In December 2023, Bacardi took majority control of Irish whiskey producer Teeling.
Brands.
Bacardi beverage brands include:
Beer: Hatuey
Cachaça: Leblon
Cognac: Baron Otard, D'ussé
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Gin: Bombay Sapphire, Bosford Rose, Oxley
Liqueur: Bénédictine, Cedlila, Get, Martini Spirito, Patrón Citrónge, St-Germain
Mezcal: Illegal
Rum: Bacardí, Banks, Castillo, Facundo, Havana Club (USA only), Pyrat, Santa Teresa, Single Cane Estate
Sparkling wine: Martini Alta Langa, Martini Asti, Martini Grandi Augur, Martini Magici Istanti, Martini Prosecco, Martini Riserva di Montellera. Martini Rosé
Tequila: Camino Real, Cazadores, Corzo, Patrón
Vermouth: Martini, Noilly Prat
Vodka: Eristoff, Grey Goose, Russian Prince, Ultimat Vodka, 42 Below
American whiskey: Angel's Envy, Stillhouse
Irish whiskey: Teeling
Scotch whisky:
Single malt Scotch whisky: Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Deveron, Royal Brackla
Blended Scotch whisky: Dewar's, William Lawson's
Awards.
Bacardí rums have been entered for a number of international spirit ratings awards. Several Bacardí spirits have performed notably well. In 2020, Bacardí Superior, Bacardí Gold, Bacardí Black, Bacardí Añejo Cuatro were each awarded a gold medal by the International Quality Institute Monde Selection. In addition, both Bacardí Reserva Ocho and Bacardí Gran Reserva Diez were awarded the top honor of Grand Gold quality award.
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Hemingway connection.
Ernest Hemingway lived in Cuba from 1939 until shortly after the Cuban Revolution. He lived at Finca Vigía, in the small town of San Francisco de Paula, located very close to Bacardi's Modelo Brewery for Hatuey Beer in Cotorro, Havana.
In 1954, Compañía Ron Bacardi S.A. threw Hemingway a party when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature – soon after the publication of his novel "The Old Man and the Sea" (1952) – in which he honored the company by mentioning its Hatuey beer. Hemingway also mentioned Bacardí and Hatuey in his novels "To Have and Have Not" (1937) and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940). Guillermo Cabrera Infante wrote an account of the festivities for the periodical "Ciclón", titled "El Viejo y la Marca" ("The Old Man and the Brand", a play on "El Viejo y el Mar", the book's Spanish title). In his account he described how "on one side there was a wooden stage with two streamers – Hatuey beer and Bacardi rum – on each end and a Cuban flag in the middle. Next to the stage was a bar, at which people crowded, ordering daiquiris and beer, all free." A sign at the event read "Bacardi rum welcomes the author of "The Old Man and the Sea"".
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