THE AUTUMN FAIR IN SWITZERLAND (Satis Shroff)

THE AUTUMN FAIR IN SWITZERLAND (Satis Shroff)

 IT was a beautiful afternoon in November. Friendly fluffy clouds broke the steel blue sky over the Black Forest, as the sleek, white ICE train sped towards Basle (Switzerland) from Freiburg (Germany). The train dashed across the autumnal landscape with yellow, orange and brown leaves on the trees, fields and meadows. The blonde weather frog had said that a mild air-mass would block the colder front, and the sun which would make its heat felt when the mist had cleared.

In the distance you could discern the Vosges (France) as faintly blue ranges. If you want to have a quick meal in the train run by the German Railways, you have a choice between various vegetables with artechocks and curcuma rice and focaccio or tofu. Or a kasseler with sauerkraut and salted potatoes. Another possibility would be Dörrpflaumen-Füllung, wirsing served with herbal noodles. I’ve tried the food often on the way to Amsterdam or the North Sea and I’d recommend it.

 After the short-cut via the 14km Katzenberg tunnel the train pulled up in the Badische  Bahnhof (Basle).

 Basle lies in the three-country triangle: France, Germany and Switzerland, and is a cosmopolitan town, conscious of its customs and traditions and can be reached via Euroairpot Basle-Mulhous-Freiburg. It has famous chemical and pharmaceutical industries (Novartis, Roche) and is known for electro-technique, textile and food industry, and its insurance and banks. Along the Small Basle river bank you can see the olde town and you can go for a walk upto the Rhine harbor. In summer this river bank is visited by a great many people who jump into the river to cool themselves.

It’s autumn now, and the Rhine bank is the place where a lot of Basler sun, watch the Rhine traffic, birds flying by. You can close your eyes and enjoy the caressing rays of the afternoon and evening sun.

Basle is divided into Big  and Small Basle. The old part of the town belongs to Big Basle, where most of the administrative buildings are located. In Small Basle you have the industrial area and the fair (Messe) on the right bank of the Rhine. The middle bridge connects Big and Small Basle. There are beautiful and rich shops along Small Basle’s Claraplatz, and if you prefer an exclusive Swiss eating place then it’s the Wirtshaus zur Säge.

You go through the city, past the Helvetia statue to the right of the Rhine bridge and head for the town council and the victual market, then up a flight of steep stairs along a narrow lane. There are many such lanes that give Basle its romantic character.

 Since it was a Saturday, pedestrians were pouring into the streets. The shops were open and people were making use of their weekend. There were a lot of goodies to buy in the stands of the 545^th Basler Autumn Fair, which was billed as the biggest and oldest entertainment fair of Switzerland. The fair was all over Basle: Riehenring, Messeplatz, Petersplatz along the Hääfelimäärt. The latter, a traditional pottery market, was interesting with self-made cups and plates and home decorations in gaudy but aesthetic colours.

Young and elderly Swiss, French, German and people from Arabia, Africa, Asia were out to enjoy the Basler leckerli and try out international cuisine, buy textiles and leather wear and have joy rides with their kids in the ferris-wheel Vienna Prater ghost-ride, swing up, auto-scooter, super chaos, caroussel, Coco Bongo, flying carpets, Pegasus, Crazy Clown, enterprise, fun house, jungle street, snow dream, sky flyer crazy carpet etc.

Basle became a part of the German Reich in 1033. In 1348 it was rampaged by the plague, and Basle tried to get rid of this infectious disease by means of the persecution of its Jewish citizens (Judenprogrom). In 1356 the town was destroyed by an earthquake.

The market-place is a very lively area and you see the local Swiss vendors selling seasonal vegetables and fruit, flowers, sausages and a good many sweet, delicious leckerlis. The town council has a conspicuous scarlet façade. The middle part of has arcades built by Ruman Faesch 1504-1521 in Burgunder Late Gothic style, and there’s a clock constructed by master Wilhelm dating back to 1512. The façade figures of the town great council was painted originally by Hans Bock. In the Great Council Hall there are the impressive shields of the 15 Swiss cantons. If you want to do the sights of Basle, it takes 50 minutes with bus number 36 from the Schiffslände towards Kleinhühningen. You can return with tram number 8.

Basle’s university was founded in 1460 and the town was initially known for printing and publishing industries. Basle fought against the Habsburger and the krieg ended in 1501. Basle’s university became the centre of humanism through Erasmus von Rotterdam, who lived in the Swiss town since 1535. Another of Basle’s famous personalities was the physician  Paracelsus (1526-1528). Other famous citizens were the mathematicians Jakob and Johann Bernoulli. And, of course, the philologist-cum-philosopher Friedrich Nietsche.