This week, at least 150,000 people will flock to Basel, Switzerland, for the world?s largest watch show, Baselworld. The WatchTime team, of course, will be among them. Because of the frenzied pace of the show, most Baselworld visitors don?t get to see much of the city. That?s a pity because there is a lot more to it than the show. Here are 21 things to know about what?s beyond the watch halls.
1. Tennis legend Roger Federer was born and raised in Basel. He has called it ?one of the most beautiful cities in the world.? That?s a homer?s view. But it does have beautiful spots, especially in the Old Town and in places along the Rhine.
Roger Federer is a Basel native.
2. Basel is Switzerland?s third largest city after Zurich and Geneva. But it is not big. The total population is 176,117 in 2017. 3. Don?t be confused by the different spellings of the city?s name. Depending on the language, they are all correct: Basel (American English and German), Basle (British English) and Bâle (French).
4. One of the great charms of the city is its numerous public fountains, more than 170 of them.
On Basel’s Middle Rhine Bridge is a chapel built in 1478.
5. The Rhine River splits the city in two: Big Basel (Grossbasel) and Little Basel (Kleinbasel), where the Baselworld complex is located. Inevitably there is a rivalry. One of the town?s monuments is the Lällekönig (?the Tongue King?), a figure of a crowned head fixed to a wall of a café just off the Mittlere Rheinbrücke (Middle Rhi...