Fasnacht, the university and the civic culture

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Culture in Basel extends beyond institutions of high art. The Fasnacht, inscribed by UNESCO on its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2017, is the city's most important popular festival. Earlier chapters described its social role and its dialect verses.¹ For newcomers, it offers a striking demonstration of the city's identity, since three days of fifes, drums, lanterns and satire in Baseldytsch show that a cosmopolitan city of global companies has kept a strong local culture. The willingness of the city's elites to be mocked in the Schnitzelbängg contributes to the legitimacy of their patronage.

The university is another cultural actor. Its museums and collections, its public lectures and its role as custodian of the Amerbach papers and the library of Erasmus connect the humanist past with the present.² Through Eucor, it cooperates with the universities of Freiburg, Strasbourg, Mulhouse-Colmar and Karlsruhe in a network that extends the cultural space of Basel across the Upper Rhine. Its international students and researchers, many of whom work in English as Chapter III described, are themselves part of the city's cultural life and of the image that it projects abroad.

Notes

On the Basel Fasnacht, its inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2017, and its social and linguistic aspects, see Part A, Chapter II, Part C, Chapter II, and Part J, Chapter I. To be verified. ↩
On the cultural role of the University of Basel and the Universitätsbibliothek, including the Amerbach papers, see Part B, Chapter I. To be verified. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.

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Fasnacht, the university and the civic culture

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