Basler Münster

Historically a well known cathedral. Karl Barth was baptized here on June 20, 1886. Barth occasionally preached here between 1935 and 1947. On one side of the Münster is an epitaph to the Dutch Renaissance Humanist, Desiderius Erasmus, who arranged for the printing of the original Greek New Testament in Europe and who lived in Basel from 1521-1529 and again in 1536, the year of his death.

Karl Barth on the „Pfalz“ (Platform behind the Münster)

An anecdote about the Münster and Karl Barth: Karl Barth’s son, Markus, was getting married in a side chapel of the Münster. Barth had done night duty as a soldier watching over the Swiss/German border during World War II. He dozed off during the wedding ceremony and suddenly there was a thunder-like noise in the curch. What had happened? Barth’s helmet had fallen down onto the chapel’s floor.


Address: Münsterplatz, CH-4051 Basel
Tel. +41 (0)61 272 91 57 (souvenir stand)

  • Main Train Station SBB
  • Tram No. 1 (Direction Bad. Bahnhof) or No. 2 (Direction Eglisee)
  • Tram stop „Kunstmuseum“ („Art Museum“) (3 stops)
  • Walk up the „Rittergasse“ and you can already see the Münster