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With both a gigantic river-port on the Rhine - Switzerland's only outlet to the sea - and the research headquarters of several pharmaceutical multinationals, BASEL (Bale in French), nurtures a reputation as Switzerland's wealthiest city. Its medieval past is endowed with some of the greatest minds of European history, including Erasmus, Zwingli, and later Nietzsche and Hesse, and its long-standing patronage of the arts has resulted in a panoply of first-rate museums and galleries. However, it's almost as if Baslers lost the plot when it came to defining their city for today. You might expect it, situated exactly where Switzerland, Germany and France touch noses, to hum with pan-European energy, but the close proximity of foreign languages and cultures has introverted the city rather than energized it: Basel's a curiously measured place, where equilibrium is everything. You won't find anyone shouting about the new Europe here; in fact, you're unlikely to find anyone shouting about anything at all. Even the city's massive carnival is a rigorously organized set-piece.
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