Basel

A port of call on 181 of the river cruise sailings we watch. Below: the water those ships travel when they call here, measured this morning, and one story from it.

The water here

Upper Rhine (Mainz–Basel)

Held by locks · Mainz (Rhine-km 498) – Basel (Rhine-km 167)

109 of the 181 sailings that call at Basel travel this stretch of river.

The gauge that governs this stretch of river is at Maxau.

Maxau Rhine

321 cm falling 7 centimetres over 72 hours falling 7 cm over 72 hours

low on mean low/high water (MNW/MHW) · normal on navigational reference levels (NSW/HSW) — the publisher's own classification of its own reading.

299 cm below the 620 cm first high-water mark (speed and wash limits, and the room under the bridges starts to run out).

3 hours ago · source: PEGELONLINE (WSV)

Every reading we hold on the Rhine today

Every reading here is a measurement somebody has already taken, never a forecast. The writing beside it is history and geography: it tells you nothing about today's water and nothing about whether a ship sails. Your cruise line decides what your ship does.

One story from this water

Froben's printing house at Basel: Erasmus among presses, proofs and type cases.

Erasmus and Froben's printing city

Erasmus of Rotterdam brought major works to Basel printer Johannes Froben. He joined a circle of scholars and artists that also included Hans Holbein. A paper industry established from 1433 helped give the Rhine city the material base for its humanist publishing trade.

early 16th century · bs.ch

Every story here says where it was read. A link opens the publisher's own page; a title names a published work we read.

Sailings that call at Basel

And 169 more. Find your own sailing to see the water on the days you are on it.

Every port we watch

Linking is not endorsement. The publisher controls its own page, its own values and its own terms.