Basel is a city of many faces—and many voices. It tells stories if you listen, invites stories if you let it in. To experience Basel is to experience its stories. To have experienced it is to carry them with you.

In 2025, we launched the first edition of a literary city guide for Basel. This isn’t a typical guidebook. It doesn’t lead you to landmarks or tourist spots. Instead, it reveals the city’s rhythms, its chatter, its hidden narratives—offering an intimate, fresh way to see Basel.

A key feature are the red pages. Scattered through the texts are keywords—indexed at the top of each page—that link to these red pages. They offer related but unexpected insights, creating a parallel reading path. Like wandering Basel’s narrow streets, readers can follow these trails and uncover surprising connections beyond the main story.

To enrich the experience, artist Johanna Kotlaris was invited to reinterpret the city and its stories through her artistic lens, adding new visual and conceptual layers.

Organized by theme, the guide lets you explore stories about the Rhine, tram lines, cafés, and more—each paired with curated facts and anecdotes. Fun fact: one story mentions the Basel Zoo—but the writer actually walked and wrote about the Berlin Zoo, blending places and perspectives in true literary spirit.

Designed to be read anywhere, the guide brings Basel’s literary and artistic voices to life for locals and visitors alike.