Helvetia on her travels

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The weary barefoot traveller sat on the bridge’s parapet, gazing at the river. Her robe thrown off in discomfort, the suitcase dusty from her travels across the country, the spear and shield devoid of any desire for action, the plump woman contemplates her destiny.

I did not recognise her at first. Then I saw the laurel wreath in her hand, and the robe, and the spear. She has gained weight and lost some of the majesty since I last saw her on a postal stamp. It is Helvetia, the female personification of Switzerland.

Bettina Eichin released Helvetia from the stamp, and the coin, so that she could tour the country she represents. The sculptor saw the emblematic woman hunched over the bridge on the Rhine in Basel. Since 1980 the bronze figure has been an icon of the border city as well.

Under Helvetia’s empty gaze, swans and ducks swim in the Rhine, green under the bridge and grey under the winter sky. They flock to the shore where a family feeds them bread crumbs. The city looks sleepy in the winter afternoon but joggers and strollers keep the shores awake. A ferry, moored to an overhead cable stretched across the river, drifts in the current to the other side.

Helvetia can afford to rest. She has seen much of the country.

We reached the city only half an hour ago and crossed the Kleinbasel, or Little Basel, where very contemporary convention centres and erotic bars mix up. The scaled orifice of Messe Basel, the prominent convention centres which hosts shows such as the watch-tuned Baselworld, opens to a gloomy sky. Table dance centres and sex shops are recuperating from Saturday night partying.

Across the Rhine, the old city spans under the steeple of the Gothic minster. A little downstream, the river divides Germany and France. Basel is integrated to three nationalities. Many of its suburbs are across national borders. The country, which kept away from the European Union and euro zone, freely accepts visitors from the Union and considers the common currency on a par with the Swiss franc.

Helvetia’s contemplation seemed to symbolise Switzerland’s long tradition of armed neutrality. She is watching over the borders. She has lain down the weapons but at arm’s length.

Down the bridge, the Lällekönig thinks nothing of Helvetia’s composure. The king’s bust, a replica of a 17th century bronze statue, rolls his eyes and sticks out his tongue at Kleinbasel. The teased residents on the other side of the river pay back when they line up bare-bottomed figures on the bridge during a carnival.

Jean Tinguely carries on the animated satire of Lällekönig. The avant-garde Swiss sculptor has a museum dedicated to him in the city. His statue machines – water wheels to ferocious fish – animate the Carnival Fountain.

If Tinguely grew up in Basel, Picasso was the city’s adopted son. Basel residents approved a municipal loan of 6 million francs in a city-wide plebescite in 1967 and raised another 2.4 million francs to buy Les deux frères (The two brothers) and Arlequin assis (Seated harlequin) for the Kunstmuseum. Picasso was so touched he gave the city three more paintings and a drawing for Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (Young women of Avignon). The museum is organising a retrospective of Picasso, putting together all the works available in the city’s public and private collections.

Statues – classical, contemporary and kinetic – people the cityscape. Basel’s museums showcase gems from ancient Egypt and classical Greece to Picasso and Tinguely. The city itself is an open museum. Otto Charles Bänninger’s 1962 version of Janus rests between two streets, his boy-head looking at the future, his oldman-head at the past and a third ageless absurd head lying at his feat. Basiliks, the dragons which guard the city’s coat of arms, are everywhere.

We follow the river on its left bank. Trams go to France. We decide to walk across the border to St Louis. We had failed to spot the German-Swiss border on the train earlier in the day. The only evident changes were the white-cross-on-red flags and the addition of Swiss franc along with euro on price tags. Now we were looking at signposts and when they would transform from Strasse to Rue.

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Photos

History's stamp
Bettina Eichin's unconventional take on the Swiss national persona has become a Basel icon. The lady has been contemplating the Rhine since 1980.

Bridge on the Rhine
The Middle Bridge connects Kleinbasel and Grossbasel and witnesses the comic traditional rivalry of a people divided by the great river.

Life on the Rhine
Under Helvetia’s empty gaze, swans and ducks swim in the Rhine and wait for denizens who overfeed them.

Stacked centuries
The Gothic spire of the Munster lords over the Basel skyline, contrasting with the mammoth convention centres on this side of the river.

The flowing border
Basel, like the river which nurtures it, is multinational. It shares its borders with Germany and France. Some of the Swiss city's suburbs are across the borders.