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Basel: follow in the path of famous swiss names

The continuation of our chronicles on “Swiss luminaries”. We visit Basel, which is proud to include both sports personalities and architects among its famous citizens.

Basel: break point

Tennis enthusiasts cannot fail to be aware that Roger Federer, having dominated the game for many years and considered to be the greatest tennis player of all time, is Swiss. But do they know that he is a native of Basel? The capital of the Basel-Stadt canton, Switzerland’s third largest city, with 660,000 inhabitants, is unique in that it has no mayor.

This fact will not be news to Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, laureates of the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize (architecture’s ‘Nobel prize’). These two Swiss architects, both of them Basel born and bred, have signed their names to the Tate Modern in London and the Beijing National Stadium, one of the sensations of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Also read about: Famous Swiss names in Geneva, Famous Swiss names in Neuchâtel