The Middle bridge on the Rhine in Basel

The oldest bridge over the Rhine in Basel, a partly stone bridge and partly wooden bridge, has been built in 1226 by the Bishop Heinrich von Thun. On the right bank, the Kleinbasel side of the river, it was a bridge on 5 stone piers, while on the left bank, the Grossbasel side, it was a bridge on 7 wooden piers.

On the last stone pier towards the middle of the river Rhine, there was a little chapel, the Käppelijoch. From there, women accused of infidelity or infanticide were thrown into the river, with weights, hands and feet bound.

Kleinbasel (little Basel), the part of the city located on the right bank of the Rhine, has grown after this first bridge over the Rhine had been built. The primary city of Basel was on the left bank of the Rhine.

Nearly 700 years later, in 1905, the old bridge has been replaced with a complete stone bridge on 5 piers, the present Mittlere Rheinbrücke. A copy of the Käppelijoch has been installed on the central pier.

The last day one could cross the old bridge was on 27 May 1903. A temporary wooden bridge has been built for the time of the construction of the new stone bridge which did open on 11 November 1905.