Basel Paper Mill

What makes it special

Paper here begins as rags. The museum's stamping machine pounds them first, loudly and in plain view, and a Hollander beater then refines the fibres into pulp for the vat. The building became a paper mill in 1453.

At the vat, look at the mould itself: a framed mesh screen carrying a watermark, the faint design that shows when a finished sheet is held to the light. Nearby, a member of staff lifts a large sheet from a big vat with the same motion on a bigger frame.

Outside, the waterwheel was renovated with a new oak transmission. Look for it on the mill river that runs past the café.

Upstairs, the rooms run in order from the making of paper to writing tools, inks and the first handwritten books, then on to type. The print shop holds hand-set type, Monotype and Linotype casting machines, an original Heidelberg press and a steel engraving press. In the neighbouring Rych Mill stands a Fourdrinier paper machine.

Visiting

Gallizian Mill's first floor is where the papermaking happens: you pull wet pulp onto the screen, choose a watermark and press the sheet. Buy your ticket beforehand in Stegreif Mill next door, which also holds the café. The ticket covers every hands-on station.

From there the route climbs floor by floor, by narrow wooden stairs, through small rooms that open into one another. On the way you write with a goose quill, try the old typewriters, set your name in type and print it, and marble a sheet in colour. Casting machines and a hand-set type shop sit on the print floor.

Guided or on your own

You can go round on your own and work through each hands-on station at your own pace. The museum also runs guided visits through its tours line, +41 61 225 90 90; ring it before you travel to ask about times and languages.

Tips

Eat first at the café, which serves lunch, homemade sandwiches and cakes, and on a fine day sets tables outside beside the rushing mill river. The museum recommends a visit from age six, and children up to five enter free. The Basel Card and both Swiss museum passes are accepted.