Travelog post for: Matsya

The Mittlere Brücke was initially used for local traffic, in conjunction with the development of the route over the Gotthard Pass as an international trade route, in the 14th century it gained significance as a crossing over the Rhine for international trade. With the advent of electric trams, the old bridge had to make way for the new Mittlere Brücke in 1905. A copy of the old bridge chapel, the so-called “Käppelijoch”, where in the Middle Ages convicted criminals were sentenced to death, was erected as a  reminder of the original construction.



Next to it is "Les Trois Rois" (engl. "the tree kings" as the tree wise men are called in German and French). It's probably the most elegant and most expensive hotel you can find in all of Basel and around. Compared to it, the Hilton looks like a youth hostel 



The other side of the bridge. Here you can walk along the water for several kilometers, or, if you prefer, jump into it and let yourself float until the end of the walk (you don't want to go down to far, otherwise you can't get out anymore). My mum even told me that sometimes silly people jump from the bridges into the water. But that's very dangerous and forbidden.