Living in St. Alban — Basel neighbourhood

St. Alban is one of Basel's oldest and most exclusive quarters — known simply as "Dalbe" in dialect, with its own "Dalbekirche" and "Dalbedoor". Narrow lanes, water channels and the St. Alban-Tal, also called "Little Venice", define its character. As early as the 12th century, the St. Alban monastery had the St. Alban-Teich canal built to power mills; from the late Middle Ages, paper was produced here without interruption for almost 450 years, until 1924 — today the Basler Papiermühle keeps this history alive as a working museum. The St. Alban-Tor, a preserved section of the medieval city wall, sits in the middle of the quarter, as does the Museum für Gegenwartskunst right next to the paper mill. St. Alban has traditionally been home to the "Daig", Basel's old patrician class — families such as Bernoulli, Burckhardt, Merian or Sarasin, who once distinguished themselves from the rest of the city through discreet wealth and even their own letterbox initials in place of a full name. Located directly on the Rhine, it has long been home to many wealthy Basel families.