Flower delivery to
University Hospital Basel

In the Middle Ages, monasteries were usually entrusted with caring for the sick. In Basel, an early form of hospital system emerged in the Cluniac Priory of St. Alban, founded in 1083. At the beginning of the 13th century the city had two hospitals. In 1260 a new hospital was founded at the back of the Barfüsserkirche.

A milestone in the development of medical care in Basel was the founding of the university in 1460, which also had a medical faculty, the first north of the Alps. For the first time, students could be instructed by doctors at the bedside.

When the community hospital moved to the Markgräflerhof on Hebelstrasse in 1842, it developed into a municipal hospital with a connection to the university. At this location, where the university hospital is still located today, in addition to the hospital there was also an insane asylum and a beneficiary house for people in need. The facility had 322 beds. In 1865 the university hospital began to take shape in its current form. A contract between the citizens' council and the canton stipulated that the Basel community was responsible for the community hospital (as well as the orphanage and the alms office). The increased need for space led to individual clinics establishing themselves in new state buildings located externally (children's hospital, eye hospital, insane asylum and women's hospital).

Basel University Hospital, formerly the Basel Citizens Hospital, built 1939–1945. Laying of the foundation stone on October 4, 1941. Inauguration of the building on September 29, 1945. Cost 30 million Swiss francs. Architects E.&P. Vischer, H.Baur, Bräuning Leu Dürig.
Commemorative inscription, University Hospital Basel
The university hospital received its modern shape between 1939 and 1945 with the construction of Klinikum 1 on Spitalstrasse. As part of a total renovation, Klinikum 2 was built between 1969 and 1978. The Bürgerspital became part of the state administration in 1973 and thus became a cantonal hospital. The name was changed to University Hospital in 2004. The University Hospital of Basel is currently planning renovation and expansion steps.