In June 1939, it finally came to pass: the University of Basel celebrated the opening of a new Kollegienhaus. The three-day celebration featured all the traditional components of university festivities: a cathedral ceremony, a procession through the city, a banquet for invited guests, and a public festival that evening. The university’s move to a new home, at a new location, represented both a fresh start and a reaffirmation of the values of its “nearly five-hundred-year history.” The celebration offered not only a chance to consider its role as an institution but also to highlight the importance of Swiss unity in the context of the “national spiritual defense” called for at the time.

“After many, countless sessions … ”
The summer of 1939 brought an end to a long period: the building on Rheinsprung Street had been the university’s main headquarters for 479 years, though the library and several departments had moved to separate facilities in the mid-seventeenth century.

The opening of the new building at St. Peter’s Square in June 1939 was a long time coming. The old Kollegienhaus had begun showing significant structural and sanitary problems much earlier, in the nineteenth century. In 1876, a petition from Basel residents called for the university to be given a new home. After initial efforts to build a new university building faded, the project was revived after the First World War. In 1931, as in 1912, an architectural competition was held for a new building at the Old Arsenal at St. Peter’s Square, which was won by Zurich architect Roland Rohn. In December 1936, the demolition of the Old Arsenal building began, and in 1939, the long-awaited new Kollegienhaus was finally inaugurated with ceremony fit for the occasion. Professor of Medicine Alfred Labhardt, who welcomed the guests at the Art Museum, commented on the lengthy process: “After many, countless sessions, discussions, drafts, counterdrafts, proposals, and resolutions, our alma mater has finally received a new, modern home providing us with what we need.”

A celebration among federal guests
The relocation to the university’s new home at St. Peter’s Square was marked with a three-day festival to inaugurate the new Kollegienhaus. The program followed the traditional model of university celebration that had evolved over the centuries, with a “welcome evening” before the actual celebration day, where external guests were hosted at the Art Museum on St. Albangraben Street.

It was no coincidence that the composition of guests for the opening ceremony in 1939 differed from that of the university’s major 400-year celebration and the semicentennial celebration of 1910. “Given the overall situation,” as State Archivist Paul Roth noted in the festival report, no guests from abroad were invited. Greater emphasis was placed on the presence of representatives and dignitaries from Switzerland. Federal President Dr. Philipp Etter and Federal Councillor Dr. Johannes Baumann, along with representatives of the Swiss Federal and Insurance Courts, the Federal Assembly, and the army, attended the inauguration. All cantonal governments and the eight Swiss universities also sent at least one representative.

Themes of Swiss federal unity and national spiritual defense permeated the festivities for the inauguration of the new Kollegienhaus. Being located at the country’s geographical borders, Basel, as Government Councillor Dr. Fritz Hauser declared during the cathedral celebration on the festival Saturday, had developed a heightened awareness that “the foundations of our democracy and our freedom must not be shaken.” Swiss Federal President Dr. Philipp Etter, in his address, invoked the values of “freedom, independence, federal community, freedom of people, and freedom of the country,” concluding with the hope that the University of Basel would, in its new building, be “a bearer and herald of this old Swiss spirit.” This sentiment was echoed by others. When the President of the Basel Governing Council ended his speech at the formal banquet with the words “Long live our Swiss homeland!” the guests spontaneously stood and sang the national anthem together.

The presentation of the rector’s chain and the flag to the student union
During the welcome evening at the Art Museum, the golden rector’s chain was handed over by the Friends of the University to Rector Ernst Staehelin. According to the association’s president, Professor Erwin Ruck, the splendid chain symbolized the bond – the literal link – between the people of Basel and their university, as well as between the various scholarly disciplines. The rector expressed his thanks, noting that the rector’s chain was “ultimately not for the rector per se, but for the venerable institution he represents.” The next day, Staehelin wore the chain over his robe. There had been a debate preceding this gesture about reinstating the medieval-style academic gown for professors, with critics seeing the distinctive robes as an “unfortunate separation from the people.” However, Staehelin was confident that the “esteemed, critically astute city of Basel” would recognize the deeper significance in the attire, namely: “belonging to the universal community of science.”

The welcome evening concluded with the traditional torchlight procession by the Student Union, a customary feature of university celebrations. An exceptional twist this time, however, was that it was not the students presenting a gift to the university, but the university presenting a gift to the students under the “night sky”: a new flag. Rector Staehelin compared the Student Union to the four battalions of the Basel Territorial Regiment, which had also recently received new flags, noting that the university’s students were similarly in “service,” specifically in the “service of science ... which demands nothing less than total commitment.” This “different kind of service” entailed a venture based in knowledge: a “conquest” of “the universe,” the “mysteries of the heavens,” and “oneself.” Remarks made by the president of the Delegates’ Convention resonated with the rector’s sentiment, noting: “Just as we pledge our unwavering loyalty to the white cross on the red field, to the flag of our homeland, so we pledge our unwavering loyalty to the flag of our university.”

“Fill this building, still an empty shell, with substance
The main day of celebration, 10 June 1939, commenced with the traditional ceremony in the cathedral, including the conferral of honors and honorary degrees. In his rector’s speech, Professor Ernst Staehelin noted that the relocation of the Basel Kollegienhaus necessitated renewed contemplation of the “purpose and mission of the University of Basel.” He pointed out that it was now the foremost responsibility of the university community to not only occupy the building, still an empty shell, but also “fill it with noble substance of significance.” Though Staehelin did not delve into a detailed history of the university, he made sure to mention that it had always been a hub of “tireless scientific research and thought.” The new building, he continued, represented a fresh start, even as he expected the university to maintain a connection to its own tradition of “almost five hundred years.” The emphasis throughout the celebration was on the history of free thinking, the university’s autonomy, and its humanistic tradition – a clear stance against fascist ideologies. Government Councillor Fritz Hauser remarked in his address at the cathedral: “Since free speech has been suppressed in some countries, and since it is now such that only what conforms to a specific worldview can be expressed aloud and in writing ... it is a sacred duty for a ... Swiss university to remain a bastion of unrestricted freedom of speech.” He elaborated: “We do not wish to impose any form of ideological tyranny; we wish to allow everyone, regardless of their stance or belief, to speak and think freely.” Rector Ernst Staehelin emphasized that the character of the University of Basel had evolved from a striving “out of the spirit of humanity to encompass the work of its cultivation.” The university’s ongoing mission, he declared, was to foster “a profound respect for human dignity and a fervent striving to develop and guide this dignity to its fulfillment.”

Following the ceremony in the cathedral, the procession gathered. Unlike in previous university celebrations, where it traditionally moved toward the cathedral, this time it proceeded away from Cathedral Hill, along Freie Strasse and Petersgraben, toward the new university site. “Indeed: it was a farewell,” noted the festival report about the move to the new Kollegienhaus. The university’s relocation – in every sense of the word – presented an unusual scene for the students, who had been given a special day without classes for the event, and for the citizens of Basel: the new gowns and the octagonal caps of the professors made for a spectacle “that the city had never seen before.”

The handing over of the key, banquet, and public festival
After the procession, the highly formal ceremony of handing over the key took place in front of the new Kollegienhaus: architect Dr. Roland Rohn presented the key with thanks to Dr. Fritz Ebi, the head of the Department of Public Works. Ebi expressed his happiness that a “long period of painful struggle for a new university building” had come to a conclusion and passed the key to Dr. Franz Hauser, head of the Department of Education, with the wish that the new Kollegienhaus would “lead our alma mater basiliensis to blossom anew.” Hauser then handed the key to Rector Ernst Staehelin, who concluded the opening ceremony with the words: “This is a building into which light and sun can enter from all directions. May light and sun also radiate out from all directions ... In this spirit, I open the doors of this house and invite the festival assembly to enter!” The ceremony was somewhat overshadowed by criticism that the head of the Department of Education kept his other hand in his pocket while handing over the key.

Soon thereafter, 720 participants gathered in the large music hall of the Stadtkasino for the banquet, while the distinguished women guests met at the Kollegienhaus for the University Ladies’ Tea. The day’s festivities concluded with an evening public festival at St. Peter’s Square, where seating for over 6,000 people was arranged. Initially, the celebrations for the inauguration of the new university building at St. Peter’s Square were not intended to be a public festival. According to the press, the university planned to celebrate the opening with “invited Basel citizens.” In January 1939, a neighborhood committee (known as the “Spalenhubel Committee”), which had been a strong advocate for the new building at St. Peter’s Square, approached the government to propose a festival on a “wider” scale – a true public festival “in which the entire city could participate.” The university adopted this idea a few weeks later.

A short thunderstorm nearly disrupted the cheerful “academic/student-themed” celebration on the forecourt of the new university building, but the rector put a positive spin on the brief shower, saying in Basel German: “Even under this lightning and thunder, we will come together in a firm, close community ... and under lightning and thunder, we will stay united. And as we have together celebrated this building for the University of Basel, we will continue to work together on building our beloved, free Swiss home!” The celebration, which included many speeches, songs, and musical performances by the police band, ended around midnight. On Sunday, the inauguration of the new Kollegienhaus culminated in a “dignified conclusion” with a festive service led by Professor Karl Barth at the St. Martin’s Church, followed by a student summer ball at the new building that finally brought the festivities to an end.