Käppelijoch: a small chapel with a lot of history

The Käppelijoch and the Mittlere Rheinbrücke

As you may know, Basel is divided into two parts by the Rhine River: we have Greater Basel (Grossbasel) on one side and Lesser Basel (Kleinbasel) on the other side. There are a couple of bridges that connect Grossbasel with Kleinbasel. One of them is the Middle Rhine Bridge (or Mittlere Rheinbrücke). An interesting thing on that bridge is the little chapel in the center of the bridge called the Käppelijoch, which dates back to the 1300s. 

In the Middle Ages, the chapel was used as a public place of punishment: women who were accused of grand theft, adultery, witchcraft or killing their newborn babies were chained and thrown into the Rhine’s floodwaters. This was also done with men who were accused of bigamy or mistreating their parents. If they were still alive when they were pulled out of the water near St. Johann (which is an area of the city that is situated a little bit further down the river), they were granted a reprieve.

Amusing fact: According to popular belief at that time, if someone was having a toothache, they had to walk three times around the Käppelijoch in order to be relieved from the pain. Unfortunately, this form of dental treatment is not doable nowadays due to the new architecture of the chapel.

source: http://www.altbasel.ch/dossier/rheinbruecke.html

photo credit : <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/watz/329059393/">watz</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit : <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/slack12/265492932/">slack12</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twen/3206561539/">twen</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dongga/3768706530/">dongga BS</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>