How many times have you climbed the cathedral tower? And when was the last time? Many people in Basel are familiar with the famous cathedrals in Cologne, Milan and Prague – yet they often only visit their own cathedral during their school days. Sometimes, all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes to rediscover your own city. Or a walk through St. Alban-Tal. Nestled between medieval walls, old paper mills and the longest surviving section of Basel’s outer city wall, this place feels almost like a small village in the heart of the city.

One person who experiences this setting almost every day is Ramon Keller. The 45-year-old from the Basel-Landschaft region is the master craftsman at the cathedral workshop – and therefore jointly responsible for ensuring that the city’s landmark is preserved for future generations. 

“People often assume that I work at some SAC hut in Graubünden when they hear that I’m a master craftsman in a workshop.” Ramon Keller

Yet since the Middle Ages, there have been workshops like this in many cities with large cathedrals. They were responsible for the construction of these large-scale buildings and continue to maintain them to this day. In Basel, however, the workshop has not existed continuously since the Middle Ages. It wasn’t until 2 January 1986 that the newly established foundation for maintaining Basel’s cathedral began its work. Today, a specialist team comprising a total of ten stonemasons, stone sculptors and restorers is responsible for maintaining and restoring the cathedral.

A workshop for Basel

“Our most important task is to preserve Basel Cathedral (Münster) in its current state for future generations.” Ramon Keller

Work is carried out directly on the cathedral or in the workshop in St. Alban-Tal. New stoneworks are made in the latter during the colder months in particular. “The temperature at the construction site must never fall below five degrees; otherwise, the repair mortars won’t set properly.”

Stone by stone

“For the first time, we can even train two apprentices at the same time.” Ramon Keller

Daily life in the historic building, which originally housed the paper mill’s drying rooms, is characterised by a sense of community: every day, someone from the team does the cooking. “Everyone has to go through it – even those who don’t like being in the kitchen”, says Ramon with a smile. “I learnt to cook here myself.”

Apart from this, the workshop in Basel enjoys an excellent reputation and has received numerous awards. Since 2020, it has appeared on UNESCO’s Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage, alongside 17 other similar workshops in Europe. The workshop team is also made up of people from all over the world.

“Dad, is that your church?”

“Things get particularly emotional when a defective component is removed from the structure and replaced with a new one.” Ramon Keller

“Things get particularly emotional when a defective component is removed from the structure and replaced with a new one. When I think about how many of my own thoughts and feelings are embedded in this stone, and at the same time imagine the emotions that someone from a bygone era poured into their work, I sometimes lose myself completely in this world of thought.”

“Sometimes it really does feel as though you’re taking little trips through time.” Ramon Keller

High above the city’s rooftops, on the cathedral, he also likes to imagine what it must have been like here in the past. “Sometimes it really does feel as though you’re taking little trips through time.”