Source: the venue’s website, checked on 05/11/2026.
In Basel, on a canal dug in the 13th century, a water wheel still turns against the Gallizian mill, a paper mill since 1453. Its papermakers, printers and bookbinders work on the original machines, and every visitor dips the mould into the vat to lift a sheet of their own.
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Anton Gallizian turned the grain mill into a paper mill in 1453. A tobacco factory from 1850 and a warehouse from 1957, the building was faithfully restored by the Christoph Merian Foundation and reopened as a museum in 1980. What its workshops produce is sold to fund the house, which employs people on disability pensions across all its trades, in regular jobs.
The long hands-on tour lasts 90 to 120 minutes: you make paper, set your name in lead type and print it. For up to 25 people it costs CHF 280 from Tuesday to Friday, plus admission. Outside opening hours, the papermaking session with an aperitif takes up to 60 people. Book two weeks ahead; from 4 January to 26 May 2027, during building work, some tours are suspended.
Photo credits : Matti&Keti (Wikimedia Commons, CC0) ; Alexandre Prevot (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0) ; Gryffindor (Wikimedia Commons, Domaine public) ; Gryffindor (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0) ; JiriMatejicek (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
We design and lead a learning expedition that goes through this place. You can also design it yourself with Agent A\lex.
Agent A\lex
