Basel Paper Mill and Swiss Museum of Paper, Writing and Printing

The Galliciani mill in Basle was converted to make paper in 1453, continued to do so until 1955, and was adapted as a museum in the 1970s. Its displays provide a comprehensive picture of the development of paper making and printing. There is a workshop showing how paper was made by hand in the 18th century, where visitors can themselves make paper. There are displays on the development of the paper machine from the early 19th century. A machine made in Osnabrück in 1964 for the manufacture of laboratory paper, essentially a classic Fourdrinier machine, is regularly demonstrated. The development of writing and printing is also displayed. Hand setting of type is demonstrated, and there is a Wilhelm Hass press of 1772. Visitors can see a range of type-setting machines used from the late 19th century until the end of hot metal printing in the 1980s. The museum holds the Swiss Historical Paper Collection made by Dr W F Tschudin, author of the standard work on the paper mills of Basle and the Sandoz corporation, and the collection from the Haas Type Foundry that belongs to the trust set up to ensure its conservation by Eduard Hoffman-Feer.