RegioTriRhena. Chemical and pharmaceutical industries and the Mulhouse Chemistry School

Home weaving of silk ribbons was introduced in the old canton Basel (Switzerland) during the 16th century. On the basis of the silk threads and natural dyestuffs, it blossomed during the First Industrial Revolution and became the dominant economic activity in that canton. Textile printing on cotton fabric started in 1746 in Mulhouse and the town quickly became a major European textile hub. A first economic turning point occurred in 1865, when artificial dyestuffs were invented and produced in several start-ups, which were subcontractors to the textile industry in the whole “RegioTriRhena” area. After diversification towards polymer, plant protection and pharmaceutical products, the manufacturing of a large spectrum of these products became the principal economic domain during the 20th century. A second economic turning point occurred in the 1970s when the pharmaceutical industry took the lead, thanks to ambitious research and production efforts, and transformed the Basel metropolitan area into the major pharmaceutical hub of continental Europe. Although fundamental research was an old tradition at the University of Basel, applied research, which started in 1854, allowed the Mulhouse Chemistry School to participate effectively in these various scientific domains and accompany both economic turning points.