1529: After the dissolution of the Barfüsserkloster, some of the buildings are transferred to the municipal hospital. A ward for the "insane" is set up in the so-called Almosen.
Picture: Glamorised depiction of the Almosen, watercolour by Constantin Guise (1811–1856), dated 1849,
State Archives Basel-Stadt, BILD Wack. G 112 b

1832: Friedrich Brenner (1809–1874) takes over as head of the 'lunatic ward' of the old hospital. He abolishes corporal punishment and chains.

1842: The first independent 'insane asylum' is opened next to the new public hospital in Markgräflerhof.
Image: Basel-Stadt State Archives, AL 45 9-27-1

1886: The Basel Lunatic Asylum, later the Friedmatt Clinic, is opened on the outskirts of the city under the direction of Ludwig Wille (1834–1912).
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1900: The Evangelical Sanatorium for Female Emotional Disorders, the Sonnenhalde in Riehen, is opened. The care is provided by deaconesses.
Image: State Archives Basel-Stadt, BILD 4, 453

1909: The fence along the access road to Friedmatt is boarded up to protect patients from harassment.

1912: A new pavilion with a ward and a facility for continuous bathing is opened on the women's side. A new pavilion for the men follows in 1920. Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1921: Courses in "mental health care" are introduced for maintenance personnel.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1923: The Psychiatric Polyclinic for outpatient treatment on Hebelstrasse is established. It is headed by Jakob Klaesi (1883–1980) for the first three years.
Image: Basel-Stadt State Archives, NEG 4957

1924: One hundred attendants threaten to resign in protest against poor employment conditions, which include a celibacy requirement.
Image: Nursing staff with food trolley
University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1925: Ernst Rüdin (1874–1952) becomes the new director. He strengthens psychiatric-hereditary biological research. In 1928, he follows his appointment to Munich. During the Nazi era, he is involved in drafting the law for the "Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".

1926: First attempts at family care are made. A female patient, for example, is placed with a farming family in Wenslingen (BL).
Image: Psychiatric nurse with a foster family in Baselland, 1960s
University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1928: John E. Staehelin (1891–1969) becomes director. During his long tenure (1928–1959), new physical therapies and the first modern psychotropic drugs are introduced.
Image: Staff conference with John E. Staehlin, around 1930
University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1945: The psychiatric outpatient clinic at Petersgraben is given a department for children and adolescents under the direction of Dora Gasser (1910–1992).

1954: With 1019 patient admissions, the 1000 mark is exceeded. For many decades, the clinic suffers from an acute lack of space.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1954: The introduction of the first modern psychiatric drug, the antipsychotic Largactil, contributes to the demolition of the first walls around the clinic grounds.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics, photo archive

1954: The Holdenweid Psychiatric Ward for the Elderly near Hölstein (BL) begins operations.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1956: Switzerland's first paediatric psychiatric-psychosomatic department is opened at the Children's Hospital.

1957: Switzerland's first school for psychiatric nursing staff is opened in Basel.

1959: Paul Kielholz (1916–1990) becomes the new director. Under his leadership, the Friedmatt Sanatorium and Nursing Home is
renamed the Psychiatric University Hospital (PUK) in 1960.

1960: Further developments in the field of psychotropic drugs mean that the bars can be removed in many departments.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1960: The child and adolescent psychiatric polyclinic gets its own building at Schaffhauserrheinweg 55.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1963: Basel Zoo provides various animals for the clinic park – including cranes.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1968: A new building is constructed for the nursing and care school.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1968: The Psychiatric University Hospital (PUK) Basel becomes the European centre of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the exchange of information and the registration of psychotropic substances.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1972: A Vita-Parcour is opened on the clinic grounds.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1972/1973: A social psychiatric reform project, in which a department of the PUK was to be organised as a therapeutic community, fails due to resistance from the department nurses.

1974: The first external residential community of the PUK is opened in the Haus zum Fermel.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1977: The University Psychiatric Polyclinic is spatially and administratively integrated into the Cantonal Hospital.

1980: The Democratic Psychiatry Meeting Point is set up at Therwilerstrasse 7 as a meeting place for those affected and their relatives.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

1982: The Psychosocial Working Group (PSAG) is founded. It is committed to socio-psychiatric reforms.

1991: The Psychiatric Crisis Intervention Station (KIS) at the Cantonal Hospital begins operations.

1991: People with cognitive impairments are no longer treated in the clinic, but in special residential homes.

1991: The Psychotherapeutic Day Clinic (PTK) opens its doors on Socinstrasse.

1993: Switzerland's first adolescent psychiatric ward is opened on Röschenzerstrasse.

1994: The 'Janus' project for the heroin-assisted treatment of opioid addicts is launched in Basel under the direction of the PUK.

1997: The Forensic Department is opened.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, photo archive

2005: The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic (KJPK) and the Psychiatric University Clinic (PUK) are merged under the name 'University Psychiatric Clinics' (UPK).

2011: Switzerland's first inpatient forensic department for young people is opened at the UPK.

2012: The "open doors" principle is introduced. As a result, several closed departments are opened and isolation rooms are converted into normal rooms.

2013: The polyclinic leaves the cantonal hospital and moves into its own building on Kornhausgasse with the new name 'Psychiatry
Health Centre'.

2016: The first peers are employed to support recovery. Peers are professionals who have experienced illness themselves.

2019: The new building of the clinic for children and adolescents is opened on the edge of the UPK campus.
Image: University Psychiatric Clinics Basel

2019: The model project 'Home Treatment' starts. Here, patients are cared for at home.