Tent of the Zunft zum Goldenen Stern

Description

The tent of the Zunft zum Goldenen Stern is the last surviving example of the marquees belonging to Basel’s guilds. These were used in times of war, but also for social occasions such as marksmanship contests. All that has survived of the other guild marquees are the weathervanes.
Basel’s fifteen guilds were not just an important commercial and political factor. They also performed social functions such as fire-fighting and guard duty, and organizing troops in the event of war. As the Zunft zum Goldenen Stern was the guild of bathers, shearers and barber-surgeons, its tent also served as a battlefield dressing station.
Circular in shape and with a conical roof that rises up to over 5 m in height, including the weathervane, it is an impressive construction. The unbleached hemp-linen canvas is decorated only with vertical blue stripes, a wreath of blue flames around the pinnacle, and three renditions of the guild’s own eye-catching coat of arms.
The tent was probably made before 1655 and has been mentioned in various sources over the centuries. It had already been patched up even before the guild gave it to the museum in 1889; and according to the records, it has been repaired – sometimes extensively – on many occasions since then. Being on display for several decades must have given rise to still more wear and tear. It is therefore unlikely that much of today’s marquee belonged to the original 17th-century structure. Besides a few pieces of canvas, some of the leather parts and nails on the pinnacle are original, as are some fragments of the coat of arms.