Basel is one of the European cities with the most remarkable traditions for celebrating Christmas. In addition to the thousands of shining fairy lights, hundreds of Christmas events, and enchanting Christmas markets that normally take over the Münsterplatz and Barfüsserplatz, Basel is home to a very special Christmas tradition that will take place once again this holiday season—above Gerbergasse, five giant angels dangle, captivating passers-by on the street with their Christmas-circus performance. These cherubs with their acrobatic looks and slow movements have bringing cheer to the festive season, enchanting pedestrians and contributing to a joyful Christmas mood for the past 20 years!

For many Basel residents, the angles are an eagerly awaited and highly appreciated Christmas decoration. However, most people know little about the details, history, and efforts behind this lasting remarkable Christmas decoration. And because of their location high above the street, they can easily be missed by the forward-looking eyes of shoppers hurrying past.

Pieces of Joyful Art

From mid-November, the five angles with their classic appearance, are hanging on the side of the building housing the Seiler Juwelier. The cherubs are made from a metal structure that is covered by special foam and a golden coverture. Each angel is over 2 meters long and 1 meter wide and has been created as if performing a circus skill like juggling, playing on the trapeze, balancing on a bar, walking on the tightrope, or swinging in the air.

Some of the angels even have a slight movement and balancing that give them the appearance of playing happily in the air. They are unique pieces of art, with a renaissance style, that cheerfully contribute in a lively, spirited manner to the Christmas atmosphere by conveying a feeling of joy and magic to the street.     

Their First Appearance

The initiative to create these decorations came from a group of local shop owners located at Gerbergasse, who came together in the effort to contribute to the Christmas spirit of the city. “Back then, more than 20 years ago, the upper Gerbergasse wanted to have a special decoration during Christmas. They felt that it was always the Freie Strasse that had the Christmas lights and adornments, so the idea was to spread the festive mood to the Gerbergasse,” explains Alexander Seiler, owner of Seiler Juwelier. “So, a few shop owners, amongst them my father, Eugen Seiler, got together and decided to do something to give life to the Gerbergasse.”

The final agreement was to produce a decoration with angels, with a Christmas-circus theme. The cherubs were carefully produced, but curiously their coloring originally didn’t follow the typical seasonal color schemes. Somehow, they were influenced by Niki de St. Phalle’s “Nanas” and were painted white with strong shades of red, yellow, green, and blue on their clothes. Finally, they were placed on wires hanging in the middle of the Gerbergasse, where they moved and balanced in the air.

“However, their life there didn’t last long,” adds Mr. Seiler. “After the first three years, the project had problems with the maintenance and administration and thus came to an end. That’s when my father decided to keep the beginning tradition alive by acquiring the angels and tailoring them to the façade of the Seiler Juwelier shop, their home for the last 20 years. From there, they continue performing their show every Christmas season.”

The Work Entailed Backstage

Huge efforts have been invested to keep this tradition alive. Throughout the years, the angels have required attention and care to be able to perform during the holiday season. For 10 months of the year, they are stored away in an art atelier, peacefully asleep. Then, around the month of October, they carefully, patiently, and slowly are awakened by Barbara Maggio, personal curator and caring foster mother to these cherubs, who with her careful strokes and curating techniques starts the meticulous and dedicated process to restore, heal, and dress the angels yet again for another Christmas circus performance.

“It’s been 20 years that I have been looking after them for Seiler Juwelier. When Eugen Seiler acquired them, I was invited to work on the angels, so they could be adapted and placed hanging on the façade of the Seiler shop. It was also then, when we painted them, that we gave them the colors which they have today,” explains Ms. Maggio. “It’s been so many years working on them, looking after them, that the angels and I have developed a special relationship,” she adds smiling, recalling all the hard efforts and anecdotes. She adds, “Since their material is very fragile, it is very easy for them to break and get dented during transport. Additionally, with rain, cold temperatures, and in some years even snow, the angels get damaged, and they need to be looked after every year. So, I take them, repair them where necessary, and help them regain their beautiful look.” For example, in 2020, the angel’s color was changed and they received a bit more of a sparkle to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Following restoration each year, the cherubs start their journey to the Seiler shop. On one early morning at the beginning of November, traffic is stopped at the Gerbergasse, huge transport vehicles, cranes, and elevators invade the streets, and carefully and slowly the five angels are placed in their designated spot. This meticulous work takes a significant number of hours because each movement must be cautiously and safely calculated and executed. “For this reason,” explains Ms. Maggio, “every year we ask for the same personnel in the transport and loading companies to undertake the work. They already know how to hold them and carry them. So even for the transport personnel, this annual job has become a tradition. When we contact them, they even titter and smile, because they already know the time for the Christmas angels has come.”

“The angels are such a long tradition for us,” adds Bianca Sawas, a team member at Seiler Juwelier, “that we even have a little ritual and custom: as the transporting personnel are in the process of hanging the angels, they knock on the upper windows of the shop from their lifting crane to indicate that they are ready for a quick break from their work. At the shop, we open these windows and pass them their traditional coffee and snack. A little treat to make the work a bit warmer and joyful,” ends Ms. Sawas with a laugh.

So by the time the Christmas season officially starts in Basel, the angels will be back at Gerbergasse and have taken their place on the Seiler store walls where they continue to amuse the shoppers with their joy and movements.

Becoming a Basel Tradition

Over the past 20 years, these delightful figures have become a unique tradition in Basel; people wait for them to be installed and contribute to the feeling that Christmas is approaching. A few people watch and admire them as they are being put up, but most come when they are already in place to see them move high above the street. Some people even come every year from Germany and France to visit them.

For Seiler Juwelier, the angels have now become a long-standing fixture of the Christmas season. “Since the times of my father, plenty of heart and soul has gone into this project,” Mr. Seiler explains. “The purchase of the angels didn’t have any commercial reason; it was just pure interest to keep the angels alive, to keep the tradition going. It was a major undertaking back then and it still is a big effort, but it’s good that sometimes there is no commercial thinking behind projects like this. You can appreciate the businesses that are willing to keep their streets inviting and beautifully decorated; it creates the mood and keeps the spirit of Christmas alive in the streets.”

Today, the angels have become an established fixture in Basel’s Christmas traditions. “It’s quite funny how it all automatically still happens,” adds Mr. Seiler with a light laugh, “Every year at one point in time there is this one phone call to Barbara Maggio, saying ‘Hey, Barbara, it’s time to wake up the angels!’ … and the ball starts rolling.” 

About the author: Adriana Musso is a communications, journalism, and media specialist with many years of experience in the field. Before moving to Basel with her children in 2009, she lived and worked in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Lima.

Note: This article was first published in Basel Life Magazine in December 2020.

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