Basel, Switzerland/basel212
Previous | Home | NextThis is the old building where Paracelsus taught while in Basel (the larger expansion of the mid 1800s cannot be seen in this view). Having been appointed a medical officer (by the influence of Frobenius), he could now give formal lectures in the university, and he now had the opportunity to launch a traditional career. At this critical juncture of Paracelsus' career, he elected to use the university podium to promote his controversial views. Instead of teaching methodically in the "proper" language Latin, he blustered in colloquial German, as had Martin Luther. Thundering his stinging criticisms of Galen and Avicenna, he cried, "There is more wisdom in the laces of my shoes than in these old men."
