Birsig

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The Birsig river is a small river, which sources in eastern France near the Swiss border. The Birsig is about 21 kilometers long and its watershed area is about 82 square kilometers. It flows variably through Swiss and French territory and through the Birsig Valley. Afterwards it passes the city of Basel, where it enters the Rhine river (left bank).

The Birsig river originally flowed openly through Basel, but its banks had been built up and forced early to prevent water damage to the houses. The river flowed directly along the houses in the lower part of the city, where many bridges were built over. It took the fecal waste from the houses and was therefore called "the city's big cloaca", which favoured the outbreak of cholera and typhus.

Nowadays the Birsig river is overbuilt in Basel; there are just a few hundred meters around the city zoo where the Birsig river can be seen openly.