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Passengers are boarding the ferry "Leu" in Basel. This ferry crosses the river Rhine drifting along a steel cable and it is propelled to the other bank by the power of the current alone, a simple rudder makes it go out and back.
The first such ferry started its service in 1854, when only one bridge was connecting the two parts of Basel on either side of the Rhine. Later there were five of them, today four ferrys are still transporting passengers from one side to the other all day long. During their first years these ferrys made really good business and the Society of Artists, who had initiated and owned them, built a exhibition hall, the "Kunsthalle", from the profits. But with the construction of additional bridges in 1879, 1882 and 1934 the ferrys lost their importance. Today they are owned and administered by a foundation and supported by the ferry-association.
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