Mural “J. R. Geigy AG. Farbstoff Fabrikation Basel”
ETH main building

This painting shows a multi-storey interior of the dye factory J. R. Geigy AG, which later merged into Ciba-Geigy and eventually became part of Novartis. It is part of a series of murals in the wings of the ETH main building’s extension, constructed between 1914 and 1925. Often overlooked today, the murals display Switzerland’s most important industries at the time. Financed by the companies themselves and donated to the ETH, they functioned as a form of advertising. 

Geigy built and operated dye wood mills in the Basel’s St. Alban valley, where “exotic” dye wood like brazilwood (Paubrasilia echinata) were ground through labor-intense processes. Both Professor Pompejus Bolley and Professor Robert Gnehm conducted chemical research on the red dye brazilin, extracted from the tree Paubrasilia echinata, endemic to the Atlantic Forest and today an endangered species. What is more, although dye specialist Robert Gnehm never worked for Geigy, his influence on the Basel chemical industry was significant.