unternehmen mitte was founded in 1998 and has since become one of Basel’s most extraordinary cultural and working spaces. In partnership with the Edith Maryon Foundation, the founders of unternehmen mitte were able to acquire the former historic main building of the Schweizerische Volksbank at the heart of Basel’s city center and transform it into a unique cultural, social, and workspace home to the largest coffee house in the city.

unternehmen mitte acts as a melting pot and platform for people to share and discuss ideas. It offers a unique venue for events and co-working spaces and operates as a think tank to set cultural and social impulses such as the campaign for unconditional basic income in Switzerland. Taking (social) responsibility and empowering others to do the same is central to the company’s mission. This is reflected in its legal structure: unternehmen mitte has formed a unique lease agreement with the Edith Maryon Foundation whereby the foundation leases the building to unternehmen mitte only in compliance with the two core principles of steward-ownership. Unternehmen mitte cannot be sold and profits are directly re-invested and linked to its mission and purpose. For more than twenty years, this has been the basis for successful and purposeful work and engagement within the community.