Arlesheim, Hermitage and the Congress of Vienna

23 March 2026

The village of Arlesheim (Canton of Basel-Landschaft) is best known for the English Garden of 1785, the Ermitage, and the Dom.

The English Garden, also known as the Ermitage, was created in 1785 by Heinrich von Ligertz, the chaplain, and Balbina von Andlau-von Staal (1736-1798). It is the most extensive English garden on Swiss soil and was a solitude romantique près d’Arlesheim.

 

The Birseck Castle, the Felsentor, the old and new mills, the tobacco press, and the three ponds are relevant features of the garden.  French troops occupied the Prince-Bishopric and Arlesheim in 1793 and destroyed the castle. The castle, recently renovated, lends a genuine English Garden touch today.

Birseck Castle

Arlesheim became the seat of the Allied Forces in Switzerland after Napoleon’s defeat. Conrad von Andlau (1766-1839) became the territory’s Governor by appointment of the Allies on 15 January 1814 (to govern the French departments of Doubs, Jura, Vosges, Haute-Saône, the county of Montbéliard and the prince-bishopric of Basel).

Arlesheim became a village of European political importance.  However, decisions were made in Vienna, London, Berlin and Moscow, the capitals of the victorious powers.

The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) and subsequent treaties (Paris, 30 May 1814; 20 November 1815; and Turin, 16 March 1816) determined the political future of Switzerland and the territory of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel.

Reichenstein Castle

The European rulers were familiar with Arlesheim before the Napoleonic Wars, having visited the famous Ermitage. Clemens von Metternich, Tsar Alexander, the former wife of Napoleon, Marie-Louise, and the Habsburg Archduke Johann and Maximilian were in Arlesheim before 1792.

The Bauerngarten