Local history in Switzerland.
7 March 2024
The city of Aarau (Canton of Aargau) takes its name from the river Aare, the largest tributary of the Rhine. A few kilometres away, the Aare flows into the Rhine at the Swiss town of Koblenz, continuing its journey to Rotterdam. The Aare and the hydropower plant near Aarau Aarau is not just any town; it … Read more » “Aarau, or the emergence of a capital”
17 February 2024
Gelterich, today’s village of Gelterkinden (canton of Basel-Landschaft), was first mentioned in a document in 1103. The Alemannic name means Hof des Geltrich or Sippe der Geltrichingen; ‘ingen’ is a name from the Alemannic period. The Tiersteiner on Farnsburg administered the village. The monastery of St. Alban, St. Leonhard, the cathedral chapter, and various secular … Read more » “A short History of Gelterkinden”
9 February 2024
The first known owners of the village Reigoldswil (canton of Basel-Landschaft) were the Lords of Frohburg. The name Rigoltswire (Rigolt’s hamlet) was first mentioned in 1152. In 1366, the village passed to the Bishop of Basel. Between 1400 and 1798, the village was under the rule of the city of Basel. Rifenstein Castle was inhabited … Read more » “Reigoldswil, Region Wasserfallen, Mills, Cable Car and Rifenstein Castle”
21 January 2024
The first inhabitants of Balsthal (Canton of Solothurn), the Celts, lived on the Holzfluh about 4,000 years ago. In Roman times, the fastest road connection from Aventicum (Avenches) to Augusta Raurica (Kaiseraugst) passed through Balsthal. After the Christianisation of the Alemanni in the 5th and 6th centuries, the prince-bishops of Basel ruled the region for … Read more » “Balsthal, Alt- and Neu-Falkenstein and the Inns”
16 January 2024
A Swiss cartoon symbolises and puts the Röstigraben into perspective, the difference between the French and German-speaking parts of the country. On the German side of the Saane near Freiburg, a sign reads: “Ici on parle français”. On both sides of the river, however, there are identical houses and identically dressed people, who eat Rösti; … Read more » “Mir rede au Elsassisch, Leymen and Hagenthal-le-Bas”
6 January 2024
The castle was built in 1250 and rebuilt as Schloss Burg after 1600. In 1168, Emperor Frederick I or Emperor Barbarossa (1122-1190) of the Holy Roman Empire sold the castle and Dinghof Biederthal to the House of Habsburg. Most of the territory was sold in 1269 to the prince-bishop of Basel. However, a third of … Read more » “The Burg Castle and Village Burg in the Leimen Valley”
26 December 2023
Available in German and Dutch
19 December 2023
Available in German, French and Dutch
29 November 2023
Available in German and Dutch
15 November 2023
In 1919, at the end of the First World War (1914-1918), strict peace conditions were imposed on the defeated states at Versailles. In addition to territorial losses and the demilitarisation of the Rhineland, high reparation payments were imposed on the Weimar Republic. Locarno, 1925. The participants in the conference hall It caused tensions, which culminated … Read more » “Locarno and Ascona, Cities of Peace”
