A Family from Basel and Centuries of Regional Relationships
2 October 2024
The moated castle (Wasserschloss) of Inzlingen (Baden-Württemberg) is the only one in this region preserved in its original state. In the immediate vicinity, only the moated castles (Weiherschloss) in Binningen and Bottmingen remain in Canton Basel-Landschaft.
The history of the Inzlingen moated castle near Basel, Bettingen and Riehen is closely linked to that of the Basler family Reich von Reichenstein.
This family served the Bishop of Basel in the 13th century. The bishop donated the Reichenstein castle in Arlesheim (Canton-Basel-Landschaft) to the family around 1250. The Reichensteins were represented in the administration of Basel from the 13th to the 15th century, providing six mayors and a university rector.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the family was among the leading elite of the principality of Basel, with four canons and senior officials. From the 15th century onwards, family members entered the service of the Duke of Austria and the Margrave of Baden.
Possessions in the Basel, Sundgau, and southern Black Forest region included the castles and estates of Reichenstein in Arlesheim, Brombach in the Wiesental, Inzlingen with Wasserschlos in Baden-Württemberg and Buschweiler, the Landskron with Leymen and Biederthal, Thann, and Pfirt in Alsace.
The Wasserschloss in Inzlingen
The ‘Wasserhus’ in Inzlingen was first mentioned in a document from 1470. The Reichensteins probably built the castle at the end of the 14th century, after Margrave Rudolf von Hachberg-Rötteln (1343-1428) had given the village to the family on loan in 1394.
The family remained in possession of this fief until 1819, and the Reichensteins lived in the castle as Lords of Inzlingen until the dissolution of the Inzlingen fief in 1813, a history of more than four centuries!
The moated castle received its current form in 1562/63. In the mid-18th century, the interior and exterior of the castle were rebuilt in Rococo style.
In 1819, the Reichensteins sold the moated castle to the Kern – de Crousaz family of manufacturers from Basel, who established a silk weaving mill there. In 1875, the Saner family, also from Switzerland, bought the estate and combined it with a farm.
Inzlingen
In 1969, the municipality of Inzlingen bought the moated castle and the surrounding estate. Today, the castle is the village’s town hall and houses a restaurant, accommodation, and event facilities.
The history of Inzlingen, located at the foot of the Dinkelberg (522 metres), the only mountain in the canton of Basel-Stadt, is also the history of centuries of natural political, economic, linguistic and social relations in this region of Baden-Württemberg, Alsace and Basel.
(Source and further information: Schlossverein Inzlingen)
