Arlesheim, Hermitage and the Congress of Vienna

4 March 2023

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

Arlesheim became the Allied Forces’ seat 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 and 20 November 1815, and Turin, 16 March 1816) decided on the political future of Switzerland and the territory of the prince-bishopric of Basel.

The European rulers knew Arlesheim before the Napoleonic Wars: They had visited the famous Ermitage. Clemens von Metternich, Tsar Alexander, the former wife of Napoleon, Marie-Louise, and the Habsburg Archdukes Johann and Maximilian were in Arlesheim before 1792.

The Bauerngarten