The spiritual centers in Arlesheim and Dornach

9 February 2022

Arlesheim (canton Basel-Landschaft) reads like a Swiss history book. The medieval castles of Birseck and Reichenstein are located on the hilltops. They are a symbol of the town’s strategic importance.

The cathedral in a village of a few hundred inhabitants in 1678 resulted from the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century political and religious quarrels. The bishop and the chapter were expelled from Basel in 1525-1529.

The bishop first settled in Porrentruy (present-day canton Jura), a possession of the bishopric.  After many wanderings, the canons and chapter moved to Arlesheim, another possession, in 1678. The cathedral (Baroque and Rococo style), the cathedral square, and the city palaces were built in this period.

Rudolf Steiner built his Goetheanum and village 350 years later in Dornach (Canton Solothurn), within walking distance of the Dom of Arlesheim.

Reformierte Kirche Arlesheim