The Burg Castle and Village Burg in the Leimen Valley

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 the territory (today’s municipality of Biederthal in France) remained property of the House of Habsburg.

At the foot of the castle, the present-day village of Burg (canton of Basel-Landschaft) arose. In 1520, the city of Basel acquired the area, but after negotiations, it returned to the prince-bishop’s hands.

During the Thirty Years’ War, the castle was looted. The castle was sold in 1810 to citizens. From 1793 to 1813 (department Mont Terrible (1793-1800) and department Haut-Rhin (1800-1813), the village belonged to France. The canton of Bern acquired the village in 1815 (Wiener Congress). Since 1994 the village has been part of canton Basel-Landschaft.

Burg Castle and the village of Burg have changed owners, nationalities and cantons several times. Its proximity to the Remel Pass and Landskron Castle gave the castle and village strategic importance.

The Leimental

The only constant factor is the number of inhabitants: 187 in 1722, 255 in 1831, 248 in 1850, 163 in 1900, 215 in 1950 and 272 today. Its most famous resident is LSD discoverer Albert Hofmann (1906-2008).

The nearby Abbey Mariastein and its 250,000 pilgrims a year also put Burg and the village in the spotlight.

Today, Burg Castle and the municipality are primarily coveted residential and tourist attractions in the middle of the beautiful Jura and a stone’s throw from Alsace and the cantons of Solothurn and Basel.

(Source and further information: Gemeinde Burg)