Fishermen, boatmen and traders already inhabited the valley near Basel before the arrival of the Romans. The Romans introduced the water mills. The first church dates from the fifth century when Basel was the bishop’s residence. Burkhard von Hasenburg (1040-1107), bishop of Basel, founded the monastery of St. Alban in 1083. The powerful abbey of Cluny … Read more » “The St. Alban Church”
Is Stans, a main town (Hauptort) of Canton Nidwalden, a village, ‘Flecken‘ or a city after all? Like the other ‘Hauptorte’ of cantons in the Urschweiz (and both Appenzeller), Stans has the appearance of a town. Monumental buildings, colossal churches, large monastery complexes and other (public) buildings dominate the street scene. St Peter and Paul … Read more » “A Town, Village or Flecken, the history of Stans”
The first large Rhine ship arrived in Basel in 1904. The Rhine port of St. Johann was expanded in 1906 and dissolved in 2011. A second Basel Rhine port was built in Kleinhüningen between 1919 and 1942. The ports of Auhafen in Muttenz and Birsfelden (Canton Basel-Landschaft) were built between 1937 and 1940. In 2008, … Read more » “The corridor Rotterdam-Basel-Genua and the Swiss Rhine Ports”
