Allschwil

Sister cities

• Blaj
• Pfullendorf

History

The modern municipality of Allschwil is first mentioned in 1118 as Almswilre. The region around Allschwil has been occupied since at least the Middle Paleolithic. Archeological finds from the municipality include a few scattered Middle Paleolithic items, cups from the Glockenbecherkultur (c. 2400–1800 BC), a mid-Bronze Age hoard (presumably a metal depot) and a Hallstatt culture settlement at in den Vogelgärten. In 1937, at New-Allschwil, a Gallo-Roman cremation cemetery (from c. AD 25–60) was discovered. It is one of the oldest in northern Switzerland. It is possible that the Roman road station Arialbinum (mentioned in "Antonine Itinerary" and "Tabula Peutingeriana") may correspond to Allschwil. Allschwil was part of the Herrschaft of Birseck, which was given in 1004 as an imperial donation to the Bishop of Basel. Through the middle of the 15th century the Herrschaft was often pawned and sold. The town of Allschwil was located along the Alsace-Solothurn via Passwang pass trading route along the border. Its location on the border and trade route allowed Allschwil to grow into an important customs facility. After 1724 it housed the northern salt warehouse of the vogtei of the diocese of Basel. Allschwil was one of the seven so-called free villages (Vagantes extra civitate Basiliensem) and was therefore under the parish of St. John's Chapel at Basel's cathedral for baptism and high church festivals. In the wake of the German Peasants' War Allschwil, together with Reinach, Therwil, Oberwil and Ettingen, joined Basel in 1525 with a Burgrecht agreement. This agreement was dissolved in 1585 in the Baden Agreement. In 1529 the village embraced the Protestant Reformation and converted to the new faith. Nearly a hundred years later, in 1627, the Bishop of Basel succeeded in…

Geography

Allschwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 27.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 43.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.3% is unproductive land. Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 4.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 20.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.1%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.2% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 7.2%. Out of the forested land, 25.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 19.8% is used for growing crops and 6.3% is pastures, while 3.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, on the edge of the Sundgauer Hill Country along the Upper Rhine valley. Allschwil is a suburb of Basel on the west and has the border with France on two sides. The neighboring municipalities in Switzerland are, besides Basel, Schönenbuch, Oberwil, and Binningen, and the French communes of Neuwiller, Buschwiller, Hégenheim, and Saint-Louis. The landscape is typical of the Rhine valley, where the Rhine turns from flowing west through hilly country where it forms the border between Switzerland and Germany to the wide plain where it flows north and forms the border between France and Germany.

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,619
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,820
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,464
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,921
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,003
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,467
• Yellow-legged hornet

  Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 · Insecta
  7,891
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,859

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France
• M 3.1 — 2018-05-04
  2 km W of Schliengen, Germany
• M 4.2 — 2012-02-11
  2 km WNW of Unterägeri, Switzerland