Tag Archives: Basel

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Around Basel – Eiserne Hand with historical boundary stones

Boundary stones tell stories. Where I live, they tell us about the history of the Regio Basilienis. One example are the historical boundary stones along the “Eiserne Hand” (“Iron Hand”) at Riehen.

The “Iron Hand” looks more like a finger. It belongs to Riehen and reaches into Germany, between Lörrach-Stetten and Inzlingen. The “Iron Hand” is about 1.7km long and 50m-300m wide. The boundary line encompasses 3.5km overall (red line around “Herrenwald” and “Maienbühl”). 

Source: Swiss Topo and my own photos

More than 40 boundary stones mark the border along the “Eiserne Hand”. I show some stones on the map above. The oldest stone is from about 1500. 

 

The oldest boundary stone with the red bishop’s crook, about 1500

The oldest boundary stone (#61, about 1500) is nicknamed “Bischofstein“ (Bishop’s Stone). In 1500, the Bishop of Basel resided in Basel, and Riehen was one of his possessions. The stone shows the red bishop’s crook on the Swiss side. It is the only red bishop’s crook along the “Eisernen Hand”. The black bishop’s crook below is the coat of arms of the CITY of Basel that we will see on all the other boundary stones.

 

Coats of arms of the Schönau family NORTH of the “Iron Hand”

On the German side of the Bishop’s Stone #61 from about 1500, we see the coats of arms of the noblemen of Schönau. 

Stone #61 is on the northern border of the “Eisernen Hand” (towards Stetten which is located north of the “Iron Hand”).

Towards the north, the Schönau family marked more boundary stones, such as #51 from the year 1600,…  

… and stone #59 from 1700.

The Schönau were a powerful noble family in the Black Forest. The city of Stetten uses the three rings of the Schönau family in their coat of arms today. 

 

Coats of arms of the Reichenstein family SOUTH of the “Iron Hand”

Along the southern border of the “Eiserne Hand” (towards Inzlingen, located south of the “Iron Hand”), I find five stones with the coats of arms of the noblemen of Reichenstein. They owned Inzlingen as a fief. The years I identified are 1717, 1737 und 1752. 

Examples are the stone #69, with no year, …

… the stone #70 from 1737, …

… and the stone # 71 from 1739.

This is the view of the German settlement Inzlingen that once belonged to the Reichenstein family; I took the photo from the path aolng the border of the “Iron Hand”, in the rain.

By the way: The coat of arms of the Reichenstein family can also be found along the boundary path behind the Chischona and on Reichenstein Castle at Arlesheim. 

 

Boundary stones marked by the Grossherzogtum Baden (Grand Duchy of Baden) (1806-1918)

From 1806 to 1918, the German area bordering the “Eiserne Hand” was called Grossherzogtum Baden (Grand Duchy of Baden). That is why we find the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy with the slanting red bar on yellow background (years I found are 1830/40/42/48/56).

The most beautiful boundary stone is #54 from 1842 with the crown.

The other stones just show the red bar on yellow background such as #65 (no year, I assume mid 19th century).

Later the Grand Duchy invested less effort and marked their stones just with “GB” for “Grossherzogtum Baden”. I found nine stones with “GB” with the years 1888, 1898 and 1900 engraved. This is stone #71a from 1888.

By the way, boundary stones with the red bar or the letters “GB” are found along all the borders of Basel with Germany, for instance also on the Chrischona. 

 

Republic of Baden from 1918 to 1945

From 1918 to 1945, Baden was a Republic; from this time, I found one boundary stone, #60, marked with „RB“ (“Republic of Baden). 

 

Unified as Baden-Württemberg from 1952

In 1952, the German area bordering the “Eiserne Hand” was unified to Baden-Württemberg. I found two boundary stones from 1954 showing a plain “D” on the German side. 

 

The “turning point” marked by the “Dreieckstein” (“triangle stone”)

The “turning point” of the Eiserne Hand is marked by the so-called “Dreieckstein“ (“triangle stone”), stone #64 from 1717. Here the German communities Lörrach-Stetten and Inzlingen meet the Swiss community Riehen.

 

The black bishop’s crook of the City of Basel on the Swiss side

On the Swiss side, Riehen was acquired by the bishop of Basel in1270. After the reformation of 1529, Riehen remained with the city of Basel. The city of Basel has always marked their side of the “Eiserne Hand” with the (black) bishop’s crook, and the crooks vary in shape. Here are some examples. 

The city “owning” the black bishop’s crook can be seen from the boundary path along the “Eiserne Hand”. 

 

Boundary stones tell stories; they tell us about history

Boundary stones tell stories. Where I live, they tell us about the history of the Regio Basilienis. One example are the boundary stones along the “Eiserne Hand” or “Iron Hand”: On the German side they mark the evolution from the possesions of the noblemen of Schönau and Reichenstein (family coats of arms) to the Grand Duchy of Baden (elaborate representations of the coat of arms – slanted red bar on yellow background – and plain “GB”). Later the duchy became the Republic of Baden (RB). Now we border the German state of Baden-Württemberg (plain “D” on the stones). On the Swiss side the stones illustrate the evolvement of Basel as the bishop’s residence (with the red bishop’s crook, before 1529) to the protestant city of Basel (with the various black bishop’s crooks). 

The “Iron Hand” is just one example of historical boundary stones. There are may more examples, such as the Benkenspitz (border with France), the trail to the Schauenburger Fluh (border between Basel and Solothurn) or the border of the Prince Bishopric of Basel such as above Biel-Benken. And – there are many more boundary stones waiting to be explored.

May some of you decide to discover the stones of the “Eiserne Hand” and later turn to the borders with other cantons, with France, with Germany or check, where the historical Prince Bishopric of Basel has left marks. The small monuments are hidden in forests and fields around Basel and they speak to us.  We just have to listen to them.

 

Sources:

  • Wiki  entries about the Eiserne Hand, about Stetten, about the Grossherzogtum and the Republic of Baden
  • Homepage of Stetten and Baden,
  • Information website of the Wasserschlosses Inzlingen,
  • Working material (Arbeitsmaterialien) Heimatkunde Riehen.

 

 

 

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Around Basel – Augusta Raurica. Foundation legend and history

One of my favourite destinations near Basel is the Roman city Augusta Raurica. It is carefully restored and panels explain all the places of interest to make the Roman times revive. The homesite of Augusta Raurica gives an excellent overview of “our” Roman city and the activities provided to children and adults.

Let us explore Augusta Raurica in three blogs:

  • the foundation legend with Lucius Munatius Plancus and the history of the Roman city,
  • the city centre with the museum, the “inner” theatre with the temple Schönbühl and the forum,
  • the more “remote” sights from Kaiseraugst to the “outer” amphitheatre. 

 

The foundation legend with Lucius Munatius Plancus; it happened 2064 years ago 

It is said that Lucius Munatius Plancus is the “founder” of the city of Basel, well not precisely of Basel, but of nearby Augusta Raurica. Under Cesar, Munatius was a successful Roman army commander in Gaul. During the turmoils after Cesar’s assassination in 44 BC, he managed to keep his position in the noble society, even under the emperor Augustus. I believe that this sometimes required sitting on the fence. 

The inscription on the tomb of Munatius in Gaeta (Naples) says that he founded Augusta Raurica in 44 BC. In the 16th century, Munatius was reinterpreted to be the founder of Basel; his statue stands in the courtyard of the city hall of Basel.

Hans Michel from Strasbourg sculptured the statue of Munatius in 1580 and donated it. Around that time, the theatre in the centre of Augusta Raurica had been uncovered (Facciani, p.18), which might have motivated Michel from Strasbourg to create his Munatius. 

Let us compare Michel’s Munatius with the representation of the Roman warrior of the days of Cesar (“Res Romanae”, p. 46). 

Look at the shoes, the plaid and the helmet – not exactly the same. Furthermore, Munatius wears something like leggings, pink with golden laces. Very peculiar, and also not really an outfit typical of Romans.

To top it all, Hans Michel has decorated the helmet of Munatius with a basilisk. Basilisks already “existed” in Roman times (Plinius the Elder mentioned them), but the basilisk of Basel was born in the 15th century, when a cock laid an egg (well, this is also a legend). Ever since, basilisks have proudly carried the coat of arms of Basel, and they are present all over in Basel, for instance decorating fountains or, as we see, topping the helmet of Munatius (see my earlier blog about Basel and the basilisks).

It is unclear, whether Lucius Munatius Plancus founded Augusta Raurica or re-established the former Celtic settlement, where the centre of Basel is today (on the Münsterhügel, remains of the earlier Celtic oppidum have been uncovered). Furthermore construction work at Augusta Raurica started later than the reported date of foundation, not in 44 BC, but around 15 BC. Although Basel seems to be older than 2064 years, the legend continues to be told: Lucius Munatius Plancus is the founder of Basel, and that happened 2064 years ago.

Why 2064 years ago?

In 1957 or 64 years ago, Basel celebrated its 2000 years’ anniversary. Then I was 6 years old, and I remember, how proud I was of the long tradition of “my” city, when watching the parade. The mayor of Gaeta had come to Basel, as the tomb of Munatius Plancus is in Gaeta. The anniversary medal shows Lucius Munatius Plancus with the basilisk on his helmet – I found various such medals on sale on ebay.

Well today, we have to add 64 to 2000, which means, Munatius Plancus founded Basel 2064 years ago. Now, Basel would celebrate its 2064th anniversary. We have learnt that these 2064 years are not exactly a historical fact. Nevertheless, in 1956, Basel found 2000 years to  be a good opportunity to celebrate, and I do hope, we will have more such opportunities soon again. 

 

The history of Augusta Raurica: A thriving city for some 200 years and around 300 AD a fortress near the Rhine

After construction had started in 15 BC, Augusta Raurica became a thriving trading and commercial city with about 15’000 inhabitants. The border of the Roman empire was 200km north, far away from the border with the “dangerous” Germanic tribes. 

The model in front of the central Roman theatre shows, what the city looked like around 200 AD.

We can see the central theatre opposite of the temple of Schönbühl and, out of town, the “outer” amphitheatre. 

Hence, Augusta Raurica disposed of the usual amenities of a Roman city: Forum, theatres, baths and blocks of houses allowing to live and do commerce. The city decayed in the 3rd century AD, due to growing pressure from the north. To defend themselves, the Romans built the Castrum (fortress) bordering the Rhine, where Kaiseraugst is located today. 

Now, many ruins of the once flourishing city Augusta Raurica as well as of the later Castrum near the Rhine have been excavated and documented. 

Source: SALVE_Tourismusplan_2020.indd (augustaraurica.ch) 

It is the Foundation Pro Augusta Raurica that promotes the Roman heritage performing research, conservation, documentation and education. I am impressed, how well the ruins are presented and how well they are explained on the panels. Access is free, except for the museum. Signposts allow to find the places of interest. 

Let us walk around the centre of Augusta Raurica and visit the more remote sights around the centre in my next blogs. 

Sources: