Weil am Rhein (

High Alemannic High Alemannic is a dialect of Alemannic German spoken in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg and in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Language area The High Alemannic dialects are spoken in Liechtenstein and in most of German-speaking S ...

: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany and a suburb of the Swiss city

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. Weil am Rhein is part of the "trinationale Agglomeration Basel" with about 830,000 inhabitants.

Geography

Weil am Rhein is located at in the district of

Lörrach Lörrach () is a town in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the capital of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, including t ...

in the

Federal State A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. The city limits border France to the west and Switzerland to the south including the triple border of the three countries. Locally, Weil is situated in the region referred to as

Markgräflerland Markgräflerland () is a region in the southwest of Germany, in the south of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, located between the Breisgau in the north and the Black Forest in the east; adjacent to west with France and in the south ...

. The city's location on the Rhine and proximity to the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

give it a continental climate, particularly suited to

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

. Karte Weil am Rhein.png, Map of Weil am Rhein

History

The town is first documented in the year 786 as ''Willa'', a name which is thought to be of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

origin. The

duc de Villars Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince de Martigues, Marquis then Duc de Villars, Vicomte de Melun (, 8 May 1653 – 17 June 1734) was a French military commander and an illustrious general of Louis XIV of France. He was one of only six Marshals ...

crossed the Rhine here in October 1702 to fight the Battle of Friedlingen during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. Weil was severely damaged as a result of the conflict. Agriculture dominated local industry until the 19th century, when the city began to grow, aided by its favourable transport connections. A railway marshalling yard linking Weil am Rhein to

was built in 1913. Swiss textile factories were established in the Friedlingen quarter. 1934 saw the construction of a harbour on the Rhine. After the Second World War the population again grew rapidly due to the influx of refugees and

stateless person Stateless may refer to: Society * Anarchism, a political philosophy opposed to the institution of the state * Stateless communism, which Karl Marx predicted would be the final phase of communism * Stateless nation, a group of people without ...

s. Between 1971 and 1975 the communities of Ötlingen, Haltingen and Märkt were incorporated and Weil am Rhein became a substantial town. Since 2014, line 8 of the Basel tram system has extended across the border from Switzerland to terminate in Weil am Rhein.

Mergers

The former municipalities were merged into Weil am Rhein: * 1 December 1971: Ötlingen * 1 January 1975:

Haltingen Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...

and Märkt ;Coat of arms of the former municipalities File:Wappen-Haltingen.png, Haltingen File:Wappen Maerkt.png, Märkt File:Wappen-Oetlingen.png, Ötlingen

Twin towns – sister cities

Weil am Rhein is twinned with: *

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...

, United Kingdom * Huningue, France *

Trebbin Trebbin (; Polish ''Trzebin''Thomas Kantzow "Pomerania", tom 1, Szczecin 2005, ) is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Nuthe, 14 km north of Luckenwalde, and 36 km southwest of Be ...

, Germany

Tourism and leisure

* The premises of the furniture maker Vitra, featuring buildings by architects such as Frank Gehry,

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

and Tadao Ando, are an attraction for architecture fans. The premises also include the

Vitra Design Museum The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...

. * The ''Laguna'' water park * Landesgartenschau Baden-Württemberg 1999, "Grün 99"

Notable people

* Enjott Schneider (born 1950), composer and writer * Patrik Köbele (born 1962), politician, President of the German Communist Party (DKP) * Christian Streich (born 1965), football player and manager

Associated with Weil am Rhein

* Erwin Bowien (1899–1972), painter and writerErwin Bowien: Das Schöne Spiel zwischen Geist und Welt, mein Malerleben. U-Form Verlag, Solingen, 1995; ISBN 3-88234-101-7 *

Hubert Schardin Hubert Hermann Reinhold Schardin (17 June 1902 Plassow – 27 September 1965 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German ballistics expert, engineer and academic who studied in the field of high-speed photography and cinematography. He also was the dir ...

(1902–1965), physicist, lived in Weil am Rhein *

Artimus Pyle Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle (born July 15, 1948) is an American musician who played drums with the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 to 1977 and from 1987 to 1991. He and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam ...

(born 1948), Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer, traces his ancestry to Weil am Rhein throug
Claus Koger
(1572–1630) *

Martin Beneke Martin Beneke (born 1966) is a German physicist. Biography Beneke studied Physics, Mathematics and Philosophy at the University of Konstanz, University of Cambridge and University of Heidelberg. In 1993 he received his doctorate at the Technical ...

(born 1966), physicist, completed his schooling at the Kant-Gymnasium in Weil am Rhein

References

External links

Official site

Vitra Design Museum

Laguna water park

Weil am Rhein: pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weil Am Rhein Towns in Baden-Württemberg Lörrach (district) France–Germany border crossings Germany–Switzerland border crossings Populated places on the Rhine Baden