Allschwil (; High Alemannic: Allschwyl) is a village and a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.
Allschwil is a seamless suburb of Basel and is located between Basel to the east and Alsace in France to the west.
History The modern municipality of Allschwil is first mentioned in 1118 as Almswilre.
Prehistoric Allschwil 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.
Medieval town 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 spreading the Counter-Reformation to Allschwil. After 1567 there was a Jewish settlement in Allschwil. In 1692 there were 24 Jewish families living in the Judengässlein (from ) and they made up about 15% of the population. They had their own cemetery in Zwingen and a funeral right in Hegenheim. Children of Jews and Christians attended the 17th-century school together. Accusations of horse theft and Jewish plans to build a synagogue in Allschwil led to an expulsion decree in 1694 from the Bishop. Many of the Jews fled to Hegenheim.
The village Church of St. Peter and Paul was built in the 12th century and was under the patronage of the Basel cathedral. The lower part of the church tower is from the 12th/13th century, but the rest of the church was totally rebuilt in 1698–99. The parish of Allschwil also included Schönbuch, Hésingue (now in France) and until 1611, Hégenheim (also in France).
Early Modern Allschwil After the short-lived Rauracian Republic (1792–93), the village was under French rule from 1793 to 1814. Between 1793 and 1800 it was part of the Département of Mont-Terrible and then in 1800-1814 it was part of the Département of Haut-Rhin. Unlike most of the villages in the Birseck region, Allschwil reacted negatively to French rule, and even had a small rebellion in 1794.
In 1815 Allschwil became part of the Canton of Basel and when the canton split in 1833, it became part of the new canton of Basel-Country. The split between Basel-City and Basel-Country led to shift in religious power in Allschwil. In 1877, the Roman Catholic Reverend Peter Wildman was voted out by the parishioners and was replaced by Johannes Schmid a Christian Catholic priest. The village church then became Christian Catholic. In 1878 the Swiss Reformed Church founded a parish in Allschwil. By 1970 about 54% of the inhabitants were Swiss Reformed, while 40% were Roman Catholic.
Modern Allschwil
By 1860 the agricultural village of Allschwil was converting into an industrial town. Many of the inhabitants were working in factories in Basel. The farmers were mostly growing grain and vegetables, which they supplied to the nearby market of Basel. Allschwil was especially known for its white cabbage. Between 1897 and 1921, the cabbage was processed in a sauerkraut factory, which was built by the village agricultural collective. By the end of the 19th century hemp, flax and vineyards had all disappeared from the village. In 1955 there were 63 farms, while in 1965 it was down to 29, and in 1980 the number of farms had only slightly increased to 31. Until 1930 the industrial sector grew strongly in Allschwil (mainly brick, along with clothing, metal and machinery industry) and in 1910 about 73% of workers worked in industry. In the 1870s several brick factories opened in Allschwil, including Passavant-Iselin & Co. a company that had the first interlocking tile press in Switzerland. Passavant-Iselin & Co. remained in operation until they closed in 1975. The lack of railway connection (the 1926 proposed rail freight terminal was never realized) prevented a greater industrial development. In addition, with the rise of Rhine shipping, Allschwil lost its importance as customs station. A tram line to Basel opened in 1905. By 1910 about 40% of the working population commuted out of Allschwil for work, by 1990 this had increased to 79%. Today, Allschwil is focused on light industry including industrial metals, paper industry and chemistry. In 1990, 35% of workers were in the industrial sector and 54% were in the services sector.
Allschwil experienced a massive population growth between 1850 and 1970 thanks to immigration from Basel. In 1930 it was the most populous municipality outside Basel, and suffered typical infrastructure problems. Since 1970, the growth has stagnated. The center of the town has retained its village-like appearance. This is reinforced by the restoration of the mid-19th-century half timbered houses, which were given an award in 1976 from the Council of Europe, and another in 1980 for their village center planning. A town history museum opened in 1968 and in 1977 the Allschwiler market was established.
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.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
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.
Coat of arms The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, a Sword Argent and a Key Or in saltire.Flags of the World.com accessed 23-February-2011
Demographics
Allschwil has a population () of . , 20.0% of the population are foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of -0.2%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23-February-2011
Most of the population () speaks German (15,689 or 86.5%), with Italian language being second most common (580 or 3.2%) and French being third (433 or 2.4%). There are 16 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 47.8% male and 52.2% female. The population was made up of 15,144 Swiss citizens (78.8% of the population), and 4,079 non-Swiss residents (21.2%) Of the population in the municipality 4,073 or about 22.5% were born in Allschwil and lived there in 2000. There were 1,486 or 8.2% who were born in the same canton, while 7,928 or 43.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 3,946 or 21.8% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 114 live births to Swiss citizens and 46 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 169 deaths of Swiss citizens and 8 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 55 while the foreign population increased by 38. There was 1 Swiss man and 7 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 108 non-Swiss men and 99 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 99 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 256 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.9%.
The age distribution, , in Allschwil is; 1,203 children or 6.3% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 2,134 teenagers or 11.1% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 2,192 people or 11.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 2,629 people or 13.7% are between 30 and 39, 3,029 people or 15.8% are between 40 and 49, and 3,851 people or 20.0% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 3,051 people or 15.9% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 1,134 people or 5.9% who are over 80.Canton of Basel-Land Statistics, Wohnbevölkerung nach Nationalität und Konfession per 30. September 2010 accessed 16 February 2011
, there were 6,616 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 9,099 married individuals, 1,169 widows or widowers and 1,247 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 8,751 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2. persons per household. There were 3,440 households that consist of only one person and 256 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 8,895 households that answered this question, 38.7% were households made up of just one person and 59 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 2,808 married couples without children, 1,869 married couples with children There were 466 single parents with a child or children. There were 109 households that were made up unrelated people and 144 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.