Liestal

Liestal is the capital of Liestal District and the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland, 17 km (11 mi) south of Basel.

Liestal is an industrial town with a cobbled-street Old Town.

The official language of Liestal is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.

History

The name Liestal was first mentioned in 1225, and the settlement dates at least from Roman times. The development of the town is due to its strategic location on the road between the first bridge over the Rhine at Basel and the St. Gotthard Pass.

Citizens of Liestal participated in the Burgundian Wars in 1476 and 1477 against Charles the Bold. In 1501, the mayor swore allegiance to the Swiss Confederation, and this caused repeated conflict with neighboring Rheinfelden, which belonged to the Habsburgs.

In the 17th century, Liestal rebelled against Basel as part of the Farmers' Rebellion and was occupied by troops from that city. Three leaders of the rebellion were beheaded in Basel.

In 1789, the town enthusiastically hailed the French call for freedom and equality. It celebrated Napoleon, when he traveled through town in 1797. After his fall, the earlier subjection to Basel was re-established.

The French July Revolution of 1830 also caused upheaval in Liestal. A provisional government was established, and the town was chosen as the capital of a new canton on March 17, 1832.

Geography

Liestal has an area, as of 2009, of 18.19 square km. Of this area, 2.99 km2 (1.15 sq mi) or 16.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 10.68 km2 (4.12 sq mi) or 58.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.35 km2 (1.68 sq mi) or 23.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.1 km2 (25 acres) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.6% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.8%. Out of the forested land, 57.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.7% is used for growing crops and 8.0% is pastures, while 1.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is in lakes and 0.3% is in rivers and streams.

The municipality is the capital of the canton of Basel-Country. The old town is situated on a rocky outcrop between the Ergolz and Orisbach rivers and between Basel and the Jura Mountains. The town is fan-shaped, consisting of a wide main street (Gassenmarkt) and two side streets. In the 18th Century small suburbs developed around the lower and the upper city gates. In the 17th Century the commercial district of Gestadeck developed along the canal.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Argent, a crozier issuant Gules, and Gules.

Historic Population

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Heritage sites of national significance

The Depot of Archeology of Basel-land, the Frenkenbrücke (bridge), the Munzach which was a Roman farmhouse, the Roman aqueduct and the Cantonal Archive of Basel-Landschaft are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire old town of Liestal is listed in the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Religion

From the 2000 census, 3,641 or 28.2% were Roman Catholic, while 5,626 or 43.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 261 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.02% of the population), there were 36 individuals (or about 0.28% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 383 individuals (or about 2.96% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 8 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who were Jewish, and 699 (or about 5.41% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 31 individuals who were Buddhist, 119 individuals who were Hindu and 30 individuals who belonged to another church. 1,644 (or about 12.71% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 452 individuals (or about 3.50% of the population) did not answer the question.

Customs

On the Sunday night after Mardi Gras, Chienbäse is celebrated with a spectacular parade and bonfires, from which the celebration takes its name. The tradition goes back at least to the 16th century. Other towns in the neighborhood also celebrate in a similar manner.

Other local festivals are the following:

• Santichlaus-Ylüüte
• Banntag

Transport

Liestal railway station is on the Swiss Federal Railway's Hauenstein main line, which connects Basel and Olten. It is served by five trains per hour to Basel, four trains per hour to Olten, and hourly trains to Bern, Lucerne and Zürich. Several trains a day operate through to Frankfurt and Berlin. The station is also the junction for, and terminus of, the Waldenburg narrow gauge railway, which operates a half-hourly train service to Waldenburg.

The municipality is also located on the A3 motorway, between Basel and Zürich.