Basel Badischer Bahnhof

Coordinates: 47°34′5″N 7°36′23″E / 47.56806°N 7.60639°E / 47.56806; 7.60639

Basel Bad Bf
Bf
Location	Schwarzwaldallee 200 CH-4016 Basel Basel, Basel-Stadt operation as if in Baden-Württemberg Switzerland
Line(s)	Upper Rhine Railway Rhine Valley Railway Basel connecting line Wiese Valley Railway Garden Railway
Other information
Station code	n/a
DS100 code	RB

Basel Badischer Bahnhof (literally "Baden Railway station of Basel") is a railway station situated in the Swiss city of Basel. The station is situated on Swiss soil, but the station is operated by the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. A customs border is situated in the passenger tunnel between the tracks and the station hall. It is the only railway station that is operated as part of the German national rail network yet not located within Germany's state boundaries, and it is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.^[1] The station is served by line S 6 of the Basel S-Bahn, which goes into Germany.

The station is one of two large railway stations in Basel, the other being Basel SBB, which is operated by the Swiss federal railways.

History

In March 1838, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways started working on a railway line from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Freiburg im Breisgau. This line was called Badische Hauptbahn or Rheintalbahn. A Swiss railway commission desired a continuation of the line into Basel and contacted the state of Baden in 1842.

In January 1851, the Rheintalbahn line reached the village of Haltingen, close to the Swiss border. Since the two governments had not agreed about how to build the station in Basel yet, the passengers were transported across the border with hackney carriages.

Finally, on July 27, 1852, a treaty became effective between the government of Baden and the Swiss Confederation. This treaty is still effective today. The start of construction was further delayed, however, by the Swiss insisting on a terminal station and the Badische Staatseisenbahnen insisting on a through station in favour of the planned extension of the line towards Waldshut.

Badischer Bahnhof from 1862 in 1900

The first Baden Railway station of Basel was built as a through station at nowaday's Messeplatz square about 800 meters west of today's one. The line from Haltingen to Basel was opened on February 19, 1855 with a temporary wooden station building. A further line to Konstanz in Baden was connected to the southern end of the station in 1856, and by April 10, 1859 Switzerland and Baden had finally agreed to build a permanent station, of which the construction started in May. The street entrances of the station building opened to nowaday's Riehenring street. In 1875 the communication railroad to Basel Swiss station was opened, leaving the Baden station together with the railway to Konstanz.

The increase of railway traffic in the beginning of 20th century afforded larger facilities. To get space for the urban development of Kleinbasel, the government of Basel insisted on a new station on a new site. It was chosen straight north northwest of the railway bridge across the Rhine. The station was moved to its current location between 1906 and 1913.

Special situation

Basel Badischer Bahnhof

The Badischer Bahnhof is located on Swiss territory, but due to the 1852 treaty between the Swiss Confederation and the state of Baden (one of the predecessors of today's Germany), the largest part of it (the platforms and the parts of the passenger tunnel that lead to the German/Swiss checkpoint) is treated as an inner-German station and is operated by the Deutsche Bahn. The shops in the station hall, however, are located in Switzerland, and the Swiss franc is used as the official currency there (although the euro is universally accepted).

The customs controls are located in a tunnel between the platforms and the station hall; international trains which continue to Basel SBB usually have on-board border controls. Passport controls were abolished when Switzerland joined the Schengen Area in 2008.

Footnotes

External links

• Station layout (PDF)

Media related to Basel Badischer Bahnhof at Wikimedia Commons