As with many villages, early history is shrouded in legend, rather than fact. The name Arlesheim is a riddle, and it is even doubtful that it was meant to contain the part ‘heim’ (meaning home) at all, but is rather a rendering ‘as heard’. The village became part of the princely domain of the Prince-Bishop of Basel in 1239. In 1679 it was designated the new seat of the Domkapitel, the board of advisors to the bishop living in exile at that time in Porrentruy.
In a record two years, the bishop had built not only a complete cathedral, but also a complete town center with houses for the advisors and the administration of the See. Compared to today’s technological standards, this would mean building the Petronas Towers in three months while filling them with a lifetime of art work by Andy Warhol at the same time.
In the total refurbishment and enlargement of the cathedral in 1759, an organ built by Johann Andreas Silbermann was added. Silbermann organs (built by one of the brothers Gottfried and Andreas or the latter’s son Johann Andreas) are known for their superior sound. As Silbermann was included in the planning of the rebuild from the start, the cathedral’s architecture was done with view to acoustics. It is for its acoustic value that the cathedral’s organ often used for recordings of classical organ works.
In 1785, Balbina of Andlau, a friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, started building the Eremitage, a large English garden inspired by the new interest in nature as proposed by Rousseau. Inspired by local legends of hermits living in the hills of Arlesheim in historical times she included lakes, follies, and a hermitage in her design. During the French revolution, the garden was completely destroyed but rebuilt during the Restoration by her son. What may be seen today is exclusively the rebuild of 1812.
One of the mythical hermits that inspired Balbina was Saint Odilia, Princess of Burgundy, who is said to have lived her life in the hills of Arlesheim. She is still the patron saint of the village, you may see a statue dating from the 12th century in the video link said to be from the first church dedicated to the saint. The Andlau family had a manor house in the village which is still a private residence and not open to the public.
Above the village and the Eremitage, the remains of Birseck Castle can be seen. This castle had been part of the defenses of Basel and one of the residences of the bishop. It was largely destroyed in the earthquake of 1356 but was rebuilt shortly later. During the French Revolution, the castle was again destroyed. With the Eremitage, Conrad of Andlau also rebuilt the castle on a romantic scale with no historical connection to previous builds.
On another hill, the castle of Reichenstein can be seen. This castle was completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1356, too, and fancifully rebuilt in 1933 by a local merchant. Arlesheim has become a suburb of the City of Basel during the 20th century and is linked to the city center by tram and rail services. Useful links for visitors include arlesheim.ch and arlesheim-dom.org.
Since 1921, Arlesheim has the world’s first clinic for anthroposophist medicine. You might know the village already without knowing it, if you ever noticed products by Weleda in your local pharmacy of drug store. Weleda products are produced on anthroposophist principles and are therefore completely natural and contain no artificial components either for treatment or for conservation.
Further reading
Museum City: Basel
Graffiti in The Church
Cologne Cathedral: Shrine of The Magi
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