Territorial changes in the canton of Schaffhausen in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries
The canton of Schaffhausen probably has the most complicated course of the national border of all cantons in Switzerland . It borders on the Federal Republic of Germany for 151.8 km (including the Büsingen enclave ) . The boundary line usually does not adhere to the natural terrain such as rivers or watersheds , but was created over the centuries through acquisitions by the city-state of Schaffhausen . In the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries , several territorial changes were made to simplify the borderline. The connection of the three parts of the canton and the incorporation of the Büsingen enclave failed at the Congress of Vienna .
City-state of Schaffhausen
The settlement Schaffhausen won the 1045 city law . 1190 the city was under Emperor Heinrich VI. Immediately to the empire until 1648. In the following centuries the city enlarged its territory through land purchases and land swaps . In Schaffhausen, the Counts of Sulz acquired the house "zur Tanne" in 1474 and in 1506 the house "zum Roten Bären". In 1613, Count Johann Ludwig von Sulz sold the southernmost part of the old Klettgau, the Rafzerfeld, to the city of Zurich in 1651 . In 1656 the northeastern part of the Landgraviate of Klettgau was sold to the city of Schaffhausen.
In 1798, when the city-state of Schaffhausen changed to the canton of Schaffhausen within the Helvetic Republic , the city ruled over the following ten bailiwicks in the countryside:
- Epfenhofen was directly subordinate to the city of Schaffhausen
- Obervogtei Reiat
- Obervogtei Schleitheim
- Obervogtei Löhningen
- Obervogtei Beringen
- Obervogtei Merishausen
- Obervogtei Neuhausen at the Rhine Falls
- Obervogtei Neunkirch
- Obervogtei book
- Obervogtei Thayngen
- Obervogtei Rüdlingen - Buchberg
Helvetic Republic
Stein am Rhein, Hemishofen and Ramsen come to the canton of Schaffhausen
Originally, in the so-called upper part of the canton, only the village of Buch belonged to the city-state of Schaffhausen as a bailiwick . In 1459 the city of Stein am Rhein allied itself with Zurich and Schaffhausen, but soon came entirely under the auspices of Zurich. The village of Hemishofen on the right bank of the Rhine was then part of the small Steiner territory. Belonging to Zurich ended by order of Napoleon by decree of the Helvetic Republic of May 26, 1798. The Steiner Zipfel was attached to the newly founded Canton Schaffhausen. Although Stein tried to return to the canton of Zurich in 1802 , he finally had to accept his membership in Schaffhausen when the mediation constitution came into effect in 1803.
Exchange of Dörflingen for Ellikon am Rhein
By decree of the Helvetic councils of July 24th, 1798, the former Zurich Dörflingen was joined to the canton of Schaffhausen against the will of the population , this in exchange for the village of Ellikon on the Rhine . This completed the territorial development of the Canton of Schaffhausen.
District of Diessenhofen
On May 5, 1798, the Helvetic Councils provisionally assigned the small town of Diessenhofen on the left bank of the Rhine with the surrounding villages of Schlatt , Schlattingen , Basadingen and Willisdorf to the canton of Schaffhausen . At that time the Rhine was still the most important traffic route. In terms of traffic and mentality, Diessenhofen was closer to Schaffhausen than to Frauenfeld or Zurich . Schaffhausen was occupied by Austrian troops in 1800 . This temporarily prevented traffic with the Helvetic authorities and on June 6, 1800 led to the Diessenhofen district finally being incorporated into the canton of Thurgau . Even in the 21st century, Diessenhofen is economically and culturally oriented more towards Schaffhausen than towards Frauenfeld. The Schaffhausen-Stein am Rhein railway line, opened in 1894, contributed to this. Diessenhofen is now part of the Schaffhausen agglomeration.
Congress of Vienna
After the Napoleonic turmoil, the borders in Europe were redrawn at the Vienna Congress of 1814/1815. The signs have never been better to round off the Schaffhausen borders and to connect the three parts of the canton. The leading European statesmen were not averse to enlarging the territory of the Confederation in order to create a powerful buffer state in the heart of Europe. Internal disputes prevented Switzerland from appearing at the Congress with the necessary unity. The Geneva diplomat Charles Pictet de Rochemont ensured that the canton of Geneva received a contiguous territory and a land connection with the canton of Vaud . The Swiss delegation led by Hans von Reinhard from Zurich failed completely when it came to the Schaffhausen concerns . The Schaffhausen government also lacked the necessary emphasis. The statesman and diplomat David Stokar von Neuforn , who was ideally suited for this task, died on July 7, 1814. So it came about that Büsingen remained an enclave. The village of Gailingen , which was supposed to form the land bridge to Stein am Rhein, was not assigned to the Canton of Schaffhausen either. The connection of the lower part of the canton also failed because the communities of Jestetten and Lottstetten were not connected to the canton of Schaffhausen.
Boundary correction Schleitheim
The canton of Schaffhausen did not have full state sovereignty over the Gatter- and Westerholz area , below the village of Schleitheim . From times long past there was still the lower jurisdiction in Schaffhausen's possession and the high justice with the hunting rights, powers that had passed from the Counts of Fürstenberg to the Grand Duchy of Baden . The 1134 hectares of land belonged to the Schleitheim farmers. This area of the foreign high justice was popularly called Hostiz for short . These confusing ownership structures repeatedly led to sometimes armed conflicts. The desire for change arose in the canton of Schaffhausen in 1832. In 1837 negotiations began between the Federal Diet and the Grand Duchy of Baden. As a compensation object, Schaffhausen offered the waiver of sovereign rights in Epfenhofen and an area of around 50 Jucharten in the municipality of Hallau along the Wutach . Hallau was compensated with 1000 guilders. The Grand Duchy of Baden received 8,000 guilders in compensation in addition to the land. On March 2, 1839, the State Treaty was signed in Karlsruhe . Today the Wutach forms the national border.
Border corrections after the Second World War
Limit corrections from 1967
The event mentioned triggered the desire in the canton of Schaffhausen to correct the border in sensitive areas. A corresponding proposal was submitted to the Grand Council as early as May 1945. However, the priorities in Germany were initially reconstruction. It took a lot of perseverance and perseverance on the Swiss side to get the Germans to the negotiating table. After tough negotiations, on November 23, 1964 the contract in Freiburg i. Br. To be signed by the negotiators. It took the parliaments another three years to ratify the treaty. On October 4, 1967, the treaty could finally come into force.
Exclave Büsingen
During the negotiations, the German side wanted to connect the German exclave Büsingen with Germany via a land corridor. This project failed due to vehement resistance on the Swiss side. An exchange was never up for discussion at Büsingen because people would have had to change their citizenship and it was impossible to find a replacement area of the same size. The State Treaty for Büsingen , also signed on November 23, 1964 and put into effect on October 4, 1967 , could not remedy all of the disadvantages of the enclave, but it did alleviate them considerably. The area was included in the Swiss customs area.
Exchange Verenahof
One of the main concerns of the negotiations was to incorporate the 43 hectare German exclave Verenahof into Switzerland. The replacement area could only be found in the complicated triangular exchange between the municipalities of Merishausen , Opfertshofen and Büttenhardt . Merishausen ceded 30 hectares in Beisental to the German municipality of Wiechs am Randen , Opfertshofen brought in 9 hectares and the remaining 4 hectares Büttenhardt.
Exchange the hose
The aim was to relocate the existing road between Merishausen and Bargen entirely on Swiss territory. At the same time, it was to be expanded into what was then the N4 motorway. An exchange of 11.8 hectares was necessary for this. The municipality of Merishausen ceded 1.9 hectares as a compensation area south of the “Zum Schlauch” farm, 3.1 hectares were given by Bargen from the northeastern municipality to Wiechs and a small strip of land in the area of the N4.
Ramsen customs office
At the customs office in Ramsen , the handling of the growing traffic was severely restricted by the state border. By ceding an area of 50 ares on the part of the German municipality of Rielasingen , a boundary was drawn that enabled the Swiss customs administration to carry out the necessary structural development.
Customs office Neuhausen am Rheinfall
At the customs office in Neuhausen am Rheinfall in the direction of Jestetten , 400 m 2 of area were exchanged for monitoring reasons .
Economy "Zur Bleiche" in Stein am Rhein
There was a much-smiled curiosity at the “Zur Bleiche” inn in Stein am Rhein . The national border ran through the economy building and cut the garden economy. The border was moved 35 meters to the east.
Oberwald and Unterwald farms
Another boundary improvement in the upper part of the canton concerned the Swiss farms of Oberwald and Unterwald . The border course was adapted to a stretch of road over a length of 600 meters. The municipality of Hemishofen ceded approximately one hectare of territorial sovereignty.
Bridgehead on the Wutach
After the border correction of 1839, another correction was made at the Wutach border river . The course of the border was particularly complicated because the border jumped over the river in several places. The Oberwiesen bridgehead lay entirely on German territory. The middle of the river was assumed to be the new state border and re-measured.
See also
literature
- Schaffhausen canton history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Volume II. Historical Association of the Canton of Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen 2002, ISBN 3-85801-151-7 .
- Schaffhauser Magazin 02/1987: The limits. Publishing house Steiner + Grüninger AG, Schaffhausen
- Albert Gerster, Grenzgang - Along the Schaffhausen state border , Meier Verlag Schaffhausen 1999, ISBN 3-85801-048-0
Web links
- Walter Leimgruber: Limits. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ^ Treaty between the Swiss Confederation and the Federal Republic of Germany on the adjustment of the border in the Konstanz – Neuhausen section on the Rhine Falls .
- ↑ https://www.amtsdruckschriften.bar.admin.ch/viewOrigDoc.do?id=10043017
- ↑ https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/19660194/index.html
- ↑ https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/19640235/index.html