Canton of
Basel-Land
 |
Arlesheim |
Basel Land was created in 1832 when the old Canton Basel was
divided into Basel Land and Basel City.
The oldest arms of the new Canton are already shown in 1834 and are derived from
the arms of the city of Liestal. The arms showed a red staff of Basel (see
Basel-Stadt), facing left and with seven knobs (compared to the black staff
facing right and without knobs of Basel city), in a silver shield and with a red
bordure. To distinguish the arms of the canton from the arms of the city of
Liestal, the red bordure was omitted soon after. The arms have not changed since
and have formally been granted on April 1st, 1947.
Basel-Landschaft formed together with Basel-Stadt the historic canton Basel until it separated following the uprising of 1833 (Battle of the Hülftenschanz near Frenkendorf).
In Roman times, the area of Basel was a centre of Roman activity. There are well-preserved remains at the site of Augusta Raurica in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. Around 200 there were about 20,000 people living in this city, now part of the much smaller Augst. The remains are on display in an open-air museum. The museum attracts over 140,000 visitors year after year. Many of these visitors are schoolchildren from other parts of Switzerland. The site of Augusta Raurica includes amongst other the best-preserved amphitheatre north of the Alps, or a reconstructed Roman villa.
The lands of the canton Basel-Landschaft are part of the lands acquired by the city of Basel. Until the end of the 16th century, most of the land of Basel-Landschaft belonged to the city of Basel. After Napoleon’s visit in 1798, the country achieved equality with the city. Economically the country was dependent on the city, most probably because of the low level of education in the agricultural areas at the time. The city of Basel remained the cultural and economic centre of both Basel cantons up to these days.
After 1830 there were political quarrels in the canton of Basel. Some of it was concerned with the rights of the population in the agricultural areas. This led to the separation of the canton Basel-Landschaft from the city of Basel on 26 August 1833.
Ever since the separation, there has been a movement for re-unification. This movement gained momentum after 1900 when many parts of Basel-Landschaft became industrialized. The two half cantons agreed in principle to re-unify, but in 1969 the people of Basel-Landschaft voted down a referendum in order to keep their independence. It is thought that the closing economic gap between the two cantons was the main reason why the population changed their attitude.