Basel Badischer Bahnhof

Basel Badischer Bahnhof is a railway station situated in the Swiss city of Basel. Whilst the station is situated on Swiss soil, the platforms and part of the entrance hall are extraterritorial, belonging to Germany, and the station is operated by the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. A border crossing is situated in the passenger tunnel between the tracks and the station hall.

The station is one of two large railway stations in Basel, the other being Basel SBB, which is operated by the Swiss federal railways. It is the only "German" railway station which is not located within Germany, and it is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. [Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance (1995), p. 78.]

History

In March of 1838, the Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen 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 of 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 so as not to hinder the planned extension toward Waldshut.

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 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 station was moved to its current location between 1906 and 1913.

Special situation

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 passport and 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.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.bahn.de/extrahtml/pdf/bahnhofsplaene/basel.pdf Station layout]