Liestal

The Chienbäse is the most popular tradition in Canton Basel-Landschaft and one of the most dramatic fire spectacles in Switzerland. It takes place on the first Sunday of Lent, with around 300 participants carrying burning pinewood brooms and nearly 20 fire carts through the old town, burning approximately 90 cubic meters of wood. The climax comes as the procession passes under the Törli (the 14th-century Upper Gate), where flames lick up the 700-year-old painted facade while firefighters hose down the tower. Between 30,000 and 50,000 spectators attend annually.

The Roman colony of Augusta Raurica (founded 44 BC, near modern Augst) was one of the most important Roman settlements north of the Alps, with up to 20,000 inhabitants. A subterranean masonry aqueduct drew fresh water from the Ergolz river in the Liestal municipal area and transported it approximately 6.5 km to the colony. Visible remains survive at Heidenloch in Liestal and northeast of Füllinsdorf. The Ergolz valley served as a vital supply corridor for one of the Roman Empire's major northern outposts.

Silk ribbon weaving was brought to the Basel region in the 16th century by emigrants fleeing religious persecution. Rural weavers in Basel-Landschaft worked from home under the putting-out system, supplying ribbons to a Bändelherr — a wealthy Basel city merchant. This created deep economic disparity that contributed to the 1833 canton split. By the 19th century, the silk ribbon industry was the most important employer in the region. The last home silk-weaver retired in 1988; the final mill closed in 2004. The history is preserved at Museum.BL in Liestal.

For centuries, the rural communities of the Basel countryside chafed under the political dominance of Basel city. Inspired by the July Revolution in Paris (1830), they demanded equal representation. On 21 August 1831, Basel city troops bombarded Liestal. The decisive clash came on 3 August 1833 at the Battle of Hülftenschanz, where rural militias ambushed and repulsed over 1,200 Basel city troops. On 26 August 1833, the Swiss Tagsatzung voted to partition the canton into Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. Liestal was chosen as capital of the new half-canton.

The Harmonium & Orgel-Museum on Widmannstrasse in Liestal is a hidden gem: teacher and concert organist Dieter Stalder assembled over 150 harmoniums and keyboard instruments, carefully restoring more than 100 historical instruments from across Europe. It is the first harmonium museum in Switzerland, visitable by group appointment, with 1.5-hour tours that always include live harmonium music.

The Orisbach, a 9 km stream rising on the Gempenplateau in the Tabular Jura, flows through the largely uninhabited Oristal valley before merging into the Ergolz within Liestal. The stream has carved through Jura limestone over millennia. The Orisbach flows openly through the town, past the train station — a rare unculverted urban stream. Water quality is rated very good, and the upper reaches are habitat for the brook trout (Bachforelle), an endangered species with excellent populations here.

The Hauenstein tunnel was the first true railway tunnel through a mountain in Switzerland. Commissioned by the Schweizerische Centralbahn to link Basel with Olten, construction began in July 1853 and opened on 1 May 1858. The tunnel measured 2,495 metres. A devastating shaft fire in May 1857 killed 52 workers and 11 rescuers. Liestal was a key station on the line. Between 1912 and 1916, a new Hauenstein Base Tunnel (8,135 m) was constructed — Switzerland's first base tunnel and a precursor to the Gotthard and Lötschberg base tunnels.

Liestal's coat of arms features a red crozier (bishop's staff) on a white field, reflecting the town's medieval ownership by the Prince-Bishop of Basel. Basel city's coat of arms features a black basilisk. The canton split of 1833 created a rivalry between the two half-cantons that endures to this day. A reunification vote in December 1969 was defeated, with women (who had gained cantonal suffrage in 1968) voting decisively against merger. Liestal is sometimes called the smallest cantonal capital in Switzerland.