Rheinfelden

Rudolf von Rheinfelden (c. 1025-1080), Duke of Swabia, resided at Castle Stein on the Inseli, a rocky island in the Rhine that divides Rheinfelden's bridge into two sections. On 15 March 1077, he was elected the first anti-king in the history of the Holy Roman Empire at Forchheim, challenging Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy. He was mortally wounded at the Battle on the Elster on 15 October 1080. His daughter Agnes von Rheinfelden married Duke Bertold II of Zaehringen and founded the monastery of St. Peter in the Black Forest, connecting Rheinfelden's history to the dynasty that would later refound the city.

The Obertorturm (Upper Gate Tower) of Rheinfelden, first documented in 1256 as the 'Glunkins Gate,' is considered the most important defensive tower of the city's medieval fortifications. Its clock has a famous quirk: it strikes seven minutes early. This was a deliberate design to warn farmers working outside the walls so they had time to return before the gates closed for the night. The practice gave rise to the expression 'Torschlusspanik' (gate-closing panic), still used in German today to mean anxiety about missing a deadline.

Rheinfelden's carnival tradition centers on Frau Fasnacht (Mrs. Carnival), a figure embodying the spirit of the festival. At the opening ceremony, she is hung from the Obertorturm and 'rules the town' for four days. The festival features parades, Guggenmusik brass bands, Schnitzelbange satirical verse performances, and a children's carnival. At the closing ceremony, participants wearing white scarves accompany Frau Fasnacht from the Obertorplatz to the Schifflande on the Rhine, where she is placed on a raft, set alight, and surrendered to the river. The Fasnachtsgesellschaft Rheinfelden has organized the festival since 1973.

In 1844, salt deposits were discovered beneath Rheinfelden, transforming the town. In 1846, the Hotel Schuetzen opened as the first brine bath facility. In 1864, an 'Armensolebad' (poor people's brine bath) was established to democratize access to the healing waters. In 1909, three saltworks merged to found Swiss Saltworks on the Rhine. In 1925, direct brine pipelines connected the salt works to the bathing hotels. Today, the Rheinfelder Natursole is one of Europe's strongest natural brines, pumped from 200 meters depth and piped to the sole uno wellness center, where visitors float in 36-degree water with 12% salt content. Rheinfelden holds official status as a certified Wellness Destination since 2005.

For nearly 700 years, Rheinfelden was one single city spanning both banks of the Rhine. In 1330, King Ludwig the Bavarian pledged Rheinfelden to the Habsburgs, beginning almost 500 years of Austrian rule as part of Vorderösterreich. In 1802, Napoleon fixed the border on the Rhine: the south bank became Swiss, the north bank became German. A divided border stone from 1810, bearing the crests of Baden and Canton Aargau, marks the international boundary on the bridge. Despite the separation, the two Rheinfeldens remain socially and economically intertwined, with residents crossing the bridge daily for work, shopping, and leisure.

Knight Berchtold von Rheinfelden, a servant of the Zaehringen dynasty, founded the Johanniterkommende (Knights Hospitaller commandery) in 1212, originally outside the city walls as a hospital for pilgrims and the poor. Around 1450, the Kommende was attacked and destroyed by noble warriors disguised as pilgrims. Commander Johann Loesel rebuilt it within the town walls, and the chapel was completed between 1456 and 1458 by the city's master builder Herman. The chapel walls feature frescoes from around 1500 in secco technique, including a Last Judgment attributed to a student of Martin Schongauer. Dissolved by the canton in 1806, the chapel has served as an exhibition and cultural space since 1996.

Feldschloesschen brewery was founded on 8 February 1876 by Theophil Roniger, a brewer from Magden who trained in German brewing cities, and Mathias Wuethrich, son of a wealthy farmer from Olsberg who provided financial backing. First-year production was 3,600 hectolitres. The brewery's distinctive castle-style buildings gave it its name: Feldschloesschen means 'little castle in the field.' By 1892, it acquired its first mechanical ice maker, ending dependence on natural ice previously transported by cart and rail from Klontal in Canton Glarus. By 1898, it produced 100,000 hectolitres and became Switzerland's largest brewery, a position it still holds.

The Messerturm (Knife Tower) stands at the northeastern end of Rheinfelden's old town, directly on the Rhine. It features a distinctive triangular ground plan jutting into the riverbed, its shape designed to 'cut' the floodwaters. The tower served as an interrogation and torture chamber, with an upper room accessible only from the battlements. According to local legend, a trapdoor led to a knife-lined shaft dropping victims into the Rhine. City guides add that the Rhine salmon downstream grew notably well-fed as a result. The tower is part of Rheinfelden's well-preserved medieval ring wall.