From Rheinfelden to the Roman town Augusta Raurica

Until 1805, the right-bank Rheinfelden (Baden) was united with the current Swiss town Rheinfelden AG. It is the oldest Zähringer town in Switzerland (founded around 1130) and the oldest town in the canton of Aargau.

Both towns are connected by the Old Rhine Bridge. It is considered the oldest bridge on the High Rhine since the Middle Ages. Even older are the bridges already built by the Romans, but there is no longer any evidence of them.

Proven to be significantly older than Rheinfelden is the Roman settlement Augusta Raurica between Basel and Rheinfelden. It was founded under Emperor Augustus around 15 BC near the High Rhine. Around 240 AD, the wealthy colony of the Romanized Raurici experienced its heyday with up to 20,000 inhabitants. It was heavily damaged shortly afterward by a strong earthquake. The scenic theater, the best-preserved ancient site of its kind north of the Alps, still testifies to this high culture today. Large parts of it were excavated already 150 years ago. In the vast open-air museum, numerous other buildings from Roman times can be explored. Archaeological excavations still regularly reveal significant ancient treasures today.

From 260 AD, the incursions of the Alamanni increased, and the Romans had to retreat the northern border of their empire to the High Rhine. To secure the Rhine border, they also built the Kastell Kaiseraugst. It was already burned down by the Alamanni in 352 AD.

What remains are impressive buildings and technical masterpieces of the Romans that have endured for 2,000 years,