ViaRhenana: from Rheinfelden to Bad Säckingen

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

Particularly worth seeing in the Swiss part of the town are the picturesque alleyways of its old town, the medieval town wall with its battlements and three towers: Obertorturm, Kupfer- or Storchennestturm and Diebsturm.

Both towns are connected by the Old Rhine Bridge. It is considered to be the oldest bridge on the High Rhine since the Middle Ages. The bridges built by the Romans are even older, but there is no evidence of them. However, numerous remains of walls from the late Roman Limes have been preserved along the riverside path. In the 3rd - 4th centuries, the Romans erected watchtowers and forts on their northern border to ward off the invasion of the Alemanni. The Bürkli fortification near Riburg was built in 917 - 925 against the invasion of the Huns. Completely preserved bunkers bear witness to the Swiss border fortifications of 1939/1940.