Weil am Rhein

Weil am Rhein is a German town in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg, on the east bank of the Rhine at the tripoint where Switzerland, France and Germany meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany and a suburb within the Trinational Eurodistrict of Basel, which has about 830,000 inhabitants, while the town itself has around 30,000. It lies in the region known as Markgräflerland, and its position on the Rhine and near the Black Forest gives it a continental climate suited to viticulture. The town is first documented in 786 as Willa. In October 1702 the duc de Villars crossed the Rhine here to fight the Battle of Friedlingen, and the conflict severely damaged the town. Agriculture dominated until the nineteenth century, when good transport links helped growth: a railway marshalling yard linking it to Basel was built in 1913 and a Rhine harbour in 1934. Ötlingen, Haltingen and Märkt were incorporated between 1971 and 1975. Today it is known for the Vitra premises, with buildings by Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Tadao Ando, and for the extension of Basel tram line 8 since 2014.