Old Town Rheinfelden
The old town of Rheinfelden offers an idyllic ambience. The historic buildings and names of the alleys tell the story of a lively town in the Middle Ages.
A medieval town.
The old town of Rheinfelden makes it easy for visitors to imagine what an intact little town might have looked like four or five hundred years ago. Along the relatively wide thoroughfare, today's Kapuzinergasse and Jagdgasse, there are houses divided into a residential part and a former farm part. Farmers lived here, who depended on being able to easily get out to the fields with their carts through the Obertor (upper gate).
Magical & winding alleys.
The other streets of the old town are narrower than the thoroughfares. Here you can speak of alleys - and they are all called that: Rinder-, Kuttel-, Futter- or Fledermausgasse.
There is also a Winkelgasse, which is not as magical as Harry Potter. But they are all enchantingly beautiful and picturesque, these alleys. With their narrow, winding houses, where once not the farmers, but the craftsmen and traders lived.
The coexistence of peasants and citizens within the walls was not always unproblematic: in 1597, the council issued a decree in which it expressed its indignation at the dung heaps sprawling out into the streets, which «almost make the town look like a village».
The central main street is the Marktgasse.
It is the widest and also the most popular alley in the old town of Rheinfelden. The town hall of Rheinfelden is also located there.
Rheinfelden is the oldest Zähringer town in Switzerland. The noble family did not lay out large squares. A dominant main street - the Marktgasse in Rheinfelden - was typical of their urban layout. The large squares such as the Zähringerplatz or the Albrechtsplatz were only laid out later by the Habsburgs.
Further information
Good to know
All the streets in the old town and the most important sights can be found on the Rheinfelden old town map. This is available in printed form at the tourist office or free of charge from in the online shop.
Access
The entire Old Town is a pedestrian zone. Residents and suppliers are allowed to drive on Marktgasse from 07.00 - 14.00 hrs. If you are arriving by car, please use the car parks around the Old Town.
Contact
Tourism Rheinfelden
Town office, Marktgasse 16
4310 Rheinfelden
+41 61 835 52 00
tourismus@rheinfelden.ch