Swiss-German border in the Upper Rhine region
Historical roots
Beginning on a geological time scale, receding glaciers from the last ice age—the Würmian, ending about 15 millennia ago — scoured away the landscape of the High Rhine region, leaving behind a thick seam of gravel across the region, including a a great stone field in the German village of Lottstetten. This is the stone that built the Balm fortress that protected the feudal estates of the 14th century. It is also the source of the Rehm family wealth and influence in Lottstetten and the wider region.
Lottstetten lies in a hook of German land called the Jestetter Zipfel that extends into Switzerland at the bend in the river downstream from the famous Rhine Falls. It is a virtual enclave that is part of the German state of Baden, but is accessible mainly by roads and rail from Switzerland, a situation that historically made it a haven for smuggling. From 1840 to 1935, the Zipfel was declared a customs-free zone, allowing residents to sell their products duty-free in Baden and Switzerland.
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