Muttenz History

20th Century

World War I (1914-18) and the following Years

As in previous wars, Muttenz, the municipality as well as the individuals, had to offer lodgings to a great number of Swiss soldiers, who were called to arms in order to protect the frontiers. Again in the 20th century, as heretofore the dreaded danger lay on the north bank of the Rhine - Germany. Ulrich Wille, the nominated General, had the Swiss troops under his command through the four years of war. Fortifications were built along the border lines. The Swiss were ready and willing to fight back, if attacked. Since also a great number of farmers and their horses were mobilized, food, heating and clothing became scarce, and the population grew needy. Just about everything was rationed and the ration-cards became even more precious than money. Prices went up tremendously. In 1917, e.g., a workman made a mere 27 Rappen per hour ($.18). After the nationwide general strike in 1918, the social situation improved somewhat. In 1924, the wages were at 1 franc per hour ($.65).

During wartime, schooling was strongly hampered not only with the absence of school-teachers (in our Canton an average of one third was constantly away in the army). Clergymen tried to fill in gaps. But there was also a lack of school-room, since a great number of them were used as troops' quarters.

The joy over the armistice (Nov. 11, 1918), was overshadowed by social unrest, which was purposely stirred up by the Socialist Party and finally culminated into a nation-wide general strike. A number of men were again called to arms in order to get things under control. This is a dark spot in Swiss history, as the army's interventions led to quite unmotivated violence and bloodshed. However, after the general strike, the social situation of the population slowly improved.

Yet worse still was the outbreak of the 'black influenza' that caused thousands of dead. In the Canton Basel Country, 430 people or 5.3 out of 1'000 inhabitants -in Muttenz miraculously only 6 people in all- died from the 'black flu', which is believed to have been another spell of the plague, since the skin of the infected people turned black.

Hard times of economic crisis followed the first World War. After the men had returned home from the military service -and right into the thirties- Muttenz, out of a population of 5,000, counted 250 unemployed men. The local industries then were: the gravel works, salt mining, the chemical-technical works, a crate-factory, as well as a concrete plant. The Municipal Council provided emergency work by way of tubing the village river under ground, laying a canalization system as well as draining the Rütihard (fields on top of a hill). The men took turns in filling these odd jobs, since there was simply not enough work for all of them. Mainly due to these circumstances, Muttenz expanded very slowly.

In the years of crises following World War I, pioneer-minded men of the CO-OP Organization took up negotiations for both the purchase of land and the construction of a 150 one-family-house-settlement. In 1919, 85,000 m2 were bought West of Muttenz village and within two years' time, the settlement, named 'Freidorf' (= free village) was ready for families to move in.

World War II (1939-45) - Memoirs of the Writer (Edith B. Spänhauer)

The writer was twelve years old when the Second World War broke out, just old enough to live through those years aware of what was going on.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, our men again were called to arms and this time also women were encouraged to enroll. Henri Guisan was elected General and he commanded the entire army, including the airforce, right through the years of war. After his nomination, the General, loved and respected by the entire nation, summoned the field-officers to the Rütli (a meadow on the Lake of Lucerne), the very cradle of Switzerland where, in 1291, delegations of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden -the first three Cantons- had gathered to make their oath for the protection of freedom and independence. General Guisan and his officers renewed this oath of their forefathers on the very same spot.

For Switzerland, the, years of war were a tremendous nervous strain. The Germans set out to prepare their attack by scattering Nazi agents over our country. At the time of the outbreak of World War II, 15,000 German men resided in Switzerland. Only 3,000 of them had to join up; the rest lived on in Switzerland, a great number of them engaged in the German underground movement. Regardless of possible political consequences, the Swiss Government expelled a number of German Nazis who had become too active. Two of those had lived in Muttenz. But also among our own people we had betrayers, spies and agents. Our Federal Council was faced with the necessity to reintroduce the pain of death, in order to protect the country against traitors. In the course of the years of war, 530 agents had been arrested; 7 Swiss citizens and 25 aliens were executed by shooting.

The German victories all over Europe were rather depressing for us, remaining the only neighboring country not attacked by Germany. The anxious question was: for how long? The war was raging all around our country. In May 1940, German troops concentrations could be observed on the north bank of the Rhine; they were ready to march in! A great number of people from the borderlands, shaken with fear, evacuated with their families and most precious belongings to the Alpine area, where they hoped for better protection. The writer will never forget the night, when her mother gathered up all the valuables about the house, cramming them into a trunk. Father was in the army and brother, too young for the army, served with the 'Ortswehr', a local civil defense. The next day, mother and I pulled the heavy trunk on our rack wagon (our only vehicle in those days, apart from the men's bicycles) to the railway station in Muttenz and sent it to my grand-parents, our only close relatives living away from Muttenz. They lived in Delémont, a mere 40 km from here.

Up to this day, it has never been known what prevented the Germans from invading Switzerland. Many people were tempted to give Churchill credit for it, others Mussolini. More likely, it was an act of God!

However, throughout the war, the Germans never ceased to fight a nervous cold war against Switzerland, and the Nazis demonstrated openly their hatred and contempt for us. They went as far as exerting pressure on our Government and press.

Since all the Continental countries entangled in the war had the black-out, Switzerland stuck out as a bright point that, involuntarily, served the British airforce as a direction-indicator, when setting off to nightly attacks of German territory. As a consequence of this, black-out was imposed on us under pressure of the German Government. So we lived in the dark for almost five years. Going out at night in the black-out was quite an adventure and made it necessary for everyone to carry a shaded torch with a blue light. Of course, as any teenager, I did go to dance courses, parties and the theater. At night, the street cars used to run in slow motion behind dim blue head-lights on a moderately reduced schedule. The last streetcar to Muttenz was due to leave at 11:30 p.m. from the center of Basle. Every now and then I missed it. Taxi cabs were very scarce in those days - and so was money. The only alternative was to walk, which meant an hour under way in the dark. I don't remember ever having been scared walking home all by myself. I somehow always managed to have boy-friends living in the opposite direction. Applying the 'scouts' trot' -20 steps walk, 20 steps run- I used to cover the distance in half the time. One night, changing my step from walk into run by the bridge of the Bits, a man's Voice cried: 'No use to run, girlie, mother will scold you anyway'. It was the sentinel keeping guard under the bridge.

We could hear the bombing from as far as Freiburg i/Br (50 Km) and saw the fires at night both in Germany and France.

When the Germans began to invade France, both parties used to shoot over Swiss territory (Basle). Around midnight they usually adjusted their guns and took up firing to and fro at 3 a.m. Two sirens were installed in Muttenz: one in the middle of the village, the other one in the Freidorf, next to our house. Since quite a few bombs had been dropped inadvertently on Swiss territory, mostly by Americans, the sirens blared each and every time aircrafts were approaching. The regulations made us descend to the cellars, a factor we gladly adhered to during school hours but gradually forgot about during night time. We felt that, if we had to, we'd much rather die in our beds.

During the periods of time, when my father was in military service, I used to sleep in his bed. Very late one night, Mama and I heard the sound of shooting coming nearer and nearer. When heavy boots approached our house and nervous shouts were heard, we had a frightening thought: The Germans have come! Mama began to weep - and I felt I had to do something. So I went to the window, peeped through the half-opened shutter and perceived a Swiss soldier. Hearing the sound of the shutter, the man looked up at me pleadingly: 'Please, may I use your toilet'! What a relief: His unit merely had a night's drill...

Food and clothing were rationed, and once again the ration cards grew more precious than money. Also coal was very scarce, allowing for restricted heating only. For this reason, during the exceptionally cold winter of 1940, we were allowed an additional seven weeks' vacation from school. Gasoline was practically non-existent. The cars needed commercially were transformed to run on charcoal. It was a queer system fastened to the back of the cars for the burning of the charcoal.

The school-children from the age of 15 up had to work as farmhands during three weeks out of their 5 weeks summer holiday. This kind of 'civil service' has been maintained on a voluntary basis ever since. Personally, I feel that it is a most valuable experience for the city youth to get a close idea of how tough farmer's life can be, especially for small farmers who are struggling for their daily bread. Also every bit of ground, gardens, sports- and play-grounds were transformed into vegetable gardens and potato-fields. Our school-director was the greatest sight when gardening. He was very short and ever so fat; we used to call him 'Winnie the Pooh'. As he was unable to bend forward when doing his share of gardening in the school-yard, he adjusted his plump body onto a little stool, stretching his legs in opposite directions.

Again, thousands of refugees, mainly soldiers from as far as Poland and Russia, were swept into Switzerland - 300,000 in all - and we had to feed and clothe them all. They were interned, and it was quite a task to keep the hostile parties separated from each other. The Swiss Red Cross was very active throughout the years of war. With chartered trains they brought in thousands of children for a lengthy stay with Swiss families.

The first Airport of Basle 'Sternenfeld' was built in Birsfelden (formerly Muttenz territory) and taken into operation in 1923.

After World War II international aviation became very popular. Also an enormous international trade set in to cover the world-wide needs. The waterway of the Rhine, connecting Switzerland with the North Sea, gained in importance. What was most urgently required in the Basel area now was an additional harbor for the loading and unloading of cargo vessels, with adjoining storehouses. It was found that the 'Sternenfeld', situated on the South Bank of the Rhine, offered the best location for this project, thus in 1946, the airport had to be moved. Within a mere two months, a new one was built near Blotzen, just across the border from Basel, on French (Alsacian) territory. This airport 'Basel-Mulhouse' was the first and only bi-national airport in the world. In 1970, additional and longer runways were built, more adequate buildings erected, which have again been en-larged in 1990. It is henceforth named 'EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg' and serves as a tri-national airport for Switzerland, France and Germany.

The Village grows into an Industrialized Town

It was after 1945 that Muttenz began to grow into an industrialized town, after the production boom had set in throughout Switzerland. A large rail freight yard was built on Muttenz territory, that expanded into the largest one in Switzerland. Old houses were restored, new houses built. The growing of the population called for additional school-houses, a new and larger Catholic and a second Protestant church. The latter called 'Kirchgemeindehaus Feldreben'. The construction of a vocational-school, a general and an engineering college, as well as a larger town-hall were planned and effected.

In spite of the growth of the community, the Council is anxious to conserve the ancient village and put many an old building under the law of preservation. Also the old Spänhauer farmhouse at the Baselstr. today owned by Martin Spänhauer, is under the law of preservation.

This house was built in 1678 in the Gothic style and no alteration may be done to it without approval of the Office for the Preservation of Beautyspots.

There is practically no building land available in Muttenz any longer. Thus the land-prices in the residential zone vary now from Frs. 600.- to 1,000- per m2 (400 - 665 $). The land on which the Freidorf settlement was erected, was bought in 1919 at the time of economic crisis for Frs. 2.70/m2 or 1.805

The expanding industry, however, not only brought prosperity to Muttenz, but also pollution - and along with it new problems. A committee 'pro sere sano', of which the writer (Edith B. Spänhauer)has been secretary on a voluntary basis for a number of years, came into action and, fortunately enough, proved to be quite a success. Under pressure from both, the committee and the population, the Canton employed an engineer for air-hygiene whose task it is to give practical and imperative advice to the air polluting industries. On May 20, 1973, our Canton accepted a law by way of public votes, whereby the factories causing pollution above tolerance, can be fined or restricted in production. Only eight days later, four factories in Pratteln (the neighboring town East of Muttenz) felt the consequences of the new law.

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