We spoke to Carsten Vogelpohl, Mayor of Bad Bellingen, about the IBA Basel project “Bad Bellingen moves to the Rhine”.
Urban development measures and the expansion of the A5 highway have separated the center of Bad Bellingen from its own banks of the Rhine. As part of the IBA Basel project “Bad Bellingen moves to the Rhine”, the municipality took targeted measures to strengthen the attractiveness of its Rhine banks and the connection between the river and the town center. We spoke to Carsten Vogelpohl, Mayor of the municipality, about the project.
The Rhine actually plays a very important role for Bad Bellingen in the district of Lörrach. The river also adorns the coat of arms of the community of around 4,800 inhabitants. Thanks to its thermal baths and geographical location on the old Rhine, the town has a long-standing connection to the water. However, the connection between the river and the municipality was severed years ago. The expansion of the highway and urban development measures moved the town center further away from the Rhine. And thus also further away from the French bank. While residents used to use a small boat, today they have to travel long distances to get to the Alsatian side.
The IBA Basel project “Bad Bellingen moves to the Rhine” is a project of the IBA project group “Rheinliebe”. As part of this project, stakeholders are striving to make the banks more attractive and improve the gentle connections between the heart of the city and the Rhine. Together with the landscape planning office Kunz GaLaPlan, the municipality has developed a series of measures to enhance the banks of the Rhine. We talked to Dr. Carsten Vogelpohl, Mayor of the municipality, about what these look like in concrete terms.
Mayor Vogelpohl, what measures is the IBA project “Bad Bellingen moves to the Rhine” taking to bring the town closer to the river again?
In order to re-establish a relationship between the town and the river, we completed a viewing platform on the Rhine in the fall of 2020; in addition, the path connections to the spa area are to be improved. The viewing platform is an extension of an existing pedestrian underpass under the district road and highway that connects the town with the Rhine. The path is staged like a theater stage: You walk through the underpass, the platform rises and when you reach the top, you can look out over the entire Rhine landscape. The circular paths with fitness trail, extended parking for bicycles and cars and new benches also link the spa area of Bad Bellingen, which, unlike the town center, is located directly on the Rhine, to the river.
“We have applied for a regional garden show – for me, this is the logical continuation of the IBA project in terms of content.”
An IBA acts as a catalyst that drives projects forward. Was this also the case in Bad Bellingen?
With the TEB, there is an organization in the Basel region that coordinates cross-border cooperation. However, the IBA, effectively a subsidiary of the TEB, has managed to accelerate tri-national cooperation. The Rheinliebe project, in which several municipalities have joined forces to jointly develop the banks of the Rhine across borders, would probably not have existed without the IBA. We in Bad Bellingen have benefited from this, but will of course continue to pursue our goals after the end of the IBA.
Is that why you applied for a regional garden show?
Exactly. There are three exhibitions that will be awarded this April for the period between 2031 and 2035. We would be delighted to win the bid. The working title is currently “Connecting landscapes, overcoming borders, experiencing water”, i.e. precisely the three themes that also play a central role in the IBA project. The organization of the garden show is the logical continuation of the IBA project in terms of content.
“There is the political will on all three sides to continue the IBA idea in the long term.”
What challenges do you think the region will face with the conclusion of the IBA?
We must now continue the successful IBA projects by linking the IBA Basel projects to the existing organizational structures. Once the IBA is over, the structures of the office will gradually dissolve. The “Active Stations” project has not yet been completed, and it would be a shame if all the commitment were to fizzle out. There is no final solution yet, but the political will is there on all three sides to continue the IBA idea in the long term.
Dr. Carsten Vogelpohl has been Mayor of Bad Bellingen since the end of February 2018. He is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bade- und Kurverwaltung Bad Bellingen GmbH and a member of the District Council of the Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB).
Why have we started an IBA Basel series? You can read about it here.
