Basel (Land) Canton, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Basel (Land) canton ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
There are settlement traces on the Rhine from the early 5th century BC which was called the La Tène period. In 1792, the Republic of Rauracia, a revolutionary French client republic, was created and it lasted until 1793. After three years of political agitation and a short civil war in 1833 the disadvantaged countryside seceded from the Canton of Basel, forming the half canton of Basel-Landschaft. Basel has often been the site of peace negotiations and other international meetings. The Treaty of Basel in 1499 ended the Swabian War. Two years later Basel joined the Swiss Confederation. The Peace of Basel in 1795 between the French Republic and Prussia and Spain ended the First Coalition against France during the French Revolutionary Wars. In more recent times, the World Zionist Organization held its first congress in Basel from August 29 through August 31, 1897. Because of the Balkan Wars, the Second International held an extraordinary congress at Basel in 1912. 

State Archives of Basel-Land
The state archives of Basel-Land have been digitizing their records and making them available online. The parishes are organized by town and then by religion. To view records:
 * Basel Landschaft Kirchenbücher
 * Click on the archival number before the town name. A PDF will download to your computer.
 * Open the PDF. You will see a list of each volume available for the parish, with a description of the record type and years covered. If the records are available, you will see a blue link stating "zur Online-Version des Kirchenbuches".
 * Click on the blue link; you will be taken to the digitized records.

Jurisdictions

 * Sissach

Research Tools
A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Switzerland, Basel City Local Citizenship Requests (FamilySearch Historical Records)