Koblenz, Switzerland - Definition and Overview

This article is about the Swiss town Koblenz. For other places with the same name see Koblenz (disambiguation).

Koblenz (or Coblenz) is a municipality in district Zurzach in the canton of Aargau, in the north of Switzerland.

The name derives from the Latin Confluentia. Koblenz lies opposite Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg where the river Aar joins the Rhein. In the year 2003, it had about 1600 inhabitants, in an area of 4.1 km². Its postcode is 5322.

In Roman times at this place a goods yard and watchtowers existed along the Rhein. The town has been settled since the Middle Ages.

The Koblenz boatmen had a monopoly over transport of goods from the then important market town of Zurzach downstream along dangerous currents of the Rhein towards Basel. With the arrival of the railway in the 19th century Koblenz and Zurzach lost this important source of income. The Koblenz village is known locally as the "5 Brücken-Dorf" (literally: five bridges village). Next to the Aar crossing there is also a road bridge and a railway bridge over thge Rhein.

The like-named town Koblenz also lies on a confluence of the Rhein, with the river Mosel in Germany.

External link

• http://www.koblenz.ch (official municipality website in German)