The docks are of key economic importance to the Birsfelden community. Numerous internationally operating corporations take advantage of their excellent location for communications. From here, not just the Rhine but also Switzerland’s major transport routes are easily and rapidly accessible.

But Rhine shipping is no invention of the modern era. The Rhine was a busy transport route even in ancient times and throughout the Middle Ages, but customs and other trading duties stood in the way of development. In 1814, the Paris Peace Treaty established the principle of freedom of navigation on European waterways. Customs duties were subsequently abolished and new regulations enshrined in the Convention of Mannheim. Switzerland signed the convention in 1922.