
The border between the modern states of Austria and Switzerland is divided into two parts, separated by the
Principality of Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a doubly landlocked German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east and north and Switzerland in the west and south. Liechtenst ...
, with a total length of . The longer, southern stretch runs across the
Grison Alps and the shorter one following mostly the
Alpine Rhine
The Alpine Rhine Valley () is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine ( ), the part of the Rhine between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and Lake Constance. It covers three countries, with se ...
(which was
straightened), except near
Diepoldsau and between
Lustenau
Lustenau (; ) is a town in the westernmost Austrian States of Austria, state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn (district), Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth larg ...
and
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...
, where it follows the
Old Rhine bed. The border continues northward to the Austrian-Swiss-German tripoint located within
Upper Lake Constance
The ''Obersee'' ('Upper Lake'), also known as Upper Lake Constance, is the much larger of the two parts of Lake Constance, the other part being the ''Untersee (Lake Constance), Untersee'' (). The two parts are separated by the Bodanrück peninsul ...
.
History
The course of the border ultimately reflects the success of the various rivals of the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...
(most notably the
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...
and the
Three Leagues
The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, was the 1471 alliance between the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, and the Grey League. Its members were all Swiss Associates, associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ...
) in limiting the influence of the Habsburg
Archdukes of Austria
From 976 until 1246, the Margraviate of Austria and its successor, the Duchy of Austria, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, those states were part of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1246 until 1918, the duchy and its successor, the Ar ...
in the original Habsburg domains west of the Rhine in the 14th and 15th centuries. Most of the Alpine part of the border had already been the outer border of the
Three Leagues
The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, was the 1471 alliance between the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, and the Grey League. Its members were all Swiss Associates, associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ...
since the 15th century (with the exception of the
Vinschgau
The Vinschgau, Vintschgau () or Vinschgau Valley ( ; ; ; medieval toponym: ''Finsgowe'') is the upper part of the Adige or Etsch river valley, in the western part of the province of South Tyrol, Italy.
Etymology
The German name ''Vinschgau'', li ...
, which was acquired by Austria only in 1499 and remained disputed territory into the 18th century). By contrast, the
Alpine Rhine Valley
The Alpine Rhine Valley () is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine ( ), the part of the Rhine between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and Lake Constance. It covers three countries, with se ...
has a complicated feudal history (having been partly acquired by the
Counts of Toggenburg
The counts of Toggenburg (''Grafen von Toggenburg'') ruled the Toggenburg region of today's canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and adjacent areas during the 13th to 15th centuries.
A baronial family of Toggenburg is mentioned in the 11th and 1 ...
during the 14th and 15th centuries), but the territories on its left bank had become subject territories of the
Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...
by the 17th century.
The current border is a product of the creation of the
Helvetic Republic
The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...
in 1798. During the 19th century it was part of the western border of the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
and later
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, and in the 20th century of the
First Austrian Republic
The First Austrian Republic (), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I which ended the Habsburg rump state of ...
, the
Federal State of Austria
The Federal State of Austria (; colloquially known as the "") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and politi ...
,
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and
Allied-occupied Austria
Austria was occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies and declared independence from Nazi Germany on 27 April 1945 (confirmed by the Berlin Declaration (1945), Berlin Declaration for Germany on 5 June 1945), as a result of the Vienna offen ...
, and eventually of modern
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
since its formation in 1955.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
was created as an independent principality under the
Peace of Pressburg (1805)
The Peace of Pressburg was signed in Pressburg (today Bratislava) on 26 December 1805 between French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, as a consequence of the French victory over the Russians and Austrians at the Ba ...
, although it remained nominally a member of the
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austrian Empire, Austria ...
until 1866.
Switzerland's accession to the
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...
in December 2008 removed all passport checks between the two countries. However, Swiss and Austrian customs officials retain a presence at well-frequented border crossings as they still have the authority to stop travellers to carry out customs checks, as Switzerland is outside the
EU Customs Union
The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekel ...
.
In 2008, the two countries hosted the
UEFA Euro
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
football tournament.
Geography
As shown on the
National Map of Switzerland
The National Maps of Switzerland, also referred to as the Swisstopo maps, are a set of official map series designed, edited and distributed by Swisstopo, the Swiss Federal Office of Topography. Each map series is based on an oblique, conforma ...
, the Swiss-Austrian-Italian
tripoint
A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...
is north of
Piz Lad, in the
Engadin
The Engadin or Engadine (;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ''Gidegna'' ...
. The border follows the
Inn River
The Inn (; ; ) is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The long river is a right tributary of the Danube, being the third largest tributary of the Danube by discharge. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Berni ...
between
Martina and
Nauders and then runs west towards
Samnaun
Samnaun () is a high Alpine village and a valley at the eastern end of Switzerland and a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
History
The valley was first used as a seasonal mountain pa ...
. It cuts across the
High Alps
The High Alps are the parts of the Alps unsuitable for habitation or seasonal transhumance. This includes all regions higher than 3,000 m above sea level, as well as most regions between 2,500 m and 3,000 m ( Juf at 2,126 m is the highest permanen ...
, connecting the peaks of
Grübelekopf (),
Bürkelkopf (),
Greitspitz (),
Piz Rots (),
Fluchthorn
The Fluchthorn or Piz Fenga is a mountain in the Silvretta Alps, located on the border between Austria and Switzerland. With a height of above sea level, it is the second highest summit of the Silvretta Alps. The Fluchthorn lies between the Ja ...
(),
Augstenberg (),
Piz Buin
Piz Buin () is a mountain in the Silvretta range of the Alps on the border between Austria and Switzerland. It forms the border between the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and is the highest peak in Vorarlberg ...
() and
Gross Seehorn (), roughly following the northern watershed of Engadin, and then to
Isentällispitz () and
Schesaplana
The Schesaplana () is the highest mountain in the Rätikon mountain range at the border between Vorarlberg, Austria and Graubünden, Switzerland. It has an elevation of .
On the north side of the Schesaplana is a glacier called '' Brandner Gl ...
(), along the northern watershed of
Prättigau
The Prättigau is a geographical region in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland. It consists of the main valley of the river Landquart and the valleys of its side-rivers and creeks. Landquart River, which drains into the Alpine Rhine in the town ...
valley, meeting the southern tripoint of Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein at
Naafkopf ().
From the northern Swiss-Austrian-Liechtenstein tripoint, the Swiss-Austrian border follows the
Alpine Rhine
The Alpine Rhine Valley () is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine ( ), the part of the Rhine between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and Lake Constance. It covers three countries, with se ...
(which also forms the Swiss-Liechtenstein border), passing east of
Diepoldsau and reaching
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...
at the
Rhine delta
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
of the
Old Rhine near
Rheineck
Rheineck is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
History
Rheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as ''castellum Rinegge''. In 1218 it was mentioned as ''Rinegg''. An older ...
and
Gaissau, respectively; the new delta of the
straightened Alpine Rhine lies entirely within Austria. The Swiss-Austrian-German tripoint is within Lake Constance.
From the Swiss-Austrian-Italian tripoint to the
Dreiländerspitze, between Jamspitze and Piz Buin, the border is between the
Austrian state of
Tyrol
Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...
and the
Swiss canton
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...
of
Graubünden (Grisons). From Dreiländerspitze to the Swiss-Austrian-Liechtenstein tripoint, the border lies between the Austrian state of
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...
and the canton of Grisons. North of Liechtenstein, the border separates Vorarlberg from the
canton of St. Gallen.
The ski areas
Ischgl
Ischgl () is a town in the Paznaun valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Its ski resort is connected with that of Samnaun across the border in Switzerland to form one of the largest in the Alps. Ischgl was a major hotspot in 2020 of the COVID-19 ...
(of Austria) and
Samnaun
Samnaun () is a high Alpine village and a valley at the eastern end of Switzerland and a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
History
The valley was first used as a seasonal mountain pa ...
(of Switzerland) are connected on high altitude and form a combined cross-border ski area. Thanks to the Schengen Agreement it is without border control.
Transportation
cross-border services between Austria and Switzerland exist on two railway lines crossing the Alpine Rhine:
*
St. Margrethen–Lauterach line between and (served by , , ,
EC)
*
Feldkirch–Buchs railway, which passes through
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
, with Austria–Liechtenstein border stations and (previously ), and Liechtenstein–Switzerland border stations and (served by ,
EC,
EN,
NJ,
RJX)
Cross-border
S-Bahn
The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
services are marketed as
Bodensee S-Bahn
Bodensee S-Bahn is an international marketing effort grouping various regional rail services (S-Bahn, R/RB, RE, RE/REX) around Lake Constance () in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Cross-border rail and bus services along with Lake Constance ...
.
There is also the
International Rhine Regulation Railway, an industrial railway built for the
straightening of the Alpine Rhine, which is presently used as a
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
on the Austrian side.
Currently, no railway line exists across the southern section of the border. There have been plans in the past to connect the
Rhätische Bahn
The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Swiss canton of Griso ...
network at (canton of
Grisons
The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include:
* ;
*Romansh language, Romansh:
**
**
**
**
**
**;
* ;
* ;
* .
See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...
) with the
Arlberg Railway
The Arlberg Railway (), which connects the Austrian cities Innsbruck and Bludenz, is Austria's only ''east-west'' mountain railway. It is one of the highest standard gauge railways in Europe and the second highest in Austria, after the Brenner ...
at via the ''
Reschenscheideckbahn'', but the latter was never completed. There are plans to build this line with a connector to Scuol in the future.
There are several
bus routes
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in ...
across the southern section of the border.
See also
*
Austria–Switzerland relations
Foreign relations exist between the alpine nations of Austria and Switzerland. Both countries have had diplomatic relations since the Middle Ages. The Habsburgs, who ruled Austria for more than six centuries, are originally from Aargau, Switzerlan ...
*
Passes of the Silvretta and Rätikon Ranges
The chief passes of the Silvretta and Rhatikon Ranges, from the Fuela Pass to the Reschen Scheideck and the Arlberg Pass, are:
:''Note: road status .''
See also
* List of highest paved roads in Europe
* List of mountain passes
This is a lis ...
*
Central Eastern Alps
The Central Eastern Alps (), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps () or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South of them is ...
*
Rätikon
The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Canton of Grisons, Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern Alps, Eastern and Western Alps and stretch ...
*
Silvretta Alps
The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tyrol (state), Tirol, Vorarlberg (both in Austria) and Graubünden (Switzerland). The Austrian States of Austria, states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austria-Switzerland Border
European Union external borders
Borders of Austria
Borders of Switzerland
International borders