A Walk Through Art, from Germany to Switzerland

Some borders are marked by a fence and a booth. The one between Weil am Rhein and Basel is marked by works of art. The Rehberger-Weg is a walking trail of roughly five kilometres that links the German border town with the Swiss city, and along its length are 24 stops — sculptures, shelters and small interventions that turn an ordinary walk into an exhibition.

Even the waymarkers are part of the project. Each one tells you which country you are walking towards, so there is no doubt whether the next bend takes you into Germany or into Switzerland. It is a practical idea, and a quietly funny one: a sign that is also an artwork, doing the job a sign is supposed to do.

The stops along the way

The pleasure of the trail is that the art does not announce itself. You come across a piece in a field, beside a path, at the edge of a vineyard, and you have to decide whether it is sculpture or infrastructure. Some of the stops are functional: there is an artsy shelter that locals use as a shelter, which may be the highest compliment a public artwork can receive. Even the dustbins along the route have been treated as works of art.

One stop is a functional piece that, seen from the right angle, turns the person standing in front of it into the "Empress of the world" — an invitation to take a photograph that is hard to resist.

Then there are the beehives, decorated and placed along the trail, and the vineyards. Walking through wine country with a glass in hand is one of the better ways to spend an afternoon, and the vineyard Schneider is part of the landscape here.

Two museums at either end

The trail is bookended by serious art collections. On the German side, in Weil am Rhein, the Vitra Design Museum is devoted to design, and its Schaudepot displays rows of miniature chairs that trace how a simple object has been rethought again and again. Visitors tend to slow down in front of the cases, comparing proportions and materials.

On the Swiss side, the Fondation Beyeler in Basel holds a collection that rewards a longer stop. When I visited, the exhibition was Alexander Calder & Fischli / Weiss, and one work in particular — a fragile balance of forms — seemed to sum up the whole walk: things held in place by a careful arrangement rather than by anything solid.

Ending in Basel

The city itself continues the theme. An art installation inside the Town Hall of Basel is open to everyone, which is a good final stop before a train or a tram home.

The 24 stops project has a map showing the full route, and there is an app for both Apple and Android devices if you want the stops explained as you go. The trail is short enough for an afternoon and rich enough to justify a whole day if you stop at the museums and the vineyards along the way.

It is a strange and happy thing to walk from one country into another while looking at art. Bring comfortable shoes, keep the map handy and leave time to stand in front of things.