Some pieces of clay and metal from around the village, and also some of the numerous cairns in the north of the Buesingen territory can be attributed to the late Bronze age 1250 – 750 b.C. and the late Hallstadt period (450 B.C.). It is not surprising that early settlement took place right there because Busingen is one of the topografically and climatically preferred places with southerly exposition on the lower lake Constance and High Rhine.

Toward the end of the Roman empire, under the reign of the emperor Valentinian 1st, the left river bank from Basel up to the Lake of Constance was secured by a chain of watch towers. Three of them were opposite of what is today Buesingen territory. Two in the Schaaren forrest and one on the Schaaren meadow. In the 5th century, this Roman line of demarcation couldn’t hold up against the approaching Alemanni. The first Alemanni settled next to the river and named the place after their leader of tribe Buosinga, the settlement of the people of Boso.

Unfortunately, due to documentary transmission having started relatively late, most of the village’s history in the early middle ages is unknown. It can be sure, however, that the Alemanni founded the settlement of Buesingen in the 6th century A.D. It is also known, that the Alemanni then converted to Christianity in the 7th and 8th century. Buesingen then became an ecclesiastic center for the entire area around. On the other side there has been no proof for a castle being the seat of the authorities and it is unknown if there were any local nobility living in Buesingen.

Buesingen was first mentioned in 1090 in a deed of donation of Count Burkhard of Nellenburg to the monastery Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen. Count Nellenburg assigned the place Buesingen including all rights, possessions and income to the monastery Allerheiligen. During the years 1406 and 1446 Austrian dukes are mentioned as seigneurs of Buesingen. From 1465 on Buesingen was classified as part of the Austrian shire Nellenburg. Only the jurisdiction (high court) was granted from 1651 until 1698 as a pledge to Schaffhausen. In other respects the souvereignty stayed with Austria.

The possessors of the governance with the jurisdiction in Buesingen since 1361 were the Austrian tenure bearers Von Klingenberg. In 1406, the indetted Klingenbergers pledged the bailiwick of Buesingen to the Schaffhausen citizen Rudolf Goldschmid. In 1463, the mayor of Schaffhausen, Heinrich Barter took over the Vogtei of Buesingen.

From 1535 on, relatives of the noble Schaffhausen family Im Thurn ruled Buesingen. Seat of the reeves in those days was the Junkerhaus, which was surrounded by a wall with a tower. From 1658, Eberhard, member of the family held office as reeve. Buesingen’s further development is closely connected with his person and his destiny.

The Junkerhaus. In the past, seat of the reeves in Buesingen.

Long time ago the little church on the mountain of Buesingen was ecclesiastic center of the region.

Old farmhouse in Buesingen with ist magnificent timber framing.