The entire municipality of Steinen is situated in the front of the Wiesental valley of the Southern Black Forest.

[7] A remarkable economic rise of the region occurred in the 14th and 15th centuries with the exploitation of the red colored sandstone deposits.

As early as the 18th century Steinen began to establish itself as the seat of a Saint Blasian authority as a small centre between Schopfheim and Lörrach, which was reflected in the large number of craftsmen, the construction of middle-class houses, and in the alleys which have been paved since 1760.

In the 19th century the old and sometimes poor farming village with its ill-kept roads and primitive houses changed its structure.

The textile industry had already started in Steinen in 1816 as homework and the first hand-weaving mill of Merian & Köchlin employed many locals.

With the construction of the first factories, the former margrave farming village was industrialised almost 20 years later by the "Basler Herren", including Colonel Geigy and Director Peter Köchlin, the "King of Printing Fabrics".

In 1836 the Basel colonel Wilhelm Geigy-Lichtenhahn founded the Mechanische Spinnerei und Weberei Steinen (A spinning and waving mill) with 7392 spindles and 40 mechanical looms.

[9] The economic upswing and the textile companies established in the Wiesental towns made it necessary to transport and drive more draught animals on the roads, which had often been in poor condition.

Therefore, the owners of the newly established factories (primarily the Swiss colonel Wilhelm Geigy) campaigned for the construction of the Wiesental Railway.

Steinen's conversion from Roman Catholic to Evangelic belief to Lutheran doctrine was made possible by the accession of the sovereign Charles II, Margrave of Baden-Durlach to the Augsburg Confession.

[14] Today there is a Protestant congregation in the town cetre, in Höllstein and in Schlächtenhaus, each of which belongs to the Baden Regional Church.The Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Seelsorge e.V.

(The Pastoral Care Association), which is affiliated with the regional church, has also been running the Haus Frieden in Hägelberg since 1970.