The evolution of the Cenozoic Upper Rhine Grabenwas controlled by a repeatedly changing stress field and the reactivationof a complex set of crustal discontinuities that had come into evidence duringPermo-Carboniferous times. A comparison of the spatial and temporal thicknessdistribution of synrift deposits with preexisting fault patterns permits toinfer a sequence of distinct basin subsidence phases that can be related tochanges in the ambient stress field. Reactivation of a system of late Palaeozoicfault systems, outlining troughs and highs, controlled the nucleation of initiallyseparated middle and late Eocene basins, the depocenters of which coincidedwith a preexisting WSW-ENE trend. During Oligocene crustal extension the individualbasins coalesced, resulting in the development of the SSW-NNE striking UpperRhine Graben. During the late Oligocene (Chattian) change in stress field,the Upper Rhine Graben was probably reactivated as a dextral strike-slip systemwith the central graben segment forming a releasing bend. During the earlyMiocene (Aquitanian), a major reorientation of the regional stress field isheld responsible for the main subsidence phase of the northern parts of theUpper Rhine Graben. This is reflected by a counterclockwise rotation and northeastwardshift of the depocenter axis and later by the middle Miocene uplift and erosionof the southern parts of the Upper Rhine Graben. During the Plio-Quaternary,the Upper Rhine Graben was reactivated as a sinistral strike-slip system withthe central graben segment forming a restraining bend.