St. Othmar, O.S.B., was a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 and priest appointed as the first abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of the Abbey of St. Gall

Abbey of St. Gall

The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...

, a Benedictine monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 in St. Gall, Switzerland

St. Gallen

St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...

.

Othmar rebuilt the hermitage

Hermitage

Hermitage may refer to:*Hermitage , hermit's dwelling place, a place of relaxing retreat*4758 Hermitage, asteroid-Grapes:* Syrah in Australia* Cinsaut or Cinsault in South Africa and parts of Europe* Marsanne...

 in which the Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 monk Saint Gall

Saint Gall

Saint Gall, Gallen, or Gallus was an Irish disciple and one of the traditionally twelve companions of Saint Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Saint Deicolus is called an older brother of Gall.-Biography:...

 had lived and he is called the founder of the monastery at that site. As part of the Carolingian dynasty's reform movement of Church institutions, he introduced the Benedictine Rule, which was in effect until the secularization

Secularization

Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...

 and closure of the monastery in 1805. It is also assumed that he founded the monastery school of the abbey, which was to become the foundation upon which the famous Stiftsbibliothek (Monastery library) was built. Abbot Othmar also provided for the needs of the surrounding community, building an almshouse

Almshouse

Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...

 and a hospital, as well as the first leprosarium in Switzland.

He died in exile on the small island of Werd

Werd (Lake Constance)

Werd Island is the main island of the small island group Werd Islands in the westernmost part of the Lower Lake of Lake Constance just before the High Rhine leaves the part of the lake known as . It is located on Swiss territory between Stein am Rhein and Eschenz.- History :The Werd was already...

 in Lake Constance

Lake Constance

Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

 due to false accusations by two neighboring nobles. He is buried in St. Gallen, where his body was secretly moved ten years after his death. It is said that his body was still completely intact when he was taken over Lake Constance to the town of Steinach

Steinach, St. Gallen

Steinach is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:Steinach has an area, , of . Of this area, 63.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.9% is forested...

 and farther on to St. Gallen. As the weather was very hot when the men rowed his body over the lake, they became extremely thirsty. Legends say that the only barrel of wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 they had left did not become empty, regardless of how much they drank. Therefore the wine barrel became one of his attributes (beside the abbot's crozier).

He was canonized in 864 by Solomon I, Bishop of Constance

Solomon I, Bishop of Constance

Solomon I was the Bishop of Constance from an unknown date between 835 and 847 until his death. He was the first of an "episcopal dynasty" which ruled Constance until 919 and briefly held the Diocese of Freising from 884 until 906 and that of Chur from 913 until 949.In 847, his diocese was the...

, and his feast day is celebrated on November 16.