St. Gallen
Encyclopedia
St. Gallen is the capital of the canton
of St. Gallen in Switzerland
. It evolved from the hermit
age of Saint Gall
, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration
(with around 160,000 inhabitants) and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic base.
The main tourist attraction is the Abbey of St. Gall
, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its renowned library contains books which date back to the 9th century.
The city has good transport links to the rest of the country and to neighbouring Germany and Austria. It also functions as the gate to the Appenzell Alps
.
and the mountains
of the Appenzell Alps (with the Säntis
as the highest peak at 2502 metres (8,208.7 ft)). It therefore offers excellent recreation areas nearby.
As the city center is built on an unstable turf ground (thanks to its founder Gallus who was looking for a hermitage and not founding a city), all buildings on the valley floor must be built on piles
. For example, the entire foundation of the train station and its plaza are based on hundreds of piles.
St.Gallen has an area, , of 39.3 km² (15.2 sq mi). Of this area, 31.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 38.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.7%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).
Gallus (ca 550–620 or 640), who built a hermitage by the river Steinach in 612.
built an abbey and gave it the name Abbey of St. Gallen. In 926 Hungarian raiders attacked the abbey and surrounding town. Saint Wiborada
, the first woman formally canonized by the Vatican
, reportedly saw a vision of the pending attack and warned the monks and citizens to flee. While the monks and the abbey treasure escaped, Wiborada chose to stay behind and was killed by the raiders.
About 954 the monastery was surrounded by walls as a protection against the Saracen
s, and the town grew up around these walls. About 1205 the abbot became a prince of the church
in the Holy Roman Empire
. In 1311 St. Gallen became a Free imperial city
. By about 1353 the guild
s, headed by the cloth-weavers guild, gained control of the civic government. In 1415 the city bought its liberty from the German king
Sigismund
.
estates of the abbot successfully rebelled
and in 1411 they became allies of the Old Swiss Confederation. A few months later the town of St. Gallen also became allies. They joined the "everlasting alliance" as full members of the Confederation in 1454 and in 1457 became completely free from the abbot. However, in 1451 the abbey became an ally of Zurich
, Lucerne
, Schwyz
and Glarus
who were all members of the Confederation.
One of the earliest mayors of St. Gallen may be among the most colorful, Ulrich Varnbüler. Hans, the father of Ulrich, was prominent in city affairs in St. Gallen, Switzerland, in the early 15th century. Ulrich made his entry into public affairs in the early 1460s and gathered the various offices and honours that are available to a talented and ambitious man. He demonstrated fine qualities as field commander of the St. Gallen troops in the Burgundian Wars
.
In the battle of Grandson
in 1476 he and his troops were part of the advance units of the Confederation and took part in their famous attack. (A large painting of Ulrich returning triumphantly to a hero's welcome in St. Gallen can still be seen in St. Gallen).
After the war, he often represented St. Gallen at the various parliaments of the Confederation. In December 1480 he was offered the position of mayor for the first time. From that time on he served in several leading city positions and was considered the intellectual and political leader.
According to Vadian, who understood his contemporaries well, "Ulrich was a very intelligent, observant, and eloquent man who enjoyed the trust of the citizenry to a high degree."
His reputation among the Confederates was also substantial. However, in the late 1480s he became involved in a conflict that was to have serious negative consequences for him and for the city of which he was mayor.
In 1463 Ulrich Rösch had assumed the management of the abbey of St. Gall. He was an ambitious prelate, whose goal it was to raise the abbey by every possible means to prominence again following the losses of the Appenzell War.
His restless ambitions offended the political and material interests of his neighbours. When he arranged for the help of the pope and the emperor to carry out a plan for moving the abbey to Rorschach on Lake Constance
, he encountered stiff resistance from the St. Gallen citizenry, other clerics, and the Appenzell nobility in the Rhine Valley who were concerned for their holdings.
At this point, Varnbüler entered the conflict against the prelate. He wanted to restrict the increase of power of the abbey and simultaneously increase the power of the town that had been restricted in its development.
For this purpose he established contact with farmers and Appenzell residents (led by the fanatical Hermann Schwendiner) who were seeking an opportunity to weaken the abbot.
Initially, he protested to the abbot and the representatives of the four sponsoring Confederate cantons (Zurich, Lucerne, Schwyz, and Glarus) against the construction of the new abbey in Rorschach. Then, on July 28, 1489 he had armed troops from St. Gallen and Appenzell destroy the buildings already under construction.
When the abbot complained to the Confederates about the damages and demanded full compensation, Ulrich responded with a counter suit and in cooperation with Schwendiner rejected the arbitration efforts of the non-partisan Confederates.
He motivated the clerics from Wil
to Rorschach to discard their loyalty to the abbey and spoke against the abbey at the meeting of the townspeople at Waldkirch, where the popular league was formed.
He was confident that the four sponsoring cantons would not intervene with force, due to the prevailing tensions between the Confederation and the Swabian League
.
He was strengthened in his resolve by the fact that the people of St. Gallen elected him again to be the highest magistrate in 1490.
However, when they learned that their compatriots had given up the fight, they lost confidence; the end result was that they concluded a peace pact that greatly restricted the city's powers and burdened the city with serious penalties and reparation payments.
Ulrich, overwhelmed by the responsibility for his political decisions, panicked in the face of the approaching enemy who wanted him apprehended. His life was in great danger, and he was forced to disguise himself as a messenger and escape from the city.
He made his way to Lindau
and to Innsbruck
and the court of King Maximilian
. The victors confiscated those of his properties that lay outside of the city of St. Gallen and banned him from the confines of the Confederation.
Ulrich then appealed to the imperial court (as did Schwendiner, who had fled with him) for the return of his property.
The suit had the support of Friedrich II and Maximilian and the trial threatened to drag on for years. It was continued by Ulrich's sons Hans and Ulrich after his death in 1496, and eventually they regained their properties.
However, other political ramifications resulted from the court action, because the Confederation took ownership of the city of St. Gallen and rejected the inroads of the empire.
Thus, the conflict strengthened the relationship between the Confederation and the city of St. Gallen. On the other hand the matter increased the alienation between Switzerland and the German Holy Roman Empire
, which would eventually mean a total separation as a result of the Swabian War
.
Despite the unpropitious end of his career, Varnbüler is immortalized in a famous woodcut by Albrecht Dürer
, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution's woodcut collection(q.v.).
Of Varnbüler's sons, the elder (Hans/Johann) became the mayor of Lindau
. He is the patriarch of the Baden
and Württemberg
Varnbülers.
and humanist
Joachim von Watt (Vadian) introduced the reformation
into the city of St. Gallen. The town converted to the new reformed religion while the Abbey remained Roman Catholic.
While iconoclastic riots forced the monks to flee the city and removed images from the city's churches, the fortified Abbey remained untouched. The Abbey was to remain a Catholic stronghold in the Protestant city until 1803.
. Under the Helvetic Republic
both the abbey and the city lost their power and were combined with Appenzell into the Canton of Säntis
.
The Helvetic Republic was widely unpopular in Switzerland and was overthrown a few years later in 1803. Following the Act of Mediation
the city of St. Gallen became the capital of the Protestant Canton of St. Gallen.
One of the first acts of the new canton was to suppress the abbey. The monks were driven out of the abbey with the last abbot dying in Muri
in 1829. In 1846 a rearrangement in the local diocese
s made St. Gall a separate see, with the abbey church as its cathedral
and a portion of the monastic buildings being designated the bishop's residence.
Gustav Adolf
, former king of Sweden, spent the last years of his life in St. Gallen, and finally died there in 1837.
In the 15th century St. Gallen became successful in producing textiles. In 1714 the climax was reached with a yearly production of 38,000 pieces of cloth. The first depression happened in the middle of the 18th century caused by strong foreign competition and the early days of cotton production. But St. Gallen was able to catch up and an even more glamorous era arrived.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the first embroidery machines were developed in St. Gallen. In 1910 the embroidery production was the largest export branch (18 percent of the total export value) in Switzerland and more than half of the global production originated in St. Gallen. One fifth of the population in the eastern part of Switzerland lived from the textile industry
. World War I and the Great Depression
thereafter let the St. Gallen embroidery
fall into a second large crisis.
Only in the 1950s a did a slight recovery start in the textile industry. Nowadays, only a small textile industry had been able to survive in St. Gallen because of high specialization and the production of powerful embroidery machines. St. Gallen embroideries (e.g. by Akris
) are still in great demand from fashion designers in Parisian Haute Couture
.
St. Gallen is known for its business school, now named the University of St. Gallen
(HSG). It was ranked as the top business school in Europe by Wirtschaftswoche
, a weekly German business news magazine, and is highly ranked by several other sources. Recently, HSG has been building a reputation for Executive Education, with its International MBA recognised as one of Europe's leading programmes, and runs a PhD programme. HSG is a focused university that offers degrees in business and management, economics, political science and international relations as well as business law. It is comparatively small, with about 6,500 students enrolled at present, has both EQUIS
and AACSB accredited, and is a member of CEMS
(Community of European Management Schools). The university maintains student and faculty exchange programs around the world.
St. Gallen's state school system contains 64 Kindergartens, 21 primary schools and 7 secondary schools and about 6,800 students. In addition to the state system St. Gallen is home to the Institut auf dem Rosenberg — an elite boarding school attracting students from all over the world. The Institut provides an education in English, German and Italian and prepares the students to enter American, British, Swiss, Italian, German and other European university programs.
In St.Gallen about 68.8% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
). Out of the total population in St. Gallen, , the highest education level completed by 15,035 people (20.7% of the population) was Primary, while 27,465 (37.8%) have completed their secondary education, 10,249 (14.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 2,910 (4.0%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and armed and gorged Or.
, 3,691 are from Italy
, 7,111 are from ex-Yugoslavia
, 794 are from Austria
, 1,060 are from Turkey
, and 4,405 are from another country. Over the last 10 years, the population has grown at a rate of 0.7%. Most of the population speaks German (83.0%), with Italian being second most common (3.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (3.7%). Of the Swiss national languages , 60,297 speak German
, 575 people speak French
, 2,722 people speak Italian
, and 147 people speak Romansh.
The age distribution, , in St.Gallen is; 6,742 children or 9.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 7,595 teenagers or 10.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 12,574 people or 17.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 11,735 people or 16.2% are between 30 and 39, 9,535 people or 13.1% are between 40 and 49, and 8,432 people or 11.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 6,461 people or 8.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 5,633 people or 7.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 3,255 people or 4.5% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 655 people or 0.9% who are between 90 and 99, and 9 people or 0.0% who are 100 or more.
there were 16,166 persons (or 22.3% of the population) who were living alone in private dwellings. There were 17,137 (or 23.6%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 27,937 (or 38.5%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 4,533 (or 6.2%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 419 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 475 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 2,296 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 3,663 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the SP
which received 25.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(23.2%), the CVP
(17.3%) and the FDP
(15.3%).
. Of the rest of the population, there are 112 individuals (or about 0.15% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic
faith, there are 3,253 individuals (or about 4.48% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 1,502 individuals (or about 2.07% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 133 individuals (or about 0.18% of the population) who are Jewish
, and 4,856 (or about 6.69% of the population) who are Islam
ic. There are 837 individuals (or about 1.15% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 7,221 (or about 9.94% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 3,156 individuals (or about 4.35% of the population) did not answer the question.
In 1992 St. Gallen was awarded the Wakker Prize
for the city's effort to create a unified structure and appearance in current and future construction.
. There are four religious buildings in St. Gallen that are on the inventory. Of course, the Abbey of St. Gallen is on the list. Additionally, the former Dominican
Abbey of St. Katharina, the Reformed Church of St. Laurenzenkirche and the Roman Catholic
parish church
of St. Maria Neudorf are also part of the inventory.
There are six museums or archives in the inventory. This includes the Textile museum, the Historical and ethnographical museum, the Cantonal library and city archives, the Art and Natural History museum, the Museum in Lagerhaus and the Cantonal archives. The entire city of St. Gallen is the only archeological heritage site. There are two bridges that are listed as well, the Eisenbahnbrücke BT (railroad bridge) and the Kräzern-Strassenbrücke with a custom house
.
There are twelve other sites that are part of the inventory. These include the main train station, main post office, University of St. Gallen, Cantonal School, City Theatre as well as several other buildings. Two towers are part of the dozen sites, the Lokremise with Wasserturm and the Tröckneturm.
The A1
motorway links St. Gallen with St. Margrethen
, Zurich
, Bern and Geneva
. In 1987 the city motorway was opened, which conveys the traffic through two tunnels (Rosenberg and Stefanshorn) almost directly below the city center.
St. Gallen has its own small airport Airport St. Gallen-Altenrhein
near Lake of Constance, with regular flights to Vienna
and other destinations.
St. Gallen is closely tied to the national Swiss Federal Railways network and has InterCity
connections to Zurich and the Zurich International Airport
every half an hour. St. Gallen is the hub for many private railways such as the Südostbahn
(SOB), connecting St. Gallen with Lucerne
, the Appenzeller Bahnen with connections to Appenzell and the Trogenerbahn to Trogen
, which also serves as a tram
in downtown.
The town has a dense local bus transportation system operated by the VBSG, which is well established on the valley floor and less on the hills. As St. Gallen is located near the Appenzell mountain area, it offers also many Postauto (post bus) connections. The agglomeration also has its own S-Bahn System (overground local trains).
The large urban area Zurich is about 80 km south-west of St. Gallen and is reachable by car in about 50–90 minutes depending on traffic and by ICN train in 65 minutes.
. The wettest month is August during which time St.Gallen receives an average of 155 mm (6.1 in) of rain. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.5 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 14.3, but with only 134 mm (5.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 64 mm (2.5 in) of precipitation over 13.5 days.
, the location with the highest reported level of radioactivity in Switzerland, due to its high elevation and therefore greater exposure to cosmic rays. The same report explains that the unusually high spikes of radioactivity measured in St. Gallen are due to radioactive products of radon
gas being washed to the ground during heavy rain or storms, but does not explain where the sufficient quantities of radon gas and its products to account for the anomaly would come from. The yearly report for 2009 on risks associated with radon published by the same governmental agency shows St. Gallen to lie in an area of the lowest level of radon exposure. In addition to the measured gamma-radiation, the city may be subject to radioactive Tritium
pollution in Teufen
, a satellite town situated 4 km south of the city in the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes (this pollution is also covered in the report).
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of St. Gallen in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It evolved from the hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
age of 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:...
, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration
Agglomeration
In the study of human settlements, an urban agglomeration is an extended city or town area comprising the built-up area of a central place and any suburbs linked by continuous urban area. In France, INSEE the French Statistical Institute, translate it as "Unité urbaine" which means continuous...
(with around 160,000 inhabitants) and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic base.
The main tourist attraction is 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 UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its renowned library contains books which date back to the 9th century.
The city has good transport links to the rest of the country and to neighbouring Germany and Austria. It also functions as the gate to the Appenzell Alps
Appenzell Alps
The Appenzell Alps are a mountain range in Switzerland on the northern edge of the Alps. They extend into the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and St...
.
Geography
St. Gallen is situated in the northeastern part of Switzerland in a valley about 700 metres (2,296.6 ft) above sea level. It is one of the highest cities in Switzerland and it often receives a lot of snow in winter. The city is pleasantly situated between Lake ConstanceLake 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...
and the mountains
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
of the Appenzell Alps (with the Säntis
Säntis
At 2,502.9 meters above sea level, Säntis is the tallest mountain in the Alpstein massif of northeastern Switzerland. The mountain is a highly visible landmark thanks to its exposed northerly location within the Alpstein massif. As a consequence, houses called Säntisblick can be found in regions...
as the highest peak at 2502 metres (8,208.7 ft)). It therefore offers excellent recreation areas nearby.
As the city center is built on an unstable turf ground (thanks to its founder Gallus who was looking for a hermitage and not founding a city), all buildings on the valley floor must be built on piles
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
. For example, the entire foundation of the train station and its plaza are based on hundreds of piles.
St.Gallen has an area, , of 39.3 km² (15.2 sq mi). Of this area, 31.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 38.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.7%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).
Founding of the city
The founding of St. Gallen is based on the Irish monkMonk
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...
Gallus (ca 550–620 or 640), who built a hermitage by the river Steinach in 612.
Founding of the Abbey of St. Gall
Around 720, one hundred years after Gallus's death, the Alemannian priest OthmarSaint Othmar
St. Othmar, O.S.B., was a monk and priest appointed as the first abbot of the Abbey of St. Gall, a Benedictine monastery in St. Gall, Switzerland....
built an abbey and gave it the name Abbey of St. Gallen. In 926 Hungarian raiders attacked the abbey and surrounding town. Saint Wiborada
Wiborada
Saint Wiborada of St. Gall was a member of the Swabian nobility in what is present-day Switzerland. She was an anchoress, Benedictine nun, and martyr, as well as the first woman formally canonized by the Vatican. Her vita was written ca...
, the first woman formally canonized by the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, reportedly saw a vision of the pending attack and warned the monks and citizens to flee. While the monks and the abbey treasure escaped, Wiborada chose to stay behind and was killed by the raiders.
About 954 the monastery was surrounded by walls as a protection against the Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s, and the town grew up around these walls. About 1205 the abbot became a prince of the church
Prince of the Church
The term Prince of the Church is nowadays used nearly exclusively for Catholic Cardinals. However the term is historically more important as a generic term for clergymen whose offices hold the secular rank and privilege of a prince or are considered its equivalent...
in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. In 1311 St. Gallen became a Free imperial city
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
. By about 1353 the guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s, headed by the cloth-weavers guild, gained control of the civic government. In 1415 the city bought its liberty from the German king
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
Sigismund
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
.
Freedom from the Abbey
In 1405 the AppenzellAppenzell
Appenzell is a region and historical canton in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen....
estates of the abbot successfully rebelled
Appenzell Wars
The Appenzell Wars were a series of conflicts that lasted from 1401 until 1429 in the Appenzell region of Switzerland. The wars were a successful uprising of cooperative groups, such as the farmers of Appenzell or the craftsmen of the city of St. Gallen, against the traditional medieval power...
and in 1411 they became allies of the Old Swiss Confederation. A few months later the town of St. Gallen also became allies. They joined the "everlasting alliance" as full members of the Confederation in 1454 and in 1457 became completely free from the abbot. However, in 1451 the abbey became an ally of Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
, Schwyz
Schwyz
The town of is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.The Federal Charter of 1291 or Bundesbrief, the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the Bundesbriefmuseum.-History of the toponym:...
and Glarus
Glarus
Glarus is the capital of the Canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Glarus municipality since 1 January 2011 incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern....
who were all members of the Confederation.
One of the earliest mayors of St. Gallen may be among the most colorful, Ulrich Varnbüler. Hans, the father of Ulrich, was prominent in city affairs in St. Gallen, Switzerland, in the early 15th century. Ulrich made his entry into public affairs in the early 1460s and gathered the various offices and honours that are available to a talented and ambitious man. He demonstrated fine qualities as field commander of the St. Gallen troops in the Burgundian Wars
Burgundian Wars
The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a decisive role. Open war broke out in 1474, and in the following years the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the...
.
In the battle of Grandson
Battle of Grandson
The Battle of Grandson, took place on 2 March 1476, was part of the Burgundian Wars, and resulted in a major defeat for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.- Siege of Grandson, February 1476 :...
in 1476 he and his troops were part of the advance units of the Confederation and took part in their famous attack. (A large painting of Ulrich returning triumphantly to a hero's welcome in St. Gallen can still be seen in St. Gallen).
After the war, he often represented St. Gallen at the various parliaments of the Confederation. In December 1480 he was offered the position of mayor for the first time. From that time on he served in several leading city positions and was considered the intellectual and political leader.
According to Vadian, who understood his contemporaries well, "Ulrich was a very intelligent, observant, and eloquent man who enjoyed the trust of the citizenry to a high degree."
His reputation among the Confederates was also substantial. However, in the late 1480s he became involved in a conflict that was to have serious negative consequences for him and for the city of which he was mayor.
His restless ambitions offended the political and material interests of his neighbours. When he arranged for the help of the pope and the emperor to carry out a plan for moving the abbey to Rorschach on 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...
, he encountered stiff resistance from the St. Gallen citizenry, other clerics, and the Appenzell nobility in the Rhine Valley who were concerned for their holdings.
At this point, Varnbüler entered the conflict against the prelate. He wanted to restrict the increase of power of the abbey and simultaneously increase the power of the town that had been restricted in its development.
For this purpose he established contact with farmers and Appenzell residents (led by the fanatical Hermann Schwendiner) who were seeking an opportunity to weaken the abbot.
Initially, he protested to the abbot and the representatives of the four sponsoring Confederate cantons (Zurich, Lucerne, Schwyz, and Glarus) against the construction of the new abbey in Rorschach. Then, on July 28, 1489 he had armed troops from St. Gallen and Appenzell destroy the buildings already under construction.
When the abbot complained to the Confederates about the damages and demanded full compensation, Ulrich responded with a counter suit and in cooperation with Schwendiner rejected the arbitration efforts of the non-partisan Confederates.
He motivated the clerics from Wil
Wil
Wil is the capital of the Wahlkreis of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St...
to Rorschach to discard their loyalty to the abbey and spoke against the abbey at the meeting of the townspeople at Waldkirch, where the popular league was formed.
He was confident that the four sponsoring cantons would not intervene with force, due to the prevailing tensions between the Confederation and the Swabian League
Swabian League
The Swabian League was an association of Imperial States - cities, prelates, principalities and knights - principally in the territory of the Early medieval stem duchy of Swabia, established in 1488 at the behest of Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg and supported as well by Bertold von...
.
He was strengthened in his resolve by the fact that the people of St. Gallen elected him again to be the highest magistrate in 1490.
An Associate of the Confederation
It transpired that Ulrich Varnbüler had made a serious miscalculation. In early 1490 the four cantons decided to carry out their duty to the abbey and to invade the St. Gallen canton with an armed force. The people of Appenzell and the local clerics submitted to this force without noteworthy resistance, while the city of St. Gallen braced itself for a fight to the finish.However, when they learned that their compatriots had given up the fight, they lost confidence; the end result was that they concluded a peace pact that greatly restricted the city's powers and burdened the city with serious penalties and reparation payments.
Ulrich, overwhelmed by the responsibility for his political decisions, panicked in the face of the approaching enemy who wanted him apprehended. His life was in great danger, and he was forced to disguise himself as a messenger and escape from the city.
He made his way to Lindau
Lindau
Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...
and to Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
and the court of King Maximilian
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
. The victors confiscated those of his properties that lay outside of the city of St. Gallen and banned him from the confines of the Confederation.
Ulrich then appealed to the imperial court (as did Schwendiner, who had fled with him) for the return of his property.
The suit had the support of Friedrich II and Maximilian and the trial threatened to drag on for years. It was continued by Ulrich's sons Hans and Ulrich after his death in 1496, and eventually they regained their properties.
However, other political ramifications resulted from the court action, because the Confederation took ownership of the city of St. Gallen and rejected the inroads of the empire.
Thus, the conflict strengthened the relationship between the Confederation and the city of St. Gallen. On the other hand the matter increased the alienation between Switzerland and the German Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, which would eventually mean a total separation as a result of the Swabian War
Swabian War
The Swabian War of 1499 was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg...
.
Despite the unpropitious end of his career, Varnbüler is immortalized in a famous woodcut by Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution's woodcut collection(q.v.).
Of Varnbüler's sons, the elder (Hans/Johann) became the mayor of Lindau
Lindau
Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...
. He is the patriarch of the Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
and Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
Varnbülers.
Reformation
Starting in 1526 then-mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
Joachim von Watt (Vadian) introduced the reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
into the city of St. Gallen. The town converted to the new reformed religion while the Abbey remained Roman Catholic.
While iconoclastic riots forced the monks to flee the city and removed images from the city's churches, the fortified Abbey remained untouched. The Abbey was to remain a Catholic stronghold in the Protestant city until 1803.
Helvetic Republic and Act of Mediation
In 1798 Napoleon invaded the Old Swiss Confederation destroying the Ancien RégimeEarly Modern Switzerland
The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy , lasting from formal independence in 1648 to the French invasion of 1798 came to be referred as Ancien Régime retrospectively, in post-Napoleonic Switzerland.The early modern period was characterized by an increasingly...
. Under the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
both the abbey and the city lost their power and were combined with Appenzell into the Canton of Säntis
Canton of Säntis
Säntis was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, consisting of the territory of St. Gallen, Appenzell and Rheintal. Its capital was St. Gallen....
.
The Helvetic Republic was widely unpopular in Switzerland and was overthrown a few years later in 1803. Following the Act of Mediation
Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in 1798. After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802,...
the city of St. Gallen became the capital of the Protestant Canton of St. Gallen.
One of the first acts of the new canton was to suppress the abbey. The monks were driven out of the abbey with the last abbot dying in Muri
Muri
Muri, Formerly known as Muri , is a municipality in southeastern Swiss Canton Aargau and is the capital of same district. The present municipality of Muri was created in 1816 from the merging of the four municipalities Langdorf, Egg, Hasli and Wey....
in 1829. In 1846 a rearrangement in the local diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s made St. Gall a separate see, with the abbey church as its cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
and a portion of the monastic buildings being designated the bishop's residence.
Gustav Adolf
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden also Gustav Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until his abdication in 1809. He was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and his queen consort Sophia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain. He was the last Swedish...
, former king of Sweden, spent the last years of his life in St. Gallen, and finally died there in 1837.
St. Gallen as a center of the textile-industry
At the beginning of the 19th century, the first embroidery machines were developed in St. Gallen. In 1910 the embroidery production was the largest export branch (18 percent of the total export value) in Switzerland and more than half of the global production originated in St. Gallen. One fifth of the population in the eastern part of Switzerland lived from the textile industry
Textile industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the production of yarn, and cloth and the subsequent design or manufacture of clothing and their distribution. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry....
. World War I and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
thereafter let the St. Gallen embroidery
St. Gallen Embroidery
St. Gallen embroidery refers to embroidery products from the city and the region of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The region was once the largest and most important export area for embroidery....
fall into a second large crisis.
Only in the 1950s a did a slight recovery start in the textile industry. Nowadays, only a small textile industry had been able to survive in St. Gallen because of high specialization and the production of powerful embroidery machines. St. Gallen embroideries (e.g. by Akris
Akris
Akris is a Swiss fashion label specializing in luxury goods for women , founded by Alice Kriemler-Schoch.-Foundation:...
) are still in great demand from fashion designers in Parisian Haute Couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
.
Education
University of St. Gallen
The University of St. Gallen is a public research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is specialized in the fields of business administration, economics, law, and international affairs. The University of St. Gallen is also known as HSG, which is an abbreviation of its former German...
(HSG). It was ranked as the top business school in Europe by Wirtschaftswoche
WirtschaftsWoche
Wirtschaftswoche is a German weekly business news magazine. “Wirtschaft” means economy and “Woche” is week. For many years, the magazine was published on Thursday, but since March 2006, this has been changed to Monday. The editorial office is at Düsseldorf....
, a weekly German business news magazine, and is highly ranked by several other sources. Recently, HSG has been building a reputation for Executive Education, with its International MBA recognised as one of Europe's leading programmes, and runs a PhD programme. HSG is a focused university that offers degrees in business and management, economics, political science and international relations as well as business law. It is comparatively small, with about 6,500 students enrolled at present, has both EQUIS
Equis
Equis may refer to:*European Quality Improvement System an international system of assessment and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration run by the European Foundation for Management Development....
and AACSB accredited, and is a member of CEMS
CEMS
CEMS may refer to:*Capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry*CEMS - Global Alliance in Management Education*Rochester Area Colleges Center for Excellence in Math and Science*Continuous emissions monitoring system...
(Community of European Management Schools). The university maintains student and faculty exchange programs around the world.
St. Gallen's state school system contains 64 Kindergartens, 21 primary schools and 7 secondary schools and about 6,800 students. In addition to the state system St. Gallen is home to the Institut auf dem Rosenberg — an elite boarding school attracting students from all over the world. The Institut provides an education in English, German and Italian and prepares the students to enter American, British, Swiss, Italian, German and other European university programs.
In St.Gallen about 68.8% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Out of the total population in St. Gallen, , the highest education level completed by 15,035 people (20.7% of the population) was Primary, while 27,465 (37.8%) have completed their secondary education, 10,249 (14.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 2,910 (4.0%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and armed and gorged Or.
Demographics
St. Gallen has a population (as of ) of . , about 27.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, , 2,363 are from GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, 3,691 are from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 7,111 are from ex-Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, 794 are from Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, 1,060 are from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and 4,405 are from another country. Over the last 10 years, the population has grown at a rate of 0.7%. Most of the population speaks German (83.0%), with Italian being second most common (3.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (3.7%). Of the Swiss national languages , 60,297 speak German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, 575 people speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, 2,722 people speak Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, and 147 people speak Romansh.
The age distribution, , in St.Gallen is; 6,742 children or 9.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 7,595 teenagers or 10.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 12,574 people or 17.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 11,735 people or 16.2% are between 30 and 39, 9,535 people or 13.1% are between 40 and 49, and 8,432 people or 11.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 6,461 people or 8.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 5,633 people or 7.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 3,255 people or 4.5% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 655 people or 0.9% who are between 90 and 99, and 9 people or 0.0% who are 100 or more.
there were 16,166 persons (or 22.3% of the population) who were living alone in private dwellings. There were 17,137 (or 23.6%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 27,937 (or 38.5%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 4,533 (or 6.2%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 419 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 475 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 2,296 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 3,663 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
which received 25.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(23.2%), the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
(17.3%) and the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
(15.3%).
Historical population
The historical population is given in the following table:| year | population | Swiss Nationals | % German Speaking German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... |
% Italian Speaking Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... |
% Romansh Speaking | % Protestant Protestantism Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the... |
% Roman Catholic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1411 | ca. 2,300–2,900 | ||||||
| about 1500 | ca. 3,000–4,000 | ||||||
| 1680 | ca. 6,000 | ||||||
| 1766 | ca. 8,350 | ||||||
| 1809 | 8,118 | ||||||
| 1837 | 9,430 | ||||||
| 1850 | 17,858 | 16,529 | 50.4% | 49.3% | |||
| 1870b | 26,398 | 23,805 | 49.8% | 49.9% | |||
| 1888 | 43,296 | 34,168 | 97.5% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 49.0% | 49.7% |
| 1900 | 53,796 | 40,342 | 94.9% | 3.6% | 0.7% | 46.8% | 52.1% |
| 1910 | 75,482 | 50,582 | 88.7% | 9.5% | 0.8% | 43.5% | 54.2% |
| 1930 | 63,947 | 52,679 | 95.9% | 2.5% | 0.8% | 48.5% | 49.0% |
| 1950 | 68,011 | 61,009 | 95.4% | 2.6% | 1.0% | 49.3% | 47.8% |
| 1970 | 80,852 | 66,270 | 86.3% | 8.6% | 0.8% | 42.1% | 55.1% |
| 1990 | 75,237 | 58,300 | 82.4% | 5.6% | 1.1% | 35.1% | 50.8% |
| 2000 | 72,626 | 53,132 | 83.0% | 3.7% | 0.8% | 28.9% | 44.0% |
Economy
, St.Gallen had an unemployment rate of 2.69%. , there were 336 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 95 businesses involved in this sector. 11,227 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 707 businesses in this sector. 48,729 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 4,035 businesses in this sector. the average unemployment rate was 4.5%. There were 4857 businesses in the municipality of which 689 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 4102 were involved in the third. there were 28,399 residents who worked in the municipality, while 8,927 residents worked outside St.Gallen and 31,543 people commuted into the municipality for work.Religion
According to the , 31,978 or 44.0% are Roman Catholic, while 19,578 or 27.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there are 112 individuals (or about 0.15% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
faith, there are 3,253 individuals (or about 4.48% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 1,502 individuals (or about 2.07% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 133 individuals (or about 0.18% of the population) who are Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 4,856 (or about 6.69% of the population) who are Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There are 837 individuals (or about 1.15% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 7,221 (or about 9.94% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 3,156 individuals (or about 4.35% of the population) did not answer the question.
Culture and Sightseeing
Wakker Prize
The Wakker Prize is awarded annually by the Swiss Heritage Society to a Municipality of Switzerland for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage....
for the city's effort to create a unified structure and appearance in current and future construction.
Heritage sites of national significance
There are 28 sites in St. Gallen that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significanceSwiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
. There are four religious buildings in St. Gallen that are on the inventory. Of course, the Abbey of St. Gallen is on the list. Additionally, the former Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
Abbey of St. Katharina, the Reformed Church of St. Laurenzenkirche and the Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of St. Maria Neudorf are also part of the inventory.
There are six museums or archives in the inventory. This includes the Textile museum, the Historical and ethnographical museum, the Cantonal library and city archives, the Art and Natural History museum, the Museum in Lagerhaus and the Cantonal archives. The entire city of St. Gallen is the only archeological heritage site. There are two bridges that are listed as well, the Eisenbahnbrücke BT (railroad bridge) and the Kräzern-Strassenbrücke with a custom house
Custom House
A custom house or customs house was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork for the import and export of goods into and out of a country. Customs officials also collected customs duty on imported goods....
.
There are twelve other sites that are part of the inventory. These include the main train station, main post office, University of St. Gallen, Cantonal School, City Theatre as well as several other buildings. Two towers are part of the dozen sites, the Lokremise with Wasserturm and the Tröckneturm.
Theatre
- In the modern and somewhat extravagant building of the Theater St. GallenTheater St. GallenThe Theater St. Gallen is a performing arts center for opera, musical, ballet, and theatre in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and considered to be the oldest professional theatre in Switzerland....
operas, operettas, ballet, musicals and plays are performed. It has an impressive average utilization of nearly 80 percent. - Since 2006 a series of open air operas have been performed in front of the Cathedral starting around the last weekend of June.
- In the nearby Concert Hall with its grand art nouveauArt NouveauArt Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style all sorts of concerts (classic, symphony, jazz etc.) are given.
Museums
- Historical and ethnographical museum (collections of regional early history, city history, folk art, cultural history as well ethnographical collections from all over the world)
- Art museum (painting and sculptures from the 19th and 20th century)
- St. Gallen art gallery (national and international modern art)
- Natural history museum (natural history collection)
- Museum in the storehouse (Swiss native art and art brutOutsider ArtThe term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
) - Textile museum (historical laces, embroidery and cloth)
- LapidariumLapidariumA lapidarium is a place where stone monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited - stone epigraphs, statues, architectural details like columns, cornices and acroterions, as well as tombstones and sarcophagi....
of the abbeyAbbeyAn abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
(building blocks from 8th to 17th century) - Point Jaune museum (Mail ArtMail artMail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
, Postpostism) - Beer bottle museum (located at the Schützengarten brewery—the oldest brewery in Switzerland)
Music
- The symphony orchestra St. Gallen performs besides its duty at the city theatre numerous symphony concerts in the city concert hall.
- During the summer open air opera and various concerts are performed at numerous locations in town.
- The well known St. Gallen Open Air Festival takes place in the nearby sitter valley the first weekend in July.
- St. Gallen is also home to the Nordklang Festival, which takes place in February.
Buildings
- Drei Weieren (three artificial water basins from the zenith of the textile industry with art nouveau-bath housePublic bathingPublic baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
s; reachable by the Mühleggbahn (train) from 1893). The Drei Weieren is a water park by day and a gathering place for young people by night. This results in many complaints by people who live in the vicinity about noise, drug abuse and vandalism. Locals jokingly call the three basins "Lakes with the most THCTetrahydrocannabinolTetrahydrocannabinol , also known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol , Δ1-THC , or dronabinol, is the main chemical psychoactive substance found in the cannabis plant. It was first isolated in 1964. In pure form, it is a glassy solid when cold, and becomes viscous and sticky if warmed...
in the country". The young people who spend their time there claim that the Drei Weieren is a place where they can spend their time in a consumer-free environment. - Convent of St. Gall with the famous library and abbeyAbbey of St. GallThe 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...
(UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage SiteWorld Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
) - Greek Orthodox Church of St.Constantine and Helena, Athonite icons and a stained glass window of the Last Judgement.
- Bank Wegelin, the oldest bankBankA bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
in Switzerland, founded in 1741 - Tröckneturm Schönenwegen; the tower was built 1828 and was used to hang up freshly colored cloth panels for drying.
- Protestant church Linsebühl, an impressive new renaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
building dating from 1897 - University of St. GallenUniversity of St. GallenThe University of St. Gallen is a public research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is specialized in the fields of business administration, economics, law, and international affairs. The University of St. Gallen is also known as HSG, which is an abbreviation of its former German...
(HSG; University for Business Administration, Economics and Law with an excellent reputation in the German-speaking world), founded 1898. - Embroidery exchange, splendid building with the god of trade HermesHermesHermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
on its roof. - Public bath, the oldest public bath in Switzerland dating from 1908.
- Catholic church of St. Martin in the Bruggen district; the concrete church built in 1936 was at that time glaringly modern.
- 1992 the city of St. Gallen received the Wakker PrizeWakker PrizeThe Wakker Prize is awarded annually by the Swiss Heritage Society to a Municipality of Switzerland for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage....
. - Stadtlounge (City Lounge) – a pedestrian area in the town center designed to represent a lounge room, but in the street.http://www.raiffeisen.ch/raiffeisen/internet/home.nsf/webpagesbytitleD/77608517916387a4c1256bf8002f28b4?opendocument&Bank= German only, pictures are universal though. The Stadtlounge was designed by Pippilotti Rist.
- Synagogue St.Gallen – Built by the architects Chiodera and Tschudy, it is the only synagogue in the Lake Constance region that has been preserved in its original state.
Regular events
- The St. Gallen SymposiumSt. Gallen SymposiumThe St. Gallen Symposium is an annual symposium on the campus of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland which brings together distinguished leaders from business, science, and politics as well as some of the most talented youngsters from around the world...
attracts about 600 personalities from economics, science, politics and society to the University of St. Gallen every year. It hosts the world's largest student essay competition of its kind with about 1,000 participants, of whom the 100 best contributions are selected to participate in the St. Gallen Symposium. The Symposium celebrated its 40th anniversary in May 2010. - OLMA, traditional Swiss Fair for Agriculture and Nutrition in autumn as well as numerous other exhibitions at the OLMA Fairs St. Gallen.
- Openair St. Gallen is an annual open air festival in the Sitter valley.
- Children's Feast, originally a product of the textile industry. It is organized every third year.
- Nordklang Festival takes place in multiple sites around St. Gallen
Sports
- The football team FC St. GallenFC St. GallenFootball Club St. Gallen 1879 is a Swiss football club based in St. Gallen. The club is currently playing in the 2011/12 Swiss Challenge League.-Brief history:...
play in the Swiss Challenge League. It is the oldest football club in Switzerland and second oldest in continental Europe, founded in 1879.
Transportation
A1 (Switzerland)
The A1 is a motorway in Switzerland. It follows Switzerland's main east-west axis, from St. Margrethen in northeastern Switzerland's canton of St. Gallen through to Geneva in southwestern Switzerland...
motorway links St. Gallen with St. Margrethen
St. Margrethen
St. Margrethen is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:...
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Bern and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. In 1987 the city motorway was opened, which conveys the traffic through two tunnels (Rosenberg and Stefanshorn) almost directly below the city center.
St. Gallen has its own small airport Airport St. Gallen-Altenrhein
St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport
St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport is an airport at Altenrhein in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland .-Airlines and destinations:-External links:*http://www.peoples.ch/...
near Lake of Constance, with regular flights to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and other destinations.
St. Gallen is closely tied to the national Swiss Federal Railways network and has InterCity
InterCity
InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe...
connections to Zurich and the Zurich International Airport
Zürich International Airport
Zurich Airport also called Kloten Airport, is located in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, and managed by Flughafen Zürich AG. It is Switzerland's largest international flight gateway and hub to Swiss International Air Lines. It is partially in Kloten, Rümlang, Oberglatt, Winkel and Opfikon...
every half an hour. St. Gallen is the hub for many private railways such as the Südostbahn
Südostbahn
The Südostbahn – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a railway company and network in Switzerland.- Structure :...
(SOB), connecting St. Gallen with Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
, the Appenzeller Bahnen with connections to Appenzell and the Trogenerbahn to Trogen
Trogen
Trogen is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. The town is the seat of the canton's judicial authorities.-History:...
, which also serves as a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
in downtown.
The town has a dense local bus transportation system operated by the VBSG, which is well established on the valley floor and less on the hills. As St. Gallen is located near the Appenzell mountain area, it offers also many Postauto (post bus) connections. The agglomeration also has its own S-Bahn System (overground local trains).
The large urban area Zurich is about 80 km south-west of St. Gallen and is reachable by car in about 50–90 minutes depending on traffic and by ICN train in 65 minutes.
Weather
St. Gallen has an average of 144 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1248 mm (49.1 in) of precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
. The wettest month is August during which time St.Gallen receives an average of 155 mm (6.1 in) of rain. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.5 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 14.3, but with only 134 mm (5.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 64 mm (2.5 in) of precipitation over 13.5 days.
Radioactivity in St. Gallen
St. Gallen is notable for reporting the highest maximum radioactivity measurements of any Swiss city, as published in the 2009 yearly report by BAG (Bundesamt für Gesundheit), the Swiss Federal Health Office. While the daily average level of gamma-ray radioactivity in the city is unremarkable at 105 nSv/h, the maximum can reach 195 nSv/h, as high as the average for JungfraujochJungfraujoch
The Jungfraujoch is a col or saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, inside the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area....
, the location with the highest reported level of radioactivity in Switzerland, due to its high elevation and therefore greater exposure to cosmic rays. The same report explains that the unusually high spikes of radioactivity measured in St. Gallen are due to radioactive products of radon
Radon
Radon is a chemical element with symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, occurring naturally as the decay product of uranium or thorium. Its most stable isotope, 222Rn, has a half-life of 3.8 days...
gas being washed to the ground during heavy rain or storms, but does not explain where the sufficient quantities of radon gas and its products to account for the anomaly would come from. The yearly report for 2009 on risks associated with radon published by the same governmental agency shows St. Gallen to lie in an area of the lowest level of radon exposure. In addition to the measured gamma-radiation, the city may be subject to radioactive Tritium
Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...
pollution in Teufen
Teufen AR
Teufen is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland.-History:Teufen was first mentioned in 1272. By 1300 the place consisted of only five farms. In 1525 the assembly ruled that each parish could decide whether or not to remain Catholic...
, a satellite town situated 4 km south of the city in the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes (this pollution is also covered in the report).
Newspaper articles
Auf Pantoffeln in goldene Zeiten in St. Galler TagblattSt. Galler Tagblatt
St. Galler Tagblatt, short Tagblatt, is a regional newspaper, published in St. Gallen, Switzerland . The German-language daily has a circulation of 101'732 ....