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 (with around 160,000 inhabitants) and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on services 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 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.
St. Gallen is situated in the northeastern part of Switzerland in a valley around 700 meters (2,300 ft) above sea level. It is one of the highest cities in Switzerland and it often receives a lot of snow in winter. The town is nicely situated between Lake Constance and the mountains of the Appenzell Alps (with the Säntis as the highest peak at 2,502 meters (8,209 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.
Around 720, one hundred years after Gallus’s death, the Alemannian priest Othmar 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 Saracens, 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 guilds, headed by the cloth-weavers guild, gained control of the civic government. In 1415 the city bought its liberty from the German King Sigismund.
There are 28 sites in St. Gallen that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. 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 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. Several more sights, theatres, museums, parks and historical buildings are located within the city. 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.
