St. Gallen is a Swiss city and the capital of the canton of St. Gallen. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration (with around 167,000 inhabitants in 2019) and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. Its economy consists mainly of the service sector. The city is home to the University of St. Gallen, one of the best business schools in Europe.
The main tourist attraction is the Abbey of Saint Gall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Abbey's renowned library contains books from the 9th century. The official language of St. Gallen is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of Alemannic Swiss German. 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 Appenzellerland.
History
thumb|240px|[[St. Gallen Cathedral|The Abbey Cathedral of Saint Gall]]
Early history
The town of St. Gallen grew around the Abbey of St Gall, built in the 8th century. The abbey is said to have been built at the site of the hermitage of Irish missionary Gallus, who according to legend had established himself by the river Steinach in AD 612. The monastery itself was founded by Saint Othmar in . reportedly saw a vision of the impending 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. Between 924 and 933 the Magyars again threatened the abbey, and its books were removed for safekeeping to Reichenau. Not all the books were returned.
On 26 April 937, a fire consumed much of the abbey, spreading to the adjoining settlement. However, the library was spared. About 954 a protective wall was raised around the abbey. By 975, Abbot Notker finished the wall, and the adjoining settlement began growing into the town of St. Gall. The abbey would remain a Catholic stronghold in the Protestant city until 1803.
Modern history
In 1798 the French invaded Switzerland, destroying the Ancien Régime. 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 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. In 1846 a rearrangement in the local dioceses made St. Gall a separate diocese, with the abbey church as its cathedral and a portion of the monastic buildings designated the bishop's residence.
Gustav Adolf IV, former king of Sweden, spent the last years of his life in St. Gallen, and died there in 1837.
thumb|A view of St. Gallen ca. 1900 by [[Spelterini ]]
thumb|Aerial view by [[Walter Mittelholzer (1919)]]
In the 15th century, St. Gallen became known for producing quality textiles. In 1714, the zenith was reached with a yearly production of 38,000 pieces of cloth. The first depression occurred in the middle of the 18th century, caused by strong foreign competition and reforms in methods of cotton production. But St. Gallen recovered and an even more prosperous era arrived.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the first embroidery machines were developed in St. Gallen. In 1910 the embroidery production constituted the largest export branch (18% of the total export value) in Switzerland and more than half of the worldwide production of embroidery originated in St. Gallen. One fifth of the population of the eastern part of Switzerland was involved with the textile industry. However, World War I and the Great Depression caused another severe crisis for St. Gallen embroidery. Only in the 1950s did the textile industry recover somewhat. Nowadays, because of competition and the prevalence of computer-operated embroidery machines, only a reduced textile industry has survived in St. Gallen; but its embroidered textiles are still popular with Parisian haute couture designers.
Geography and climate
Topography
St. Gallen is situated in the northeastern part of Switzerland in a valley about above sea level. It is one of the highest cities in Switzerland and thus receives abundant winter snow. The city lies between Lake Constance and the mountains of the Appenzell Alps (with the Säntis as the highest peak at ). It therefore offers excellent recreation areas nearby.
As the city center is built on an unstable turf ground (its founder Gallus was looking for a site for a hermitage, not for 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 . Of this area, 27.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 42.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.9%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).
Climate
St. Gallen has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with short, warm summers and long, moderately cold winters. Precipitation is very high year round. St. Gallen has a very cloudy climate.
Between 1981 and 2010 St. Gallen had an average of 141 days of rain or snow per year and on average received of precipitation. The wettest month was July during which time St. Gallen received an average of of rain. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 13.8 days. The months with the most days of precipitation were May, June and July. The driest month of the year was February with an average of of precipitation over 9.1 days.
Radioactivity
St. Gallen is notable for reporting the highest maximum radioactivity measurements of any Swiss city, as published in the 2009 yearly report by the Federal Office of Public Health. 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 Jungfraujoch, 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 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).
Politics
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and armed and gorged Or.
Subdivisions
Government
The City Council (Stadtrat) constitutes the executive government of the City of St. Gallen and operates as a collegiate authority. It is composed of five councilors (), each presiding over a directorate. The president of the presidential directorate acts as mayor (Stadtpräsident). In the mandate period 2017–2020 (Legislatur) the City Council is presided by Stadtpräsidentin Maria Pappa. Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the City Parliament are carried by the City Council. The regular election of the City Council by any inhabitant valid to vote is held every four years. Any resident of St. Gallen allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Council. The current mandate period is from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2024. The mayor is elected as such by public election by means of a system of Majorz, while the heads of the other directorates are assigned by the collegiate. The delegates are elected by means of a system of Majorz.
, St. Gallen's City Council is made up of two representatives of the SP (Social Democratic Party) of which one is the mayor, one member of the FDP (FDP.The Liberals), one of the GLP (Green Liberal Party), and one independent. The last regular election was held on 27 September 2020. || SP || Home Secretary and Finances (Direktion Inneres und Finanzen, 2021) || 2016
|-
| Dr. Sonja Lüthi || glp || Social Services and Security (Direktion Soziales und Sicherheit, 2017) || Nov 2017
|-
| Markus Buschor || independent || Civil Engineering and Construction and Planning (Direktion Bau und Planung, 2021) || 2012
|-
| Peter Jans || SP || Industrial Facilities (Direktion Technische Betriebe, 2015) || 2014
|-
| Mathis Gabathuler || FDP || Education and Spare Time (Direktion Bildung und Freizeit, 2021) || 2020
|}
Manfred Linke is City Chancellor (Stadtschreiber) since for the City Chancellary.
Parliament
The City Parliament (Stadtparlament) holds legislative power. It is made up of 63 members, with elections held every four years. The City Parliament decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by the City Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of proportional representation (Proporz).
The sessions of the City Parliament are public. Unlike members of the City Council, members of the City Parliament are not politicians by profession, and they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of St. Gallen allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Parliament. The parliament holds its meetings in the Waaghaus once a week on Tuesdays.
The last regular election of the City Parliament was held on 27 September 2020 for the mandate period () from January 2021 to December 2024. Currently the City Parliament consists of 17 members of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS) and one of its junior section, the JUSO, 11 The Liberals (FDP/PLR), 8 Green Liberal Party (GLP/PVL), 8 Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), 8 Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), 7 Green Party (GPS/PES) and 1 of its junior section, the JungeGr, one representative of the Evangelical People's Party (EVP), and one member of the Politische Frauengruppe (PFG) (Political Women Group). In the federal election a total of 18,821 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.9%.
In the 2015 election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the SPS which received 28.1% of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the SVP (21.1%), the FDP (14.3%), the CVP (12.2%), the GPS (9.2%), and the GLP (6.6%). In the federal election, a total of 20,768 voters were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.0%.
International relations
St. Gallen is twinned with:
{| class="wikitable"
|- valign="top"
|
- Liberec, Czech Republic
|}
Demographics
Population
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+Largest groups of foreign residents (2019)
|-
! scope="col" | Nationality
! scope="col" | Numbers
|-
|||| 4,979
|-
|| || 2,713
|-
|||| 1,935
|-
|||| 1,339
|-
|||| 1,163
|-
|||| 1,144
|-
|||| 995
|-
|||| 894
|-
|||| 725
|-
|||| 707
|}
St. Gallen has a population (as of ) of . , about 31.4% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. The population has grown at 4.4% per year. 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.
there were 16,166 people (22.3%) who were living alone in private dwellings; 17,137 (or 23.6%) 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. 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.
Helvetia Insurance is a major company headquartered in St. Gallen.
Religion
According to the , 31,978 or 44.0% are Roman Catholic, while 19,578 or 27.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. 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 Muslim. 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. 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. The Master in Management course was Ranked number 1 in 2014 by The Financial Times ahead of HEC Paris. It is comparatively small, with about 6,500 students enrolled at present, has both EQUIS and AACSB accreditations, and is a member of CEMS (Community of European Management Schools). The university maintains student and faculty exchange programs around the world. The University of St. Gallen is also famous for its high density of clubs. Particularly well known is the International Students' Committee, which has organised the St. Gallen Symposium for over forty years. The St. Gallen Symposium is the leading student-run economic conference of its kind worldwide and aims to foster the dialogue between generations.
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 élite 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 programmes.
The canton's Gewerbliches Berufs- und Weiterbildungszentrum is the largest occupational school in Switzerland with over 10,000 students and various specialty institutes. One for example, the GBS Schule für Gestaltung teaches students design fundamentals in the practice of graphic design. The school is located in Riethüsli, a small section of the city of St. Gallen.
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). This resulted in numerous heritage sites of national significance.
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.
Heritage sites of national significance
There are 28 sites in St. Gallen that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance, including four religious buildings; the Abbey of St. Gallen, the former Dominican Abbey of St. Katharina, the Reformed Church of St. Laurenzenkirche and the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Maria Neudorf.
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 St. Gallen State Archive. The entire city of St. Gallen is the only archeological heritage site. Two bridges are listed, the Eisenbahnbrücke BT (railroad bridge) and the Kräzern-Strassenbrücke with a custom house.
The twelve other sites include the main train station, main post office, University of St. Gallen, Cantonal School, City Theatre and two towers; the Lokremise with Wasserturm and the Tröckneturm.
Theatre
- In the modern and somewhat extravagant building of the Theater St. Gallen operas, operettas, ballet, musicals and plays are performed. It has an 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, Tonhalle St. Gallen, with its grand Art Nouveau style, all sorts of concerts (classic, symphony, jazz etc.) are given.
===Museums===<!-- This section is linked from List of 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 brut)
- Textile museum (historical laces, embroidery and cloth)
- Lapidarium of the abbey (building blocks from 8th to 17th century)
- Point Jaune museum (Mail Art, Postpostism, 'Pataphysics)
- Beer bottle museum (located at the Schützengarten brewery—the oldest brewery in Switzerland)
Music
- The symphony orchestra St. Gallen performs as the Orchestra of the City Theatre, presents numerous symphony concerts in the City Concert Hall.
- During the summer open-air opera and various concerts are performed at numerous locations in town.
- 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.
- The city has 111 oriels.
Parks
- City park at the theater
- Cantonal school park
Regular events
- The St. Gallen Symposium 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.
- , traditional Swiss Fair for Agriculture and Nutrition in autumn as well as numerous other exhibitions at the OLMA Fairs St. Gallen. The St. Galler Bratwurst is served there as a staple.
- OpenAir St. Gallen is an annual open air festival in the Sitter Valley.
- Children's Feast, a triennial observance, originally a product of the textile industry.
- Nordklang Festival takes place in multiple sites around St. Gallen.
Sport
thumb|[[Kybunpark, home stadium of FC St. Gallen]]
- The football club FC St. Gallen play in the Swiss Super League. They are the oldest football club in Switzerland and oldest in continental Europe, founded in 1879. Their stadium is the kybunpark.
- The football club SC Brühl play in the Promotion League. Their stadium is the Paul-Grüninger-Stadion.
- EHC St. Gallen plays in the Swiss Second League, the fourth tier of Swiss ice hockey.
- The Rugby Club St. Gallen Bishops (Men) was founded in 1990 and Cindies (Women) in 2014. They play at the Grundenmoos sports fields.
- TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen play in the Swiss Handball League and has won multiple Swiss championships
Transportation
The large urban area of Zurich is south-west of St. Gallen, a 60-minute drive or train ride (IC train).
Rail
thumb|[[Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway|Trogen railway running tramway-like on St. Gallen roads]]
St. Gallen railway station, the city's main railway station, is part of the national Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) network and has InterCity (IC) connections to and Zurich Airport every half-hour, in addition to EuroCity (EC) trains to Zürich HB and , via , InterRegio (IR) trains to Zürich HB and , and RegioExpress (RE) trains to .
Apart from SBB and its subsidiary Thurbo, St. Gallen is also the hub for two private railway companies. The Südostbahn (SOB) connects, among others, St. Gallen with Rapperswil and Lucerne (Voralpen-Express, an InterRegio). The Appenzell Railways (AB), which operates the Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway, connects St. Gallen with Appenzell and Trogen, and also serves as a tram in downtown St. Gallen. St. Gallen has its own S-Bahn network, the St. Gallen S-Bahn, which partly overlaps with the trinational Bodensee S-Bahn around Lake Constance (), connecting St. Gallen with municipalities in Eastern Switzerland and some destinations in Austria and Germany.
In total, there are 13 railway stations in the municipality of St. Gallen (fare zone 210 of the ), most of which are only served by regional S-Bahn trains only:
There is also a funicular, the Mühleggbahn, from St. Gallen to St. Georgen.
Bus
thumb|St. Gallen bus network (as of 2025)
The city has a dense local bus system,