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History of Sankt Gallen


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Founding of the city

The founding of St. Gallen is attributed to the Irish monk Gallus (ca 550�620 or 640), who built a hermitage by the river Steinachin 612 CE.

 Founding of the Abbey of St. Gall

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 formallycanonized 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.

 Freedom from the Abbey

In 1405 the Appenzell 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 an ally. 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 Varnb�ler. 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
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