The best city hikes and walks in Eastern Switzerland

The Kunstmuseum St. Gallen houses a rich collection of paintings and sculptures from the late Middle Ages to the present day. The collection focuses on 17th-century Dutch painting, 19th-century art from Switzerland, Germany and France, Appenzell peasant painting and international modern art. The current museum building was opened in 1877.

The Dreisparten-Theater St. Gallen (opera, operetta, musical, drama, children's theater and dance) is considered the oldest existing professional theater in Switzerland. An initial amateur theater emerged here as early as the Middle Ages around the year 900; the driving forces were the monks Tutilo and Notker Balbulus. Because the dominant church in the monastery town was opposed to the theater, no regular theater operations could gain a foothold until the beginning of the 19th century. A permanent theater was not established until 1801. The new theater building by Claude Paillard was inaugurated in 1968. The consistently implemented architectural basic idea is the regular hexagon and thus the 120-degree angle. From 2020 to 2023, the theater building was completely renovated for 48.6 million Swiss francs (a good 53 million euros). Since 2000, the Symphony Orchestra St. Gallen and the former Stadttheater St. Gallen have been operating under "Konzert und Theater St. Gallen".

The low row of houses in Zeughausgasse has a special charm. Its cozy atmosphere is enchanting.

Since 1983, the Collegiate Church and Cathedral of St. Gallen (actually Collegiate Church of St. Gallus and Otmar) and the entire Abbey District have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The baroque new building of the Benedictine monastery church, built between 1755 and 1766, stands where Saint Gallus is said to be buried. From 720 onwards, Abbot Otmar organised the construction work around the crypt, and his successor Gozbert began the construction of the new monastery church from 820 onwards. The construction of the Collegiate Church in its present form - it is one of the last monumental sacred buildings of the late Baroque period - was planned by Gabriel Loser and Johann Caspar Bagnato. Its two 68-metre-high towers tower above the old town of St. Gallen.

The legend of the Griffin, a fearsome mythical creature, inspired Willy Koch's mural from 1943 on this old town house. According to ancient legend, the Griffin guards the hidden gold of the mountains. In Koch's painting, the giant bird clutches the treasures with its claws. Anyone who snatches a piece of it will meet certain death - as in the picture the greedy grabber, the flattering beauty, the king and the queen. Quite different are the people who do not grab their happiness, but work for it and beg for it: the monk, the peasants, the shepherds, who are depicted on the right side.

The two-story bay window on the "Haus zum Pelikan" dates from 1708. The house name "Zum Pelikan" was first mentioned in a document in 1733. The four-story building is now used as a café and residential building. The copper roof is crowned by a golden pelican. He tears open his chest to soak his three young with blood. His nest is formed from a crown of thorns. The bird symbolizes "self-sacrificing charity", the crown of thorns the suffering of Christ.

The Marktgasse was the political center of the old city republic of St. Gallen. From 1369 to 1877, the town hall stood here, where the Vadian monument is today. From here, the city was governed, and justice was administered and proclaimed. The population, or rather its male part, also gathered in front of the town hall during unusual events.

Cathedral, St. Gallen Several earlier structures preceded the monumental church. Originally, the chapel of Saint Gallus stood on this site, where the saint was buried around 640. Later buildings incorporated Gallus's tomb. Around 720 (the founding of the monastery), a stone church was built. By the 9th century, the church had already reached its present length. In the 15th century, a new choir in the Gothic style was constructed. In 1756, the monks embarked on the final phase of the church's reconstruction, which was completed in 1766. The renowned architect Johann Kaspar Bagnato played a significant role in the design, while Johann Michael Beer oversaw the construction. The patrons were Abbots Cölestin Gugger von Staudach and Beda Angehrn. After the dissolution of the monastery, the church became a cathedral (bishop's church) in 1824. The church underwent interior renovations from 1961 to 1967 and exterior renovations from 2000 to 2003. The church has an elongated, rectangular floor plan. Within this plan, a rotunda (round structure) is inserted, resembling a transept. On the eastern end, the striking twin-tower facade rises as a dominant feature, the emblem of the Diocese, City, and Canton of St. Gallen. The facade's sculptural decoration includes figures of Saints Maurice and Desiderius and a relief depicting the Coronation of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Trinity. The interior of the church is a three-aisled, free-pillared structure with a central dome (rotunda). High-quality stucco work, vault paintings, altars, and the choir stalls are among the highlights of the interior. The concept of harmoniously coordinated art forms is the work of Christian Wentzinger, sculptor and painter. Text / Source: City of St. Gallen, Town Hall, 9001 St. Gallen https://www.stadt.sg.ch/home/freizeit-tourismus/stgallen-entdecken/stiftsbezirk-unesco-weltkulturerbe.html