ST. GALLEN (Fr. ST. GALL), capital of the Swiss canton of that name, is situated in the upland valley of the Steinach, 2,195 ft. above the sea-level. In 1930 its population was of whom almost all were German-speaking, while the Protestants numbered 31,043, the Catholics (Roman or "Old"), 31,361, and the Jews, 628. In 192o the population was 70,437, and in 1910 was 75,482.
St. Gallen owes its origin to St. Gall, an Irish hermit, who in 614, built his cell in the forest which then covered the site, and lived there till his death in 64o. About the middle of the 8th cen tury the collection of hermits' dwellings was transformed into a regularly organized Benedictine monastery. For the next three centuries this was one of the chief seats of learning and education in Europe. About 954 the monastery and its buildings were sur rounded by walls as a protection against the Saracens, and this was the origin of the town.
In 1311 St. Gallen became a free imperial city, and about 53 the gilds, headed by that of the cloth-weavers, obtained the control of the civic government, while in 1415 it bought its liberty from the German king Sigismund. This growing inde pendence did not please the abbots, who had been made princes of the Empire in 1204, and there followed a long struggle between them and their rebellious subjects of St. Gallen and Appenzell. In 1411 the Appenzellers became "allies" of the Swiss con federation, as did the town of St. Gallen a few months later, this connection becoming an "everlasting" alliance in 1454, while in 1457 the town was finally freed from the abbot. After further
conflicts, the abbot in 1490 concluded an alliance with the Swiss which reduced his position almost to that of a "subject district." The townsmen adopted the Reformation in 1524, and this new cause of difference further envenomed their relations with the abbots. Both abbot and town were admitted regularly to the Swiss diet, but neither succeeded in its attempts to be received a full member of the Confederation. In 1798 and finally in 18o5 the abbey was secularized, while out of part of its dominions and those of the town the canton Santis (now St. Gall) was formed, with St. Gallen as capital.
St. Gallen is by rail 9 m. S.W. of Rorschach, its port on the lake of Constance, and 53 m. E. of Zurich. The older or central portion of the town retains the air of a small rural capital, but the newer quarters present the aspect of a modern commercial centre. Its chief building is the abbey church of the celebrated old monastery (dating in its present form from 1756-1765). It has been a cathedral church (Catholic) since 1846. The famous library is housed in the former palace of the abbot, and is one of the most renowned in Europe by reason of its rich treasures of early mss. and printed books. Other portions of the monastic buildings are used as the offices of the cantonal authorities, and contain the extensive archives both of this monastery and of that of Pfalers.
See Dict. geogr. de la Suisse, vol. iv. (1906).