View source for Abbey of Saint Gall

{{Infobox church
| name                 = Cathedral of St Gall
| full_name            = The Cathedral of Saint Gall
| native_name          = Kathedrale St. Gallen
| native_name_lang     = German
| image                = StGallen asv2022-10 Fürstabtei img1.jpg
| caption              = View of the former abbey
| coordinates          = {{coord|47|25|23|N|9|22|38|E|region:CH-SG|display=inline,title}}
| location             = [[St. Gallen]]
| country              = [[Switzerland]]
| denomination         = [[Catholic]]
| website              = [http://www.kath-stgallen.ch Website of the Cathedral]
| founded              = 8th century
| status               = Active
| functional_status    = Cathedral
| heritage_designation = UNESCO World Heritage Site
| style                = [[Baroque]]
| diocese              = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Gallen]]
| bishop               = Markus Büchel
| embedded             =
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child=yes
  |ID=268
  |Year=1983
  |Criteria=Cultural: ii, iv
}}
}}

[[File:StGallen asv2022-10 Blick von StLaurenzen img3.jpg|thumb|[[St. Gallen Cathedral|Abbey Cathedral of St. Gall]]]]
The '''Abbey of Saint Gall''' ({{langx|de|'''Abtei St. Gallen'''}}) is a dissolved [[abbey]] (747–1805) in a [[Catholic]] religious complex in the city of [[St. Gallen]] in [[Switzerland]]. The [[Carolingian Renaissance|Carolingian-era]] monastery existed from 719, founded by [[Saint Othmar]] on the spot where [[Saint Gall]] had erected his [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]]. It became an independent [[principality]] between 9th and 13th centuries, and was for many centuries one of the chief [[Benedictine]] abbeys in Europe. The [[Abbey library of Saint Gall|library of the Abbey]] is one of the oldest monastic libraries in the world.<ref name="Codices">{{cite web| url = http://www.cesg.unifr.ch/en/description.htm| title = Codices Electronici Sangallenses-Description| access-date = 2008-04-23| archive-date = 2017-07-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170702172747/http://www.cesg.unifr.ch/en/description.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref>

The city of St. Gallen originated as an adjoining settlement of the abbey. The abbey was secularized around 1800, and in 1848 its former church became [[St. Gallen Cathedral]], the seat of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Gallen|Diocese of Saint Gallen]]. Since 1983 the abbey precinct has been a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]].

==History==

===Foundation===
Around 612 [[Saint Gall|Gallus]], according to tradition, an [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Irish monk]] and disciple and companion of Saint [[Columbanus]], established a hermitage on the site that would become the monastery. He lived in his cell until his death in 646, and was buried there<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia">{{Cite CE1913 |first=Cyprian |last=Alston |wstitle=Abbey of St. Gall |volume=6 }}</ref> in [[Arbon]] (Canton of Thurgau).<ref name=HDS>{{HDS|8394|Saint Gall (Princely Abbey)}}</ref> Afterwards, the people venerated him as a saint and prayed at his tomb for his [[Intercession of saints|intercession]] in times of danger.<ref name=HDS/>

Following Gallus' death, his disciples remained living together in his cell and followed the rule of St. Columban, which combined prayer, work of the hands, reading, and teaching.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |author=Butler, Alban |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/71811056 |title=Vies des pères, des martyrs, et des autres principaux saints : tirées des actes originaux et des monumens les plus authentiques, avec des notes historiques et critiques |date=1808 |publisher=Chez Broulhiet, éditeur, rue Saint-Rome |pages=261–65 |oclc=71811056}}</ref> They aided and taught virtue to the many pilgrims who came to St. Gall's tomb.<ref name=":0" /> [[Magnus of Füssen|St. Magnus]] was the first successor of St. Gallen, but he soon left on a mission to [[Allgäu]], Swabia.<ref name=":0" /> His successors were the deacon Stephen and the priest Magulfe, under whom the news of St. Gallen's miracles spread throughout most of Germany.<ref name=":0" />

Several different dates are given for the foundation of the monastery, including 719,<ref name="HDS" /> 720,<ref>{{cite web |title=Sankt Gallen |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/522559/Sankt-Gallen |access-date=2015-01-25 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica online}}</ref> 747<ref name="WHL268">{{cite web |date=1983 |title=Abbey of St Gall |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/268 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509200414/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/268 |archive-date=2017-05-09 |access-date=2015-01-26 |work=World Heritage List |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO |number=268}}</ref> and the middle of the 8th century.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|first=William Augustus Brevoort|last=Coolidge|author-link=W. A. B. Coolidge|wstitle=St Gall (town)|display=St Gall|volume=24|page=4}}</ref> A gentleman and judge of Thurgau, Waltraf (possibly, Waltram or Gaudran), in order to use the alms and collections that were being given at St. Gall's tomb to found a more regular monastery, attracted a local [[Alamannia|Alemannic]] pastor [[Saint Othmar|Otmar]].<ref name=":0" /> Waltraf went to see [[Charles Martel]], gave him the property of the hermitage, and asked him to give the administration of it to [[Saint Othmar|Otmar]].<ref name=":0" /> Charles agreed and sent Otmar the finances to build a monastery. After the death of Charles Martel, his son [[Pepin the Short|Pepin]] continued to support them. On the recommendation of his brother [[Carloman of Bavaria|Carloman]], who had visited this monastery on his way to Italy, Pepin gave the monastery privileges, letters of protection, and an assured income. Pepin placed the [[Rule of Saint Benedict|rule of St. Benedict]] in the hands of St. Otmar (to be substituted for that of St. Columban).<ref name=":0" />

Otmar (or Othmar) is named as the founder and the first abbot of the Abbey of St. Gall.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=De Rijk |first=L.M. |date=1963 |title=On the Curri cul um of the Arts of the Trivium at St. Gall from c. 850-c. 1000 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853463x00036 |journal=Vivarium |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=35–86 |doi=10.1163/156853463x00036 |issn=0042-7543|url-access=subscription }}</ref> During his abbacy the St. Gall School was founded.<ref name=":1" /> Otmar extended St. Gall's original hermit cell and adopted the [[Carolingian architecture|Carolingian style]] for his building projects.  The abbey grew quickly; many [[Alemanni]]c noblemen entered to become monks and arts, letters and sciences flourished. The register of monastic professions, at the end of abbot Otmar's rule makes mentions of 53 names. Two monks of the Abbey of St Gall, [[Magnus of Füssen]] and Theodor, founded the monasteries in [[Kempten]] and [[Füssen]] in the [[Allgäu]]. With the growth in the number of monks the abbey also grew economically stronger. Much land in [[Thurgau]], Zürichgau and in the rest of Alemannia as far as the [[Neckar]] was donated to the abbey by means of ''[[Stift]]ungen''.<ref name="HDS" /> Under abbot [[Waldo of Reichenau]] (740–814) copying of manuscripts was undertaken and a famous library was gathered.  Numerous [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] and [[Ireland|Irish]] monks came to copy manuscripts. At [[Charlemagne]]'s request Pope [[Adrian I]] sent distinguished cantors from Rome, who instructed the monks in the use of the [[Gregorian chant]]. In 744, the Alemannic nobleman Beata sold several properties to the abbey in order to finance his journey to Rome.<ref name="Zeittafel">{{cite web |url=http://www.sg.ch/home/kultur/stiftsarchiv/geschichte/abtei_st_gallen/_jcr_content/RightPar/downloadlist/DownloadListParTeaser/download.ocFile/Abtei_StGallen_Zeittafel.pdf |title=Zeittafel zur Geschichte der Abtei St.Gallen |trans-title=History chronology about the Abbey of St Gall |publisher=Staatskanzlei St. Gallen |language=de |access-date=2015-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101007/http://www.sg.ch/home/kultur/stiftsarchiv/geschichte/abtei_st_gallen/_jcr_content/RightPar/downloadlist/DownloadListParTeaser/download.ocFile/Abtei_StGallen_Zeittafel.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status = dead}}</ref>

===Golden Age===

In the subsequent century, St. Gall came into conflict with the nearby [[Diocese of Constance|Bishopric of Constance]] which had recently acquired jurisdiction over the [[Abbey of Reichenau]] on [[Lake Constance]]. It was not until Emperor [[Louis the Pious]] (ruled 814–840) confirmed in 813 the [[imperial immediacy]] (''Reichsunmittelbarkeit'') of the abbey, that this conflict ceased.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> The abbey became an Imperial Abbey (''Reichsabtei''). King [[Louis the German]] confirmed in 833 the immunity of the abbey and allowed the monks the free choice of their abbot.<ref name=Zeittafel/> In 854 finally, the Abbey of St Gall reached its full autonomy by King Louis the German releasing the abbey from the obligation to pay tithes to the Bishop of Constance.

From this time until the 10th century, the abbey flourished. It was home to several famous scholars, including [[Notker of Liège]], [[Notker the Stammerer]], [[Notker Labeo]], [[Tuotilo]] and Hartker (who developed the [[Antiphonary#History|antiphonal]] liturgical books for the abbey). During the 9th century a new, larger church was built and the library was expanded. Manuscripts on a wide variety of topics were purchased by the abbey and copies were made. Over 400 manuscripts from this time have survived and are still in the library today.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/>

===Silver Age===

Between 924 and 933 [[Hungarian invasions of Europe|the Magyars threatened]] the abbey and the books had to be removed to [[Reichenau Island|Reichenau]] for safety. Not all the books were returned.

On 26 April 937 a fire broke out and destroyed much of the abbey and the adjoining settlement, though the library was undamaged.<ref name=Zeittafel/> About 954 they started to protect the monastery and buildings by a surrounding wall.<ref name=EB1911/> Around 971/974 abbot [[Notker (abbot of Saint Gall)|Notker]] (about whom almost nothing is known; nephew of [[Notker Physicus]]) finalized the walling and the adjoining settlements started to become the town of St&nbsp;Gall.<ref name=Zeittafel/> In 1006, the abbey was the northernmost place where a sighting of [[SN 1006|the 1006 supernova]] was recorded.

The death of abbot [[Ulrich II of Saint Gall|Ulrich II]] on 9 December 1076 terminated the cultural silver age of the monastery.<ref name=Zeittafel/>

===Under the Prince-Abbots===

[[File:Fuerstabtei St Gallen.png|thumb|The territories of the Abbey of St. Gall from the mid-15th century to 1798]]

In 1207, abbot Ulrich von Sax was raised to the rank of Prince (''Reichsfürst'', or simply ''Fürst'') of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] by King [[Philip of Germany]]. The abbey became a Princely Abbey (''Reichsabtei''). As the abbey became more involved in local politics, it entered a period of decline.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> 
The city of [[St. Gallen]] proper progressively freed itself from the rule of the abbot, acquiring [[Imperial immediacy]], and by the late 15th century was recognized as a [[Free imperial city]].<ref>{{HDS|8394|St. Gallen}}</ref>
By about 1353 the [[medieval guilds|guilds]], headed by the cloth-weavers guild, gained control of the civic government. In 1415 the city bought its liberty from the [[Kingdom of Germany|German]] king [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]].<ref name=EB1911/>
During the 14th century [[Humanism|Humanists]]<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> were allowed to carry off some of the rare texts from the abbey library.

In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the farmers of the abbot's personal estates (known as ''[[Appenzell]]'', from {{langx|la|abbatis cella}} meaning "cell (i.e. estate) of the abbot") began seeking independence. In 1401, the first of the [[Appenzell Wars]] broke out, and following the Appenzell victory at [[Stoss Pass|Stoss]] in 1405 they became allies of the Swiss Confederation in 1411. During the Appenzell Wars, the town of St.&nbsp;Gallen often sided with Appenzell against the abbey. So when Appenzell allied with the Swiss, the town of St.&nbsp;Gallen followed just a few months later.<ref name=EB1911/> The abbot became an ally of several members of the Swiss Confederation ([[Zürich]], [[Lucerne]], [[Schwyz]] and [[Glarus]]) in 1451, while Appenzell and St.&nbsp;Gallen became full members of the Swiss Confederation in 1454. Then, in 1457, the town of St.&nbsp;Gallen became officially free from the abbot.<ref name=EB1911/>

In 1468 the abbot, [[Ulrich Rösch]], bought the [[County of Toggenburg]] from the representatives of its counts, after the family died out in 1436. In 1487 he built a monastery at [[Rorschach, St. Gallen|Rorschach]] on [[Lake Constance]], to which he planned to move. However, he encountered stiff resistance from the St.&nbsp;Gallen citizenry, other clerics, and the Appenzell nobility in the Rhine Valley who were concerned about their holdings. The town of St.&nbsp;Gallen wanted to restrict the increase of power in the abbey and simultaneously increase the power of the town. The [[List of mayors of St. Gallen|mayor of St. Gallen]], [[Ulrich Varnbüler]], established contact with farmers and [[Appenzell]] residents (led by the fanatical [[Hermann Schwendiner]]) who were seeking an opportunity to weaken the abbot. Initially, he protested to the abbot and the representatives of the four sponsoring Confederate cantons (Zürich, Lucerne, Schwyz, and Glarus) against the construction of the new abbey in Rorschach. Then on July 28, 1489, he had armed troops from St.&nbsp;Gallen and Appenzell destroy the buildings already under construction.<ref name=EB1911/> When the abbot complained to the Confederates about the damages and demanded full compensation, Varnbüler responded with a counter suit and in cooperation with Schwendiner rejected the arbitration efforts of the non-partisan Confederates. He motivated the clerics from [[Wil]] to Rorschach to discard their loyalty to the abbey and spoke against the abbey at the town meeting at Waldkirch, where the popular league was formed. He was confident that the four sponsoring cantons would not intervene with force, due to the prevailing tensions between the Confederation and the [[Swabian League]]. He was strengthened in his resolve by the fact that the people of St.&nbsp;Gallen elected him again to the highest magistrate in 1490.

====An associate of the Swiss Confederation====
However, in early 1490 the four cantons decided to carry out their duty to the abbey and to invade the St. Gallen canton with an armed force. The people of Appenzell and the local clerics submitted to this force without noteworthy resistance, while the city of St. Gallen braced for a fight to the finish. However, when they learned that their compatriots had given up the fight, they lost confidence; the result was that they concluded a peace pact that greatly restricted the city's powers and burdened the city with serious penalties and reparations payments. Varnbüler and Schwendiner fled to the court of [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|King Maximilian]] and lost all their property in St. Gallen and Appenzell. However, the abbot's reliance on the Swiss to support him reduced his position almost to that of a "subject district".<ref name=EB1911/>

The town adopted the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in 1524, while the abbey remained Catholic, which damaged relations between the town and abbey. Both the abbot and a representative of the town were admitted to the Swiss [[Tagsatzung]] or Diet as the [[Old Swiss Confederacy#Closest associates|closest associates]] of the Confederation.<ref name=EB1911/>

In the 16th century the abbey was raided by [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] groups, which scattered many of the old books.<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia"/> In 1530, abbot Diethelm began a restoration that stopped the decline and led to an expansion of the schools and library.
[[File:StGallen asv2022-10 Stiftskirche img1.jpg|thumb|left|The interior of the cathedral is one of the most important baroque monuments in Switzerland]]
Under abbot [[Pius Reher]] (1630–54) a printing press was started. In 1712 during the Toggenburg war, also called the second [[Toggenburg War|war of Villmergen]], the Abbey of St. Gall was pillaged by the [[Switzerland|Swiss]]. They took most of the books and manuscripts to [[Zürich]] and [[Bern]]. For security, the abbey was forced to request the protection of the townspeople of St. Gallen. Until 1457 the townspeople had been [[Serfdom|serfs]] of the abbey, but they had grown in power until they were protecting the abbey.

====End of the Prince-Abbots====
Following the disturbances, the abbey was still the largest religious city-state in Switzerland, with over 77,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{HDS|9921|Religious/Secular Land Holders}}</ref> A final attempt to expand the abbey resulted in the demolition of most of the medieval monastery. The new structures, including the cathedral by architect Peter Thumb (1681–1766),<ref>Hempel, Eberhard. 1965. Baroque art and architecture in central Europe: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland. Painting and sculpture: seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; architecture: sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Baltimore: Penguin Books, p. 163.</ref> were designed in the late [[Baroque]] style and constructed between 1755 and 1768. The large and ornate new abbey did not remain a monastery for very long. In 1798 the Prince-Abbot's secular power (the last to hold the title was [[Pankraz Vorster]]) was suppressed, and the abbey was [[German Mediatisation|secularized]]. The monks were driven out and moved into other abbeys. The abbey became a separate [[Episcopal see|See]] in 1846, with the abbey church as its cathedral and a portion of the monastic buildings for the [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]].

==Cultural treasures==
[[Image:Codex Sangallensis 1092 recto.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Plan of St Gall]] (c. 820–830), the only surviving major [[architectural drawing]] from the [[Early Middle Ages]]]]
[[File:Saint Gall planta.PNG|thumb|The diagram version of the Plan]]

The [[Abbey library of Saint Gall]] is recognized as one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. It is home to one of the most comprehensive collections of early medieval books in the German-speaking part of Europe. {{as of|2005}}, the library consists of over 160,000 books, of which 2100 are handwritten. Nearly half of the handwritten books are from the Middle Ages and 400 are over 1000 years old.<ref name="Codices"/> Lately the ''Stiftsbibliothek'' has launched a project for the digitisation of the priceless manuscript collection, which currently (December 2009) contains 355<ref name="Codices"/> documents that are available on the ''Codices Electronici Sangallenses'' webpage.

The library interior is exquisitely realised in the [[Rococo]] style with carved polished wood, stucco and paint used to achieve its overall effect. It was designed by the architect [[Peter Thumb]] and is open to the public. In addition it holds exhibitions as well as concerts and other events.<ref>[http://www.stiftsbibliothek.ch/site/content.asp?typ=Aktuell&category=01%24Aktuell&lang=DE St. Gall Library website (limited English information) {{in lang|de}}] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070727114426/http://www.stiftsbibliothek.ch/site/content.asp?typ=Aktuell&category=01%24Aktuell&lang=DE |date=July 27, 2007 }}</ref>

One of the more interesting documents in the Stiftsbibliothek is a copy of [[Priscian]]'s ''Institutiones grammaticae'' which contains the poem ''[[Is acher in gaíth in-nocht...]]'' written in [[Old Irish]].

The library also preserves a unique 9th-century document, known as the [[Plan of St. Gall]], the only surviving major architectural drawing from the roughly 700-year period between the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] and the 13th century. The Plan drawn sometime between AD 820–830 AD<ref>{{Cite book |last= Price |first=L. |title= The Plan of Saint Gall in Brief |year= 1982 |publisher= University of California Press |location= Berkeley |page= ix |isbn= 9780520043343}}</ref> was never actually built, and was so named because it was dedicated to the then-abbot of Saint Gall and kept at the famous medieval monastery library, where it remains to this day. The plan was an ideal of what a well-designed and well-supplied monastery should have, as envisioned by one of the synods held at [[Aachen]] for the reform of monasticism in the Frankish empire during the early years of emperor [[Louis the Pious]] (between 814 and 817).

A late 9th-century drawing of [[Saint Paul|Paul]] lecturing an agitated crowd of Jews and gentiles, part of a copy of a [[Pauline epistles]] produced at and still held by the monastery, was included in a medieval-drawing show at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York City|New York]] the summer of 2009. A reviewer noted that the artist had "a special talent for depicting hair, ... with the saint's beard ending in curling droplets of ink."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/arts/design/19drawing.html?hpw "Those Medieval Monks Could Draw"] Review by [[Roberta Smith]], ''The New York Times'', June 18, 2009 (6/19/09, p. C25 of the NY ed.). Retrieved 6/19/09. "Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the [[Middle Ages]]" runs through August 23, 2009.</ref>

St. Gall is noted for its early use of the [[neume]], the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of [[musical notation]] prior to the invention of five-line [[staff (music)|staff]] notation. The earliest extant manuscripts are from the 9th or 10th century.

In 1983, the Convent of St. Gall was inscribed on the UNESCO [[World Heritage List]] as "a perfect example of a great [[Carolingian Renaissance|Carolingian]] monastery".<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/268 UNESCO website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509200414/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/268 |date=2017-05-09 }} accessed 30 December 2009</ref>

==People of the abbey==
===List of abbots===
There were a total of 73 ruling abbots (including six anti-abbots) between 719 and 1805.
A complete collection of abbots' biographies was published 
by Henggeler (1929). A table of abbots' names complete with their coats of arms was printed by Beat Jakob Anton Hiltensperger in 1778.<ref>Henggeler, P. Rudolf, ''Professbuch der fürstl. Benediktinerabtei der Heiligen Gallus und Otmar zu St.Gallen'', Monasticon-Benedictinum Helvetiae 1, Einsiedeln (1929). [http://www.sg.ch/home/kultur/stiftsarchiv/geschichte/abtei_st_gallen/aebte.html History of the Abbey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604002823/http://www.sg.ch/home/kultur/stiftsarchiv/geschichte/abtei_st_gallen/aebte.html |date=2012-06-04 }} {{in lang|de}}. See also
{{cite book|last=Herzog|first=Johann Jakob|title=The Protestant theological and ecclesiastical encyclopedia, Volume 2|year=1860|publisher=Lindsay & Blakiston|pages=351–353|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MqQAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA351}};
{{cite book|last=Schaff|first=Phillip|title=The new Schaff-Herzog encyclopedia of religious knowledge|year=1910|publisher=Funk and Wagnalls Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newschaffherzog23haucgoog/page/n220 196], 283|url=https://archive.org/details/newschaffherzog23haucgoog}}.</ref>

{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Saint Othmar]] (719–759) 
* [[John II (bishop of Constance)]] (759/60–782)
* [[Ratpert (abbot of Saint Gall)|Ratpert]] (782)
* [[Waldo of Reichenau|Waldo]] (782–784)
* [[Werdo]] (784–812)
* [[Wolfleoz]] (812–816)
* [[Gozbert of Saint Gall|Gozbert]] (816–837) Expanded the buildings, started collecting books for the library.
* [[Bernwig]] (837–840/41)
* [[Engilbert I of Saint Gall|Engilbert I]] (840/841)
* [[Grimald of Weissenburg|Grimald]] (841–872)
* [[Hartmut of Saint Gall|Hartmut]] (872–883)
* [[Bernard of Saint Gall|Bernhard]] (883–890)
* [[Solomon III (bishop of Constance)|Solomon]] (890–919), Abbot of 11 other monasteries and [[Bishop of Constance]].
* [[Hartmann of Saint Gall|Hartmann]] (922–925)
* [[Engilbert II of Saint Gall|Engilbert II]] (925–933)
* [[Thieto]] (933–942)
* [[Craloh]] (942–958)
** [[Anno of Saint Gall|Anno]] (953–954), anti-abbot
* [[Purchart I]] (958–971)
* [[Notker (abbot of Saint Gall)|Notker]] (971–975), nephew of [[Notker Physicus]]
* [[Ymmo]] (976–984)
* [[Ulrich I of Saint Gall|Ulrich I]] (984–990)
* [[Kerhart]] (990–1001)
* [[Purchart II]] (1001–1022)
* [[Thietpald]] (1022–1034)
* [[Nortpert]] (1034–1072)
* [[Ulrich II of Saint Gall|Ulrich II]] (1072–1076)
* [[Ulrich of Eppenstein]] (1077–1121)
** [[Lutold of Saint Gall|Lutold]] (1077–c. 1083), anti-abbot
** [[Werinhar]] (1083–1086), anti-abbot
* [[Manegold von Mammern]] (1121–1133)
** [[Heinrich von Twiel]] (1121–1122), anti-abbot
* [[Werinher]] (1133–1167)
* [[Ulrich von Tegerfelden]] (1167–1199)
* [[Ulrich von Veringen]] (1199–1200)
* [[Heinrich von Klingen]] (1200–1204)
* [[Ulrich von Sax]] (1204–1220) Lord of Hohensax and first Prince-Abbot
* [[Rudolf von Güttingen]] (1220–1226)
* [[Konrad von Bussnang]] (1226–1239)
* [[Walter von Trauchburg]] (1239–1244)
* [[Berchtold von Falkenstein]] (1244–1272)
* [[Ulrich von Güttingen]] (1272–1277)
** [[Heinrich von Wartenberg]] (1272–1274), anti-abbot
* [[Rumo von Ramstein]] (1277–1281)
* [[Wilhelm von Montfort]] (1281–1301)
** [[Konrad von Gundelfingen]] (1288–1291), anti-abbot sponsored by [[Rudolf I of Germany]]
* [[Heinrich von Ramstein]] (1301–1318)
* [[Hiltbold von Werstein]] (1318–1329)
* [[Rudolf III von Montfort|Rudolf von Montfort]] (1330–1333)
* [[Hermann von Bonstetten]] (1333–1360)
* [[Georg von Wildenstein]] (1360–1379)
* [[Kuno von Stoffeln]] (1379–1411)
* [[Heinrich von Gundelfingen]] (1411–1418)
* [[Konrad von Pegau]] (1418–1419)
* [[Heinrich von Mansdorf]] (1419–1426)
* [[Eglolf Blarer]] (1426–1442)
* [[Kaspar von Breitenlandenberg]] (1442–1463)
* [[Ulrich Rösch]] (1463–1491) Bought the county of Toggenburg. In 1487 he built a monastery at Rorschach.
* [[Gotthard Giel von Glattburg]] (1491–1504)
* [[Franz von Gaisberg]] (1504–1529) Abbot when the Reformation took place.
* [[Kilian Germann]] (1529–1530) Elected to prevent the Reformation from entering the Abbey.
* [[Diethelm Blarer von Wartensee]] (1530–1564) Expanded the Abbey, known as the Third Founder due to his work on the Abbey.
* [[Otmar Kunz]] (1564–1577)
* [[Joachim Opser]] (1577–1594)
* [[Bernhard Müller (abbot)|Bernhard Müller]] (1594–1630)
* [[Pius Reher]] (1630–1654)
* [[Gallus Alt]] (1654–1687)
* [[Celestino Sfondrati]] (1687–1696)
* [[Leodegar Bürgisser]] (1696–1717)
* [[Joseph von Rudolphi]] (1717–1740)
* [[Cölestin Gugger von Staudach]] (1740–1767)
* [[Beda Angehrn]] (1767–1796)
* [[Pankraz Vorster]] (1796–1805)
{{colend}}

===Nuns===
* [[Wiborada]] (died 926). Though many woman before her were venerated as saints, she is the first woman canonized by the Holy See of the Catholic Church in 1047. The first formal [[Canonization]] by the Holy See for a saint from outside of Rome being [[Saint Udalric, Bishop of Augsburg]] in 993 just 54 years earlier.

==See also==
*[[List of Carolingian monasteries]]
*[[Carolingian architecture]]
*[[Carolingian art]]
*[[Carolingian dynasty]]
*[[Carolingian Empire]]
*[[Carolingian Renaissance]]
*[[Saint-Gall Cantatorium]]
*[[Waltharius]]
*[[Ekkehard I]]

== Notes and references ==
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf3x0n99vf Walter William Horn's Papers Regarding The Plan of St. Gall : production materials, 1967–1979] are housed in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20080604212605/http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html Department of Special Collections and University Archives] at [http://library.stanford.edu/ Stanford University Libraries]

{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.stibi.ch/ Stiftsbibliothek Sankt Gallen]
* [http://www.cesg.unifr.ch/en/index.htm Codices Electronici Sangallenses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109145736/http://www.cesg.unifr.ch/en/index.htm |date=2016-11-09 }}—project for the digitisation of the medieval manuscripts at Sankt Gallen
* [https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/ E-codices], Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
* [https://archive.today/20120911161308/http://www.stgallplan.org/ St Gall Plan] - presents a digitised version of the St Gall Plan, and zoomable reproductions of Carolingian manuscripts from St Gall.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170509200414/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/268 UNESCO World Heritage Listing for the Convent of St Gall]

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |first = Joseph Viktor  |last = von Scheffel  |author-link = Joseph Victor von Scheffel |title = Ekkehard: A Tale of the Tenth Century |publisher = Google eBook |year = 1895  |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=-Xo5AAAAMAAJ }}

{{Swabian College}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Switzerland}}
{{Catholicism in Switzerland}}
{{Medieval music}}
{{Portal bar|Switzerland}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Abbey of Saint Gall| ]]
[[Category:8th-century establishments in Francia]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in St. Gallen (city)]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in St. Gallen (city)|Abbey]]
[[Category:1798 disestablishments in Europe]]
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[[Category:Carolingian architecture]]
[[Category:Associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy]]
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