imperial city · Germany and Central Europe
City of St. Gallen
Origins
St. Gallen grew around the abbey founded in 719 on the site of Saint Gall's 7th-century hermitage. The townspeople gradually freed themselves from the abbot's lordship, and in 1415 King Sigismund granted the city imperial privileges, making it a free imperial city. In 1454 it allied with six Swiss cantons as an associate (zugewandter Ort).
Rule and society
Guild-dominated councils ran the city, whose wealth came from linen exported across Europe under strict quality controls. Under its mayor and reformer Joachim Vadian, St. Gallen adopted the Reformed faith in the 1520s, while the Imperial Abbey of Saint Gall, whose precinct lay within the town, remained Catholic. From 1566 a wall separated city and abbey.
Decline and legacy
The city lost its independence in 1798 under the Helvetic Republic. In 1803 it became the capital of the new canton of St. Gallen, which also absorbed the abbey's lands. The abbey precinct is now a World Heritage Site.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- City of St. Gallen was part of Holy Roman Empire1415 CE – 1648 CE
- City of St. Gallen was a vassal of Old Swiss Confederacy1454 CE – 1798 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). City of St. Gallen. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/city-of-st-gallen
- MLA
- “City of St. Gallen.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/city-of-st-gallen. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “City of St. Gallen.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/city-of-st-gallen.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘City of St. Gallen’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/city-of-st-gallen (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻