A Sweet, Swiss Surprise
Tell your friends that you’re going to Switzerland, and they immediately think snow-covered Alps, cheese fondue, and yummy Swiss chocolates. Tell them you’re going to St. Gallen, and most likely they’ll look at you strangely and ask, “Where?”
Everyone has heard of Geneva, Zürich, and Zermatt, but few Americans could find St. Gallen on the map. It’s still a well-kept secret, even though it’s the main metropolis of eastern Switzerland. Nestled in the pleasant Steinach valley between the Bodensee (Lake Constance) and the rolling hills of the Appenzell region, at an elevation of more than 2,000 feet, St. Gallen is one of the highest cities in Switzerland.
The city is named for its first inhabitant, a wandering Irish monk called Gallus, who built a little hermitage there in 610. A number of legends surround this humble monk, including several stories about a helpful bear that gathered wood for him in a nearby forest. That’s why you see so many bear symbols in the saintly city even today.
In the 8th century a monastery was constructed on the site where Gallus had settled, and later a town began to grow up around the abbey. Today, St. Gallen is a major cultural center in Switzerland, with a symphony orchestra, several museums, and many fine buildings from medieval to modern.
Sightseeing:
This pleasant city of 74,000 people is small enough for you to see the main sights in two or three days, but interesting enough for a longer stay, especially as a base for excursions to Bodensee and other nearby attractions. Most of the Altstadt (Old Town) in the historic city center has been converted into a pedestrian zone of narrow cobblestone lanes, spacious squares, and lively sidewalk cafes. Facing the streets are the wealthy textile merchants’ houses dating from the 15th to 18th century, many of their facades adorned with ornate oriels (bay windows) for which St. Gallen is famous.
Start at the old Abbey District, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. The gems of this ecclesiastical complex are the Monastery Library and the Cathedral of St. Gallus and Otmar. One of the most beautiful libraries in the world, the current building (constructed in the 1700s) is a jewel of Rococo interior decoration, housing a priceless collection of books and illuminated manuscripts dating back to the 8th century. Although the monastery was officially disbanded in 1805, the library remained intact, as did the splendid Baroque cathedral with its exquisitely carved wooden choir stalls and two impressive pipe organs. Check with the local tourist office to find out when free organ concerts are scheduled at the cathedral.
Museums worth visiting include the large Textile Museum, with a permanent collection of Swiss embroidery, textile treasures from the 4th to 20th centuries, and special temporary exhibitions. The Museum of History and Ethnology presents a number of interesting local and international exhibits, including furnished period rooms from St. Gallen in the 16th to 18th centuries. The Museum of Fine Arts has a rich collection of paintings and sculptures from the Middle Ages to the present. And there’s even a Beer Bottle Museum at the Schützengarten Brewery (the oldest brewery in Switzerland), with 2,000 bottles from around the world.
A colorful open-air market is held every Wednesday and Saturday at the Marktplatz, (Market Square), and flea markets are frequent in the summer and fall (check with the tourist information office for locations and dates).
Guided tours are a good way to scratch beneath the surface of a city’s sights. The local tourist office provides guided walking tours every Saturday (January to April), Monday through Saturday (May to October), and an additional tour on Sundays in June and July. Every Tuesday, the tour focuses on a single theme, such as art and architecture, houses and their inhabitants, or witches and saints, with special Christmas themed tours in December. English-language tours are on request so do phone in advance.
Eating Out:
St. Gallen is a city that likes to eat well: local cheeses (in fondues, raclettes, and salads); its own succulent Olmabratwurst sausages; Rösti (big, crusty, grated-potato pancakes); Chäschüechli (savory cheese tarts); and Biberli (marzipan-filled honey-spice cookies) are among the traditional specialties you’ll find at the many restaurants, cafes, taverns, pastry shops, and street stands.
The city is especially well known for its Erststockbeizli—”first-floor restaurants”—located on the first story above ground level in old buildings in or near the medieval city center. Originally the houses in St. Gallen were constructed on soft ground and often had to be supported by wooden poles. The ground-floor rooms on the narrow streets were dark and damp, so the best room of the house was built on the first story, where it overlooked the street and had more light. Later some of these private parlors in historic buildings were converted into cozy restaurants, characterized by dark wood paneling, low ceilings with exposed wooden beams, and slightly sloping floors made of wide wooden planks. Today, they’re among the best places to eat well-prepared typical St. Gallen cuisine, a secret that locals gladly share with visitors.
You can’t visit St. Gallen without tasting the local Olmabratwurst, grilled thick veal-and-pork sausages served at street stands “mit Bürli” (in a crusty bun) or in restaurants with a side dish of Rösti. Join the people standing in line at the outdoor counter of Metzgerei Gemperli, on the corner of Schmiedgasse and Webergasse in the Old Town, to buy Olmabratwurst (and other classic St. Gallen sausages) hot from the grill. Or try the excellent sausages sold at Reitmann Traiteur (Marktgasse 3). “Just don’t order mustard or ketchup with them, or you’ll identify yourself as a tourist,” advises a local resident.
Cheese fondue is another classic Swiss dish that shouldn’t be missed, especially in cool weather. Try Fondue Beizli Neueck (Brühlgasse 26) or Fondue Silvesterschlaus (Sonnenstrasse 5).
If you have a sweet tooth, another “must-taste” local specialty is Biber (or Biberli)—soft honey-spice cookies filled with marzipan and made in several shapes (hearts, bears, etc.), or formed in special molds that create beautiful designs on top. You can find these and other St. Gallen temptations at Confiserie Roggwiller, an elegant pastry shop and tea room in the Old Town (Multergasse 17). Or go to the Beck-Beck bakery and pastry shops, at several locations (Multergasse 18, Langasse 7a, and Bruggwaldstrasse 1), for another good selection of St. Gallen cookies, cakes, and pastries, including Biberli and Birnweggen, a Swiss pastry similar to a big Fig Newton.
Although St. Gallen has several shops selling exquisite Swiss chocolates, a short trip from the city takes you to Schoggiland in the town of Flawil, site of the big Maestrani chocolate factory. (“Schoggi” is the Swiss diminutive word for “chocolate.”) You can follow a free self-guided tour along the factory’s Visitors Gallery (weekdays are best, when the machines are running) or a guided walking tour, with chocolate tasting, every Wednesday afternoon from March through November. The factory-outlet shop sells dozens of different high-quality chocolates at prices well below what you’d pay elsewhere.
And finally, when the weather is nice, join the Swiss sitting at the little sidewalk cafés in the pedestrian zone of St. Gallen’s Old Town, where you can leisurely sip a glass of wine or mug of beer and watch the lively street life of this surprising city tucked away in the eastern corner of Switzerland.
The international area code for Switzerland is 41.
Where to Sleep:
Hotel am Ring: This small, romantic, old-Vienna-style hotel has only 10 rooms and is very popular, so booking in advance is a necessity. Each room is different, filled with antique furniture, oriental rugs, stained-glass windows, and decorative textiles. The copious breakfast is served in a richly decorated little room that looks more like an overstocked antique shop than a small hotel. Every surface is covered with decorative objects from earlier times, and at least a dozen glass chandeliers hang from the ceiling.
Unterer Graben 9, tel. (071)-223-27-47, info@hotelamring.ch, www.hotelamring.ch
Hotel DOM: Located in the heart of the Old Town, this modern, 3-star rated hotel is within easy walking distance of the major sights. Locals laud its policy of hiring many disabled people on the staff. The 41 rooms are bright, spotlessly clean, and almost monastically simple, with plain white walls decorated with good modern art. The breakfast buffet is served in the sleek self-service dining room on the ground floor, which also operates as a public restaurant. Webergasse 22, tel. (071-227-71-71, info@hoteldom.ch, www.hoteldom.ch
Hotel Walhalla: Located across from the main train station, the hotel is only a couple of blocks from the edge of the historic city center. A member of the Best Western hotel group, this 56-room hotel is situated in a 7-story building with an ugly gray exterior—but it has been nicely renovated inside. The relatively small rooms are “modern functional” in decor, with large beds (even in single rooms), wood floors, a desk and chair, armchair, and an espresso machine. All rooms are non-smoking—which is not always the case in Switzerland, where smoking in many public places is still permitted. Bahnhofplatz, Poststrasse 27, tel. (071)-228-28-00, info@hotelwalhalla.ch, www.hotelwalhalla.ch
Where to Eat and Drink:
Zum Goldenen Schäfli: An iron sign with a golden lamb hangs over the entrance to this popular “first-floor restaurant” located in the former Butchers’ Guild house dating from the 15th century. Known for its traditional decor and fine preparation of many local dishes, including “Specialties from Grandmother’s Kitchen,” Zum Goldenen Schäfli is a “must-eat-at” place for everyone from prominent politicians to passing tourists. Metzgergasse 5, tel. (071)-223-37-37, www.zumgoldenenschaefli.ch
Weinstube zum Bäumli: Another well known “first-floor restaurant,” the Bäumli serves traditional local foods, very well prepared, in an old woody building in the medieval city center. The wine bar on the ground floor is a nice little place to sip Swiss vintages. Schmiedgasse 18, tel. (071)-222-11-74, www.weinstube-baeumli.ch
Zum Goldenen Leuen: The Goldenen Leuen features good beer-tavern fare and its own microbrews in the gemütlich atmosphere of a 400-year-old half-timbered building situated in the Old Town. Don’t miss the famous Chäschüechli (that’s “cheese cake” in Swiss), which are rich, round, individual cheese tarts—plain, with mushrooms, or with bacon, onions, and garlic—the perfect accompaniment to any of the 6 or 8 kinds of fresh beer on tap daily. Schmiedgasse 30, tel. (071)-222-02-62, (no website).
What to See and Do:
Altstadt (Old Town) pedestrian zone and the open-air markets (and flea markets) held there regularly.
Abbey District, World Heritage Site with the beautiful Rococo Monastery Library and the Baroque Cathedral of St. Gallus and Otmar.
Textile Museum, with its large collection of Swiss embroidery and other textile treasures from the 4th to 20th centuries.
Schoggiland (Maestrani Chocolate Factory), Toggenburgersrasse 41, 9230 Flawil, tel. (071)-228-38-88, info@maestrani.ch, www.schoggi-land.ch. A fun and informative factory tour, with chocolate tasting at the end.
Visitor Information, St. Gallen: St. Gallen-Bodensee Tourismus, Bahnhofplatz 1a, 9001 St. Gallen, tel. (071)-227-37-37, info@st.gallen-bodensee.ch, www.st.gallen-bodensee.ch