In St Gallen, in the UNESCO heritage

DIDIER HEUMANN, ANDREAS PAPASAVVAS

We divided the course into several sections to make it easier to see. For each section, the maps show the course, the slopes found on the course, and the state of the roads. The courses were drawn on the “Wikilocs” platform. Today, it is no longer necessary to walk around with detailed maps in your pocket or bag. If you have a mobile phone or tablet, you can easily follow routes live.

For this stage, here is the link:

https://fr.wikiloc.com/itineraires-randonnee/de-rohrschach-a-herisau-par-la-vis-jacobi4-31728164

It is obviously not the case for all pilgrims to be comfortable with reading GPS and routes on a laptop, and there are still many places without an Internet connection. Therefore, you can find a book on Amazon that deals with this course. Click on the title of the book to open Amazon.

The Camino de Santiago. I. From Bodensee to Geneva on Via Jacobi 4

If you only want to consult lodging of the stage, go directly to the bottom of the page.

The main route of Via Jacobi 4, the Camino de Santiago in Switzerland, starts from Constance, on the shore of Konstanz Lake, the Bodensee. But you can also start from Rohrschach, a little further down the lake. Many pilgrims from Germany, Austria or Eastern countries arrive in Lindau, Germany, or Bregenz, Austria. They take the boat to reach Rohrschach. The advantage of choosing the Rorschach route over the Konstanz route is that it passes through St Gallen. However, the two routes meet at Rapperswil, on the shores of Zürich Lake, at the end of the canton of St Gallen. In the first stages in Switzerland, the Via Jacobi crosses the canton of St Gallen right through, with a small transition in the canton of Appenzell, landlocked in the canton of St Gallen.

Today’s stage runs through the magnificent city center of St Gallen and its collegiate church, listed in the UNESCO heritage register. Another legendary point to note, before arriving in St Gall, the route crosses the St Martin Bridge (Martinsbrücke) over the deep and wild Goldbach gorges. Another turbulent region is that of the Sitter Gorge, with its impressive viaducts at the exit of Bruggen.

Difficulty of the course: The journey is divided between city and countryside, on relatively substantial but bearable slope variations (+783 meters /-426 meters). Of course, the Camino de Santiago in Switzerland avoids the high mountains and passes of the Alps. But, you walk in Switzerland, a country of mountains and high hills, and rare are the stages in the plain. The first part of the route is almost constant uphill to the heights of St Gallen. The most difficult section is near the Goldbach River, before St Gallen, with sometimes slopes greater than 25%. Thereafter, the course is without great difficulty.

In this stage, the courses on the tarmac exceed the courses on the pathways:

• Paved roads: 14.3 km
• Dirt roads: 11.3 km

Sometimes, for reasons of logistics or housing possibilities, these stages mix routes operated on different days, having passed several times on Via Podiensis. From then on, the skies, the rain, or the seasons can vary. But, generally this is not the case, and in fact this does not change the description of the course.

It is very difficult to specify with certainty the incline of the slopes, whatever the system you use.

For “real slopes”, reread the mileage manual on the home page.

 

We have divided the route into several sections, to facilitate visibility. For each section, the maps give the route, the slopes found on the route and the state of Via Jacobi.

Section 1: From Bodensee to the hills.

 

 

General overview of the difficulties of the route: tough climb to Sulzberg Castle, then less demanding route, even if you climb almost 200 meters in 4 kilometers.

 

Whether you arrive here by boat or by train, you have to reach the port.

You have to choose the right track, Via Jacobi 4, because the routes that pass here are very numerous.

Via Jacobi slopes up the Signalstrasse to the church and the railway line. The canton of St Gallen is predominantly Catholic, with only a quarter of the population claiming Protestant affiliation. Further, In Herisau, in Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Protestantism dominates Catholicism.

Here, Via Jacobi is not well signposted, but you won’t get lost. You can take the Löwenstrasse to the right until you find Rue de l’Industrie.

Then, you slope up this last street to cross the railway line towards the top of the town, passing near the Permapack factory.

At the end of the Rue de l’Industrie is the Hotel Enjoy, from where the Appenzellerstrasse starts. This is also where you will find the indication for Via Jacobi 4.

The Appenzellerstrasse constantly climbs towards the highway in the middle of recent villas, cuts through small side roads.

Towards the top of the street, a dirt road replaces the tarmac, when you come across the crossbow shooting stand, and heads into an undergrowth. Here you are out of the borough, in the meadows.

Here you are walking in the countryside, but the dirt roads still have names, like Hohrainstrasse, Egertenstrasse before crossing the Dorfbach stream.

The Egertenstrasse then takes you to the motorway. There are even vineyards in the area. There are more and more wines in German-speaking Switzerland, and even very good ones.

Too bad this beautiful house lost in the ivy is so close to the highway.

Beyond the highway, a small dirt road climbs quite toughly towards Sulzberg Castle. Here you can take a last look at Rohrschach and Bodensee.

It was the Bishop of Konstanz who, at the beginning of the XIIIth century, had the castle erected here. All that remains of the original work is the dungeon. The castle then changed owners several times over the centuries. It is now in private hands.

The view is beautiful from here on the lake behind the vegetables in the vegetable patch.

Attention here, a remark is in order. Here you find an indication of the Way of Compostela with the shell. But, on the Via Jacobi, the shell never indicates the direction, as in France. So, don’t take the right track, but continue straight ahead, to the left of the farm! A dirt road descends towards the murky waters of the small lake of Schlossweiher.

Further on, it slopes up along the small stream of Bettlerenbach, and runs for a long time, gently sloping through meadows and fruit trees. For pilgrims who do not know Switzerland, the astonishment will be constant with regard to the greenness of the meadows. You must know that here, the rain is quite frequent.

Section 2: Passing through the small villages of Untereggen to the top of the hill.

 

General overview of the difficulties of the route: climb a little less pronounced than before, but there are small, very steep sections, more than 15%; the steep descent from Sieben to the Goldbach Gorge can be demanding in bad weather.

 

The small dirt road then crosses the meadows, sometimes with isolated farms and small scattered groves.

Halfway up the slope, the pathway reaches the place called Vogelherd, on the road that climbs towards Untereggen. You may notice that here the citizens have money to paint their post bus stops.

Via Jacobi slopes up a good hundred meters on the road, crossing the Hochstaudenbach brook, passing in front of a pretty little oratory at the edge of the road…

… before turning right, still on the tarmac, towards the hamlet of Brand.

The small hamlet happily mixes wooden houses and houses covered with shingles. In the French part of Switzerland, these small pieces of wood covering the houses are termed tavillons or bardeaux, that are in fact shingles.

There, a half-dirt, half-grass pathway climbs into the undergrowth along a tributary of the Hochstaudenbach brook.

Further up, it then joins the main road at the village of Vorderhof, which is the main village of Unterregen.

The Santa Madalena church dates from the end of the XVIIIth century. The houses are often beautiful, well cared for, as they are most often in German-speaking Switzerland. There is an inn in the village.

In the middle of the village, Via Jacobi leaves the road on the Zielgasse.

A small paved road, which becomes higher dirt road climbs in the meadows, in the middle of small farms and head towards Mittlerhof.

In Mittlerhof, Via Jacobi is again on the main road through the villages of Unterregen.

Vorderhof, Mittlerhof, and a little higher Hinterhof belong to the municipality of Untereggen. Here, all the villages have their bus stop. If you walk along Camino de Santiago in France, it’s obvious. In Switzerland, means of transport are present everywhere, even in the most remote places. In France, as soon as you leave the main axes, there is only the car or walking. The trains have also disappeared, melted like snow in the sun. Go for a walk in France and you will understand the slump.

Further up, Via Jacobi continues on the main road to the village of Hinterhof.

There, it leaves the axis for a small secondary road which continues to climb the hill in the direction of Schiben.

The road climbs quite steeply in the meadows, today in the middle of the sheep.

Higher up, it heads to the rare houses of Schiben to arrive at the top of the hill.

The paved road then reaches a place called Steingruben. You went from 400m of altitude in Bodensee to 670m in 8 km with very reasonable slopes overall with a few exceptions. Here, nature becomes wilder and in front of you starts a very steep descent, sometimes demanding for the kneecaps and the ankles.

The descent is first on a pathway in the undergrowth, then in the meadows. Some passages are more than 25% decline. You will undoubtedly be very satisfied to find the paved road at the bottom of the descent.

Section 3: A serious bump before descending to St Gallen.

 

General overview of the difficulties of the route: steep climb to Schaugenhof; then regular descent in the outer districts of St Gallen.

 

At the bottom of the dale, the pathway leads to the Martinsbrücke bridge, which allows you to cross the Goldbach River and its deep gorges. The gorges here, steep, are very spectacular. The St-Martin Bridge was once the oldest suspended structure in eastern Switzerland, a covered bridge built in 1468. It passed more than 300 meters above the river, joining the two vertical walls of rocks. A newer bridge, from the end of the XIXth century, just as high, replaces the latter.

Beyond the bridge, Via Jacobi heads towards Schaugenbädli along the river. Here, people don’t just shoot the chamois, you have to be born Swiss, or American, to find pleasure in going to express yourself on weekends in the shooting ranges (Schiessenanlagen), deep in the woods.

While climbing, the road alternates between dirt and tarmac, but mostly on tarmac, runs through undergrowth, then through meadows. Sometimes the slope is quite steep. The feeling is to climb along mountain pastures, although you are close to the city of St Gallen.

The Schaugenbädli refreshment bar is welcome halfway up the slope, by the side of the road. For French speakers, still learn a few words of German to survive on the way. Because, here, nobody speaks French, even English. They speak good German with difficulty. Conversely, when you are in French-speaking Switzerland, try to find someone who speaks Swiss-German or German to you. It is as rare as white crows in villages.

Beyond the snack bar, the road climbs through the meadows to soon become a dirt road. The slope begins to be steep.

Further up, a grassy pathway climbs toughly along the undergrowth in the middle of the cows. Here, the slope is steep, more than 20%. The Braunvieh (brown cow), found in German-speaking countries, is of Swiss origin. It wears a brown dress whose tones can range from wheaten-gray to dark chestnut to gray. The bull is darker. The muzzle is slate-grey surrounded by a white aureole. The ears are lined with long white hairs that resemble plush. The horns, when there are still some, but rarely, are short and thin. This breed, in German-speaking Switzerland, represents 47% of the cattle population just behind the Simmental. This mixed breed is known for its hardiness, being suitable for mountain conditions, as it is content with lean forages.

Below your gaze extends over the valley drawn by the Goldach River that you have just partially visited.

In this undergrowth where oaks, beeches and spruces mingle, it is probably not the observation of birds that people do, but rather the hunting of wood pigeons, as in the South-West of France.

Higher up, the pathway then runs close to very beautiful farms, all magnificent in the region. What an incredible taste for beautiful residences among the peasants of yesteryear! In the XIXth century, the manufacture of nails became mechanized, and consequently prices fell. So, in central and eastern Switzerland, people began to cover many buildings with shingles. How many homes, rich or poor, have not been covered with these wooden coats, with sometimes more than 100,000 units, an ideal protection, in these countries with a harsh and humid climate?

Further up, the pathway continues to climb steeply, in the middle of cows and sheep. Here, the peasants are so rich that they sometimes even pave the meadows to get their tractors through.

You soon get to Schaugenhof on the road, above St Gallen. Restaurants and refreshments abound on the way. Here, you’ll leave the countryside to get closer to the city.

Beyond Schaugenhof, Via Jacobi descends a little on the road before cutting on a dirt road, the Schachenbüelweg, in the suburb of St Gall made up of modern buildings and farmhouses. Farms, not far from the city center, what country still allows itself such a luxury? Switzerland, of course. The peasants of German-speaking Switzerland are so proud of their heritage that developers most often find the door closed. For how much longer?

You are close to the city, and there are still farms and brown cows in the meadows.

At the bottom of the descent, you are at the entrance to the city. The crossing of St Gallen will undoubtedly seem endless (a good ten kilometers to Bruggen). But the city center is remarkable. Via Jacobi first slopes up Reherstrasse, where there are still old houses.

Shortly after, it follows Martinsbruggstrasse for a long time.

Here, the municipality has nothing against popular art.

At a place called Blumenwiess Via Jacobi takes the Fuchsenstrasse, which climbs out of the axis of the city. The idea is all the same not to let the pilgrim walk on the circulating roads of the city.

Further, the Fuchsenstrasse then continues through the Iltistrasse, at the edge of the forest.

Section 4: Passing through St Gallen, a Swiss gem.

 

General overview of the difficulties of the route: course without any difficulty.

 

Do not imagine that you will walk on large avenues, as is customary in a big city. Before arriving in the city center, you will almost stay in a kind of “false countryside”, in fact in a succession of old suburbs, near the forests that populate the hills above the city. At the end of Iltistrasse, the Grütliweg takes over. It is a small pathway that weaves its way between the buildings, some of which retain the charm of yesteryear.

Then, the pathway continues to climb on the Bruggwiesenweg towards the forest, as if deciding to leave the city. The crossing of St Gall is a real gymkhana.

The route runs along the woods for a bit, then returns to the houses.

Sometimes a gem of an old home sits next to the approximate of newer homes. You can imagine that in the past, farmers had to live here on the edge of the city, and that the city has gradually eaten away at these neighborhoods and extended its tentacles without much character.

Then, Golbrunnenweg succeds Bruggwiesenweg , always in the same setting, between new houses and beautiful old houses.

Shortly after, the route then runs along a small stream and approaches the town itself. Incredible, right? In town, sometimes, you still walk on undergrowth pathways.

So far, Via Jacobi has largely neglected the city, weaving between the outlying districts, at the edge of the forest. But, there are great things to see in St Gallen, and the route cannot ignore them. At the end of Golbrunnenweg, Via Jacobi arrives at Furhofstrasse, a quiet street, still far from the city center. You can then see the St Laurenzen church in front of you.

St Laurenzen’s Church is the Evangelical Reformed Church of St Gallen, the most important in the city after the cathedral. It is protected as a historical monument of national importance. The current church dates from the XVth century, but was redone in neo-Gothic style between 1850 and 1854, then recently restored.

It is said that the bell tower of St Laurent’s Church offers a magnificent view of the old town. But you still have to be there in time, because the guided tours take place twice a day, at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

You still have to follow Linsebühlstrasse to get to the historic center.

Further ahead, Via Jacobi arrives at the historic center of St. Gallen.

The history of the Abbey of St Gall is a very long story. The monastery is founded in the year 613 in honor of Gallus, who died here at that time. Charles Martel appoints a certain Othmar as guardian of the relics of Saint Gall. It is during the reign of Pepin the Short that Othmar founds the famous schools of St Gallen, where the arts, letters and sciences flourish. A little later, starts the copy of old manuscripts and so is born the famous library of St Gallen. More than 400 manuscripts, including the first Gregorian chants remain from this period, despite the vicissitudes of time and the constant moving of the precious books.

At the entrance to the library, where the camera cannot operate, it is clear that the shell of Compostela is no stranger to this exceptional place.

In the XIIth century, the abbey and the city are run by abbots from the Holy Roman Empire. Few remains of the medieval abbey. Only the books remain. The Benedictine abbey was dissolved in 1805, and the cathedral rebuilt between 1755 and 1770 in Baroque style. The fact remains that the site of the monastery of Saint-Gall is inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. And he totally deserves it. It’s just a great miracle.

The large square in front of the abbey and the adjacent streets overflow with great architectural achievements imbued with a bewitching charm.

St Gallen is a city of more than 75,000 inhabitants. Via Jacobi leaves the center in the shopping city on Schmiedgasse, passes the Globus stores, takes Vadainstrasse, then Kornhaustrasse to find itself on the main axis of St Leonard-Strasse.

Further ahead, it follows St Leonard-Strasse to the station.

Section 5: From St Gallen to Bruggen, passing through the suburbs.

 

Section 7: An excursion to Herisau, capital of the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes.

 

General overview of the difficulties of the route: tough climb to the Kreuzkapelle, then sometimes steep descent towards the city.

 

At the entrance to Herisau, Via Jacobi crosses the railway line, leaves the axis for Schützenstrasse, then Kreuzstrasse, a street that climbs to the top of the hill.

At the corner of Shützenstrasse, a small road leaves the main road to climb towards the cemetery and its chapel, the Kreuzkapelle.

The chapel, of recent construction, is part of the Catholic parish. In the XVIth century, Herisau defied the Abbey of Saint-Gall by choosing Protestantism. The canton of Appenzell was then divided into two distinct and autonomous semi-cantons, Inner Rhodes (Catholic) and Outer Rhodes (Protestant). Here you are in Protestant country. From up there, Herisau can be seen in the depression.

Beyond the chapel, Via Jacobi then descends Kreuzgasse to the town.

At the bottom of an often-steep descent, a small cobbled street leads to the historic center. The Reformed Church of St. Lawrence stands in the historic center, the Dorfplatz. Of Romanesque origin, the current building is of late Gothic style, erected in the XIVth century, transformed after the Reformation in the Rococo style.

Herisau (16,000 inhabitants), the capital of the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes is built between a steep hill and a basin in the Glatt valley. From a small rural village, it has gradually transformed into a rather functional medium-sized town. You have to sneak through the small cobbled streets to discover some works of art painted on the facades of the houses, sometimes with doors or windows painted in trompe l’oeil. These large stone or wooden houses mostly date from the XVIIth century. The city is a mixture of recent constructions and old renovated farmhouses. It is at Dorfplatz and in Schmiedgasse that you find the most beautiful patrician houses, in the Baroque style, erected during the XVIIIth century. Herisau still remains an important center of lace today.

Lodging on Via Jacobi

Rohrschach
Youth hostel	Heberge am See, Churerstrasse 4	071 844 97 12
Guestroom, breakfast	Bodenseeblick, Wiesenhalde 4	071 850 95 50
Hotel, dinner, breakfast	Hotel restaurant Enjoy, Kosterstasse 70	071 841 00 80
Hotel***, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Mozart, Hafenzentrum	071 844 47 47
Hotel*****, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Rebstock, Thalerstrasse 57	071 858 24 00
St Gallen
Youth hostel	Jugendherberge St. Gallen, Jüchstrasse 25	071 245 47 77
Gîte	Pilgerherbege, Linsebühlstrasse 61	071 220 00 62
Guestroom, breakfast	B&B Dianastrasse 4	071 244 49 83/079 605 31 40
Guestroom, breakfast	B&B Orion, Scheidwegstrasse 1	076 375 26 63
Hotel, dinner, breakfast	Kräntzlinhotel, Augustinergasse 1	076 524 26 16
Hotel, dinner, breakfast	Schwanen Hotel /Restaurant, Webergasse 23	071 222 65 62
Hotel-restaurant, breakfast	Restaurant Papagei, Hinterlauben 4	071 222 24 66
Hotel**, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Weisses Kreuz, Engelgasse 9	071 223 28 43
Hotel**, dinner, breakfast	Hotel am Spisertor, Moosbruggstrasse 1	071 228 82 83
Hotel**, breakfast	Hotel Vadian, Gallusstrasse 36	071 228 18 78
Hotel**, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Walhalla, Poststrasse 27	071 228 28 00
Hotel***, dinner, breakfast	Jägerhof, Brühlbleichestrasse 11	71 245 50 22
Hotel***, breakfast	Hotel am Ring, Unterer Graben 9	071 223 27 47
Hotel***, breakfast	Sorell Hotel City Weissenstein, Davidstrasse 22	071 228 06 28
Hotel****, dinner, breakfast	Radisson Blu Hotel, St. Jakob-Strasse 55	071 242 12 12
Hotel****, dinner, breakfast	Einstein – Hotel Congress Spa, Berneggstrasse 2	071 227 55 55
Bruggen
Guestroom, breakfast	B&B Bruggen, Lehnstrasse 28	071 279 26 28/077 420 49 41
Hotel**, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Sporting, Straubenzellstrasse 19	071 272 30 30
Herisau
Accueil jacquaire	Theo & Nelly Steffen, Schwellbrunnerstrasse 19	071 352 61 27/077 454 35 60
Accueil jacquaire	Openhouse Herisau, Degersheimerstrasse 22	077 450 32 60
Guestroom, breakfast	Monica Müller, Wyburgweg 2	071 352 61 27/077 454 35 60
Guestroom, breakfast	Gasthaus Marktplatz, Zeughausstrasse 10, Herisau	071 352 32 12
Guestroom, breakfast	Ariane Bliker, Schützenstrasse 67	077 406 58 92
Guestroom, dinner, breakfast	Pizzeria Da Toni, Schmiedgasse 1, Herisau	071 544 11 11/076 699 69 99
Hotel-restaurant, breakfast	Gasthaus Oechsli , Schmiedgasse 3	71 351 23 26
Hotel	Hotel Löwen, Poststrasse 3, Herisau	071 351 17 55
Hotel, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Restaurant Sonnenfeld, Kasernenstrasse 65, Herisau	071 351 2132
Hotel***, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Herisau, Bahnhofstrasse 14, Herisau	071 354 83 83
Garni Hotel, dinner, breakfast	Hotel Landhaus Säntis, Kasernenstrasse 29, Herisau	071 353 01 00
There is no difficulty of finding accommodation on this stage. Book anyway for security.

Feel free to add comments. This is often how you move up the Google hierarchy, and how more pilgrims will have access to the site.

 

Next stage: Stage 2: From Herisau to Wattwil

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