Churfürsten is a mountain range in the Canton of St. Gallen,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. They form the natural boundary between the canton's Toggenburg and Sarganserland districts. They are the southernmost range of the Appenzell Alps, separated from the Glarus Alps by the

Seez river {{coord, 47.08, N, 9.37, E, display=title The Seeztal (or Seez Valley) is a valley of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, extending to the east of Lake Walen for some 10 km, formed by the river Seez. The valley appears to be a left branch ...

and Walensee. They consist of a limestone

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

running east to west, with the individual peaks formed by erosion. The ridge is defined much more sharply to the south than to the north, with an almost vertical drop of several hundred meters towards ''Walenstadtberg'' and eventually Lake Walensee at 419 m. The southern slope of the range was significantly formed by the

Rhine Glacier The Rhine Glacier was a glacier during the last glacial period and was responsible for the formation of the Lake Constance. References Glaciers of Switzerland Rhine {{switzerland-glacier-stub ...

during the Würm glaciation. Churfirsten Zeichnung

The name is a plural, indicating the peaks forming the historical boundary of the bishopric of Chur. It has historically also been folk-etymologized as ''

Kurfürsten The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

'', i.e. the 7 prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire who in the later medieval period (until 1648) numbered seven, which in turn encouraged the count of seven main or "official" peaks. Schweizerisches Idiotikon
s.v. "First"
. The word ''First'' (dialectal also ''Fürst''; from Middle High German ''virst'') has a primary meaning of "roof-beam; gable", but secondarly came to mean "summit, mountain-top". The standard "seven peaks" of the Churfürsten are (from west to east): *

Selun The Selun is one of the peaks of the Churfirsten range, located in the Appenzell Alps. It lies between the valley of Toggenburg and Lake Walenstadt in the canton of St. Gallen. The summit is easily accessible by a trail on the northern side. T ...

(2205 m) * Frümsel (2263 m) * Brisi (2279 m) * Zuestoll (2235 m) *

Schibenstoll The Schibenstoll (or ''Scheibenstoll'') is one of the peaks of the Churfirsten group, located in the Appenzell Alps. It lies between the valley of Toggenburg and Lake Walenstadt in the canton of St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = E ...

(2234 m) * Hinterrugg (2306 m) *

Chäserrugg Chäserrugg (or ''Käserrugg'') is a mountain in Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann municipality, Toggenburg, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, rising to 2,262 m. It is the easternmost of the "seven peaks" of the Churfirsten, the other six being, runnin ...

(2262 m) The count of exactly seven peaks is contrived; sometimes, Chäserrugg is not included and counted as part of Hinterrugg, because of its topographical prominence of a mere 14 m. The Churfürsten seven peaks listed above have remarkably uniform heights (within just above a 100 m difference); the ridge continues both to the east and the west with a number of further peaks between 2000 and 2200 m that are not usually included as Churfürsten: *Peaks to the west of Selun: Wart (2068 m), Schären (or ''Schäären'', 2184 m), Nägeliberg (2153 m), Glattchamm (2084 m),

Leistchamm The Leistchamm (2,101 m) is a mountain of the Appenzell Alps, located east of Amden in the canton of St. Gallen. It lies at the western end of the range overlooking the Walensee, named ''Churfirsten Churfürsten is a mountain range in the Ca ...

(2101 m). *Peaks to the east of Chäserrugg: Tristenkolben (2159 m), Gamserrugg (2076 m).

References

{{Authority control Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of the canton of St. Gallen Toggenburg