Nesslau is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Toggenburg Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the river Thur and that of its main tributary, the Necker. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis'') of the canton of St. Gallen ( S ...

district of the canton of

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

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 ...

. The current municipality was formed in 2013 and includes the villages of Nesslau, Krummenau and

Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austr ...

History

The area was incorporated into the domains of the

counts of Toggenburg Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

and the

Abbey of St. Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot ...

from the 12th century. Nesslau is first mentioned in 1178 as ''Mezellouo''. In 1261 it was mentioned as ''Nesselove'' and ''ze dem Wassere''. In 912 the hamlet of Lutenwil was mentioned as ''Lutherraheimara''. Krummenau is first mentioned in 1266 as ''Crumbenowe''. Sidwald developed into a regional cattle market from the 16th century. After a series of fires in the benedictine abbey of St. John's in the upper Toggenburg, the monastery was moved to ''Neu St. Johann'' near Sidwald in 1626. From 1831 to 2002, Nesslau was the administrative center of the constituency of '' Obertoggenburg''. The railway connecting

Ebnat-Kappel Ebnat-Kappel is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Toggenburg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Kappel is first mentioned in 1218 as ''Capelle''. Until 1762 Ebnat was known as ''Ober-Wattwil''. Geography E ...

to Nesslau-Neu St. Johann was opened in 1912, resulting in development of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

in the region. The former municipality of Nesslau was merged with

Krummenau Krummenau is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrst ...

into ''Nesslau-Krummenau'' in 2005. A further merger with

in 2013 resulted in the current municipality of Nesslau.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14 January 2010
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013 The pre-2005 Nesslau had a different Community Identification Number (SFOS) (3355) and was smaller than the current municipality of Nesslau.

Geography

The new municipality of Nesslau has an area of . Nesslau-Krummenau had an area, , of . Of this area, 53.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 36.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (6.6%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 6 January 2013 The former municipality was located on both sides of the Thur river between the Speer and Stockberg and from the ''Silberplatten'' in the ''Säntis'' range over the Schwägalp Pass to Mistelegg. After the merger in 2005 it was, in terms of land area, the third largest municipality in the canton. It consists of the villages of Nesslau, Krummenau, Neu St. Johann, Dorf and Ennetbühl as well as the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Lutenwil, Krümmenschwil, Büel, Schneit, Laad, Schlatt (until the merger an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Nesslau in Krummenau), Aemelsberg and Beiereggbis. Stein had an area, , of . Of this area, 57.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 37.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.3%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

Historic Population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1100 height:500 PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4600 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:900 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:180 start:0 Colors= id:NE value:yellowgreen legend:Nesslau id:KR value:green legend:Krummenau id:ST value:blue legend:Stein PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 0 till:2374 text:"2,374" color:NE bar:1860 from: 0 till:2397 text:"2,397" color:NE bar:1870 from: 0 till:2359 text:"2,359" color:NE bar:1880 from: 0 till:2187 text:"2,187" color:NE bar:1890 from: 0 till:2205 text:"2,205" color:NE bar:1900 from: 0 till:2137 text:"2,137" color:NE bar:1910 from: 0 till:2125 text:"2,125" color:NE bar:1920 from: 0 till:2001 text:"2,001" color:NE bar:1930 from: 0 till:2054 text:"2,054" color:NE bar:1940 from: 0 till:1949 text:"1,949" color:NE bar:1950 from: 0 till:2073 text:"2,073" color:NE bar:1960 from: 0 till:2002 text:"2,002" color:NE bar:1970 from: 0 till:1934 text:"1,934" color:NE bar:1980 from: 0 till:1866 text:"1,866" color:NE bar:1990 from: 0 till:1887 text:"1,887" color:NE bar:2000 from: 0 till:2001 text:"2,001" color:NE bar:1850 from: 2374 till:3937 text:"1,563" color:KR bar:1860 from: 2397 till:3981 text:"1,584" color:KR bar:1870 from: 2359 till:3883 text:"1,524" color:KR bar:1880 from: 2187 till:3602 text:"1,415" color:KR bar:1890 from: 2205 till:3635 text:"1,430" color:KR bar:1900 from: 2137 till:3556 text:"1,419" color:KR bar:1910 from: 2125 till:3836 text:"1,711" color:KR bar:1920 from: 2001 till:3736 text:"1,735" color:KR bar:1930 from: 2054 till:3727 text:"1,673" color:KR bar:1940 from: 1949 till:3615 text:"1,666" color:KR bar:1950 from: 2073 till:3898 text:"1,825" color:KR bar:1960 from: 2002 till:3856 text:"1,854" color:KR bar:1970 from: 1934 till:3838 text:"1,904" color:KR bar:1980 from: 1866 till:3454 text:"1,588" color:KR bar:1990 from: 1887 till:3502 text:"1,615" color:KR bar:2000 from: 2001 till:3665 text:"1,664" color:KR bar:1850 from: 3937 till:4542 text:"605" color:ST bar:1860 from: 3981 till:4553 text:"572" color:ST bar:1870 from: 3883 till:4459 text:"576" color:ST bar:1880 from: 3602 till:4214 text:"612" color:ST bar:1890 from: 3635 till:4306 text:"671" color:ST bar:1900 from: 3556 till:4167 text:"611" color:ST bar:1910 from: 3836 till:4385 text:"549" color:ST bar:1920 from: 3736 till:4294 text:"558" color:ST bar:1930 from: 3727 till:4229 text:"502" color:ST bar:1940 from: 3615 till:4142 text:"527" color:ST bar:1950 from: 3898 till:4486 text:"588" color:ST bar:1960 from: 3856 till:4386 text:"530" color:ST bar:1970 from: 3838 till:4327 text:"489" color:ST bar:1980 from: 3454 till:3871 text:"417" color:ST bar:1990 from: 3502 till:3963 text:"461" color:ST bar:2000 from: 3665 till:4063 text:"398" color:ST

Sights

The village of Stein has a pair of notable churches. The

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

church was built in 1497 and renovated in 1929. The north tower has a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof. The

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church of St. Jacob was built in 1927-28, but the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

dates from 1770.

Heritage sites of national significance

The house at Sidwaldstrasse 6 and the former

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbey of Neu St. Johann are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The village of Ennetbühl is designated as part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

.ISOS site
accessed 15-Jan-2010

References

External links

Official website
* * * * {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of St. Gallen Cultural property of national significance in the canton of St. Gallen Toggenburg