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 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 ( ...

and

Sarganserland The Sarganserland is a constituency (''Wahlkreis'') of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, with a population of 36,892 (). The constituency corresponds to the historical county of Sargans (13th to 15th century) and the later '' Landvogtei'' Sa ...

districts. They are the southernmost range of the

Appenzell Alps The Appenzell Alps (german: Appenzeller Alpen) are a mountain range in Switzerland on the northern edge of the Alps. They extend into the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and St. Gallen and are bordered by the Glarus Alps ...

, separated from the

Glarus Alps The Glarus Alps (german: Glarner Alpen) are a mountain range in central Switzerland. They are bordered by the Uri Alps and the Schwyz Alps to the west, the Lepontine Alps to the south, the Appenzell Alps to the northeast. The eastern part of ...

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 Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

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 Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Uppe ...

during the

Würm glaciation The Würm glaciation or Würm stage (german: Würm-Kaltzeit or ''Würm-Glazial'', colloquially often also ''Würmeiszeit'' or ''Würmzeit''; cf. ice age), usually referred to in the literature as the Würm (often spelled "Wurm"), was the last g ...

The name is a plural, indicating the peaks forming the historical boundary of the

bishopric of Chur The Prince-Bishopric of Chur (german: Hochstift Chur, Fürstbistum Chur, Bistum Chur) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and had Imperial immediacy. The Prince-Bishopric of Chur controlled contiguous land from the city of ...

. It has historically also been folk-etymologized as '' Kurfürsten'', i.e. the 7 prince-electors of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

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 (2205 m) * Frümsel (2263 m) * Brisi (2279 m) * Zuestoll (2235 m) * Schibenstoll (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, running ...

(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 In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

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