vvaldo Monks and water vvaldo vvaldo

First edition 2021

Curators of the exhibition: Peter Erhart, Jakob Kuratli Hüeblin, Kathrin Moeschlin; Stiftsarchiv St. Gallen

Kunstverlag Josef Fink Graphic conception: Atelier Andrea Gassner, Marcel Bachmann Translation: Jenifer Horlent

Scenography: arge gillmann schnegg, Basel www.stiftsarchiv.sg.ch www.stiftsbezirk.ch www.e-chartae.ch Editorial by Peter Erhart If anyone knew what a monastic community could not do without, it was St Benedict. In his view, the three most impor- tant things for a monastery were access to water, as well as a mill and a gar- den. Indeed, his first hermitage at Subiaco in the Aniene Valley was situated close to a spring of fresh, clear water. Ever since the beginnings of monasticism in the Egyptian desert, monks have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with water. This year, we decided to find out more about this aspect of their lives. The manuscripts in the impressive col- lection of the St Gall Abbey Archives reveal the monks’ love of this element, which first had to be controlled before it could be used for the operation of a mill, a fishpond or the wells, bath houses and latrines. For the monks, rivers and lakes served as links to their environment. They were also “highways” of the Middle Ages and lifelines for the people living around .

Waldo (who was born around 740 and died at the Abbey of St Denis near Paris on 29/30 March 813/814) was probably a member of the Franconian nobility close to the Carolingians. He was an agent for Charlemagne in Alemannia, abbot of the monastic communities at St Gall, Reichenau and St Denis, a teacher of princes, and Bishop of Pavia and Basel. We are familiar with his handwriting from 14 original documents in the St Gall collection dating from 773 to 782. Waldo is considered the first archivist of the Abbey of St Gall to be known by name, which is why this publi- cation series bears his name. Exhibition space of the Abbey Archives

D A III I The oldest monastic archives p. 7 – 10 E C IV– V II The abbey’s memory p. 11 – 20 F

III Works of art destined for administrative use p. 21 – 23 G

IV Monks and water p. 25 – 32 H

V First written testimonies I p. 33 – 35

II

I J B A

4 5 Annual Exhibition 2021 Aqua Monks and water

Theme of the annual exhibition In early medieval founding histories, there is hardly a miraculous event that does not take place on or near water. For monks, water had, above all, a spiritual significance. The use of this resource was therefore closely interwoven with the religious culture of a monastery. Aware of the necessity of water for survival, the monks would build their monasteries close to watercourses or lakes. Often, the name of the water source would supersede that of the saint who founded the monastery.

A Evacuation box/es B Film “The miracle of transmission” C Rotatable map table D Research station “e-chartae” E Life in the Early Middle Ages F List of first written testimonies G The Plan of St Gall H Hands-on I Research station “The routes of the Abbey Archives” J Guardians of the archives 6 7 I The oldest monastic archives The St Gall Abbey Archives are considered the Pompeii of early medieval written records. Despite significant losses, they still hold around 900 original documents dating from the Merovingian and Carolingian age. No other monastic archive has succeeded in preserving so many documents from that period. These documents record the names, offices and duties of the monks. Their extensive and close relations with the outer world paved the way for the cultural rise of the Abbey of St Gall. I 0 Evacuation box I 1 The Church of St Gall on the Steinach 2nd quarter of the 18th century Kembs, 15 December 756? Monks attached great importance to the security of their archives. A loss The Steinach was the abbey’s lifeline. caused by fire or a war could perma- This stream supplied the monastic nently destroy the memory of the community with drinking water and monastery. enabled the operation of a mill.

Around 1730, Prince-Abbot Joseph von To ensure his salvation, Podal donated Rudolphi had new wooden evacuation to the Church of St Gall the three villag- boxes made, equipped with carrying es of Habsheim, Kembs and Rueschwill- handles. These boxes not only allowed er in Alsace, together with forests, fields, the valuable legal documents to be neat- waterways and vineyards, as well as two ly stored away, but they could also be of his serfs. To mark this occasion, Podal quickly transferred to a safe place in the assembled a group of six men in Kembs event of danger. on the left bank of the . Despite the great distance, the Scribe Arnulf, Wooden chest with drawers who lived there, located the Church of and iron mountings St Gall “beyond the Steinach stream”. St Gall Abbey Archives The Rhine was also mentioned for the first time in this document.

Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, I 13

8 9 I 2 The Church of St Magnus I 3 Books of Life on the Ira brook Abbey of St Gall, c. 815 and 850 Regensburg, 13 October 898 Those whose names were entered in Abbot Salomo founded a church at his this book could hope to enter the King- former place of residence on the other dom of Heaven. side of the Ira brook and endowed it In the Early Middle Ages, many mon- with extensive property. asteries kept commemorative books, in Before becoming a monk and Abbot of which were listed the names of living St Gall, Salomo lived in a house on a hill and deceased persons who were regular- overlooking the Ira brook. This brook, ly remembered in prayer during Mass. which has meanwhile disappeared, The two commemorative books from formed a natural boundary of the Abbey the Abbey of St Gall contain the names District on the north side. By founding a of 15,000 people. Among them are mem- church, Salomo created a new sacred point bers of many convents and monasteries of reference for the monks and pilgrims. throughout Europe, ruling families Emperor Arnulf confirmed this donation, and benefactors from the region of Lake and the administrator of the cell had to Constance. provide for three monks and three clerics Despite the importance of these memo- as well as servants, out of the proceeds rial books for the religious communi- from the property. ties, only seven of them have survived.

Parchment, original Parchment, 15 and 29 sheets St Gall Abbey Archives, FF3 L37 St Gall Abbey Archives, C3 B55 I 4 A book as a relic

St Gall, c. 803 – 11th century

At the Abbey of St Gall, monks who were literate wrote their vows in the profession book themselves when they were accepted into the monastic community.

After a period of preparation as novices, the monks would make a solemn pro- fession, whereby they promised never to leave the monastery, to turn their backs on the world and to obey their abbot. The profession book contains the vows of the monks of St Gall since the foun- dation of their monastery by Otmar. It is the only surviving book of this kind dating from the Early Middle Ages. For its contemporary entry on the mar- tyrdom of Wiborada on 1 May 926 the book became a relic.

Parchment, 12 sheets St Gall Abbey Archives, C3 B56

10 11 II The abbey’s memory Writing preserves the memory. In its archives, the abbey keeps the documents that secured its legal position and economic existence. Records dealing with the administration of the abbey reveal the variety of its secular and spiritual duties. These sources have survived in various forms such as books, scrolls and single sheet documents, both with and without seals. II 1 Necrology (record of The necrology of the parish church of death anniversaries) Our Lady of Berneck is the oldest in the Rhine Valley. It contains over Berneck, 1424 700 commemorative entries and records Register entries arranged according to of donations, as well as diverse infor- the calendar facilitated the organisa- mation about the history of the church tion of information that needed to be construction and parish life in general. recalled at regular intervals. On 1st November (top right), there is an entry recording a charitable donation by Necrologies have existed since the the nobleman Ulrich von Höchst. How- Middle Ages. In calendar form, they ever, according to an annotation above recorded the names of deceased persons the record of the donation, the property who had made donations to a monastery donated (a house near the St Margrethen or church. In return, prayers for the cemetery) was washed away when the donors’ salvation would be offered in the Rhine overflowed its banks. church every year. In medieval parishes, the necrology was Parchment, 26 sheets not only the most important, but often St Gall Abbey Archives, Bd. 2045 the only manuscript available for use. For this reason, other noteworthy infor- mation was often entered in addition to the entry recording the donation.

12 13 II 2 Joint sealing of In 1471, due to a constant shortage of documents by the abbot and drinking water, the abbey and the city the monastic community decided to tap into some of the springs in the surrounding area. The water was St Gall, 15 January 1471 channelled into a well house and then From the 13th century onwards, particu- distributed equally between the abbey larly important contracts of the mon- and the city. The costs of drawing the astery were sealed twice: by the abbot water were borne jointly by the two and by the monastic community. parties. Two keys were required to gain access to the well house: one was kept at According to a papal decree of 1235, im- the abbey and the other in the city. portant documents had to bear both the Prince-Abbot Ulrich Rösch, the chapter abbot’s seal and the conventual seal. and the City of St Gall sealed the deed as At St Gall, there is evidence of the mo- a sign of mutual agreement. The abbey nastic community using a conventual and the city each received a copy. seal alongside the abbot’s seal from 1222 onwards. The first round conventual Parchment, original, three wax seals seal, which was used until 1260, showed St Gall Abbey Archives, HH4 K1 a bust of St Gall. This was soon replaced by a motif of the saint with the bear. The abbot used a pointed oval seal, showing him on his throne II 3 Conventual seal matrix II 4 Seal of Abbot Celestin Gugger 13th – 18th centuries 18th century The conventual seal was in use for 500 years. Seals were the most important means of authentication in the Middle Ages and As a separate legal entity, the monastic the Early Modern Period. community had its own seal. The earli- est recorded use of the conventual seal is In the Early Middle Ages, the use of seals on a legal document dating from 1293. was still largely restricted to papal bulls Its motif, which remained unchanged and the decrees of rulers. Monastic seals until the dissolution of the abbey, shows are known to have been used from the the abbey’s patron saint Gall with a 11th century onwards. The abbots of St Gall staff and, in accordance ith the legend, began to use personal seals in the early he is giving the bear a loaf of bread. This 13th century. motif was also used for the seal of the Prince-Abbot Celestin Gugger von Stau- town of St Gallen, as first attested to in dach (ruled 1740 – 1767) used the same 1294. ogival seal matrix as his predecessor Jo- The picture is surprisingly three-di- seph von Rudolphi (ruled 1717 – 1740). To mensional, with the bear and the saint avoid having to make a new seal, he had seeming to emerge from the scene. the inscription changed and his personal The original seal matrix is kept at the coat of arms added. Museum of History and Ethnology in Seal matrix, silver St Gallen. St Gall Abbey Archives, Sig. 16 Seal matrix, bronze, replica St Gall Abbey Archives, Sig. 1

14 15 II 5 Libellus The contracts between the abbey and the city concerning the joint use of water St Gall, 8 June 1726 gradually became more and more de- In the 18th century, important decrees tailed. This created greater legal certain- were still being written on parchment. ty and helped to prevent disputes. The fifth water contract between the By the Late Middle Ages, paper had abbey and the City of St Gall was signed replaced parchment as the principal in 1726. One of the provisions of this con- material used for the production of tract was that the abbey would provide documents. However, although more the city with drinking water for three expensive than paper, owing to its wells out of its quota and would receive outstanding durability parchment 30 gulden annually in return. continued to be used to produce official To regulate the amount of water distrib- documents, in particular formal docu- uted from the well house precisely, it ments of major importance. was necessary to determine the diame- A detailed decree would sometimes fill a ter of the conduit pipes. The document whole book. The pages of this so-called includes two brass templates that libellus were bound with sealing cords, record the agreed diameter. Thus, it was thus making it impossible to modify the possible to produce pipes in conformity contents of the document, for example with the contract whenever they were by exchanging pages. replaced.

Parchment libellus, original, three wax seals Abbey Archives of St Gall, V4 A105 II 6 Collection of documents This volume contains copies of contracts documenting the legal relationship be- St Gall, 1725 tween the abbey and the City of St Gallen Information safely preserved, as well as the region of Appenzell. The thanks to many copies. collection also includes the agreements made between the abbey and the city The Abbey of St Gall was already produc- concerning the joint use of water. ing copies of its most important legal The documents in this collection are documents in the Middle Ages. During arranged thematically and there is a the 17th and 18th centuries, a systematic detailed index. This provided the abbey and comprehensive collection of copies with a readily available overview of its of all the abbey’s documents was com- rights. Numerous blank pages pro- piled. This consisted of around 80,000 vided space for ongoing additions and pages and filled 85 volumes. The partial- updates. ly printed collection is preserved in the Abbey Archives in duplicate. Better to be Paper, 986 pages safe than sorry! St Gall Abbey Archives, Bd. 3a Despite the backup copies in book form, the abbey continues to guard its collec- tion of documents with the utmost care. The sealed originals ensure the greatest legal certainty, as specialists can verify their authenticity.

16 17 II 7 Gall, fish and the bear would have been a staple of the monks’ diet because they were normally not Steinach waterfall, 612 allowed to eat the meat of warm-blood- Gall’s first supper played an important ed animals. role in the legends surrounding the Today, the Steinach has once again founding of the Abbey of St Gall. The become the second most important saint ate fish – but what kind of fish? spawning ground for the lake trout, which had almost vanished from Lake When Columban decided to leave Bre- Constance in the mid-1980s. Whether genz and move on towards , Gall Gall and Hiltibod ate a lake trout or a remained at Lake Constance because river trout is irrelevant, since biological- he wanted to found a hermitage in the ly they are the same species. However, surrounding wild countryside. With these two species have different migra- the help of Hiltibod, who knew the area tory tendencies (rather like the Irish well, he found an ideal spot where the monks) and their colouring depends on River Steinach cascaded over a waterfall their habitat. Lake trout tend to have a into a pool where there were many fish. silvery colouring with black spots be- Hiltibod and Gall caught some fish cause this provides the best camouflage and cooked them for supper. It was not for them in Lake Constance. The scales surprising that the smell of roasting fish of river trout have a brown-to-golden attracted a bear. tinge with reddish spots. A pool full According to the Fisheries’ Office, of red-spotted trout must have been a Gall’s first supper would have been pleasing sight. Perhaps Gall stayed here trout. These fish were – and still are – because of the trout? the most common edible fish in small Eva Dietrich rivers. In Latin, they are called “salmo trutta”, which means they belong to Brown Trout, specimen the salmon family. And it is well known St.Gallen, Natural History Museum that bears eat salmon. Hence the en- counter with the bear. Although Gall was an ascetic who only ate once a day, fish was part of his diet. Legend has it that Gall often cast his net into Lake Constance and caught fish for the monks. In any case, fish II 8 Hand-drawn plan II 9 Account book

Abbey of St Gall, 1733 St Gall, 1740 – 1767

Plans help to illustrate facts and pro- The prince-abbots of St Gall kept jects. They supplement written reports meticulous records of their income and with a visual aspect. expenditure.

The Abbey Archives of St Gall contain a The account books of the prince-ab- number of hand-drawn plans, mainly bots of St Gall have been handed down from the 18th century. Usually, these almost seamlessly since the end of the relate to other documents and can only 16th century. The type and amount of the be understood in their context. Howev- monastic income and expenditure are er, due to their sometimes rather bulky neatly recorded. format, the plans are kept separately, Together with the diaries, the account together with the maps. books in particular provide close in- The complexity of the drawings depends sight into the administrative activities on their intended use: sketches are often of the prince-abbots of St Gall. They reduced to the essentials, whereas archi- document the broad spectrum of their tectural plans can be very detailed. tasks and responsibilities. The abbey was responsible for the upkeep Devastating floods occurred in 1762 and of the Haggen pond, which had become 1764. Prince-Abbot Celestin Gugger von densely overgrown and needed to be Staudach contributed a considerable cleaned. The abbey administration amount of money for reconstruction commissioned Carl Joseph Bodenmann in the communities that had suffered to drain the pond and free it from roots. damage. He was granted the right to grow grain In the Rhine Valley, the villages of Wid- crops for the summer on the newly nau, Haslach, Montlingen, Kriessern, reclaimed pond bed. Diepoldsau, Lustenau, Höchst and St As the remuneration for this work was Margrethen received substantial sums. to be paid according to area, the pond The State of Glarus, the Monastery of needed to be measured exactly. Engelberg and the villages of Vilters, Ragaz and Mels in the region of Sargans Paper also received support. St Gall Abbey Archives, Rubr. 23, Fasz. 7 Paper, 521 pages St Gall Abbey Archives, Bd. 891a

18 19 II 10 Diary In October 1696, Abbot Leodegar Bürgisser received bad news from the 1767 – 1773 dominion of Neuravensburg, south of Diaries provide an insight into Wangen in the region of Allgäu. The two the dealings and everyday life of a priests responsible for fisheries reported monastery. catching only 240 fish from the Schloss- weiher pond. The catch included a large The Prince-Abbots of St Gall began to number of tench, generally used as keep diaries in the early 17th century. secondary fish in pond management and They recorded current events as well as considered inferior to the typical food their personal encounters and impres- fish carp or pike. sions. According to the two priests, this poor The diaries were not intended to be catch was due to the presence of soldiers made public. However, they were ar- in their winter quarters who had eaten chived as records of the abbots’ adminis- most of the fish from the Schlossweiher tration. These records contain otherwise pond. The Great Turkish War was still unknown details, which means the dia- raging at the time. ries are irreplaceable sources of informa- tion for research into the abbey’s history Paper, 1464 pages in the Early Modern Period. St Gall Abbey Archives, Bd. 1933 II 11 Appointment Fish were in great demand for the monastic table. For this reason, the St Gall, mid-16th century fisherman’s duties were laid down in a All secular employees of the Abbey contract. Hans Suter, the fisherman em- of St Gall received an official appoint- ployed for the region of , had a wide ment – a contract of employment. range of responsibilities. In addition to fishing in rivers such as the or the For the administration of its possessions Necker, he was also in charge of twelve and the exercise of its authority, the ab- fishponds around Wil. bey was dependent on secular officials. The contract stated that the fisherman To ensure that they always acted in the was to fish in all seasons, whether in abbey’s best interests, the officials had flowing waters or in the ponds that had to confirm their agreement to the terms been developed by the abbey for fish of their appointment. This contract de- farming. He was to deliver the fish and scribed their duties, but also stated the crabs that he caught to the farmstead rights and entitlement to remuneration at Wil, which was one of the abbot’s of the official concerned. administrative seats. The Abbey Archives of St Gall contain many records of such appointments – Paper from first minister to cook’s assistant, St Gall Abbey Archives, and from palace councillor to herdsman. Rubr. 23, Fasz. 7 They document the intricate organi- sation of the secular authority of the prince-abbots of St Gall.

20 21 III Works of art destined for administrative use During the Late Middle Ages, the abbey succeeded in transforming its scattered possessions into a unified territory. Maps and plans were increasingly used as administrative aids because they showed areas distinctly and defined borders endur- ingly. Although most of the maps were only intended for internal administrative use, their presentation was often very elaborate and detailed. III 1 Standing water III 2 An absolutist monastic state 1764 Nuremberg, 1769 Over the millennia, a raised bog (Moos) formed between the present-day During the Baroque period, the municipalities of Zihlschlacht, Prince-Abbots of St Gall ruled over a and Muolen. For a long time, peat was territory with a population of about cut from the bog to be used as fuel. 80,000.

As early as the Baroque period, the local The Princely Abbey was the fourth-larg- population turned to the Schwarzes est state of the Old Confederation. How- Moos (also known as Forenmoos or ever, the abbot’s absolutist rule was only Hudelmoos) to cut their peat. tolerated in the “Alte Landschaft” [The The abbey tolerated peat cutting for the Old Territory] (between Lake Constance first few decades. In order to protect the and Wil, marked in yellow). forest, however, peat cutting was subject In the County of Toggenburg (pink / to official authorisation from 1760 on- light green), which was acquired in 1468, wards and the quantities cut were limited a district administrator enacted the to people’s own needs. laws. In the Rhine Valley (dark green), In 1764, Johannes Feurer, a captain and the abbot had to share power with feder- surveyor from Bernhardzell, drew a al bailiffs. The imperial city of St Gallen map of the Hudelmoos with a boundary had been independent of the abbey since between the Abbey of St Gall and the the Middle Ages. region of Thurgau. This map was drawn by the Protes- tant pastor of Berneck, Gabriel Walser Paper, scale c. 1:2,700 (1695 – 1776). Admittedly, his surveying Abbey Archives of St Gall, technique was not up to the standards Karten und Pläne Nr. 7 of the time. Nevertheless, the illustra- tive maps that Walser had printed for all parts of achieved large print runs.

Coloured copper engraving, paper, scale c. 1:130,000, St Gall Abbey Archives, Karten und Pläne Nr. 200

22 23 III 3 Coastal scene in the in real life, where the light alternately Gulf of Naples played softly or shone brightly on the water and became, as it were, the protag- Naples, c. 1740 onist itself. Sea and light set the mood in Adrien Among the coastal painters of the mid- Manglard’s circle. 18th century, Joseph Vernet (1714 – 1789) was the authoritative voice. His gifted This cheerful, light-flooded painting teacher, Adrien Manglard (1695 – 1760), shows a rocky bay in the Gulf of Naples who worked in Naples and who may with a view of Mount Vesuvius. Fisher- have painted this picture, is less well men have dragged their boats onto the known today. Manglard’s coastal scenes beach and are resting in the shade of the transpose Lorrain’s heroic seascapes into rocks. the lightness of the 18th century. The The colouring and style of the painting pale background of the painting also point to the circle of the artist Adrien seems to indicate a French artist. There Manglard, but attribution is difficult is no record of how it came to St Gall. It because many paintings of coastal is possible that the monks brought the scenes were produced in Naples. The rolled canvas home in their luggage. staffage and the compositions followed a Ulrike Ganz common pattern. The superb scenery of the Gulf of Naples Oil/canvas, 87 x 138 cm made it a favourite destination for the Art collection of the Canton of St Gallen, Grand Tourists, among whom were Q 3/04 also several monks from St Gall. In this southern idyll, a whole host of artists satisfied the desire of their clients from north of the Alps for paintings that would capture the atmosphere of the coastal scenery that impressed them so much. However, art was not only a sou- venir. Rather, educated Grand Tourists expected an experience of nature and the sea that had been predetermined by art. They wanted to discover the paintings of Claude Lorrain (1600 – 1682) 24 25 IV Monks and water No other early medieval source mentions water as often as the deed. In whatever form – flowing or calm, splashing or murmuring – water was an integral part of a formula that described in detail everything that belonged to a property. Numerous bodies of water owe their first written mention to the documents in the Ab- bey Archives. Rivers served as boundaries then, as they do today, but they also provided people with food or driftwood. The right to fish in the big lakes was particularly prized. IV 1 Fresh fish IV 2 Forests and water

Zurich, 2 December 874? Turbenthal, 1/10 July 868/869

The Abbey of St Gall was granted fish- The Abbey of St Gall acquired a forest ing rights in Lake Zurich, thus ensuring as well as access to the River Töss. a supply of freshwater fish for the While the forest was an important monastic kitchen. source of wood, the river played a major role in fishing and for the sup- At the royal court in Zurich, a barter ply of water. transaction took place between a royal vassal and the Abbey of St Gall. With Hartpert donated to the Abbey of the permission of his sovereign, King St Gall a large piece of forest between Louis the German, Witpert gave Abbot the villages of Blitterswil and Akau in Hartmut part of his royal feudal estate the present-day municipality of Bau- at Feldbach in the region of Zurich in ma. This forest lay in the Töss Valley. exchange for some of the abbey’s prop- The property was leased back to him erty in Rickenbach and Fägswil. The and his male heir in return for a fixed area of farmland, including houses and annual interest. farms, that Witpert received from the This legal transaction was confirmed abbey was far greater than the area he by an impressive group of 9 clerical exchanged. In return, the abbot received and 20 secular witnesses. They gath- fishing rights in nearby Lake Zurich ered on a Sunday, the most impor- along with some woodlands near Hom- tant day of the week, in Turbenthal, brechtikon. Due to the long periods of perhaps even in the forecourt of the fasting and abstinence observed by the local church. monks, fish was of great importance for Parchment, original the abbey’s cuisine. St Gall Abbey Archives, III 305 Parchment, original 28 January – 29 April 2021 St Gall Abbey Archives, III 328

28 January – 29 April 2021

26 27 IV 3 Royal protection IV 4 Rivers as boundaries

Frankfurt am , 19 October 833 September 853 – September 854

In this document, King Louis the Following lengthy disputes, the bound- German confirmed all the rights and ary between the Diocese of Constance freedoms that had been conferred on and the Abbey of St Gall was deter- the Abbey of St Gall. In it, the royal mined during an on-site visit. notary described the abbey as being In the presence of the king, a reconcilia- situated on the river “Petrosa”. This was tion took place between Bishop Salomo the Latin name for the Steinach, which and Abbot Grimald at the royal palace flowed to the south of the abbey. in Ulm on 22 July 854. The dispute also Monastic communities needed royal concerned the boundaries between the protection to be able to defend them- diocese and the abbey. These needed to selves against external enemies. Every be redefined, which is why the two par- change of ruler would alarm the mon- ties later reconvened near the abbey. asteries because their long-established After swearing an oath on saintly relics, rights might be endangered. Shortly an on-site inspection took place, start- after King Louis the Pious was deposed ing from the abbey’s property in Berg. by his three sons in October 833, Abbot The boundary ran from Watt via Löm- Gozbert travelled to the royal court in menschwil, then, at Balgen, upstream to Frankfurt am Main. Louis the Ger- the ford, from there to the great oak tree man, who had now become King of the and finally to the Rötistobelbach stream Eastern Frankish Empire, confirmed the in the forest of Bernhardzell and then to obligations and rights of the abbey after its confluence with the River Sitter** being presented with documents that Parchment, original went back to the time of his grandfather, St Gall Abbey Archives, Emperor Charlemagne. Zürcher Abteilung, Nr. 4 Parchment, original 30 April – 29 July 2021 St Gall Abbey Archives, A1 A1

28 January – 29 April 2021 IV 5 Selbo’s fishpond IV 6 A pond in Bettenau

Billikon, 29 August 858 Oberwinterthur, 11 January 889

In the Early Middle Ages, houses and With the change of ownership of a their inhabitants were rarely men- farmstead in the hamlet of Bettenau, tioned. Only one mention of a fish- the pond belonging to the property pond exists. was also mentioned in a document for the first time. Perevrid owned extensive property in Billikon in the region of Zurich, which It was not until 2007 that this document he transferred to the Abbey of St Gall. was discovered inside the cover of a book Among other things, a field next to in the library of the Parish Church of St Selbo’s house, in which there was also a Michael in Zug. According to a note on fishpond, was expressly excluded. the back of the document, it concerned The serf Selbo was apparently in the the donation of a farm in Bettenau by service of Perevrid, so that the fish also Count Adalbert the Illustrious to his loy- belonged to the landlord. These were al supporter Othere. Thus, Othere came an exception and remained private into possession of a former royal proper- property, but Perevrid and his descend- ty which included a pond (“Uuiuuare”). ants could also buy back the rest of the The scribe who wrote the document was property for six years. Othere’s brother, the famous poet and monk Notker Balbulus. Parchment, original In 1464, this idyllic moor pond came St Gall Abbey Archives, Bremen 31 into the possession of the Abbey of 30 April – 29 July 2021 St Gall and was turned into a fishpond. Since 2018, it has belonged to the munic- ipality of Oberuzwil.

Parchment, original Zug, library of the Parish Church of St Michael

30 April – 29 July 2021

28 29 IV 7 A royal manor on the IV 8 An outpost of St Gall River Murg on the River Danube

Frankfurt am Main, 23 January 837/839 Zell, 17 November 790

Emperor Louis the Pious gave his loyal A church in Rammesauwa was donat- supporter Odilbert a manor situated in ed to the Abbey of St Gall. The abbey Hunzikon on the River Murg. developed this location on the Danube into a regional administrative centre. Towards the end of his life, Emperor Louis the Pious gave his loyal supporter The donors were the influential Count Odilbert a manor and adjoining land at Perahtolt and his wife Gersinda. Apart Hunzikon in Thurgau as a reward for from the church in Rammesauwa, the his services. abbey also received property in Reutlin- This place, which was situated on the gendorf as well as cultivated land and River Murg (Murgha), to the east of Wän- half of a mill in Möhringen. gi, was mentioned for the first time in Rammesauwa (Ramsau) was a relatively this imperial document. common place name. In order to clearly identify the church which Perahtolt and Parchment, original? Gersinda were donating to the Abbey St Gall Abbey Archives, EE5 E136 of St Gall, the document mentioned 30 April – 29 July 2021 the Danube, which flowed around the church on three sides. Names of bodies of water often helped to locate places in early medieval docu- ments. It is here in the collection of the Abbey Archives of St Gall that the Dan- ube is mentioned for the first time. During the Early Middle Ages, the place name Rammesauwa changed to Cella (Zell). This points to the foundation by the Abbey of St Gall of a subsidiary (cell) occupied by monks.

Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, I 110

30 July – 21 October 2021 IV 9 A mill on the River Dreisam IV 10 A barter transaction with the king Mundenhof, 12 September 864? Trebur, 6 August 902 Hydropower was already being used in the Early Middle Ages. The Abbey of St Gall transferred the Pappenheim estate to King Louis the The priest Rumolt donated to the Abbey Child in exchange for properties on the of St Gall his property in Mundenhof on Baar plateau and on Lake Constance. the River Dreisam. The property includ- ed a mill, together with a feeder channel The properties received in exchange for the water, as well as a small forest on were easier for the abbey to administer either side of the river. In return, Rumolt than the distant Pappenheim estate. reserved the right to be received into the They were situated near Rottweil and on Abbey of St Gall. Lake Constance. The feeder channel to the mill described One property which the abbey received in the document as an “aqueduct” was from the king was located, not by place probably not a stone structure as we name, but by two bodies of water. It was know it from Roman times. It was more described as being located near Lake likely to have been a wooden construc- Constance, where the Stockacher Aach tion. flowed into the lake. The small forest that Rumolt donated Parchment, original to the abbey along with the mill would St Gall Abbey Archives, FF3 L45 have provided the timber needed for the maintenance of the water channel. 30 July – 21 October 2021 Mundenhof, today a district of Freiburg im Breisgau, and the River Dreisam are mentioned here for the first time in a document.

Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, III 253

30 July – 21 October 2021

30 31 IV 11 The middle of the river IV 12 A barter transaction in the as a boundary king’s bedchamber

Willisdorfy, 14 March 882 Kirchen, 2 April 866?

The Abbey of St Gall came into posses- A certain Toto concluded a barter sion of a forest situated on the Rhine. transaction with the Abbey of St Gall concerning property on the River Racholf used his family’s relationship Möhlin in the Black Forest. with the Abbey of St Gall to conclude a barter transaction. To obtain a large The king’s bedchamber at Kirchen in piece of arable land in Willisdorf, he Breisgau served as the meeting place transferred to the abbey a forest in the for this agreement. In view of the close same place which his father had inher- relations between the king and Abbot ited from his ancestors. On its northern Grimald of St Gall, this was by no means side, this forest abutted the Rhine, the unusual. Toto renounced ownership of middle of which served as the boundary. a piece of land in Wittnau and a vine- This rule still applies today. yard in Au, where the Abbey of St Gall For the use of the land in Willisdorf, had owned property for some time. which had also formerly belonged to an In return, the abbey granted him a ancestor, Racholf paid annual interest piece of cleared and cultivated land in of four measures of grain. His legal de- the Black Forest, situated on the River scendants could also use the land for the Möhlin. In addition, at his request, Toto same interest, but did not have the right received a meadow situated on the same to buy it back. river.

Parchment, original Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, IV 364 St Gall Abbey Archives, Bremen 34

22 October 2021 – 25 January 2022 22 October 2021 – 25 January 2022 IV 13 A barter transaction with the king

Bodman, 21 January 905

The Abbey of St Gall transferred the Pappenheim estate to King Louis the Child in exchange for properties on the Baar plateau and on Lake Constance.

The properties received in exchange were easier for the abbey to administer than the distant Pappenheim estate. They were situated near Rottweil and on Lake Constance. One of the properties which the abbey received from the king was a farm situat- ed to the east of the Palace of Bodman at the place where the Tiefenbach stream (today: Katharinenbach) flowed into Lake Constance. The inhabitants of the farm were granted the privilege of cutting ten millstones a year.

Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, FF3 L59

22 October 2021 – 25 January 2022

32 33 V First written testimonies More than 1000 settlements, mountains, waters and regions are mentioned for the first time in written documents of the St Gall Abbey Archives. In most cases, these are records of property transfer to the abbey and its founding saints Gall and Otmar. By concluding legal transac- tions to the abbey people were hoping to save their souls, to provide legal security and to preserve titles of possession. These documents are windows that give insight into early medieval everyday life. Nowadays, their exact dating permits the celebration of jubi- lees. V 1 First mention of V 2 First mention of Bachtalmühle 1200 years ago Willerazhofen 1150 years ago

Lausheim, 10/11 March 820/821 Willerazhofen, 22/29 June 871

Albhar was granted lifelong usufruct A community of heirs in Allgäu bene- of the property which his father had fited from a barter transaction with the donated to the Abbey of St Gall. Abbey of St Gall.

Abbot Gozbert and his fellow monks The brothers Cundpret and Mouuo and granted Albhar the use of a property their brother’s children owned prop- in the Bachtal valley near Ewattingen, erty in Langenargen, possibly from an where the abbey was slowly beginning to inheritance. However, their main place of gain a foothold. This property had been residence was not on Lake Constance, but in the Abbey’s possession since being further north near Kisslegg and Leutkirch donated by Albhar’s father Onheri. - in the Allgäu region. They therefore har was allowed to use this property for gave their property in Langenargen to the rest of his life but had to pay annual Abbot Grimald of St Gall in exchange for interest of one solidus. After Albhar’s monastic properties in Willerazhofen death, his legal heirs and their descend- (Leutkirch) and Herrot (Kisslegg). ants could also use the property and pay From the second half of the 9th century, the same interest each year. the Abbey of St Gall increasingly engaged in barter transactions to round off its Parchment, original possessions. The barter partners also St Gall Abbey Archives, II 34 benefited from such agreements, as is 28 January – 29 April 2021 explicitly stated in this document.

Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, III 312

30 April – 29 July 2021

34 35 V 3 First mention of V 4 First mention of Hundwil Schwänberg 1200 years ago 1100 years ago

Abbey of St Gall, 30/29 September Gossau, 23 October 921 820/821 A house fire destroyed the first docu- A donation of property in Schwänberg ment recording the barter transaction became a fief, subject to the payment between the brothers Lando and Engil- of levies and the rendering of certain bert and the Abbey of St Gall. The legal services. transaction was authenticated again by a new deed. Rihhoh and Roadhoh donated a property in the village of Schwänberg to the Abbey The brothers Lando and Engilbert gave of St Gall. In return, they received the prop- the Abbey of St Gall a sizeable piece erty back as a fief. This was tied to various of land in Hundwil. In return, they conditions: every year, the two men had to received an equally large piece of land in pay interest of ten bushels of grain, plough Hohfirst in the present-day municipality a large piece of land and work for two days of Waldkirch. The brothers were granted at harvest time and at the time of cutting the right to continue using the land and the hay. These conditions also applied to all the same applied to their descendants. their legal heirs. The donation guaranteed The barter transaction was concluded in the two men and their families the protec- Gossau, where the abbey had a monastic tion of the abbey and eternal salvation. grange that served as an administrative The signatures of Abbot Gozbert and seven centre for an extensive area. From a note high-ranking monks appear at the end of in the margin, we learn that the original the document. Finally, there is an impres- deed, which had been privately owned sive list of 16 witnesses from Schwänberg. by the two landowners, had been burnt The scribe Wolfcoz is also named. in a house fire, together with the house- hold contents. Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, II 47 Parchment, original St Gall Abbey Archives, IV 481 30 July – 21 October 2021 22 October 2021 – 25 January 2022