Nesslau


Nesslau is a municipality in the Toggenburg district of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
The current municipality was formed in 2013 and includes the villages of Nesslau, Krummenau and Stein.

History

The area was incorporated into the domains of the counts of Toggenburg and the Abbey of St. Gall 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 to Nesslau-Neu St. Johann was opened in 1912, resulting in development of tourism in the region.
The former municipality of Nesslau was merged with Krummenau into Nesslau-Krummenau in 2005. A further merger with Stein in 2013 resulted in the current municipality of Nesslau.
The pre-2005 Nesslau had a different Community Identification Number 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 and the remainder is non-productive. 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 of Lutenwil, Krümmenschwil, Büel, Schneit, Laad, Schlatt, 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 and the remainder is non-productive.

Historic Population

The historical population is given in the following chart:

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bar:1860 from: 0 till:2397 text:"2,397" color:NE
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bar:1880 from: 0 till:2187 text:"2,187" color:NE
bar:1890 from: 0 till:2205 text:"2,205" color:NE
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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
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bar:1850 from: 2374 till:3937 text:"1,563" color:KR
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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
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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 church was built in 1497 and renovated in 1929. The north tower has a gabled roof. The Catholic church of St. Jacob was built in 1927-28, but the Rococo pulpit dates from 1770.

Heritage sites of national significance

The house at Sidwaldstrasse 6 and the former Benedictine 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.