Abbey Library Of St. Gallen (St. Gallen)

The Abbey Library of St. Gallen, known locally as the Stiftsbibliothek, occupies a wing of the former monastery at Klosterhof 6D, facing the cathedral across the abbey precinct. The monastery grew out of the hermitage of the Irish missionary Gallus, and the settlement was organised as a Benedictine abbey in the early eighth century. A scriptorium and a book collection were part of monastic life from the start, and by the ninth century the abbey was one of the leading centres of learning north of the Alps. The library is therefore among the oldest in Europe, and it is often called one of the most important monastic libraries in the world.

The room visitors enter today is not medieval. It is a hall of the mid-eighteenth century, built in the Rococo style to designs associated with Peter Thumb, and it is widely regarded as one of the finest Baroque library interiors in Switzerland. Pale walls, carved and inlaid woodwork, a gallery with decorated balustrades and a ceiling with painted scenes create a bright, calm space. To protect the floor, visitors slip felt covers over their shoes and glide across the polished parquet, which adds a slightly ceremonial feel to the visit.

The collection itself reaches back far further than the hall. It holds more than a hundred and fifty thousand volumes, including roughly two thousand manuscripts, and many of those were written more than a thousand years ago. Among the treasures is the Plan of St. Gall, a ninth-century drawing on parchment of an ideal monastery, the only surviving architectural plan of its kind from that period. The library also preserves early copies of texts in Old High German, some of the oldest written German anywhere. Because the manuscripts are fragile, only a small number are shown at a time in glass cases, and the displays are changed regularly, with temporary exhibitions that take up themes such as music, script and the monastery's history, including manuscripts with early musical notation.

One unexpected highlight is an Egyptian mummy, kept in the library since the early nineteenth century, which surprises many visitors in a monastic setting.

Together with the cathedral and the surrounding buildings, the library is part of the Abbey District of St. Gallen, which UNESCO inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1983. The cathedral stands next door and can be combined in the same visit, along with a walk through Gallusplatz and the old town.

The library suits book lovers, history readers and people interested in Baroque architecture, and it is quiet enough to give a real pause in a day of sightseeing. Photography rules are strict, so ask at the entrance before taking pictures. Allow around an hour, check current opening times on the official website, and note that the hall is sometimes closed for special events.