Bay window in St. Gallen

Bay window on the house to the four winds

The city of St. Gallen is known for its many bay windows . In the old town alone there are over a hundred of these additions to houses. They have been used since the Middle Ages to enlarge the living space and improve lighting on the upper floors. The St. Gallen bay windows are often very elaborately designed and decorated, because they should also represent the wealth of the citizens who live there.

First phase

The oldest oriel in the city was probably that of the old town hall (built 1563/64, demolished in 1877). The bay window on the first floor belonged to the council chamber and was also used as a stage for announcements to the citizens.

The oldest private bay windows in St. Gallen date from the beginning of the 17th century. This is the beginning of the flourishing of the St. Gallen linen trade , which made the city and its traders very rich. Merchants had magnificent bay windows built on their houses and often also had small castles in the area. In the middle of the 17th century, the canvas sales collapsed temporarily, which also meant that construction activity became more cautious. The Thirty Years War was not conducive to trade. The industry only flourished again towards the end of the century. The last bay window in this first phase is the so-called "camel bay" built in 1720.

Second phase

The second bloom of the city of St. Gallen and thus also of the oriel building began around 1900 with the emerging cotton industry and the subsequent bloom of St. Gallen embroidery , which should make the city one of the richest in Europe. Previously, the art of bay construction and its works had hardly received any attention, because around 1840 bay windows were regarded as "spoilage" and were forbidden in new buildings. This second phase of wealth and pomp ended abruptly in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War . The face of St. Gallen's old town has only been changed selectively since then, so that many oriels and house facades date from this heyday of embroidery.

Selected bay windows

Surname	description	Built	address	image
Town hall oriel	One-storey bay window above the middle archway of the old town hall (1564–1877), originally probably flanked by further protruding windows and brightly painted and decorated. In depictions from the 19th century, only a relatively simple oriel without accessories can be seen. The picture is a painting of the town hall from 1711.	Erected with the town hall and also canceled with it.	Entrance to Marktgasse, canceled
Camel bay	Two-storey wooden bay window with artistic carvings. Last bay window of the first phase.	In 1673 the lower part was built by David Friedrich for the Haus zum Kamel, in 1720 the upper part by his son Johannes. Dismantled and stored in 1919, only reassembled at the current location in 1986, but without the middle section with the camels that give it its name (this can be viewed in the Ethnographic Museum)	Spisergasse 22
To the pomegranate	Colorful wooden bay window with human busts in the pillars, lined with exotic fruits	1676	Marktgasse 15
Gripping	One-storey bay window made of oak and linden wood, richly carved. The reliefs in the parapet areas show biblical motifs: Jacob's quarrel with God ( Genesis 32 : 24–28  EU ); Elijah at the brook Kerit ( 1 Kings 17.1–6  EU ); The teaching of Jonas ( Jonah 4, 5–6  EU ); Tobias on the road ( Tobit 6.2–6  EU ). Lions between the parapets, female figures between the windows.	The exact date of origin is unknown, probably in the second half of the 17th century, as the owner at the time, Caspar Mennhard (1621–1684), must have been a very wealthy man, as can be seen from tax lists.	Gallusstrasse 22
Wooden bay window with angels	Richly carved oriel made of oak and lime wood, under the windows two angels with various fruits	1672, restored in 1971 and 1993	Gallusstrasse 30
House to truth	Simple wooden bay window with carved consoles, newer ornamental painting	2nd half of the 17th century	Gallusstrasse 32
Ball bay	Lavishly carved and painted wooden bay windows with reliefs. It is named after the globe in the lower part. Three of the twelve tasks of Heracles are presented . The bay window is carried by three figures, Hercules in the middle is lined with two Turks with turbans.	1690	Kugelgasse 8
Swan bay	Square, two-story oriel made of oak. In the parapet carvings of water creatures from Greek mythology : Heracles defeats Scylla (?), Poseidon on his sea chariot, etc. a. The console shows in the middle a swan with widely spread wings and a snake in its mouth, on the left and right mermen	around 1690, possibly in two phases	Kugelgasse 10
Pelican bay	The pelican bay is carved from wood on two levels. He is towered over by a golden pelican on the dome roof, which opens its chest to soak its young with its blood. Six parapet fields - the two in the middle and the one on the side - with depictions of fruit. The other four parapet areas show allegories of the four continents known at the time, with one person each from Africa, Asia, Europe and America.	circa 1708	Schmiedgasse 15
To the lying lamb	Presumably one-story stone bay window, the lower parapet of which showed a lying lamb. The house was rebuilt in 1910, and a representation of a swan probably came from this bay window to the “Zum weissen Schwan” inn. The lamb and two biblical representations of Moses on the thorn bush and the sacrifice of Abraham , which are now in the stairwell of the historical museum, probably come from this bay window.	Erected around 1710, dismantled in 1910

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bentele-Bauman, p. 4
2. ↑ Ziegler, pp. 20f.
3. ↑ Ziegler, p. 26
4. ↑ Bentele-Baumann, p. 6
5. ↑ Gustav Schwab (1792–1850), quoted in Ziegler, p. 13
6. ↑ Ziegler, pp. 20f.
7. ↑ Ziegler, p. 66
8. ↑ Ziegler, p. 80 ff.
9. ↑ Ziegler, p. 71ff.

literature

• Doris Bentele-Baumann: Bay window of the city of St. Gallen. St. Gallen Culture, St. Gallen 2014, ISBN 978-3-033-04848-5 .
• Ernst Ziegler : Bay window in St. Gallen. St. Gallen 1994, ISBN 3-9520717-0-6 .

Web links

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