Unterwasser

The Thur waterfalls are two cascades located on the river Thur approximately ten minutes walking from the village square of Unterwasser in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, The water cascades down from steep rock faces, and on highest point drops from 23 metres (75 ft). The road along the waterfalls was developed in 1927 and includes three observation decks.

St. John's Abbey in the Thurtal (German: Kloster St. Johann im Thurtal) was a Benedictine monastery originally established in Alt St. Johann in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, in the mid-12th century. The oldest written record of it is dated 4 October 1152, when Pope Eugene III took the monastery into his protection. The pope confirmed the monastery's possessions and free election of its abbot and Vogt. On 24 October 1178 Pope Alexander III confirmed the abbey's extended possessions. In 1227/1228, the king became Vogt of the abbey. In December 1231, Emperor Frederick II issued a Golden Bull confirming his obligations as Vogt of the abbey. The abbey owned numerous estates in Toggenburg and in the Rhine valley: St. Johann, Stein, Nesslau, Kappel, St. Peterzell and Mogelsberg; and in Vorarlberg in Austria, near Feldkirch, in Klaus, Götzis and Altach.The abbey also frequently bought land in the territory which is now the principality of Liechtenstein, most notably the prominent Red House in Vaduz, which it purchased in 1525 from the heirs of the medieval owners, the Vaisli family.The abbey's high point was during the 14th century. It survived the Reformation, but lost its independence in 1555, when it became a priory of St. Gall's Abbey.In 1626 the buildings were severely damaged by fire, and the monks were afflicted by a mysterious illness and the community moved along the valley to a new location at Sidwald near Nesslau, since then known as Neu St. Johann. On the site of the old monastery a parish church was built, with a priest's house.The new monastery buildings in Nesslau, which were completed by 1680, were in a magnificent Rococo style. Toggenburg was an area of mixed denominations, and the priory was an instrument of the Counter-Reformation under the leadership of the Prince-Abbots of St. Gallen.The priory was dissolved in 1805. The former monastic church became the Roman Catholic parish church of the parish of Neu St. Johann. The remaining buildings now accommodate a remedial educational centre known as the Johanneum.

Schwendisee is a small lake above Wildhaus on the slopes of the Churfirsten, in Toggenburg, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Besides the main lake (Vorderer Schwendisee), there is a smaller lake nearby (Hinterer Schwendisee). Sediment cores from the lakes have been studied and provide a record of the climate of the last 600 years.Schwendisee is a combination of two words - ‘Schwendi’ and ‘see’ where Schwandi refers to the glacier that melted about 1,400 years ago to form the lakes and ‘see’ translates to lake in English. The elevation of the lake is about 1,150 metres above sea level. Schwendisee is nestled in moorland where the waterbody is divided into the front Schwendisee and the rear Schwendisee separated by strip of forest. The larger Vorderer Schwendisee is open to visitors for fishing, swimming and hiking. It is about 250m long and 150m wide. A broadwalk extends to the middle of the lake to allow visitors to enter the water. Both lakes are surrounded by dense reeds and marshes and also have small creeks feeding the flora. Visitors can find barbeque facilities at either side of the lake and the Hotel Seegüetli on the northern end of the lake.

Alt St. Johann is a village in the Toggenburg region, since 2010 part of the municipality Wildhaus-Alt St.Johann in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland (the former municipalities of Alt St. Johann and Wildhaus merged on 1 January 2010).

Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Toggenburg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It was formed on 1 January 2010 through the merger of Alt St. Johann and Wildhaus.

Wildhaus (High Alemannic: Wildhuus) is a village and former municipality in the Toggenburg region of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, since 2010 by merger with Alt St. Johann part of the municipality of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann. The reformer Huldrych Zwingli was born in Wildhaus in 1484. His birth house can still be visited.

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 east to west, Hinterrugg (2,306 m), Schibenstoll (2,234 m), Zuestoll (2,235 m), Brisi (2,279 m), Frümsel (2,263 m), Selun (2,205 m). In spite of its being counted among the "seven peaks", it has a modest prominence of just 14 m, forming part of the ridge ascending to Hinterrugg. Part of Toggenburg's ski resort, it is reached from Unterwasser (911 m) by Iltiosbahn, a funicular opened 1934 to Iltios (1,339 m), and from there by aerial lift (opened 1972). The mountain's name translates to "cheesemaker's ridge" and is properly the name of the ridge ascending towards it from the north, beginning at Ruggschöpf at about 1,800 m and was only transferred to the "peak" when the "seven Churfirsten" were systematized in the late 19th or early 20th century; in the 19th century, there was also a fashion of etymologizing the name of the Churfirsten range as Kurfürsten "prince-electors", which occasionally inspired a name variant Kaiserruck "emperor's back" for Chäserrugg.

Wildhaus Pass is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the canton of St. Gallen in Eastern Switzerland. The main road culminates at 1,090 metres, while the pass itself lies at an elevation of 1,027 metres above sea level. It connects Gams in the Rhine valley and Unterwasser and Wattwil in the Toggenburg. The pass lies between the Säntis and the Churfirsten massifs. The pass road has a maximum grade of 12 percent. There is a ski resort at the summit in the municipality of Wildhaus.

The Hinterrugg (or Hinderrugg) is the highest peak of the Churfirsten group, located in the Appenzell Alps. It overlooks the town of Walenstadt and the lake in the canton of St. Gallen. The summit is easily accessible via the Chäserrugg cable car station (2,262 metres), above Unterwasser in Toggenburg. The Hinterrugg is a well-known location for BASE jumping.

The Schibenstoll (or Scheibenstoll) is one of the peaks of the Churfirsten group, located in the Appenzell Alps. It lies between the valley of Toggenburg and Lake Walenstadt in the canton of St. Gallen. The summit is easily accessible by a trail on the northern side.

Churfürsten is a mountain range in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. They form the natural boundary between the canton's Toggenburg and Sarganserland districts. They are the southernmost range of the Appenzell Alps, separated from the Glarus Alps by the Seez river and Walensee. They consist of a limestone ridge 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 during the Würm glaciation. The name is a plural, indicating the peaks forming the historical boundary of the bishopric of Chur. It has historically also been folk-etymologized as Kurfürsten, i.e. the 7 prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire who in the later medieval period (until 1648) numbered seven, which in turn encouraged the count of seven main or "official" peaks.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 (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 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 (2101 m). Peaks to the east of Chäserrugg: Tristenkolben (2159 m), Gamserrugg (2076 m).

The Zuestoll is one of the peaks of the Churfirsten group, located in the Appenzell Alps. It lies between the valley of Toggenburg and Lake Walenstadt in the canton of St. Gallen. The summit is easily accessible by a trail on the northern side.