A visit to Mogelsberg in the Necker Valley, Toggenburg

Tuesday August 15, 2023 -- This was a religious holiday in the Catholic Cantons, so Urs had the day off work, normally another opportunity for us to go on a hike. But this time there was rain in the forecast, so we arranged to visit a friend who lives in the Toggenburg region of Eastern Switzerland.

Sure enough, we left home in the rain, but just as we got to Mogelsberg, the sun came out as hot as usual and we found we were overdressed! Nevertheless, we were able to visit in the cool interior of our friend's traditional Appenzell-style house. Highlight of the day is that she gave us a tour of the village church, as she is responsible for its indoor upkeep. The church in itself is not very old (built in 1810) but having access to the bell and clock tower, as well as seeing the inner workings of the pipe organ, were new experiences for us.

An interesting note here: Instead of having two village churches, this particular church is shared by both Protestants and Catholics (the former celebrating their services on Sundays, and the latter on Saturday evenings!). The chuch was built in cooperation of both groups, and one group sees to the upkeep of the outside and the grounds, the other to the inside. This doesn't work very often, but in this case is pretty successful.

(Note: Although we didn't do a hike on this trip to Mogelsberg, we did do one in 2020 near the start of COVID. Those photos are HERE. In Mogelsberg is the renowned tree-top walk which was unfortunately closed at the time, and we hope to walk it one day. Interesting info HERE). 

There are apparently three restaurant/hotels in this small town. Two of them are across from the church. This is the Gasthaus Löwen.

"Löwen" means lion, so very appropriate!!!

This is the Gasthaus Rössli, and is apparently a higher caliber of hotel 

"Rössli" means "horse" or "small horse", thus the lovely sign on the hotel 

The church in Mogelsberg (note the lion sign on the right) was built in 1810 through the cooperation of both Catholic and Protestant believers. The existence of the town itself is documented as far back as 1152, under the name "Magoldesberch", which means "My Golden Mountain"

The inside of the church is unusually airy and bright. The large windows are the result of fairly recent renovations (1992?)

This is what one usually sees of the church organs. The many large pipes are impressive enough.

What one doesn't see is the many smaller pipes hidden in the inner part of the organ!

Heading up into the bell tower on the wooden staircases around the four walls. The weights on the cables are for the working of the church clock.

A look across the rooftops of Mogelsberg from one of the tower windows. The little building at the back is the village school.

The bells are HUGE. It was exactly 15:45 when we were up here, so we had to cover our ears as the bells tolled the 3/4 hour. 

The date on the bell yoke is 1810, the year the church was built. 

Even though the church is not that old, the walls of the tower are very thick!

Posing inside the tower wall!

Heading back down the tower again. 

And this is the lovely Toggenburg landscape as we are heading back home again by train. We don't come here nearly enough. 

Location of Mogelsberg in Switzerland.