Trogen to Speicher and Eggen High Trail in Canton Appenzell AR

Saturday April 11, 2026 -- On this last nice day for a while, we invited a friend to join us on a panorama hike in eastern Switzerland near the city of St.Gallen in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden. 

In January of 2014 (photos HERE), we walked a popular high trail called the "Eggen-Höhenweg", a panorama trail passing via several locations with the name "Egg", a trail mostly along the Canton Border of St.Gallen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden. At that time it was a snow-covered landscape, and I have long wanted to walk the trail again when the landscape was green.

The Eggen High Trail itself is a 2-hour, 6½-Kilometer trail starting above the town of Speicher at a site called Vögelinsegg, and ends with a descent to the town of Teufen. To make the walk longer, we first rode to the end of the line of the Appenzellerbahn at the village of Trogen, which has a lot of history about the Zellweger Family, barons of the textile and wool trade in a large part of Europe between 1667 and 1817. From there we walked to Speicher and joined the Eggen High Trail.

About half-way along the trail is a lovely Gasthaus called Waldegg, where we stopped for coffee and dessert, and then walked through the premises which is set up like a museum with rooms furnished like they might have been a couple of centuries ago (school-room, bakery, grocery, living quarters). The site also has several play areas for kids and barns with small animals.

As we reached Teufen, the end of our hike, the 17:10 tram had just left the station and passed us on the main road, so we had to wait 30 minutes for the next train at 17:40 for the 2½-hour trip home. 

PART I: Appenzell Culture Trail Trogen to Speicher

First we traveled by train from Zurich to St.Gallen. It was thick fog all the way, so we were seriously hoping it would clear up.... which it did just outside of St.Gallen. This is a view of the city as the little red tram from the Appenzell Railway makes its way up the hill. 

Just over 2½ hours of travel time and we reach Trogen (end of the line) just before 11 a.m. This is a typical Appenzell house.   

It is a short walk from the train station into the heart of the little town, so we made a detour this way. Urs and I have started two previous hikes here (see photos HERE), but our friend had never been. 

Main square in Trogen. That is a HUGE house with 6 or seven storeys! There was once a drug-store on the street level. 

The large square with the church on one side is called the "Landesgemeindeplatz" and was the place where the village residents met to vote on important issues, by a show of hands. It was done this way until 1996. Almost all the houses around the main square were built by the rich Zellweger family for all kinds of their relatives.

This beautiful house, now a hotel, was built in 1727 by one of the Zellweger patriarchs for their sons. (This link shows the family tree and where in Europe their textiles were distributed --> HERE)

Looming over the main square is the town's church, surprisingly an Evangelical Church (usually not so ornate) built in 1779-1782 by the local master builder Hans Ulrich Grubenmann in Rococo Style. It is one of the most important Reformed religious buildings in Switzerland. 

Something I did not know: Our friend informed us that those golden globes at the top of church towers like this are actually time capsules!

Unusual is the large organ on the altar side of the church, instead of above the entrance door. The man at the front is doing something interesting: There are mirrors at the entrance which you can take and lay down on the baptismal font, so that you can admire the painted ceiling in the apse without having to crick your neck. He told us about it, or we would not have been aware of this!

This is what it looks like when you set one of the mirrors on the table (baptismal font). It reflects the painting on the apse ceiling (I should have been standing on the other side of the table, as it is upside-down from this side). The painting pictures Jesus at the center of the world, uniting the four major parts of the world: America, Asia, Africa and Europe (the stereotypical depictions of the indiginous folks would not be politically correct in our day!)

The text on the back of the four different mirrors available describe the clichéed figures from the four major corners of the Earth (the impressions at the time). An interesting note is that on the European section is a figure of a woman pointing to the heavens: This is supposed to be Ursula Wolf-Zellweger (1735-1820), the donor of the artwork. 

More details inside this beautiful church, a work of art as so many of these buildings are. The style of architecture is Rococo with the fine stucco details on the ceilings. 

The large wooden house on the south side of the square is the oldest on the Landesgemeinde Platz. This one was built in 1650 for the "elder" Conrad Zellweger, who together with his brother established a large textile industry supplying all parts of Europe at the time. Next to it is the little washing house. Apparently, all the women of the village met twice a year there to do the major washing!!!

Heading back to the train station to start on our hike to Speicher. 

View over the countryside to the north. There is a thick layer of fog over Lake Constance (Bodensee). 

We are now walking the small section of the "Alpine Panorama Trail no.3" and the "Appenzell Culture Trail no.22". Next stop is the town of Speicher, 35 minutes from here. It is now 11:40, which means we spent about 45 minutes at the church and square in Trogen! (We recently discovered the "Appenzell Culture Trail" and hope to walk a few more sections this year!)

After looking around the main square in Trogen, we started on our walk to Speicher at 11:40, where we had our picnic lunch, then uphill to the "Eggen High Trail". At Waldegg we had drinks and dessert, and then descended to Teufen. We just missed the 17:10 tram in Teufen, so took the 17:40 tram. 

In the distance we can see the town of Speicher, and the little hill to the left which we have to climb to reach the "Eggen High Trail". But first we have to go down into a small ravine between here and Speicher. 

Close-up look at the town of Speicher. Actually, we had to cross two ravines to get there! (Once in Speicher, we did not go to visit the church there, as it was a bit out of our way). 

This lovely building is part of a Cantonal School (since 1822) but used to be accommodations for the employees at the textile factories. 

Walking via the little ravine toward Speicher. The little river below is called Säglibach. 

A bridge covers a little stream called Säglibach

We then passed a few farms before reaching the city. 

An interesting hobby here!

A couple of the houses along the way are historical in that back in the days of the Zellweger Textile Industry, the residents of these houses were hired to do weaving at home (which was a good occupation for winter when they could not be out in the fields). 

A nice row of houses in Speicher. We did not go visit this town's church, as it would have been a bit of a detour. 

It was already 12:45 by now and we were getting hungry, so we were quite happy to find this corner with benches in the shade. It was right next to the railway tracks, so we could watch the tram passing through. (We had also passed by here with the tram on our way into Trogen earlier in the day). 

Watching the little red tram heading to Speicher train station, and then continuing on to Trogen!

After a 30-minute break at the benches, we headed out on the uphill stretch to the Eggen High Trail. 

More nice houses. 

Heading up the hill

The view is all the way to the Austrian Alps. The town in the center is Trogen, where we started on the hike. 

We came up through the houses on the right. The hill at the back is called Rehetobel, a hill we walked over in April 2019. (Starting in Trogen, the first time we were there). 

A final look across the Appenzell Landscape to the northeast, past Speicher, and the Rehetobel hill.

PART II: The Eggen High Trail

We then got to the crest trail at 14:30, to start the main planned hike for the day, to walk along the "Eggen High Trail". (Eggen Höhenweg). The first 30 minutes was mostly through forest, on a wide forestry road. 

Description of the Eggen High Trail. (The description is in the opposite direction of the way we walked it). Half of the trail follows the Canton Border between St.Gallen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden. 

The first 30 minutes of walking was through the forest on comfortable wide forestry roads. A couple of times we got a view like this one: Pretty much to the south is the Alpstein Massif and the summit of Mt.Säntis. 

In the east, a close-up look at the mountain called Hoher Kasten, where there is a revolving restaurant. We started a hike there in July 2019. 

Beautiful Appenzell landscape of rolling hills. 

Out of the forest now we are getting closer to the Waldegg Restaurant site. 

We then took another short break on this bench. 

There were quite a few other people on this trail as well. 

The last time we saw sheep huddled like this, they were in a small patch of shade from a nearby tree. In this case I figured one sheep made a shadow, the next one stood in it and made more shade, and so on!

14:50 at the Waldegg Restaurant. On this beautiful day all the tables on the large outdoor patio were full! We went inside and had a nice quiet table. 

Coffee, Panachés, and Urs with his dessert!

After our drinks and dessert, we were invited to a self-guided tour around the facilities, where all kinds of rooms on three different levels were set up to look as they might have a couple of centuries ago. This for example, was the school room. (A local man posing as a teacher for a tour this day told us that they had to remove the ink pots as people would come in and spill the ink). 

What a small dry-grocer shop might have looked like. 

A very narrow staircase to an upper living quarters. 

A lovely old wardrobe (lower left photo). I really liked the little back room under the roof: It had everything you needed to live in one room, useful in winter when they could not afford to heat the whole house... including a tiny bed in the corner!

We then returned to ground level where we discovered an indoor stall with cute and clean pigs enjoying the sunshine! These are called Duroc swine, and are a cross between Iberian Swine and the American Red Jersey Swine. Their appearance is red with droopy ears. Apparently there are only 200 of these in Switzerland. You can't see the mom (upper left) really well, but she is HUGE! The sign says her name is Luise, and on March 6th she gave birth to seven healthy (and happy) piglets!

We then headed to the bakery, actively in progress and where you can also buy the local goods they bake here. (Earlier at the restaurant, they gave us each a chip which we could cash in here at the bakery for a cookie!)

I'm not sure, but I assume the old equipment is still in use to bake all the local goodies you can buy here... in particular the Appenzell Biberli! I was also loving all the stuffed Bernese Dogs that were displayed everywhere. 

Heading out of the building now to continue on our hike, we enjoy another view of the Alpstein Massif from in front of the Waldegg Hotel. 

After almost 90 minutes at the hotel, we continued on at 4:15 p.m. There are lots of people enjoying this lovely afternoon!

Another 40 minutes to get to Teufen, the end of our hike. 

There is so much for kids to do up here! Love the Gingerbread house. 

More very nice views as we continue along the trail. This is to the Hoher Kasten in the east again, and you can just make out the Austrian Alps on the left. 

And a small peek between the trees in the direction north. This is the only view we had of Lake Constance (Bodensee) from this crest hike. 

At this point in the late afternoon, it was almost too hot out on the trail!

The view from near the little hamlet called Schäflisegg, just before starting our descent to Teufen. 

We are always very happy when the trail looks like this!

At Schäflisegg we start on our descent to Teufen. 

Our descent into Teufen. 

Up ahead is the main road through Teufen, with the parish church. The train station is still a few minutes around the corner, so we won't make the 17:10 tram. 

Sure enough, the 17:10 tram passes right before our eyes! So now we have to wait for the 17:40. 

Main street in Teufen. About 35 years ago, there was a regular train that ran on these tracks, but it derailed and crashed into a drugstore. The trains were too heavy for this route, and that is why they were replaced by a tram. 

Obviously, first thing we had to do was have a look inside the parish church. The first church here in Teufen was 1479. In 1774, the famous local architect Hans-Ulrich Grubenmann (the same architect who built the beautiful church in Trogen where we started on our hike) was assigned the build of this new church, a Baroque construction, but an Evangelical church, not Catholic. 

The modern organ was built in 1960. The details on the ceiling are Rococo, like the ceiling in the Trogen church. The rest of the interior looks very much like most Evangelical church interiors, fairly simple, streamlined, and not a lot of decoration. 

More typical houses for this region, in the square across from the church. 

This is where we sat until it was time to head off to the train station. 

On the way to the train station: Now here is a picture of "no cares in the world"!

Train station in Teufen

The 17:40 tram back to St.Gallen, for a total 2½-hour trip back home.  

One last look at Mount Säntis, as our tram makes its way back to St.Gallen. 

What this hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. Starting in Trogen, we walked the Alpine Panorama Trail to Speicher, then ascended to the crest trail called the "Eggen High Trail", and continued via the restaurant at Waldegg, then descending to Teufen. 

All the hikes we have done in this region. (The map is South at the top, North at the bottom, looking south toward the Alpstein Massif). 

Where Teufen and Trogen are located within Switzerland.