Eschenbach, St. Gallen

Eschenbach is a municipality of about 9,600 inhabitants in the See-Gaster constituency of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Goldingen and St. Gallenkappel merged into it. Eschenbach itself is first mentioned in 775 as Esghibach and in 829 as Esgithorf. The name Goldingen was applied to two different hamlets: the current one is first mentioned in 1800 and was earlier known as Thal, while Vordersagen was first mentioned in 1266 as Goldelingin. St. Gallenkappel is first mentioned in 1275 as S. Galli capella and lies along two old trade and pilgrimage routes, one from the Toggenburg over the Laad and one from Hummelwald to Lake Zurich; a chapel dedicated to St. Gallus may have stood in the 9th century where the parish church now stands, and it gave the village its name. On 10 December 1830 St. Gallenkappel was the site of a popular assembly protesting the loss of freedoms under the Act of Mediation and the Restoration.