Around 1500 St. Gallen is a self-confident imperial city with extensive trade relations. The Reformation offers her the opportunity to finally emancipate herself from the Abbey of St.Gallen. Joachim von Watt – called Vadian – came from a respected St. Gallen family. After 16 years at the University of Vienna, where he studied, he returns to St. Gallen as a doctor.
Shortly thereafter, he becomes mayor and patron of the Reformation. The city has long strived for independence from the Abbey of St.Gallen. Their desire to decide self-determined in economic, political and church matters now falls on fertile ground. It joins as the second city of the Confederation of the Reformation. Much is being questioned. Especially the veneration of saints heats the mind. The role of the saints as mediators between God and men is rejected. Vadian consolidates the Reformation in the city of St. Gallen. The princely country, however, becomes Catholic again after 1531.
Vadian was born in this house (Hinterlauben)
