This memorial is in memory of St Gallus, the Irish missionary who preached in the area of Lake Constance, from the year 612 until his death in Arbon, in the year 646.
Saint Gallus arrived at the Celtic village of Arbon and moved into the Arbon forest in the year 612 AD to found the city of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
The adventurous St. Gallus is best known for talking with a bear which threatened his camp in the wilderness. Instead of fleeing for his life, he calmly ordering the bear to add wood to his fire.
The bear obeyed and for this, St. Gallus offered the bear a loaf of bread and made him promise never to return again. For this and Gallus's many contributions to the local community (resulting in his founding of the highly prosperous city of St. Gallen, Switzerland), Gallus was invited to become an Abbot and later became a Saint.
The year 2010 marks 1400 years since St. Gallus began his journey from France and Germany to Switzerland, where he established his monastery around which the city of St. Gallen grew and flourished.
In 2012, the city and canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland will celebrate 1400 years since the founding of the region, marked by his encounter with the bear.
