Gallus & Bear

Here you can see a depiction of Saint Gallus with a bear carrying wood. There is a legend behind this: in the early Middle Ages, bears in the Alps were dangerous. The fact that Gallus tamed a bear rather than fighting it stuck in people’s minds.

The story is told in different ways depending on the source:

• In one version, Gallus feeds a hungry bear some bread. In gratitude, the bear helps to build a hut. This later became the Abbey of St Gallen.
   
• In another version, Gallus orders the bear to carry wood to the fire. The bear obeys, is given bread, and disappears forever. People interpreted this as a sign from God: Gallus was meant to stay in St Gallen.

Gallus died on 16 October 640 in Arbon. Around 719, Saint Otmar founded the Abbey of St Gallen at Gallus’s grave. In doing so, he made Gallus famous far beyond the region. Many years later, the bear found its way onto the coat of arms of St Gallen, first documented in 1334.