Event details

Between 1759 and 1785 Iso Walser, Offizial of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen (Switzerland) facilitated the erection, restoration or rebuilding campaigns of around 40 churches and chapels in the territory of St. Gallen. He also preached sermons, founded confraternities, instated pilgrimage and organized education. Walser’s campaign unfolded in bi-confessional territories, establishing and reinforcing Catholic markers in the complex religious and political landscape of late eighteenth-century Switzerland, at the cusp of the modern nation state. This talk explores Walser’s actions on behalf of the Prince Abbey in terms of proximity. What does it mean when confessional identities that are carefully negotiated locally become the subject of outside pressure? How should we understand the movement or insertion of new devotional and liturgical practices in an already dense sacred landscape? What is the role of art and architecture in these processes, when neighbors of opposing confessions avail themselves of the same ornaments and artists? And how do actions such as Walser’s reflect the Enlightenment and nationalist ideas that emerged right on his doorstep?