Churfirsten
Mountain range in Switzerland
title: "Churfirsten" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-of-the-alps", "mountains-of-switzerland", "mountains-of-the-canton-of-st.-gallen", "toggenburg", "tourist-attractions-in-the-canton-of-st.-gallen"] description: "Mountain range in Switzerland" topic_path: "geography/switzerland" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churfirsten" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mountain range in Switzerland ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Churfirsten (Electors) |
| photo | Aerial image of Churfirsten (view from the southeast).jpg |
| photo_caption | The Churfirsten range as seen from the southeast (in August 2025); from right to left: Tristencholben, Chäserrugg, Hinderrugg, Schibenstoll, Zuestoll, Brisi, Frümsel and Selun |
| elevation_m | 2306 |
| map | Switzerland#Canton of St. Gallen#Alps |
| map_caption | Location in Switzerland##Location in the Canton of St. Gallen##Location in the Alps |
| location | Toggenburg, St. Gallen |
| country | Switzerland |
| range | Appenzell Alps |
| coordinates | |
| :: |
| name = Churfirsten (Electors) | photo = Aerial image of Churfirsten (view from the southeast).jpg | photo_caption = The Churfirsten range as seen from the southeast (in August 2025); from right to left: Tristencholben, Chäserrugg, Hinderrugg, Schibenstoll, Zuestoll, Brisi, Frümsel and Selun | elevation_m = 2306 | elevation_ref = | prominence = | parent_peak = | map = Switzerland#Canton of St. Gallen#Alps | map_caption = Location in Switzerland##Location in the Canton of St. Gallen##Location in the Alps | location = Toggenburg, St. Gallen | country = Switzerland | range = Appenzell Alps | coordinates =
The Churfirsten is a mountain range in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. They form the natural boundary between the canton's Toggenburg and Sarganserland districts. They are the southernmost range of the Appenzell Alps, separated from the Glarus Alps by the Seez Valley and Lake Walen (Walensee).
They consist of a limestone ridge running east to west, with the individual peaks formed by erosion. The ridge is defined much more sharply to the south than to the north, with an almost vertical drop of several hundred meters towards Walenstadtberg and eventually Lake Walen at 419 m. The southern slope of the range was significantly formed by the Rhine Glacier during the Würm glaciation.
There are several hiking routes on the range. The Schwendiseen are two small lakes on the northern side of the range (below Chäserrugg). Wildenmannlisloch is a cave on the northern slope of the Selun. Quinten is a car-free village south-west of Churfirsten on the northern shore of Lake Walen.
Name
The name is a plural, indicating the peaks forming the historical boundary of the bishopric of Chur. It has historically also been folk-etymologized as Kurfürsten, i.e. the 7 prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire who in the later medieval period (until 1648) numbered seven, which in turn encouraged the count of seven main or "official" peaks.
Peaks
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Churfirsten_Zeichnung.jpg" caption="An early 20th-century drawing of the Churfirsten as seen from the south (e.g. from [[Flumserberg]]), enumerating nine peaks: Selun, Frümsel, Brisi, Zuestoll, Scheibenstoll, Hinterrugg, Chäserrugg, Tristenkolben, Gamserrugg. (A. Heim 1913)"] ::
The standard "seven peaks" of the Churfirsten are (from west to east):
- Selun: 2205 m
- Frümsel: 2263 m
- Brisi: 2279 m
- Zuestoll: 2235 m
- Schibenstoll: 2234 m
- Hinterrugg: 2306 m
- Chäserrugg: 2262 m, accessible by a funicular and aerial tram The count of exactly seven peaks is contrived; sometimes, Chäserrugg is not included and counted as part of Hinterrugg, because of its topographical prominence of a mere 14 m.
The Churfirsten seven peaks listed above have remarkably uniform heights, within just above a 100 m difference; the ridge continues both to the east and the west with a number of further peaks between 2000 and 2200 m that are not usually included as Churfirsten:
- Peaks to the west of Selun: Wart at 2068 m, Schären (or Schäären) at 2184 m, Nägeliberg at 2153 m, Glattchamm at 2084 m, Leistchamm at 2101 m.
- Peaks to the east of Chäserrugg: Tristenkolben at 2159 m, Gamserrugg at 2076 m (accessible by a chairlift). ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Toggenburg_view.jpg" caption="View from the north ([[Toggenburg]])"] ::
References
References
- "Churfirsten-Weg". SwitzerlandMobility.
- link. (2014-02-26 . The word ''First'' (dialectal also ''Fürst''; from Middle High German ''virst'') has a primary meaning of "roof-beam; gable", but secondarly came to mean "summit, mountain-top".)
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