Tobel-Tägerschen

Tobel in Ninja numbers

• 26.6 kilometres past Konstanz lies Tobel, at the end of your second day if you slept in Märstetten.
• 1228 is the year the Hospitallers are first documented in Tobel.
• 162 years, from 1811 to 1973, prisoners sat within the walls of the commandery. Longer than the Hospitallers themselves lived in the Baroque building.
• Two routes meet here: the Via Jacobi runs through, the Thurgauer Klosterweg ends.
• 16.2 kilometres to Fischingen, with the first real forest of the Via Jacobi shortly before the destination.

Arriving: on the edge of Tobel

From Märstetten you come over the Thur, through the Lättebach valley and over Kaltenbrunnen with its small chapel of St James. Shortly before, the view opens to Affeltrangen and Tobel, and in the distance stands the Hörnli, over which the path leads you to Fischingen. The path bypasses Affeltrangen and touches Tobel only on its western edge at the Flüügenegg farm. The commandery, church and village centre lie a little off the path. The detour is worth it.

Tobel is an old clustered village with farmhouses from the 18th and 19th centuries. On the hill stand the church, defensive tower and commandery together. Since 1999 Tobel has formed one municipality with the neighbouring village of Tägerschen.

In brief: knights, prisoners, artists

In the 13th century the Counts of Toggenburg brought the Order of St John to Tobel. A legend says the foundation was atonement for a fratricide in the counts' family. The Federal Inventory ISOS contradicts this: the commandery was a bulwark against the monastery of St. Gallen. It is first documented in 1228. The knights of the order built a defensive tower and expanded their property step by step. From 1744 to 1747 Johann Caspar Bagnato built them the Baroque building you see today.

The Hospitallers could not enjoy it for long. In 1807 the canton of Thurgau took over the complex, and in 1811 a penitentiary and workhouse moved in. Only in 1973 was the prison closed, and the prison extensions were torn down in a cloak-and-dagger operation overnight. Since 2006 a foundation has looked after the house and fills it with exhibitions, markets and festivals.

Hospitallers and pilgrims

For you the most important thing about Tobel is that the commandery lay on the Way of St James. The Hospitallers were a hospital order, and here they nursed sick and weakened pilgrims on the way to Einsiedeln. On an estate plan of 1745 the path towards the Hörnli is expressly called "Pilgerweg" (pilgrim path), and the Inventory of Historic Traffic Routes of Switzerland still lists it under that name today. So you are walking on a route that was already mapped as a pilgrim path almost 300 years ago.

The picture has turned around: once pilgrims came to Tobel because someone looked after them here. Today beds are scarce, and anyone who comes should register beforehand.

The commandery: what to see

Tobel is small. You see most of it on a short walk from the path.

• Komturei Tobel (commandery): The Baroque building by Johann Caspar Bagnato was built from 1744 to 1747. Almost 600 years of order history, 162 years of prison and a volunteer-run cultural programme are packed into these walls. The foundation shows exhibitions across the whole site, in 2026 for example "Kipppunkt Komturei Tobel" (Komturei Tobel tipping point) with 27 artists. According to job ads from 2025, the Komtureibeiz (commandery pub) is open from May to December on two to three days a week. We did not find fixed opening hours. Ask beforehand: 071 917 24 82, info@komturei.ch.
• Catholic parish church St. Johann: Built in 1706 next to the old defensive tower of the Hospitallers, which has served as a bell tower since 1717. The church is dedicated to the two Johns, the Baptist and the Evangelist, as befits a Hospitaller place. In the choir sit three ornamental windows from 1893. We did not find opening hours.

Eating and drinking

Here you need to plan. We did not find a shop in Tobel. There is the Restaurant Eisenbahn near the station, whose opening hours we do not know, and the Komtureibeiz, which is mainly open for events. Shop in Märstetten before you set off. A pilgrim who was out on a Sunday in 2015 found not a single open place to stop between Märstetten and Münchwilen.

Honestly

• The path only brushes Tobel. The commandery and church are a small detour from the path. If you do not look, you are through without having seen them.
• No shop. You have to bring your own provisions.
• Few beds. There is no pilgrim hostel, only a few private rooms. Without a reservation it can get tight.
• The stage drags on. Between Märstetten and Fischingen you walk a lot on asphalt and farm tracks, one hiker called the stretch "etwas monoton" (somewhat monotonous). The lovely stretch of forest only comes shortly before Fischingen.

Where pilgrims sleep

Tobel has no pilgrim hostel in the narrower sense. There are only private rooms, and they are scarce.

At Familie Rupp at Mühle 2 you sleep near Tobel-Affeltrangen station in private rooms with breakfast. The municipality gives CHF 30 to 50 per night (approx. €32 to 54). The lists do not agree on the number of beds, so call beforehand: +41 76 595 41 49.

The Homestay Thürn is in the hamlet of Türn, south of Tobel directly on the path to Fischingen, and has only one to three beds. The municipality lists it as pilgrim accommodation. There are contradictory statements about the price, ask when you call: +41 76 443 48 53.

Ninja tips

• Detour into the village: The path touches Tobel only on its western edge at the Flüügenegg farm. If you want to see the commandery, you have to leave it briefly.
• Thürn shortens the next day: If you sleep there, you have a bit less to Fischingen tomorrow.
• No bed free? The S10 runs from Tobel-Affeltrangen station every half hour to Wil and Weinfelden. In the morning you ride back and walk on.
• Water in Affeltrangen: At the farm in Affeltrangen there is a fountain, the next comes only in Oberwangen.
• Chapel with a pilgrim gallery: In St. Margarethen, a few kilometres further, an outside staircase on the chapel leads up to the gallery, where pilgrims used to sleep.

Practical tips for pilgrims

• Train: Tobel has two stations on the Wil–Weinfelden line: Tobel-Affeltrangen (request stop) and Tägerschen. The S10 runs every half hour.
• Thurgauer Klosterweg: If you come from Blumberg on the Thurgauer Klosterweg, you have reached your goal here and can switch directly to the Via Jacobi towards Einsiedeln.
• Stamp: We did not find a stamp point in Tobel. Ask your accommodation about it.

Onward: on the old pilgrim path to Fischingen

It is 16.2 kilometres to Fischingen. From the Flüügenegg farm it goes south over meadows, through the Kaa forest and past Türn and Stocke to St. Margarethen. There stands the chapel of St Margaretha from the 17th century with its pilgrim gallery, by the old wayside cross where several historic routes met. In Münchwilen you pass the former pilgrims' inn "Zum Engel", in Sirnach you walk along the Murg, in Oberwangen the Baroque chapel of St Martin stands on the hill. The last two kilometres or so lead through forest up to the monastery.

What awaits you tomorrow

In Fischingen lies St Idda, and in her altar is a hole into which tired pilgrims have put their foot for centuries. After the day from Tobel you know why. From 3 to 8 November 2026 the monastery celebrates the 800th anniversary of Idda's death.

Deep dive: The three lives of the commandery

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Tobel. About three minutes' reading.

An order on the hill

In the year 1228 Tobel appears in the records, as a house of the Hospitallers. They had been called by the Counts of Toggenburg, the most powerful lords of the region. As to why, there are two stories. One is a legend: a count had killed his brother and founded the house as atonement. The other is told by the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites Worth Protecting, and it is more sober. The commandery was a bulwark against the mighty monastery of St. Gallen. The knights of the order built a defensive tower. It still stands and today carries the bells.

Knights who nursed pilgrims

The Hospitallers were knights and nurses at once. Their order had arisen in the Holy Land to care for pilgrims. In Tobel they did what they did everywhere: they took in the sick and helped those who had grown weak on the way to Einsiedeln. The path south, over the Hörnli, was called simply the pilgrim path in the records of the lordship.

The commandery grew rich. Around 1500 it owned land and held jurisdiction in the neighbouring village of Tägerschen. The Reformation drove the Hospitallers out in 1529 for three years, then they came back. In the middle of the eighteenth century they treated themselves to a new building. The master builder Johann Caspar Bagnato, who built for orders and princes throughout the Lake Constance region, built them the Baroque house between 1744 and 1747.

A prison for the canton

Sixty years later the order was finished. In 1807 the new canton of Thurgau took over the complex, and in 1811 it turned it into a penitentiary and workhouse for men and women. The prisoners worked on the estate farm. It stayed that way for one hundred and sixty-two years. When the institution was closed in 1973, the prison buildings were torn down in a cloak-and-dagger operation overnight, including an older wing of the commandery.

A house that is open again

In 1986 the estate farm moved out as well. In 2006 a foundation was set up to preserve the house and bring it back to life. Today artists show their work in the rooms, in Advent there is a Christmas market, and from May to December the pub opens on a few days.

When you walk past Tobel, you walk past a house that nursed pilgrims, locked people up and showed art. The path beneath it has remained.