Egnach

Egnach is a municipality of the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.

History

Egnach is first mentioned in 1155 as Egena. By the 9th Century it appears to have belonged to the Bishopric of Constance and was part of the upper Bailiwick of Arbon. The Abbey of Saint Gall acquired land in Egnach, which led to competing legal claims between abbot and bishop (which were settled in 854). During the Late Middle Ages it was a regional administrative center for lands of the Bishops of Constance. After the conquest of Thurgau by the Swiss Confederation in 1460, the new rulers replaced all the Bishop's representatives. While the low courts remained in the hands of the bishop until 1798, in 1509 he lost the rights to the high courts to the governor of Thurgau. In 1544 Egnach received a special lower court.

The village was part of parish of Arbon. In 1515 St James Chapel was built in Erdhausen, and after 1588 Reformed religious services were held in that chapel. The Gallus Chapel in Steinebrunn remained Catholic. In Neukirch (previously Mosershaus), the majority of the population joined the Reformed church in 1528 and in 1727 a Swiss Reformed parish church was built in the village. The Catholic inhabitants belong to the Catholic parish of Steinebrunn since 1872.