By 1350, the land around the village had all been brought under a single noble and became the Herrschaft of Bürglen.

The land transferred in 1443 to Marquart Brisacher from Constance and then in 1447, it went to the Baron of Sax-Hohensax.

However, in 1550 they had to sell it to the Breitenlandenberg family, who, in turn, ceded it in 1579 to the city of St. Gallen.

To help pay off the debt, in 1540 they granted the Herrschaft rights to the common land.

St. Gallen appointed the Ammann and the chairman of the Lower Court, promoted the settlement of its citizens to form a local elite, and changed the succession order in inheritances.

However, the local farmers enjoyed a certain independence, and in the 17th century they promoted the expansion of the castle as well as the creation of new businesses.

Bürglen has an area, as of 2009[update], of 11.68 square kilometers (4.51 sq mi).

The Ortsgemeinden of Donzhausen, Hessenreuti and Uerenbohl, which used to belong to the Munizipalgemeinde of Bürglen, became part of Sulgen in 1995.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (84.1%), with Albanian being second most common ( 5.9%) and Turkish being third ( 3.1%).

[6] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Bürglen is; 285 children or 8.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 411 teenagers or 12.8% are between 10 and 19.

[11] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 39.9% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 807 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 41.6%.

[12] The historical population is given in the following table:[3] The entire city of Bürglen is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[7] From the 2000 census[update], 964 or 30.2% were Roman Catholic, while 1,320 or 41.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

Of the children in kindergarten, 29 or 51.8% were female, 25 or 44.6% were not Swiss citizens and 25 or 44.6% did not speak German natively.

The lower and upper primary levels begin at about age 5-6 and last for 6 years.

At the lower primary level, there were 52 children or 54.2% of the total population who were female, 38 or 39.6% were not Swiss citizens and 37 or 38.5% did not speak German natively.

In the upper primary level, there were 61 or 48.4% who were female, 31 or 24.6% were not Swiss citizens and 33 or 26.2% did not speak German natively.

There were 183 teenagers who were in special or remedial classes, of which 69 or 37.7% were female, 56 or 30.6% were not Swiss citizens and 67 or 36.6% did not speak German natively.