St. John's Abbey in the Thurtal

In December 1231, Emperor Frederick II issued a Golden Bull confirming his obligations as Vogt of the abbey.

The abbey owned numerous estates in Toggenburg and in the Rhine valley: St. Johann, Stein, Nesslau, Kappel, St. Peterzell and Mogelsberg; and in Vorarlberg in Austria, near Feldkirch, in Klaus, Götzis and Altach.

[2] The abbey also frequently bought land in the territory which is now the principality of Liechtenstein, most notably the prominent Red House in Vaduz, which it purchased in 1525 from the heirs of the medieval owners, the Vaisli family.

[2][4] In 1626 the buildings were severely damaged by fire, and the monks were afflicted by a mysterious illness[5] and the community moved along the valley to a new location at Sidwald near Nesslau, since then known as Neu St. Johann.

Toggenburg was an area of mixed denominations, and the priory was an instrument of the Counter-Reformation under the leadership of the Prince-Abbots of St.