The Amden Crib

Year after year the Amden Crib attracts hundreds of visitors from near and far, and year after year devoted helpers spend countless hours of invaluable work in their effort to ensure that the visitors have an absolutely unique Christmas experience.

Throughout the whole year Beat Gmür, administrator of church property, and the sacristan Erich Sax are on their way in the Amden mountains collecting material for the immense landscape framing the crib of the nativity. Ancient shingle roofs, entire side walls, beams, hut doors are prudently put to one side during the year. In the forests surrounding Amden firs and pines in all sizes, moss-covered stems and shrubs, also not infrequently, remarkable or grotesque forms of wood and stone, distorted by a quirk of nature, are brought together and arranged to make a natural background for the crib figures.

The unique crib figures, circa 90 cm high, were specially made by South Tyrolean wood-carvers from St Ulrich and artistically finished after plans of the vicar Dr. Victor Buner and the church administrator Beat Gmür. The figures were carved by hand out of stone-pine and subsequently covered in pure gold-leaf. The complete Amden crib contains the Holy Family, the Three Holy Kings, the Angel of the Annunciation, two shepherds, a sheperdess with a boy, ox and ass, sheep, goats and a kid. The figures are augmented by a gold-plated brass Morning Star from the wrought-iron studio of Hubert Steurer in Bregenz Forest and a large-scale painting of David'y city, Bethlehem, by the Amden artist Ms Heidi Kihn-Böni.

These artistic works, the crib figures and the stupendous crib landscape come together to create a wonderful church space, visually and spiritually delineated by light and sound that promotes meditation.

Zoom map

Contact Information

Herr Erich Sax
Sakristei
8873 Amden
Tel. +41 (0)55 611 19 12

Opening times, Catholic parish church St Gallus
24th December 2007 (from 2 p.m. to midnight)
25th December until 30th January 2008 (daily from 8 a.m to 6 p.m.)

InfoBox

How to get there

Public transport
By train to Ziegelbrücke. From there by coach of AWA Autobetrieb Weesen-Amden to Amden (departing hourly every 4 minutes past the hour). Get off the coach at the "Post" stop.

Private car
Motorway Zürich - Sargans (A3), exit Weesen-Amden, continue on the main road to Amden. You will find a parking area on the left side, opposite the postbus stop.