Ragatz

Ragatz, a famous watering-place in the Swiss canton of St Gall, situated on the left bank of the Rhine, and by rail 131 m. N. of Coire or 611 m. S.E. of Zurich. It stands at a height of 1696 ft., at the entrance to the magnificent gorge of the Tamina, about 3 m. up which by carriage road are the extraordinarily placed Baths of Pfafers (2247 ft.). Since 1840 the hot mineral waters of Pfafers are conducted in pipes to Ragatz, which is in a more pleasant position. Consequently Ragatz has much increased in importance since that date. In 1900 its native population was 1866, mainly German-speaking, while there were 1472 Romanists to 392 Protestants. The annual number of visitors is reckoned at 30,000. In the churchyard is the grave of the philosopher Schelling (d. here in 1854). About 2 m. by road above Ragatz are the 17th-century buildings (now the cantonal lunatic asylum) of the great Benedictine abbey of Pafers (720-1838), to which all this region belonged till 1798; while midway between them and Ragatz are the ruins of the 14th-century castle of Wartenstein, now accessible from Ragatz by means of a funicular railway. (W. A. B. C.)