SCHWEIZ / SUISSE / SVIZZERA / SVIZRA	SWITZERLAND
Sankt Gallen / Saint Gall / San Gallo / Son Gagl

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Wil is situated at an elevation of 571 m in the canton Sankt Gallen. As of December 2005, Wil has a population of 16,950. Because Wil for five centuries was a residence of the abbots of St. Gallen, its popular nickname is "Äbtestadt" ("abbots' town").

The earliest written mention of Wil is found in a document of AD 754, although it is not entirely clear whether this refered to Wil or the neighbouring community of Wilen. In 1226 the counts of Toggenburg donated Wil to the monastery of Sankt Gallen. In 1292 the Habsburgs burnt Wil to the ground and its inhabitants were forced to relocate to Schwarzenbach. A decade later, in 1301, Wil was returned to Sankt Gallen, but this time Schwarzenbach was destroyed. Wil remained in possession of the prince abbots of St. Gallen, interrupted only by a brief occupation by Appenzell in 1407. The reign of the prince abbots only came to an end in 1798 when the Old Swiss Confederacy collapsed after the occupation by French Revolutionary troops. After the proclamation of the Helvetic Republic, the 'Fürstenland' in eastern Switzerland (districts Wil, St. Gallen and Rorschach) declared its independence. Three months later, the 'Freie Republik der Landschaft St. Gallen' was incorporated into the Helvetic Republic and at first became part of the canton Säntis. After the dissolution of the canton it was incorporated into the canton St. Gallen in 1803.

The railroad 'St. Gallisch-Appenzellische Eisenbahn' (SGAE) from Winterthur via Wil, Flawil and Sankt Gallen to Rorschach was opened in 1855/1856. Despits its name, the line nowhere touched the Appenzell cantons. In 1857 the railroad was incorporated into the 'Vereinigte Schweizerbahnen' (VSB), which in 1902 was nationalised and was incorporated into the 'Schweizerische Bundesbahn' (SBB, Swiss Federal Railways).

In 1984 the city of Wil was awarded the Wakker Prize of the Swiss Heritage Society for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage. Other cities that have been awarded this prize and which are depicted on glasses of this collection are: Altdorf (2007), Basel (1996), Bern (1997), Genève (2000), La Chaux-de-Fonds (2011), Lausanne West (Bussigny-près-Lausanne, Chavannes-près-Renens, Crissier, Ecublens, Lausanne, Prilly, Renens, Saint-Sulpice, Villars-Sainte-Croix) (2011), Montreux (1990), Sankt Gallen (1992), Solothurn (1980), Stein am Rhein (1972), Winterthur (1989).