evang.-reformierte Kirche Azmoos

Journey back to a time before the Reformation. Imagine Azmoos with a small chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, first mentioned in 1497. This evang.-reformierte Kirche Azmoos that we see today wasn’t always here. The original Gothic chapel crumbled after the Reformation swept through the region around 1550. Zurich requested renovations in 1695 after the Wartauer Handel. However, the Catholic cantons refused. The villagers of Azmoos gained some independence from the Gretschins parish in 1735. This allowed them to finally build their own church, right next to where the old chapel stood. The evang.-reformierte Kirche Azmoos, a Baroque structure, possibly designed by an Appenzell architect, arose. In 1928, the church underwent significant changes. The nave was extended and the tower heightened, all according to plans by Otto Schäfer and Martin Risch. Even from outside, the simple, classic Reformed layout of the evang.-reformierte Kirche Azmoos is evident. It’s a rectangular hall church with a polygonal apse. Segmental arched windows punctuate the building. A unified roof covers the structure. Attached to the northeast side are an annex and the unassuming church tower with its Käsbissendach. Inside, the evang.-reformierte Kirche Azmoos presents a longitudinally axial hall. The focus is directed towards the polygonal apse with the communion table and pulpit. The cambered wooden ceiling dates back to the 1928 renovation. And something quite special resides within the evang.-reformierte Kirche Azmoos. It houses the only largely preserved Romantic-era organ in Sarganserland. Originally built in 1891 by Max Klingler from Rorschach, it boasted 11 registers. Positioned in the apse, the organ later underwent transformations. In 1928, Orgelbau Kuhn rebuilt it, replacing two registers and enclosing the second manual in a swell box. Its journey continued in 1952 with a move to the rear gallery and a new, shorter case from the church in Ennetbühl. Finally, in 1996, Orgelbau Felsberg restored the instrument, adding four registers from a dismantled Klingler organ from Oberegg AI. The evang.-reformierte Kirche Azmoos stands not only as a place of worship but as a keeper of local history and musical heritage.