The Plan of St. Gall :: :: University of Virginia Library

The first to speculate about the design of the guest and
service buildings of the Plan of St. Gall was Ferdinand
Keller. In his "facsimile" edition of the Plan, published
in 1844, Keller described them as structures "of oriental
style in which the living quarters are arranged around an
open central court toward which the roof slopes down from
all four sides of the building."[1] Keller explained the squares
—which are designated by the term testu[2] in the explanatory
titles—as "courtyard houses" or "garden huts." He
did not illustrate his views with graphic reconstructions,
but the kind of structures he had in mind must have
resembled the houses sketched in figure 264 A-C. Keller's
interpretation is perplexing because it contradicts the
explanatory titles of the Plan itself, which he had so carefully
transcribed, translated, and annotated. In seven out
of the nine times this house-type appears on the Plan of
St. Gall, the area that Keller interprets as an open inner
court is explicitly designated as the "common" or "principal"
room of the house by inscriptions such as domus
communis (House of the Fowlkeeper), domus ipsa (House for
Sheep and Shepherds), domus familiae (House for Visiting
Servants), domus pauperum et peregrinorum (House for
Pilgrims and Paupers). Keller, however, was not truly
consistent in this matter; for in the case of the House for
Distinguished Guests, where the function of the center
area as an indoor space is visually elaborated by the insertion
of pieces of indoor furniture such as tables (mensae),
benches, and a fireplace (locus foci), he interprets the center
space of the house correctly—and in full accord with its
identifying inscription as "dining room" (domus ad prandendum).
The incompatibility of this interpretation with
that of the other guest and service structures as open courtyard
houses does not appear to have raised any doubts in
his mind of the validity of the latter.

[1]

Keller, 1844, 15: "Fast alle grösseren Häuser sind im orientalischen
Stile erbaut, indem sie in ihrer Mitte einen Hof einschliessen, nach
welchem sich von allen vier Seiten die Dächer absenken." The idea is
elaborated further in the chapters that deal with the individual structures.
He remarks, with regard to the Outer School (p. 25): "Sie ist ein weitläuftiges
Gebäude mit einem Hof in der Mitte, welcher durch eine
Mauer in zwei Hälften getheilt ist. In jeder Abtheilung bemerkt man
ein Viereck mit der Bezeichnung testudo, worunter zwei Gartenhäuschen,
oder die ausser allen Verhältnis klein vorgestellten gemeinschaftlichen
Schulzimmer zu verstehen sind"; with regard to the Paupers' Hospice
(p. 27): "Die vier Flügel dieses Gebäudes schliessen einen Hofraum ein
dessen Mitte von einem kleinen Hause, testudo, besetzt ist"; with regard
to the Great Collective Workshop (p. 30): "Es schliesst zwei viereckige
Höfe ein, in deren Mitte zwei kleine, von den Meistern oder Aufsehern
bewohnte Häuschen, domus et officina camerarii, stehen"; with regard to
the six agricultural buildings for livestock and visiting servants (p. 33):
"Jedes dieser sechs Gebäude schliesst einen Hof ein, in welchem ein
kleines, vielleicht von den Aufseher bewohntes oder zum Aufenthalte
der Knechte bestimmtes Häuschen steht."

[2]

In the entire literature on the Plan of St. Gall the term testu (literally
"skull" or "lid") has been interpreted, without exception, as standing
for testudo (literally "tortoise," by extension "protective cover,"
"roof" or "vault"). Later on in this study, I give the reasons for which
I think this interpretation is in error (see below, p. 117). In order to keep
the reader apprised of the fact that testudo is improper exegesis, I am
putting the terminal syllable do into brackets (testu[do]), whenever I refer
to the views of other students of the Plan who interpret the term in its
traditional meaning.