The first mentioning of Trogen was in 1168 (
Trugin). The name Trogen refers to a number of fountains (
Trögen) which is reflected in the coat of arms. After the
Appenzell Wars, the
Rhode Trogen was created in 1429 which included the territories of the municipalities
Oberegg as well as parts of
Bühler and
Gais. Trogen joined the
Reformation in 1525. When Appenzell split into the half-cantons
Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden in 1597, it became the
administrative center of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. From then on, Trogen's territory progressively shrunk as different municipalities within built their own churches within the Rhode and thus became independent. Until 1658, the municipalities of
Grub,
Walzenhausen,
Heiden,
Wolfhalden and
Lutzenberg had emerged from Trogen. From the 16th century until the
Industrial Revolution, Trogen accumulated most of its wealth through the sales of weaved and embroidered fabrics. This enrichment was driven mainly by the trade of canvases by the
Zellweger-family. The Zellweger trading house was founded in the 17th century by the father of the family Conrad Zellweger-Rechsteiner and his son Conrad Zellweger-Tanner. The so-called
Zellweger-Paläste (Zellweger-palaces)
, which are built around the town center,
Landsgemeindeplatz, of Trogen, were built by the different members and generations of the family. The buildings led to inner tensions within the Zellweger-family and partial dissolutions of business alliances, as every new building was meant to outdo the previous palaces. The last Zellweger-owned business went bankrupt in 1817, and since 1866, the
Landsgemeindeplatz has remained unmodified. A renovation of the town center and the palaces was voted for in 2011 and executed from 2019 to 2021. In the beginning of the 20th century, Trogen's main source of income was the textile industry, as 66% of its inhabitants were active in this sector. At the same time, the village began to expand its sources of income by slowly developing its health and ski resort infrastructure, which also led to the foundation of the
Strassenbahn St. Gallen–Speicher–Trogen in 1900 and the inauguration of the
Trogenerbahn three years later. During the
interwar period from 1918 to 1939, Trogen's number of inhabitants sank drastically. Although the economy recovered thereafter, the town never again surpassed its 1850 peak population. Trogen has been the home of the
Kinderdorf Pestalozzi since 1946. Further, Trogen has been an
Energiestadt since 2014
.The label attests that the municipality is making particular efforts in climate protection such as more ecological transportation, investments in renewable energy sources and more efficient usage of energy. ==Geography==