, neighboring_municipalities=

Glarus Nord Glarus Nord is one of three municipalities of the canton of Glarus, Switzerland (the others being Glarus and Glarus Süd). Effective from 1 January 2011, Glarus Nord incorporates the former municipalities of Bilten, Filzbach, Mollis, Mühle ...

Glarus Süd Glarus Süd is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Glarus. It comprises the upper Linth valley, and the entire Sernf valley, and includes the villages of Betschwanden, Braunwald, Diesbach, Elm, Engi, Haslen, Hätzingen, Leuggelbach, Lin ...

Muotathal , neighboring_municipalities= Bürglen (UR), Glarus (GL), Glarus Süd (GL), Illgau, Innerthal, Morschach, Oberiberg, Riemenstalden, Spiringen (UR), Schwyz, Unteriberg, Unterschächen (UR) , twintowns= } Muotathal is a village and a municip ...

(SZ),

Innerthal Innerthal is a municipality in March District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. History Innerthal is first mentioned in 1259 as ''Wegental''. Until 1888 it was known as ''Hinterwäggithal''. Geography Innerthal has an area of . Of th ...

(SZ) , twintowns=

Wiesbaden-Biebrich Biebrich is a borough of the city of Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. With over 38,000 inhabitants, it is the most-populated of Wiesbaden's boroughs. It is located south of the city center on the Rhine River, opposite the Mainz borough of Mombach. Biebr ...

(Germany) } Glarus (; gsw, Glaris; french: Glaris; it, Glarona; rm, Glaruna) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of

Ennenda Ennenda is a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Ennenda is part of the municipality of Glarus. History Ennenda is first mentioned around 1303-07 as ''Obront-Ennant-A'' and ''Nydern-Ennant-A ...

Netstal Netstal is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Glarus (canton), Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Netstal is part of the municipality of Glarus. History Netstal is first ...

and

Riedern Riedern is a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Riedern is part of the municipality of Glarus. History Riedern is first mentioned in 1350 as ''Riedern''. Geography Riedern has an area, , ...

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 18 February 2011 Glarus lies on the river

Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Swiss river that rises near the village of Linthal in the mountains of the canton of Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee section of Lake Zurich. It is about in length. The water power of the Lin ...

between the foot of the

Glärnisch The Glärnisch is a mountain massif of the Schwyz Alps, overlooking the valley of the Linth in the Swiss canton of Glarus. It consists of several summits, of which the highest, ''Bächistock'', is 2,915 metres above sea level. Until 2013, t ...

(part of the

Schwyzer Alps The Schwyz Alps (german: Schwyzer Alpen) are a mountain range in Switzerland. They form part of the North-Eastern Swiss Alps and are bordered by the Glarus Alps to the east, the Appenzell Alps to the north-east, the Emmental Alps in the west, an ...

) to the west and the Schilt (

Glarus Alps The Glarus Alps (german: Glarner Alpen) are a mountain range in central Switzerland. They are bordered by the Uri Alps and the Schwyz Alps to the west, the Lepontine Alps to the south, the Appenzell Alps to the northeast. The eastern part of ...

) to the east. Very few buildings built before the fire of 1861 remain. Wood, textile, and plastics, as well as printing, are the dominant industries. The symbol of the city is the neo-romanesque city church.

History

Glarus is first mentioned in the early 9th Century in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

as ''Clarona''. In 1178 it was first mentioned in German as ''Glarus''. On 10 February 878, the Emperor

Charles the Fat Charles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandso ...

gave his wife Richgard or Richardis the monasteries of Säckingen, of St. Felix and of Regula in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

as a royal estate. This land grant included extensive political rights and a large estate. This estate covered land in the Rhine and Frick valleys, the southern

Hotzenwald The Hotzenwald is a landscape and region in the Southern Black Forest in the county of Waldshut. Its headquarters was the ''Waldvogteiamt''. Location and topography The region of Hotzenwald is not precisely defined in the records. In a narr ...

, land in Zürich, along

Lake Walen The Walensee, also known as ''Lake Walen'' or ''Lake Walenstadt'' from Walenstadt, is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland, with about two thirds of its area in the Canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the Canton of Glarus. Other towns an ...

and the valley of Glarus. Glarus remained under the Säckingen Abbey until 1395 (intermittently under the overlordship of either the

Counts of Lenzburg The Counts of Lenzburg (also Counts of Baden by the early 12th century) were a comital family in the Duchy of Swabia in the 11th and 12th centuries, controlling substantial portions of the '' pagi'' of Aargau and Zürichgau. After the extinction ...

and Kyburg and/or

Raetia Curiensis Raetia Curiensis (in Latin; german: Churrätien, rm, Currezia) was an early medieval province in Central Europe, named after the preceding Roman province of ''Raetia prima'' which retained its Romansh culture during the Migration Period, while t ...

), when the Glarus valley broke away from the Abbey and became independent. It became the capital of the Linth valley in 1419. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the valley began to be industrialized.

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

a leader of the

Reformation in Switzerland The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...

served in his first,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, ecclesiastical post in Glarus, starting around 1506. He served there for ten years. It was in Glarus, whose soldiers were used as mercenaries in Europe, that Zwingli became involved in politics. The Swiss Confederation was embroiled in various campaigns with its neighbours: the French, the Habsburgs, and the Papal States. Zwingli placed himself solidly on the side of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. In return,

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

honoured Zwingli by providing him with an annual pension. He took the role of chaplain in several campaigns in Italy, including the Battle of Novara in 1513. However, the decisive defeat of the Swiss in the

Battle of Marignano The Battle of Marignano was the last major engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai and took place on 13–14 September 1515, near the town now called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan. It pitted the French army, composed of the b ...

caused a shift in mood in Glarus in favour of the French rather than the pope. Zwingli, the papal partisan, found himself in a difficult position and he decided to retreat to

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. History Early history There was no permanent settlement in the area ...

in the

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on ...

. While he was not a reformer at Glarus, there he began to develop the ideas that would lead to the break with the Catholic Church in

In 1528 the Reformation gained a foothold in Glarus, directed by Zwingli in Zürich. Even though he had preached in Glarus for 10 years, the town remained strongly Catholic. However, following the

Second war of Kappel The Second War of Kappel (german: Zweiter Kappelerkrieg) was an armed conflict in 1531 between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy during the Reformation in Switzerland. Cause The tensions between the two part ...

in 1531 both the Catholic and Protestant residents were given the right to worship in town. This led to both religious groups using the town church simultaneously, an arrangement that caused numerous problems. By the 18th Century both the groups shared the church but had separate organs. In 1697 there were two financially and theologically independent parishes meeting in the city church. Following the French invasion in 1798, Glarus became the capital of the Canton of Linth in the Helvetic Republic. The administration of the Canton moved into Glarus. However, the new administrators had difficulties in establishing and enforcing any new regulations. In August 1802 the administrators of the new Canton left Glarus for

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

due to the difficulties they had faced in Glarus. In 1803, with the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasi ...

, the Canton of Linth was dissolved and Glarus became the capital of the smaller Canton of Glarus. In 1859, the railway reached Glarus from Weesen. The extension to Schwanden and Linthal opened in 1879. The town created the Emigration Society and sent Judge Niklaus Dürst and blacksmith Fridolin Streif to search for land to settle in North America in 1845. Later that year, 131 colonists from Glarus settled

New Glarus, Wisconsin New Glarus is a village in Green County, Wisconsin, United States at the intersection of Wisconsin Highways 69 and 39. It has a population of 2,266 according to the 2020 census. The village, and the town that surrounds it, were named after the ...

, a town which still holds onto its Swiss roots and enjoys a strong relationship with Glarus. On the 10/11 May 1861, the town was devastated by a fire that was fanned by a violent Föhn or south wind, rushing down from the high mountains through the natural funnel formed by the Linth valley. The total loss is estimated at about half a million sterling, of which about £100,000 were made up by subscriptions that poured in from every side. About two-thirds of Glarus (593 buildings) were destroyed in the big fire. After this incident, Glarus was rebuilt in block fashion according to construction plans by Bernhard Simon and Johann Caspar Wolff. In 1864, the first European labor law to protect workers was introduced in Glarus, prohibiting workers from working more than 12 hours a day.

Geography

The town is located in the ''Glarner Mittelland'' on a broad valley floor between the

and the

. The municipality Glarus before 2011 had an area of . Of this area, 23% was used for agricultural purposes, while 31.4% was forested; of the rest of the land, 2.7% was settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (42.9%) was non-productive (2006 figures). With the incorporation of

and

in 2011, the municipality Glarus now has an area of . Based on the 2004/09 survey, about 26.3% of the total area is used for agricultural purposes, while 34.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 35.2% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85-2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by and the agricultural land has decreased by .Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Regional portraits
accessed 2 May 2016

Demographics

Glarus has a population () of . , 24.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 3 years (2010-2013) the population has changed at a rate of 2.07%. The

birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...

in the municipality, in 2013, was 9.8 while the

death rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...

was 8.4 per thousand residents. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 61.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.3%. Most of the population () speaks German (86.0%), with Italian being second most common (4.8%) and Albanian being third (2.6%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 10-Sep-2009

Historical population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Economy

, there were a total of 8,148 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 175 people worked in 63 businesses in the primary economic sector. The

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

employed 2,479 workers in 200 separate businesses. Finally, the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

provided 5,494 jobs in 923 businesses. In 2013 a total of 2.% of the population received social assistance.

Politics

In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the BDP with 49.7% of the vote, followed by the SP with 47.7%. The remaining 2.6% went to unaffiliated or minor party candidates. In the federal election, a total of 3,250 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...

was 41.1%. The 2015 election saw a large change in the voting when compared to 2011. The percentage of the vote received by the SP increased sharply from 28.9% in 2011 to 47.7% in 2015, while the percentage that the BDP dropped from 57.7% to 49.7%.

Crime

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the

Swiss Criminal Code , french: Code pénal suisse (CP), it, Codice penale svizzero (CP), rm, Cudesch penal svizzer , citation = , territorial_extent = Switzerland , enacted_by = Federal Assembly of Switzerland , date_enacted = 20 Decemb ...

(running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Glarus was 48.2 per thousand residents. This rate is only 74.6% of the average rate in the entire country. During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 10.2 per thousand residents, which is similar to the rate in Glarus Süd, but about twice as high as the rate in Glarus Nord.

Education

In Glarus about 71.3% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a '' Fachhochschule'').

Transport

Glarus railway station is on the Ziegelbrücke to Linthal railway line. It is served by the

Zürich S-Bahn The Zürich S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Zürich) system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zürich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, ...

service S25 between

and Linthal, and by the St. Gallen S-Bahn service S6 between

and Schwanden. Both services operate once per hour, combining to provide two trains per hour between

Ziegelbrücke Ziegelbrücke is a village in Switzerland. Ziegelbrücke is shared by the municipalities of Niederurnen in the canton of Glarus and Schänis in the canton of St. Gallen. Geography and political situation The village of Ziegelbrücke is divided ...

and Schwanden. The stations of

and

are also in the municipality, and served by the same trains.

Climate

Between 1991 and 2020 Glarus had an average of 142.2 days of rain per year and on average received of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. The wettest month was July during which time Glarus received an average of of precipitation. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 14.8 days. The months with the most days of precipitation were June to August. The driest month of the year was February with an average of of precipitation over 9.5 days.

Gallery

File:Glarus.jpg, Town center of Glarus File:Glarus rathaus 2005-07-22.jpg, Kantonsparlement File:Picswiss GL-13-05.jpg, Landsgemeindeplatz File:Glarus-Glärnisch.jpg, Glärnisch File:Bahnhof Glarus.JPG, Glarus railway station

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Glarus is twinned with: *

* New Glarus,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Notable people

* Anna Göldi (1734 – 1782 in Glarus) the last person to be executed in Europe for

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

Heinrich Hössli Heinrich Hössli (6 August 1784 – 24 December 1864), sometimes written as Hößli, was a Swiss hatter and author. His book ''Eros Die Männerliebe der Griechen'' (2 vols., 1836, 1838) surveyed references to same-sex love in ancient Greek liter ...

(1784 in Glarus – 1864 in Winterthur) a Swiss hatter and author *

Johann Jakob von Tschudi Johann Jakob von Tschudi (25 July 1818 – 8 October 1889) was a Swiss naturalist, explorer and diplomat. Biography Tschudi was born in Glarus to Johann Jakob Tschudi, a merchant, and Anna Maria Zwicky. He studied natural sciences and medicin ...

(1818 in Glarus – 1889) a Swiss naturalist, explorer and diplomat * Johann Jakob Blumer (1819 in Glarus – 1875) a Swiss statesman * Franz Joseph Untersee (1858 in Glarus - 1927) a Swiss-American architect who designed many Roman Catholic churches in the US * Roslï Näf (1911 in Glarus – 1996) a Swiss Red Cross nurse during the Holocaust * Rudi Schmid (1922 in Glarus – 2007) an American medical researcher specializing in

hepatology Hepatology is the branch of medicine that incorporates the study of liver, gallbladder, biliary tree, and pancreas as well as management of their disorders. Although traditionally considered a sub-specialty of gastroenterology, rapid expansion ...

* Bernhard Hoesli (1923 in Glarus – 1984) a Swiss architect and collage artist * Erwin C. Dietrich (1930 in Glarus – 2018) film director, producer, actor and cinematographers IMDb Database
retrieved 10 February 2019 *

Eveline Hasler Eveline Hasler (born 22 March 1933) is a Swiss writer. Born in Glarus, she studied Psychology and History at the University of Fribourg and worked as a teacher in St. Gallen. She has written novels (for adults) and children's books which have bee ...

(born 1933 in Glarus) a Swiss writer *

Marianne Horak Marianne Horak (born 1944) is a Swiss-Australian entomologist who specialises in Australian Lepidoptera, particularly the phycitine and tortricid moths. She also did important research on the scribbly gum moths, during which eleven new species ...

(born 1944 in Glarus) a Swiss-Australian entomologist who specialises in Australian lepidoptera * Giaco Schiesser (born 1953 in Glarus) professor for cultural theory and media theory at

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, german: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich' ...

Werner Marti Werner Marti (born 20 April 1957 in Glarus; Place of origin: Sool) is a Swiss lawyer and politician in the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP). He was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1991 until the end of 2008. Biography Wer ...

(born 1957 in Glarus) a Swiss lawyer and politician * Ruedi Noser (born 1961 in Glarus) a Swiss businessman and politician *

Tim Krohn Tim Krohn (born 9 February 1965) is an author of Swiss literature, recipient of the 1994 Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer-Preis. Born in Wiedenbrück, North Rhine-Westphalia, Krohn grew up in Glarus. He interrupted his studies of German language, Philoso ...

(born 1965) an author of Swiss literature, grew up in Glarus

Sport

* Paul Fischli (born 1945 in Glarus) a Swiss former football player and manager * Fritz Künzli (1946 in Glarus – 2019) a retired Swiss football striker. * Ekkehard Fasser (1952 in Glarus – 2021) a bobsledder who competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics * René Botteron (born 1954 in Glarus) a Swiss former football midfielder, over 330 club caps * Urs Sonderegger (born 1964 in Glarus) a Swiss entrepreneur and racing driver *

Valeria Spälty Valeria Spälty (born 24 June 1983 in Glarus) is a Swiss curler. Spälty started curling in 1992. She plays second for Mirjam Ott Mirjam Ott (born 27 January 1972 in Bern, Switzerland) is a retired Swiss curler who lives in Laax ...

(born 1983 in Glarus) a Swiss curler, silver medallist at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Jan Hauser Jan Hauser (born 19 January 1985 in Glarus) is a Swiss curler from Zürich. He currently plays third for Ralph Stöckli. Hauser was a fairly successful junior curler. In his third World Junior Curling Championships, in 2003, he skipp ...

(born 1985 in Glarus) a Swiss curler, competed in the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

* Colin Stüssi (born 1993 in Glarus) a Swiss cyclist

References

External links

*
Official Web site
* {{Authority control Glarus (capital) Cantonal capitals of Switzerland Cities in Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Glarus