Braunwald is a car-free resort village in the municipality of Glarus Süd and

canton of Glarus The canton of Glarus (german: Kanton Glarus rm, Chantun Glaruna; french: Canton de Glaris; it, Canton Glarona) is a canton in east central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus. The population speaks a variety of Alemannic German. The majority of ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

History

Braunwald is first mentioned in 1421 as ''Brunwald''. There is evidence of summer occupation between the 12th and 15th centuries and, by 1725, a few families were living there year-round. A school was first held in 1841, and moved into its own building in 1857. The Niederschlacht Inn, built in 1856, became a famous hotel. The opening of the

Braunwald funicular The Braunwaldbahn, Braunwald-Standseilbahn (BRSB), or Braunwald Funicular, is a funicular railway in the canton of Glarus, Switzerland. The line links Linthal Braunwaldbahn station, on the Swiss Federal Railways' Weesen to Linthal line, with the ...

in 1907 was followed by the opening of further hotels, including the Grand Hotel Bellevue (now the Märchenhotel Bellevue), the Alpina Hotel (now the Adrenalin Backpackers Hostel) and the Alpenblick Hotel (which was destroyed by fire in 2009). In the second half of the 20th century, several

chair lift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

s and

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...

s opened to provide access to the ski slopes above the village. Until 1939, the village of Braunwald formed part of the municipality of Rüti, but, in that year Braunwald split off to form its own municipality. On 1 January 2011, both municipalities were reunited as part of the new municipality of

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, Lintha ...

Geography

Braunwald is situated in the

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 th ...

on a terrace above the

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 Linth ...

valley, at an elevation of . It overlooks the villages of Linthal and Rüti in the valley below. It is overlooked by the mountains of

Ortstock The Ortstock is a mountain in the Schwyzer Alps, located at an elevation of on the border between the cantons of Schwyz and Glarus. It overlooks Braunwald and Linthal on its east side, while the west side overlooks the high valley of Glattalp ...

(), Höch Turm (), Eggstock () and

Bös Fulen The Bös Fulen is a mountain in the Schwyz Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Schwyz and Glarus. It overlooks the valleys of Muotathal (Schwyz) and Linthal. It is the highest summit of the canton of Schwyz. Politically, it is ...

(). Braunwald has an area, as defined by the former municipal boundaries in 2006, of . Of this area, 43.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (24.6%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Transport

Braunwald is a car-free resort village, and access to the village is via the

from the village of Linthal in the valley below. The funicular links Braunwald with Linthal Braunwaldbahn station, where over 750 parking spaces are available. The station provides a convenient interchange with the main line railway, and is served by the hourly

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 from Zurich. Taxi services for transport within the village are available fro
Schuler Transporte
an
Schumi-trans

Gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...

s and

s link the village to Grotzenbüel, Kleiner Gumen, Seblengrat and Bächital, principally for winter sport activities but in some cases operating in summer as well.

Demographics

Braunwald has a population, as of and as defined by the former municipal boundaries, of . , 13.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.Canton Glarus population growth
accessed 9 September 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -25.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (93.6%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 3.2%) and Dutch being third ( 1.2%).
accessed 10-Sep-2009 In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

the most popular party was the

SPS SPS may refer to: Law and government * Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO * NATO Science for Peace and Security * Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy * The Standard Procurement System, fo ...

which received 57.9% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes went to the SVP with 38.2% of the vote. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Braunwald about 70.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). Braunwald has an unemployment rate of 1.2%. , there were 40 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 20 people are employed in 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 construction. ...

and there are 7 businesses in this sector. 215 people are employed in 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 ...

, with 28 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Weather

Braunwald has an average of 161.3 days of rain per year and on average receives 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 is August during which time Braunwald receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 15.4 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is July, with an average of 16, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is October with an average of of precipitation over 15.4 days., the weather station elevation is 1330 meters above sea level. Braunwald is the municipality with the highest annual snowfall in Switzerland.

References

External links

*
''Braunwald''
from Glarus Süd municipal web site (in German)
''Braunwald''
from Braunwald tourist web site * {{authority control Car-free villages in Switzerland Former municipalities of the canton of Glarus Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Villages in the canton of Glarus