St. Hilarius Parish Church of Näfels () is a Catholic church in

Näfels Näfels is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Näfels is part of the municipality of Glarus Nord. History Näfels is first mentioned in 1240 as ''Nevels''. ...

Glarus Nord Glarus Nord is one of three Municipalities of Switzerland, 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 ...

, Glarus Canton,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is listed as a Cultural Property of National Significance.

History

The church is named for

Hilary of Poitiers Hilary of Poitiers (; ) was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the " Athanasius of the West". His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. In addition t ...

. Built in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

, it was designed by architects Johann Singer and Jakob Singer of

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

and built from 1779 to 1781. It was renovated in 1979, on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of the start of its original construction. An

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

is kept burning at the church, in atonement for a 14th-century murder. Exactly what murder is a matter of some confusion: it may be the 1357 murder of Heinrich Stucki by his neighbour Konrad Mueller, or another in which two brothers named Tschudi quarreled and one killed the other. In any case, someone deeded

walnut oil Walnut oil is oil extracted from walnuts, ''Juglans regia''. The oil contains polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, and saturated fats. Composition According to gas chromatographic and HPLC analysis, virgin walnut oil con ...

from trees on two parcels of his land to be supplied to keep the flame burning. Later the deed was changed to make this into a payment of CHF70 per year, a condition which was attached to the land title in the local registry. Legally speaking, this condition was lost in 1911 during registry reforms, but owners of the land continued to pay it over the course of the next century, until 2012 when the new landowner refused the obligation and the church took him to court to dispute his non-payment.

References

External links

Overview
on the Glarus Nord municipality website
Page about the church
on the Katholische Landeskirche Kanton Glarus website {{DEFAULTSORT:St. Hilarius Parish Church of Nafels Nafels Hilarius Nafels Hilarius 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Switzerland

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links