Näfels Parish, Glarus, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Näfels Parish, Glarus, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
As of 2006, Näfels had an area of 36.9 km2 (14.2 sq mi). Näfels is located in the Glarner Unterland on the left side of Linth valley, opposite from Mollis. It consists of the village of Näfels and the scattered settlements that make up the Näfelser Berg and the Oberseetal.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 35.9% is used for agricultural purposes
 * 37.6% is forested
 * 4.4% is settled (buildings or roads)
 * 22.1% is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)

History
The first mention of Näfels was in 1240 as Nevels. Näfels became part of the municipality of Glarus Nord on 1 January 2011.

Other localities that merged to form Glarus Nord municipality include:


 * Bilten
 * Filzbach
 * Mollis
 * Mühlehorn
 * Niederurnen
 * Oberurnen
 * Obstalden

The population history of Näfels is:

1777 - 533 male inhabitants 1850 - 1869 inhabitants 1870 - 2513 inhabitants 1900 - 2557 inhabitants 1950 - 3327 inhabitants 2000 - 3947 inhabitants 2010 - 4021 inhabitants

Part of the religious history of Näfels includes:


 * Until 1395, Näfels paid their tithes to Säckingen Abbey.
 * After 1280, the village participated in the construction of the chapel (future parish) of Mollis, on which it depended spiritually.
 * The canton of Glarus founded a chapel in 1389 around the current church in memory of the victorious outcome of the 1388 Battle of Näfels.
 * Näfels didn't adopt the Reformation and formed a parish in 1532 (which included Oberurnen until 1868).
 * Built in 1523, a chapel was elevated to the rank of a parish church in 1534.
 * A rural aristocracy began in Näfels in the late Middle Ages. It remained faithful to the Catholic faith.
 * In 1612, the cemetery chapel was founded by Kaspar Gallati, who was colonel of the guard.
 * The Catholic part of Glarus made Näfels its capital.
 * Founded there in 1674 was the Capuchin convent of Mariaburg, to the great displeasure of the Protestants.

In 1859, industry benefited from the connection to the Union-Suisse rail network.

In 1831, the Capuchins started a college for boys, later operated as a secondary school. In 1837, Näfels had to have a primary school and the municipality first opened it in the Freuler palace, which it had acquired in 1840, before having a school building built in 1877. From 1860, a school located in the Schwändital included pupils from Näfels and d 'Oberurnen.

Church Records
Baptism, marriage, and burial records for the parish of Näfels began in 1655. Information from the church records was extracted by Johann Jakob Kubly-Müller and organized into families. The Glarus Family Tree has made much of this data available online.

Original church records for Canton Glarus are only accessible at the Glarus State Archives.

Civil Registration
Civil registration began in 1849. Näfels belongs to the Glarus civil registration district. Records are only available in Switzerland. For further information, contact the civil registry office at:

Zivilstandskreis Glarus Postgasse 29 8750 Glarus Tel: +41 55 646 69 50 email: [mailto:zivilstandsamt@gl.ch zivilstandsamt@gl.ch]

Genealogies
(Click here for an article describing Swiss compiled genealogies.)

The Glarus Family Tree is a project which shows the family links between about 200 original families from Glarus. The source of most of this information is the 30-year, 36-volume genealogical masterpiece by Johann Jakob Kubly-Müller. The tree has more than 270,000 individuals can be found online at Geneal-Tree, MyHeritage, Geneanet, and Ancestry.

Related sources
In 2011, Canton Glarus was reorganized into three municipalities. Näfels is now part of the Glarus Nord municipality. The municipality website can be accessed here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Glarus