Glarus Canton, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Glarus canton ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Glarus is first mentioned in the early 9th Century in Latin as Clarona. In 1178 it was first mentioned in German as Glarus. In 1528 the Reformation gained a foothold in Glarus, and following the Second war of Kappel 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. Following the French invasion in 1798, Glarus became the capital of the Canton of Linth in the Helvetic Republic. Glarus is a German speaking canton. It joined the Swiss Confederation in 1352.