Schwändi Parish, Glarus, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Schwändi 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
The village of Schwändi is located on the west side of the valley of the Linth river at an elevation of 701 m (2,300 ft). Below by the river are the villages of Schwanden and Mitlödi. Schwändi has an area of 3.5 km² (1.4 square miles). It extends to the peak of the Vorder Glärnisch (2,327 m or 7,635 ft) which is west of the village. The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 27.6% - forested
 * 33.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 4.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 35.3% - non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)

History
The first mention of Schwändi was in 1350 using the name of Swendi. Schwändi became part of the Glarus Süd municipality on 1 January 2011. Other localities merged include:
 * Betschwanden
 * Braunwald
 * Elm
 * Engi
 * Haslen (GL)
 * Linthal
 * Luchsingen
 * Matt
 * Mitlödi
 * Rüti (GL)
 * Schwanden (GL)
 * Sool

The population history of Schwändi is: 1753 - 164 inhabitants 1798 - 532 inhabitants 1850 - 823 inhabitants 1900 - 610 inhabitants 1950 - 551 inhabitants 2000 - 395 inhabitants 2010 - 476 inhabitants

Dues were paid to Säckingen Abbey until 1395. From 1349, the village depended on Glarus, and then Schwanden for spiritual needs. Since 1528, the people of Schwändi have adopted the Reformed faith.

Church Records
Baptism, marriage, and burial records for the parish of Schwändi began in 1801. Before 1801, Schwändi belonged to the parish of Schwanden. 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. Schwändi 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. Schwändi is now part of the Glarus Süd municipality. The municipality website can be accessed here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Glarus