Netstal Parish, Glarus, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Netstal 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
Netstal has an area, as of 2006, of 10.7 km2 (4.1 sq mi). It is an industrial village located in the Glarus Mittelland, where the Löntsch river from the Klöntal (a natural lake) flows into the Linth river, at the eastern foot of the Wiggis mountain. The village combines the hamlets of Netstal, Leuzingen and Löntschen.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 30.8% is used for agricultural purposes
 * 32.8% is forested
 * 9.6% is settled (buildings or roads)
 * 26.9% is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)

History
The first mention of Netstal was in 1289 as Netstal. It is part of the municipality of Glarus, effective from 1 January 2011.

The population history of Netstal is: 1799 - 1372 inhabitants 1850 - 2101 inhabitants 1900 - 2003 inhabitants 1950 - 2654 inhabitants 2000 - 2813 inhabitants 2010 - 2875 inhabitants

Until 1395, Netstal had to pay dues to the chapter of Säckingen. The villagers depended on Glarus spiritually. In 1421, Matthias Netstaler founded the Chapel of the Kings, replaced by a new building (erected in 1708). After the Reformation, the majority of the population remained Catholic. In 1875, the parish of Netstal was formed and a new church was consecrated in 1935. In 1697, the Protestants who had become more numerous, separated from Glarus and founded their parish. They built their church in 1698 (replaced by a new building in 1811-1813).

In 1859, the village was connected to the Weesen-Glaris railway line belonging to the United Swiss Railways.

Church Records
Reformed baptism and marriage records for the Reformed parish of Netstal began in 1698; before 1698, Netstal belonged to the parish of Glarus. Catholic records began in 1861; before 1861, Catholics in Netstal belonged to the parish of Glarus. Information from both Catholic and Reformed 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. Netstal 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. Netstal is now part of the municipality of Glarus. The municipality website can be accessed here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Glarus