Glarus Parish, Glarus, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Glarus 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
Glarus is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011, the municipality Glarus incorporated the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern. Before 2011, the municipality of Glarus had an area of 69.2 km2 (26.7 sq mi). After the incorporation of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern in 2011, the municipality Glarus now has an area of 103.67 km2 (40.03 sq mi). Glarus is located in the Glarner Mittelland by the river Linth between the foot of Glärnisch mountain to the west and the Schilt mountain to the east.

As of 2006, the land use was divided up as follows:
 * 23% was used for agricultural purposes
 * 31.4% was forested
 * 2.7% was settled (buildings or roads)
 * 42.9% was non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)

After the incorporation in 2011, the land use was divided up as follows:
 * 26.3% is used for agricultural purposes
 * 34.3% is forested
 * 4.1% is settled (buildings or roads)
 * 35.2% is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)

History
Glarus was first mentioned by the Latin name of Clarona in the 9th century and then in 1178, by the German name of Glarus. On 1 January 2011, the municipality Glarus incorporated the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.

The population history of Glarus is: 1554 - about 1,550 inhabitants 1682 - about 1,200 inhabitants 1777 - about 2,400 inhabitants 1837 - 4,094 inhabitants 1850 - 4,082 inhabitants 1870 - 5,485 inhabitants 1888 - 5,357 inhabitants 1900 - 4,877 inhabitants 1910 - 5,123 inhabitants 1930 - 5,269 inhabitants 1950 - 5,724 inhabitants 1970 - 6,189 inhabitants 1990 - 5,728 inhabitants 2000 - 5,556 inhabitants

The oldest building in the parish church dates back to the 6th or 7th centuries. The Säckingen monastery may have exercised landholder rights in Glarus from the middle of the 8th century. Until 1273, the church of Saints Fridolin and Hilary located at the Spielhof in Glarus, was the only parish in the valley.

Excavations carried out in 1968 and 1971 revealed four buildings in Glarus:
 * a first building from the 6th century or the first half of the 7th century
 * a second from the end of the 7th century
 * a third from between 800 and 1000
 * a fourth which was created around 1100

The chapel of St. Michael in the Burghügel, was erected around the year 1000. Until around 1600, there was an establishment of nuns dedicated to caring for the sick (the Kloshaus). At the end of the 14th century, the parish district of Glarus also included Netstal, Mitlödi, Ennenda and Riedern. The first three built their own Reformed churches in the 18th century, but without completely breaking away from the Glarus parish. The Reformation took hold in 1528. However, a strong Catholic minority remained. The church continued to be used by both denominations with Catholics and Reformed each having their own organ in the 18th century. In 1697, two financially independent denominational parishes were formed.

The fire of 1861 destroyed the church building.

In 1859 Glarus was connected to the United Swiss Railways.

Church Records
Reformed baptism and marriage records for the Reformed parish of Glarus began in 1598, while burials began in 1620. Catholic records began in 1800. 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. Glarus 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. Glarus is still part of the municipality of Glarus. The municipality website can be accessed here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Glarus