Canton of Glarus
Glarus (French Glaris) is a canton in east central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus. There are 29 municipalities in the canton. The 38300 (in 2001) strong population is German speaking.Flag of Canton of Glarus
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The canton of Glarus is dominated by the deep valley of Linth River. Most of the area is mountainous. The highest peak in the Glarus Alps is the Tödi with 3614m. Other mountains include the Hausstock (3158m) and the Glärnisch (2910m). There is a large lake called Wallensee. The total area of the canton of Glarus is 685 km², of which about half is considered productive. Forestry is important.
The history of this canton is dominated by religion. The inhabitants of the Linth Valley were converted to Christianity in the 6th century by the Irish monk St. Fridolin. St. Fridolin still features in the coat of arms of the canton today. He founded the convent of Säckingen near Basel. From the 9th century, the area around Glarus was owned by the convent. By 1288 the Habsburgs bit by bit claimed all the rights of the convent. This caused the people of Glarus joining the Swiss Confederation in 1352.
Between 1506 and 1516 the reformator Huldrych Zwingli was priest in Glarus, but by 1564 all of Zwingli's followers were eliminated. This, however, did not end the struggles between the Protestants and the Catholics in the area. To secure peace it was decided that each party should have its own assembly (Landsgemeinde) in 1623, and at a later stage in 1683 each side was granted the right to have its own tribunals.
Between 1798 and 1803 Glarus was part of the Canton of Linth as established by Napoleon. In 1836 the constitution was adapted to unite the assemblies and establish only one Landsgemeinde.Geography
History
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