Canton of Glarus

(French Glaris) is a canton in east central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus. There are 25 municipalities in the canton (July 2006). The population is German speaking.

Geography

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 Lake Walen. The total area of the canton of Glarus is 685 km², of which about half is considered productive. Forestry is an important branch of industry in the canton.

History

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 Saint Fridolin, who still features in the coat of arms of the canton today. He founded Säckingen Abbey near Basel. From the 9th century, the area around Glarus was owned by the abbey. By 1288 the Habsburgs bit by bit claimed all the abbey's rights. This resulted in the people of Glarus joining the Swiss Confederation in 1352.

Between 1506 and 1516 the reformer 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.

Industry

The geography of the canton helped to establish slate works in the 17th century. The mountainous surroundings of Glarus were also an advantage in industrialisation. Cotton spinning was important in the 18th century, complementing traditional woolen spinning. Industrialisation also brought cotton printing, hydroelectric plants and later metal and machinery factories, as well as paper mills.

Dairy farming and cattle breeding were not replaced by industrial advances. Cattle graze on mountain pastures. Cattle breeding and dairying are important on the mountain pastures.

Municipalities

The 25 municipalities (Ortsgemeinden) are:

Betschwanden
Bilten
Braunwald
Elm
Engi
Ennenda
Filzbach
Glarus
Haslen (united former municipalities Leuggelbach, Nidfurn and Haslen)
Linthal
Luchsingen (united former municipalities Diesbach, Hätzingen and Luchsingen)
Matt

Controversy

In 2003, a controversy arose where asylum seekers were subject to torture by cantonal authorities in Linthal and Rütli. According to Amnesty International, police raids were conducted during early morning hours. In many of these cases, refugees whose homes were raided were subject to treatment which may have violated their human rights. Despite investigations on the matter, authorties have denied wrong doing insisting that they were acting within legal limits. ^*

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