A small canton in the East of Switzerland is named Glarus, characterized by a varying landscape with great differences in climate and height. The former ranges from mild and southernlike to icy and alpine, depending on whether you indulge in the beauty of Walensee, for example, or try to defeat a glacier.

Especially renowned for its scenery is Klöntal, the most important western side valley to the river Linth. It hosts the famous Klöntalersee with its dreamlike reflections and extremely clear water. Carl Spitteler, the Swiss Nobel prize winner for literature, is often quoted to have said: “It belongs to those unbelievable beauties of nature that no dream can guess“.

Swiss Canton Glarus

Also situated in an impressive mountainous world is the town Glarus, the capital of the canton. As such, with less than 6000 inhabitants, it is the smallest but both Zürich and Chur are only an hour’s drive away. Being located so nicely in the geographical middle of the canton, Glarus also serves as its centre for administration and service industry.

Rising from it up to 2300 metres into the sky is Vorderglärnisch, a famous mountain with a pyramid’s shape. Atlas painter Jan Hackaert was the first to capture this great sight on paper in 1655. 200 years later it became of great interest to scientists who drew comparisons between natural and artificial architecture.

Lochsite, which is located at the opening of the Sernftal valley, is one of the most significant areas of the Swiss Alps. The way older sediments overlap younger layers there helped geologists gain insight into the principles of mountain drifts. A lifelike copy even made it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Also in the U.S., in Wisconsin, lies “New Glarus“, reminder of a dark spot in the history of the canton. In the middle of the 19th Century every twelfth inhabitant left the country because the textile industry declined. Nowadays this hardship is overcome and Glarus blossoms again: With agriculture – especially the production of milk – with tourism, sports, and cultural events. And, provided you visit the right places, you can even find high tech enterprises there.