Betschwanden

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Betschwanden
Betschwanden coat of arms
State : SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
Canton : Canton of GlarusCanton of Glarus Glarus (GL)
District : No district divisionw
Political community : Glarus Southi2
Postal code : 8777
former BFS no. : 1601
Coordinates : 720 998  /  200733 coordinates: 46 ° 56 '48 "  N , 9 ° 1' 41"  O ; CH1903:  720998  /  200733
Height : 600  m above sea level M.
Area : 9.74  km²
Residents: 182 (December 31, 2010)
Population density : 19 inhabitants per km²
Website: www.betschwanden.ch
map
Betschwanden (Switzerland)
Betschwanden
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Parish before the merger on January 1, 2011

Betschwanden (in local dialect : [ b̥etˈʃʋɑnd (ə) ]) is a village in the municipality of Glarus Süd in the Swiss canton of Glarus .

geography

The village center of Betschwanden is on the right side of the Glarner Grosstal , a few kilometers north of Linthal , on the debris cone of the Diesbach 600  m above sea level. M. The mountainous terrain of Freiberg Kärpf made up the largest part of the former municipality area ; of the total of 974 hectares, about half (501 hectares) is used for agricultural purposes, about a quarter (247 hectares) is forest and pasture land. The climate is alpine.

history

The oldest surviving mention of the place name dates back to a document from 1240: decimam in Beswando ; In 1436 it appears as a bed wall . It is probably a combination of the Old High German personal name Betto / Petto and the basic word ahd. * Swanta , mhd. Swant , which denotes Schwendbau , a form of clearing that is particularly widespread in the alpine farming area.

In 1528 the Reformation was carried out and the images of saints were removed from the church. The Glarus pastor and reformer Fridolin Brunner lived and worked in Betschwanden from 1532 to 1555 . In 1533, it was the first community in Glarus to set up an independent community and church administration.

From the 16th to the 18th century, Diesbach , Hätzingen and Haslen belonged to the Tagwen Betschwanden, which around 1700 numbered a total of 222 adult male country people. The connection with Hätzingen, Diesbach and Rüti still extends to the Reformed parish (until 1942 also Braunwald ).

The Political Municipality of Betschwanden was merged into the new municipality of Glarus Süd at the beginning of 2011 as a result of the Glarus municipal reform .

population

Population development
year Residents
1692 123
1850 254
1900 255
1950 282
1980 132
2000 172

Measured in terms of population, the municipality of Betschwanden was the smallest municipality in the canton next to Leuggelbach . In 2007 it had only 191 inhabitants, not much more than at the end of the 17th century (1692: 123 people). Around 1850 there were still 254 people registered in the community, a hundred years later around 30 more people.

economy

Up until the 19th century, agriculture and alpine farming were the main source of income for the Betschwander: Alp Vorder Sand , which is now in the middle of the Linthal municipality , has belonged to Tagwen for centuries. A spinning mill opened in 1843 became a warehouse in 1910 and a textile chemical company in 1982. Today, many Betschwander commuters and work in the lowlands towards Zurich.

Natural hazards

Before the Limmeren reservoir , the Linth-Limmeren power plant , was built in 1963, the Linth was an unpredictable mountain river that threatened to wash away the villages in the Grosstal more than once. In the avalanche winter of 1951 (January 20), an avalanche broke out along the entire length of the Kneugrathang , which not only destroyed seven stables and two holiday homes, but also killed two people. As a result, avalanche barriers were installed on the Kneugrat and the area reforested, which reduces the risk of further disasters.

traffic

The main road connection is the cantonal road ( Hauptstrasse 17 ) leading north to the canton's capital and south via Linthal, the Urnerboden and the Klausenpass into the Reuss valley . Since 1879 Betschwanden has been connected to the network of the Nordostbahn ( Diesbach-Betschwanden station ), another line that is now operated by the Swiss Federal Railways (the train is replaced by a bus late in the evening).

politics

Against all odds, Betschwanden stuck to its independence. Since January 1st, 2000 it has been a unified church. The political community was merged with the school and welfare community. Agreements and special-purpose associations exist with the municipalities, especially in the southern Great Valley, for supra-municipal solutions to tasks (disposal, etc.).

schools

The little ones go to kindergarten in a school bus to Linthal. The first graders also go to school in Linthal. The primary school (3rd – 5th grade) shares Betschwanden with Rüti, where the schoolhouse is located. The upper schools are in Linthal (secondary school), in Luchsingen (secondary school) and in the main town of Glarus (canton school).

Attractions

  • Diesbachfall - one of the last waterfalls in the Glarnerland that has not (yet) fallen victim to the electricity industry. It gets its name from "this" , the roaring noise especially at the time of the snowmelt.
Diesbachfall
  • Betschwanden Church is one of the most important architectural monuments in the canton of Glarus. It was built in the 12th century in Romanesque style and is one of the largest Romanesque buildings north of the Alps. In 1779–1780 the community built a dam - the "Kirchwuhr"  - around the church to protect it from the floods of the Linth . In 1915 it received Art Nouveau and Neo-Baroque elements. 1975–1977 it was restored and in 2001 the exterior was renovated for the last time. Today the church is also used for concerts.
Betschwanden Church
  • The mill on the Diesbach, built in 1778, is the parish guest house.
  • Village center with village well (standing here since 1855).

Personalities

  • Fridolin Brunner (1498–1570), Protestant pastor and reformer 1532–1555 in Betschwanden
  • Gottfried Heer (1843–1921), Protestant Reformed pastor in Betschwanden 1866–1906, Council of States 1906–1914 and local historian

literature

  • J. Davatz: The Reformed Church Betschwanden. In: Our art monuments. Vol. 29, 1978, pp. 91-100
  • K. Hasler: Archaeological excavation in the Betschwanden church. In: New Year's Messenger for the Glarus hinterland. 1977, pp. 77-81

photos

  • Hotel Post in Betschwanden

  • Betschwanden with a view of the Tödi

Web links

Commons : Betschwanden  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gabrielle Schmid: Betschwanden GL (Glarus) in: Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses - Lexicon of Swiss community names - Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS | LSG). Center de dialectologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld / Stuttgart / Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7193-1308-5 and Éditions Payot, Lausanne 2005, ISBN 2-601-03336-3 , p. 146.
  2. ^ Charles Knapp, Maurice Borel, Victor Attinger, Heinrich Brunner, Société neuchâteloise de geographie (editor): Geographical Lexicon of Switzerland . Volume 1: Aa - Emmengruppe . Verlag Gebrüder Attinger, Neuchâtel 1902, p. 240, keyword Betschwanden   ( scan of the lexicon page ).
  3. ^ Hans Laupper: Brunner, Fridolin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .