Portrait
The spa and tourist resort is located on a mountain terrace west of Linthal and Rüti. 1421, the term Brunwald has been documented for the first time in writing. The name means densely sourced and wooded area.
From the 12th to the 15th century, the settlement site Bergeten (approx. 1600 m above sea level) at the foot of the Ortstock (2716 m above sea level) was only inhabited in summer and there is evidence of sheep-, goat- and cattle farming as well as hunting. In 1971, this abandoned settlement, popularly called Heath cottages, was archaeologically excavated. A Hug Vogel is referred to in a document dated 1350 as owner of Niederschwändi. It is reported that his son was murdered in the Euloch by a Schwyzer called Köder.
Braunwald originally belonged to the Tagwen Niederlinthal. In 1690, and in 1718 the part south of the Brumm creek was allocated to Linthal. The bulk of it was allocated to Rüti and the rest to Diesbach and Betschwanden. From 1725 single families lived in Braunwald all year around. The "Führlihaus" built in 1780 was put under the control of the Homeland Security in 1973.
In 1839, a school co-operative was founded in Braunwald and two years later, the Braunwald children left the Betschwander classrooms and went to an own classroom. The so-called Sackhäuschen (sack cottage) received an own building in 1857. Today, the hotel Tödiblick is located there.
1875, the Braunwald forest corporation, founded in the same year, purchased forest rights from the Tagwen Rüti. It formed the primordial cell of the community Braunwald formed in 1939. On the occasion of the creation of the Rüti-Braunwald mountain trail, the still existing trail corporation convened in 1895 for the first time. The drainage corporation, existing since 1981, has its roots in the time around 1902 (construction of the Braunwald railway (BrB) and Hotel Bellevue), when they noticed the sliding surface of the southern part of the Braunwald terrace. There's now a major drainage station in the area Grantenboden. However, in March 1999 the old storage site of Braunwald threatened so slip towards Rüti, which was closed in 1978.
Whey treatments were offered for the first time in 1844. The 1856 built tavern "Niederschlacht" has developed into the renowned first-class hotel "Waldhaus". In 1896-97, the lung sanatorium (after 1985 Höhenklink Braunwald, since 2003 part of the Rehab clinic Zurzach-Baden-Braunwald) was established on the initiative of the non-profit society of the Canton Glarus.
After 1898 there was a mail drop station in the farmhouse and restaurant Alpenblick of David Heiz. Around 1900, there were 155 inhabitants and residents, who worked almost exclusively in agriculture.
The 1902-built ropeway for material transportation Rüti-Braunwald followed in 1907 the opening of the cable car from Linthal (Stachelberg) to Braunwald, as well as the opening of the hotels "Alpenblick", "Grand Hotel (Bellevue)" and "Alpina". Initiators of the railway project were textile manufacturer Albert Bebié and Josef Durrer, railway entrepreneur and founder of the "Grand Hotel". 1908 Bazar, the first shop, was opened, today run as "Kessler Sport" (the latter created 2002 the snowboard for the Olympic champion in Snowboard parallel giant slalom Philipp Schoch). There followed the opening of the hotel "Tödiblick", the pension "Koller" and the "Ahorn" as well as in more recent times the restaurant "Uhu", the hotel "Cristal" at the ski school course etc.
End of 1928, the first winter season started when the Braunwaldbahn (BrB) went into service during the cold season and the ice rink was opened. In 1941 the first ski lift started from Hotel Niederschlacht to the Bödeli. The community counted at that time already 327 people. In the same year the Diaconal Sisterhood of Braunwald was founded, which operated until 2000 the recreation home "Bergfrieden" and the special school "Flueblüemli" and supported the "Freie Schule Braunwald".
Since the detachment from Betschwanden in 1941, the village is mainly a Protestant parish (in 1904 a mountain church was built next to the sanatorium and between 1962-1966 an ecclesiastical centre was opened) respectively belongs to the Catholic parish of Linthal (in 1950 a chapel was consecrated in Betschwanden). In 1899, Betschwanden donated to the Protestants of Betschwanden the bell which should rang for the battle of Näfels in 1388.
The tourist infrastructure was greatly expanded in the second half of the 20th century: Shortly before Betschwanden completed the chairlift Gumen and in 1969 the one to the Seblengrat. In 1967, a new BrB hill station was inaugurated with post office and tourist office. 1974 respectively 1991 resulted in the development of slopes by the cable car Grotzenbühl (as a replacement for the Funischlitten). In 1951, for the first time a curling team played in Braunwald, one year before the founding of the Curling Club Braunwald. In 1978, an indoor swimming pool was built and since 1982 the BrB is directly connected with the SBB (Swiss National Railway). The fourth generation of the funicular was inaugurated in 1997 and in 1999 the oldest operated cross seat chairlift of Switzerland to the Gumen got a new hoisting cable. In 2001, however, the economic situation of the BrB was so bad that it could only be saved thanks to a takeover by the canton. In 1990, not less than 80% of the labor force of Braunwald worked in the service sector (mainly tourism). During the winter season, around 32 km of ski slopes and 17 km of hiking trails are prepared. A climbing wall was set up in 1995-2002 in the south of the Eggstöcke (above the Gumen). In 1994, the first walk-in tale garden of Switzerland was opened. The story of the dwarf Bartli was created in the1940s by Lorly Jenny in Braunwald. And last but not least, Braunwald is free from automobile traffic. No car traffic is allowed.
In 2011, the community structure of canton Glarus was reorganized and Braunwald became part of the new administrative community Glarus Süd.
Translation of the official website of Braunwald