Portrait

In the High Middle Ages, Oberurnen, together with Niederurnen, belonged to the monastery of Schänis and had to pay interest to the monastery of Säckingen. The Vorburg located on an offset above the village, is the most important castle ruins in the canton. It was probably built as an administrative headquarter of the Habsburg around 1300, then pledged in 1369 to a Rudolf Stucki and abandoned no later than the 15th century.

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Oberurnen participated after 1280 in the construction of the chapel in Mollis, which was raised in 1319 to a church also for Näfels and Oberurnen. Since these two communities rejected the Reformation, they formed in 1532 their own Catholic parish and built in 1592 the Trinity chapel with some valuable features. In 1868, Oberurnen separated from the parish of Näfels and consecrated its own church St. George.

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In the Middle Ages, the agriculture of Oberurnen was based on sheep breeding, which gradually shifted to cattle breeding. In the mountain area of ​​the municipality, the Schwändital alps were allocated in 1704 to three alpine corporations, to which the village comrades presumably merged to increase the yield. Oberurnen bought the Sonnenalp in 1839.

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Shortly after the Linth correction was finished, industrialization began in Oberurnen. In 1833 a spinning mill and in 1836 a cotton printing company were established. The latter was replaced by a silk weaving mill in 1890, which had to close down in 1974. In 1887, Schraner AG commissioned a drop forging plant.

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The 1851 built village schoolhouse was enlarged in 1927. Together with Näfels, Oberurnen built in 1860 for the students of the mountain area a schoolhouse in the Schwändital. 1875 the community got the connection to the railway network of the Swiss Northeast Railway. In 1906, the power plant went into operation. In 1963-64, another school was built and in 1969 ta special day care center was opened (since 2004 Heilpädagogisches Zentrum Glarnerland). In 1976 the multipurpose building was inaugurated. Smaller industrial and numerous commercial enterprises offer employment in the community.