Portrait
The village is mainly populated on the main road. It is located on the left side of the Grosstal between Nidfurn and Luchsingen at the foot of a waterfall fed by the Leuggelbach. The hamlet of Steinigen is located in the South of the village and the Güetli there represents the only wetland area in the valley of Glarus.
The name of the village and the stream goes probably back to Gallic word Leuka, which means "the white woman". According to the religious belief of the Gauls, female divines lived in rivers and mountain wilderness and were named white woman. Löckelbach emerges already 1350 in written sources. Until 1772 the citizens from Leuggelbach belonged to the church in Schwanden and partially to the church in Luchsingen.
Until the19th century the village was part of the Tagwen (citizen's community) Luchsingen/Adlenbach, endowed with special rights. In addition, in 1766 the Eschentagwen, which Leuggelbach forms together with Nidfurn and Luchsingen, was mentioned the first time in a document. First in 1868, Leuggelbach became independent based on a splitting agreement.
Its independence gained Leuggelbach tanks to the industry. As a result, the population rose from 203 to 262 between 1837 and 1870. Mid-19th century, Daniel Jenny-Oertli built a small weaving plant at the Leuggelbach, which he gave up after a short time. In 1864, the Mollis-based company Gallatin & Cie. bought the whole area, to build a printing factory. Four years later, already 162 people worked in this textile printing factory. In 1897, there was a separation of the company into a western and an eastern part of the factory. In the western part the textile processing operation R. Schlittler & Cie. was established, which had to give up its operation in 1993. On the eastern part of the area, fabrics were still printed by the company A. Schindler & Cie., whose closure happened in 1930. In 1933, a lacquer and paint factory (Decoralwerke AG) was established in these buildings which is still existing.
A railway station exists since 1913. The Linth bridge between Leuggelbach and Haslen was completed as a joint venture of the tow municipalities in 1921. A change in the village structure led to a correction of the main street in the 1950s.
End of June 1953, a flood caught some houses in Leuggelbach: the Bächibach flooded the commons, the Steinigerbach and the Schwächeten gully romped and the Leuggelbach ponded. Because of continuous rain and snowmelt the Leugelbach flooded again May 1999. Already in the preceding February, the Vorbach avalanche had gone to valley four times within a few days, so that people were evacuated and the main road was blocked. Two years later, the village assembly approved a construction project of 2,2 million Swiss francs against the Schwächeten avalanche.
In 1869 a community and elementary schoolhouse was inaugurated. The primary school district Nidfurn-Haslen, which existed between 1991 and 2001, was subsequently replaced by the school community Haslen-Leuggelbach-Nidfurn. These three villages have since then a common welfare centre. Moreover, in 2001 the voters of Leuggelbach gave green light for the amalgamation of the Tagwen and the political community.
In 2011, the community structure of canton Glarus was reorganized and Leuggelbach became part of the new administrative community Glarus Süd.
Translation of the official website of Leuggelbach