Portrait

 

The village was built on the debris cone of the Krauchbach at the entrance to the Krauchal valley. Essentially the hamlets of Brummbach, Stalden and Weissenberg are populated.

 

In 1273, Mattun's estate appeared for the first time in a deed. The place name means meadow. Between 1261 and 1273 - with the permission of the abbess of Säckingen, respective their bailiffs, the Habsburgs - a chapel was built, which was raised to the parish church of the valley in 1273. The tithe in the Sern Valley was not only controversial between knight Heinrich von Schwanden and the Meier (mayor) Diethelm von Windeck in 1276, but also between the Säckingen Abbey and the up-and-coming Habsburg domination. Today's church probably dates back to 1497; In its interior is a significant late-Gothic wooden ceiling. 1528 there was an iconoclasm during the term of office (1527-1530) of Zwingli's friend Fridolin Brunner. Since the early modern times, the church has served the member of the Reformed Church of Matt and Engi. In 1532 they owned an alp in the Krauchtal (sold to the Tagwen of Matt in 1843).

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The village suffered repeatedly from the destruction of the Sernf river. It was not connected with the main valley by a road until 1828. In 1977 a bypass was built. From the middle of the 19th century to 2001 (integration into the local community) the Tagwen Matt was owner of the alps Krauchtal, Egg and Riseten. In the area of ​​the alp Vorderegg ("Leitplangge") a storm destroyed 110 hectares of forest in 1954, a quarter of the usable forest area of ​​the municipality. Four years later, Matt began afforestation for three million Swiss francs. In addition roads to the alps Egg and Riseten were created between 1976 and 1988. Further development projects in the Krauchtal, the Boligen- and the Haggen forest were built in 1992 for 5.2 million Swiss francs. After flood damage caused by the Bergli river in 1997, a drainage of this river was also planned.

 

In 1923, Matt got new installations for water supply. In 1976, this happened also for Weissenberg. Electric light has been installed in the village since 1917. At that time the Spälti spinning mill supplied the local electricity (electric power station Krauchbach); from 1931, Matt bought it from Schwanden. Today, together with the Swiss government, Matt operates an electricity plant in the local military camp. On the other hand, a repository for radioactive waste as well as an armored car park in the Krauchal (1986) were rejected. Since 1985, the headquarters of the municipal administration has been in the "Alte Post" (the old post office).

 

Both Egg and Riseten as well as the Krauchtal - the largest alp in Glarus - have been agriculturally used since the Middle Ages (records are found in the Säckinger Urbar of 1350). Today milk production is the main line of business there. On the Schönbüelfurggel (2206 m), which forms the border with St. Gallen, a fence prevents the over 1000-headed Flumser sheep herd from grazing in the Krauchtal. In July 1986, a "goat war" had occurred there because of this. At the beginning of the 16th century a Walser family with the name Studer from Alagna (Val Sesia in Piedmont) migrated as stonemasons in the Sernf valley and other places in Glarus, where they were given the nickname Murer. An Uli Murer probably founded the tribe of the Matter Stauffacher family, who have appeared with this name since the beginning of the 17th century. In 1767, saw, mill and tamping are testified. In 1777, 257 male citizens lived in the village. Around the middle of the 19th century, Matt, like Engi, was overpopulated and was hit by an emigration wave. At that time 659 people lived in the village. In 1868 the spinning mill Spälti was founded (until 1967 in operation, now used as a military camp for a maximum of 500 soldiers and for holiday camps). In the stone quarry north of Matt paving stones and edge stones were produced from 1912 to 1972. In the bloom time, the company employed 90 workers. In Matt, the oldest construction company in Glarus is now domiciled (Marti AG Bauunternehmung). In addition to traditional alp-, stream- and street corporations, a housing cooperative has existed since 1982.

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School teaching has already been demonstrated in the 17th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries, some priests operated private schools (for example Jakob Steinmüller, priest in Matt from 1748 to 1782, and Jakob Heer, 1832 founder of the Glarus school association). The latter son, Oswald Heer (1809-1883 / later became a naturalist of international standing) went also to school in Matt. A portrait of Oswald Heer adorns one of the windows of the church, and a granite tablet at the adjoining parsonage honors him. In 1834 the first school building was built in Matt. In 1861 the Sernftaler secondary school was in Matt, while most primary schoolchildren of Matt visited the school in Engi. In 1990, a new multi-purpose hall and in 2002 a sports field was opened.

 

This infrastructure is not least beneficial to the local gymnastic club (since 1921), the ladies' sports club (since 1960) and the Sportclub (since  1985), as well as to the woman choir (since 1914) and the Matter music association (since 1990). The shooting club (founded in 1958 by the military and field-fighting associations) operates its own shooting range.

 

An annex to the "Old Post" now houses a tourist camp. The custom of the "Schybenflüügen" is the theme of the municipal coat of arms. On the night of fasting, from a mountain slope burning, square wooden discs are thrown with long hazel sticks through the air into the valley.

 

There is some tourism on the Weissenberg (the most sunny place in the whole canton), in the winter, for example, thanks to ski touring routes and a sledge run down to the village. Lately on the Berglialp a farmer offers wellness vacation with alp dishes and whey baths.

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Translation of the official website of Matt.

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