Originally founded as the Gemeindestube Schwanden over 100 years ago, the Kulturverein Glarus Süd is now in its 103rd season of organizing cultural events in Glarus Süd and the annual Christmas party, which has been held since 1923.

The history of the Glarus Süd Cultural Association spans more than a century. Founded on 1 May 1923 as the Gemeindestube Schwanden with a generous legacy of 20,000 Swiss francs by Samuel Blumer, the founder of Therma AG Schwanden, the organization initially served as a meeting place for Therma workers. The early main objective was to promote social and cultural activities in an alcohol-free environment, including courses, lectures and literary readings.

Since 1923, an annual Christmas party has been held, originally called Old People's Christmas. At this event, elderly, poor and lonely people from Schwanden and the surrounding communities could enjoy free coffee and cake. Over the years, this celebration has developed into a major cultural event where all sections of the population celebrate together, with festive food and activities.

For 70 years, the community center operated without formal statutes, a general meeting or an audit. The opening of the new community center in Schwanden in 1990 was a turning point. As a result, on October 30, 1992, the "Gemeindestube Schwanden" was transformed into the "Gemeindestube Schwanden" association in order to make better use of public funds, grants from the Glarus Culture Fund as well as sponsors and patrons. The aim was to create an official structure.

In 2016, the name of the association was changed to "Kulturverein Glarus Süd" at the general assembly. However, the original name "Gemeindestube Schwanden" is still visible in the logo and is still often used in everyday life.

The Kulturverein Glarus Süd organizes a seasonal programme with numerous cultural events. Many events are free of charge, while paid events are offered as cheaply as possible. Following the resignation of Ruth Tüscher, who chaired the association from 2016 to 2024, Mathias Grob is currently acting as interim president.

The current program for the 103rd season, season 2025/2026, is available at www.kulturvereinglarussued.ch


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.