Portrait
The village was first mentioned as "ze Nitfúre" in the Habsburg rent-roll (land title register) around 1300. The two separate Tagwen (citizen's community) Nidfurn and Obfurn are listed in the same directory. The field name "Fur" exists also southeast of Nidfurn next to the area Oberrüti in Haslen. Was that the former Obfurn?
In the Middle Ages, Nidfurn was one of the richest properties in Glarus and belonged until 1395 to the monastery of Säckingen. The village belonged first to the church in Glarus and since 1349 to the church in Schwanden. Since 1528 the majority of the people are Protestants.
In Nidfurn, mainly sheep were kept. Goat farming and cattle breeding came up some time later. The dairy industry was intensified in the 18th century. 1496 a timber cooperative with the neighboring places is documented. Forest partitions occurred in 1735 and in 1882. A bleaching plant was the only commercial operation between 1660 and around 1850 and cotton hand spinning was rampant from 1714 until about 1770. Today, Tödiplast AG, founded in 1989 by Kaspar Stauffacher, manufactures technical plastic parts for household appliances, as well as its own patented products. Marelcom AG was founded in 1995 and is a specialized company for operation-, control- and display systems. The company is led by Hans-Jörg Marti and Hansruedi Freuler and offers currently for 20 employees jobs.
The rural village is still dominated by the stately Blumer Houses, for example the Hoschet and the Bleichihuus (Landvogthaus). Their builders were part of the leading families of the old State of Glarus, as well as the Federal Confederation of Switzerland.
Link to the document Blumer Houses in Nidfurn (German)
Link to the website of the Landvogthaus (English)
in 1879, Nidfurn was connected to the railway network of the Nordostbahn (northeastern railway) with the station Nidfurn-Haslen. In the 1960s, the project of Tödi-Greina (Ziegelbrücke-Glarus-Trun-Biasca) was launched, but not executed. That could have been the chance for a better industrialization of virtually all valley communities.
Since 1780, an own school existed in Nidfurn and the schoolhouse was built in 1835. The primary school district with Leuggelbach and Haslen, existing between 1991 and 2001, and was subsequently replaced by the school community Haslen- Leuggelbach-Nidfurn. the roadside extension was built in 2003. The last teaching in Nidfurn was in the school year 2009/2010. Since August 2010, the school administration Glarus Süd is housed in the schoolhouse Nidfurn.
At the national exhibition in 1939 all municipalities of Switzerland had to be represented with a coat of arms. The coat of arms of Nidfurn shows the symbol of the former main families: Blumer (rose), Böniger (star) and Schmid (arrow).
It could have been worse: On May 17, 1985 at night, a large boulder from the Geisser mountain thundered towards Nidfurn. Luckily he came to a halt in Bündt, close to inhabited properties. Equipped with a memorial plaque, he is still there today.
In 2011, the community structure of canton Glarus was reorganized and Nidfurn became part of the new administrative community Glarus Süd.
Translation of the official website of Nidfurn