Heritage

Stories and archival features focused on New Glarus history, from early settlement and Swiss heritage to long-forgotten events, buildings, and people. This section preserves the community’s past while connecting it to the present.

97 posts
Heritage
Paid

Historic Photo: Robbie Schneider Behind the Bar

A circa-1972 photograph captures Robert “Robbie” Schneider serving beer at the New Glarus Hotel, surrounded by liquor bottles, old advertising and Swiss details that reflected both the hotel and the tourism identity he helped cultivate in New Glarus.

•
3 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

The Forgotten Airport of New Glarus

A private grass runway near Airport and Elmer roads connected New Glarus to aviation’s early years, where local pilot Herman Lufi carried the village’s first airmail, trained as a mechanic and survived a dramatic 1951 crash at night.

•
6 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

Historic Photo: New Glarus Takes on ‘The Music Man’

A 1981 New Glarus High School production of “The Music Man” brought students together on stage as residents of fictional River City, Iowa, complete with period costumes, painted storefronts and some familiar New Glarus faces from more than four decades ago.

•
2 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

Before WEKZ: When Radiowaves First Reached New Glarus

Long before Green County had a station of its own, New Glarus residents could hear weather forecasts from Madison, music from Chicago and voices carried across the countryside by one of the most transformative inventions of the 20th century.

•
8 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

Historic Photo: Citizens Bank in 1910

A 1910 photograph of the Citizens Bank captures a moment when New Glarus was growing into a prosperous dairy and commercial center — and shows how architecture, streets, utilities and nearby businesses reflected the village’s ambitions.

•
3 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

Historic Photo: Alpine Cafe Marks a New Glarus Turning Point

An early-1960s view of the Alpine Cafe at 500 1st Street captures New Glarus as its business community turned toward Swiss-themed tourism while the village’s older agricultural economy, represented by a tractor dealership, began to fade.

•
3 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

Historical Photo: Strickler’s Market on Second Street

A postcard view of Strickler’s Market recalls a Second Street business that grew from a family meat market into a grocery and sausage operation, all behind one of New Glarus’ most memorable midcentury Swiss-style downtown storefronts.

•
2 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

The Water Fights That Once Ruled New Glarus Summers

Long before Firefest, volunteer firefighters from New Glarus and Belleville turned hose streams into a fierce spectator sport, drawing large crowds, fueling rivalry and testing strength, balance, teamwork, strategy and hometown pride.

•
6 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

Historic Photo: New Glarus School and Its Old Guard

A 1925 photograph captures the east-facing New Glarus school, its 1914 addition and the cannon known as “The Old Guard,” a landmark that later inspired the student newspaper and survived to become part of the Swiss Historical Village.

•
2 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

How Jim Zuber Helped Landjaegers Go Mainstream

A New Glarus sausage maker turned an old world Swiss snack into a familiar sight at checkout counters across Wisconsin, building Zuber’s Sausage Kitchen through ingenuity, endurance and a drive to make one niche product exceptionally well.

•
7 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

Historic Photo: When Swiss Lanes Came Tumbling Down

The Swiss Lanes sign remained standing as demolition crews dismantled the bowling alley Clayton and Betty Engen built in 1959, closing the book on more than half a century of bowling, league nights and community memories in New Glarus.

•
2 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy
Paid

How New Glarus Helped Make “Uncle Sol”

Before Wisconsin knew him as “Uncle Sol,” Solomon Levitan walked Green County’s farm roads with merchandise on his back, built a New Glarus store and forged the relationships that carried him into statewide office. His rise began here.

•
7 Min
Edited by Todd Klassy

Showing 12 of 97 total posts

Sign up for our New Glarus 360 newsletters

Breaking news, things to do and alumni updates—delivered.

Please check your inbox and confirm. Something went wrong. Please try again.