Swiss flags, chalet balconies, and red geraniums but this is still Wisconsin somehow

New Glarus’s Swiss roots run deep

Twenty-five miles southwest of Madison, a village sits in the rolling Wisconsin hills where Swiss flags fly next to American ones, chalet balconies overhang flower boxes packed with red geraniums, and the architecture looks like it belongs in the Alps.

New Glarus has about 2,200 residents and has kept its Swiss identity intact for over 180 years.

You won’t find a place quite like it anywhere else in the Midwest, and the story of how it got here starts with a famine and a four-month journey across the Atlantic.

108 settlers left Switzerland and never looked back

In the early 1840s, crops failed across the canton of Glarus in eastern Switzerland, and poverty followed. The canton’s Emigration Society sent two scouts, Nicolas Duerst and Fridolin Streiff, to find land in America.

On July 17, 1845, they bought about 1,200 acres along the Little Sugar River in southern Wisconsin.

That August 15, 108 settlers arrived after traveling from Switzerland to Rotterdam, then across the Atlantic to Baltimore, then overland to the hills of Wisconsin.

When they saw the valley, it looked enough like home that they named it after the canton they had left.

The Alpine look you see today wasn’t always there

The chalet-style buildings that line downtown New Glarus didn’t arrive with the original settlers.

That look came in the mid-1930s, when Swiss-born architect Jacob Rieder designed the first chalet-style structures in town.

After an economic slump in the mid-20th century, village leaders leaned into tourism and started building on the Swiss identity that had always been there.

By 1999, the village amended its municipal code to require Swiss-style design in all new downtown construction and renovation.

Today, eight blocks downtown and a one-mile stretch of highway carry the same low-angle rooflines, wooden balconies, and decorative trim.

Walk through 180 years at the Swiss Historical Village

The Swiss Historical Village Museum sits on 14 buildings spread across open grounds, and it’s been telling the story of New Glarus since 1938.

You can walk through an 1850s log cabin, an 1890s cheese factory, a one-room schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, a general store, and a replica of the town’s first log church.

The Hall of History anchors the whole visit, tracing the journey of those original 108 immigrants.

Self-guided and guided tours are both available, and a gift shop carries books about the village’s history if you want to go deeper.

Edwin Barlow’s chalet holds 2,000-year-old earrings

Jacob Rieder built the Chalet of the Golden Fleece in 1937, and it’s one of only three authentic Bernese-style Swiss chalets on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin.

The man who lived there, Edwin Barlow, made 63 Atlantic crossings and two world tours over his lifetime, and he brought thousands of artifacts back with him.

Three floors hold painted furniture, antique silver, Swiss woodcarvings, folk art, and coins, alongside 2,000-year-old Etruscan earrings and Gregorian chants written on parchment from 1485.

Barlow also brought the Wilhelm Tell pageant to New Glarus in 1938.

200 volunteers stage a Swiss legend every Labor Day

Since 1938, New Glarus has performed Friedrich Schiller’s drama about the Swiss folk hero Wilhelm Tell every year without a break.

The show runs in a natural wooded amphitheater just east of the village, with more than 200 local volunteers filling the cast. The first three years, it ran in German only.

An English production was added in 1941, and both have run together since.

Festival weekend layers alphorn concerts, traditional Swiss dancing, a children’s choir, a lantern parade, and food around the performances. It draws visitors from across the country.

Yodeling, flag throwing, and polka fill the summer calendar

The festival season in New Glarus runs from June through September, and each event pulls from a different piece of Swiss and German heritage.

Swiss Volksfest on the first Sunday in August marks Swiss Independence Day, which dates to 1291, with yodeling, flag throwing, alphorn playing, and accordion music.

Polkafest in early summer fills downtown with live music and dancing. The Heidi Festival in June stages the classic Swiss story outdoors.

Oktoberfest brings lederhosen, dirndls, horse-drawn carriage rides, and a chainsaw wood carving contest. There’s almost always something happening.

Jass cards and yodeling clubs keep old customs alive

New Glarus is one of the few places in America where traditional Swiss customs still show up in everyday life, not just at festivals.

Residents play Jass, a centuries-old Swiss card game, and the village hosts the Annual World Euchre Championships. The Mannerchor and Jodlerklub maintain yodeling and choral folk music through regular performances.

Flag throwing, a tradition where performers toss and catch large flags in choreographed patterns, appears at festivals throughout the year. These aren’t staged for tourists.

They’re things people here actually do.

Ride 24 miles on the old Limburger Special rail line

The Sugar River State Trail follows an abandoned railroad corridor from New Glarus to Brodhead, 24 miles of crushed limestone trail through southern Wisconsin farmland.

The railroad earned its nickname, the “Limburger Special,” from the pungent cheese produced in the region.

It ran from 1880 until rail service ended, and the trail that replaced it crosses 14 trestle bridges over the Sugar River and its tributaries.

Near Brodhead, the route passes through a reconstructed covered bridge. A portion of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail overlaps between Monticello and Albany.

435 acres of forest trails start just south of the village

New Glarus Woods State Park sits right at the edge of town and covers 435 acres of mature forest and restored prairie.

Eight miles of trails cross through it, ranging from the 0.1-mile Chattermark Trail to the 4.2-mile Havenridge nature trail. Deer, turkeys, and songbirds move through the woods year-round.

The Basswood Trail is a 0.4-mile interpretive loop with signs about the park’s plants, animals, and history.

A paved spur trail connects the park directly to the Sugar River State Trail, so you can link both in a single outing.

Painted cows, barn quilts, and Swiss mini golf

Fifteen painted fiberglass cows are scattered throughout the village, each one decorated differently.

The project started in 2000 when local businesses imported the cows from Zurich, and families still walk the village hunting for all 15.

Beyond the cows, barn quilts hang on barns throughout the surrounding countryside, large painted squares celebrating wildlife, farming, and traditional quilt patterns.

Swissland Miniature Golf runs 18 Swiss-themed holes, with live goats on the course.

The Swiss Center of North America has been headquartered in New Glarus since 2003 and is the only institution of its kind on the continent.

Green County cheese and a beer you can only buy in Wisconsin

New Glarus sits in Green County, which still holds the largest concentration of specialty cheese factories and award-winning cheesemakers in the United States.

Local restaurants serve Roschti, a dish of grated potatoes, onions, Swiss cheese, and fresh herbs that the original settlers ate through their first Wisconsin winter.

Fondue, bratwurst, and traditional pastries fill the menus at local spots and festival stands. New Glarus Brewing Company, founded in 1993 by Dan and Deborah Carey, makes craft beer sold only within Wisconsin.

If you want a bottle, you have to come get it.

Visit New Glarus, Wisconsin

You can reach New Glarus from Madison in about 35 minutes, heading southwest on Route 69.

The Sugar River State Trail starts at a restored 1887 railroad depot on Railroad Street downtown, which also works as a visitor center.

New Glarus Woods State Park requires a Wisconsin State Park vehicle admission sticker, and bicyclists 16 and older on the Sugar River State Trail need a separate State Trail Pass.

Festival season runs June through September, so check the calendar before you go and plan around whichever event fits your trip.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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