This Town Pretends Its Somewhere Else

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'Swissness Applied' by Nicole McIntosh (Editor), Jonathan Louie (Editor, Contributor): www.amazon.com/Swissness-Appl...
New Glarus, Wisconsin has been called 'More Swiss than Switzerland.' But, it wasn't always like this. Yes, the town was founded and settled by Swiss immigrants. But, it was originally built just like any other American town. By the 1960s the town was struggling economically and decided to lean into tourism to help. It had undergo a process of Swissification in order to look the part. This video explores the town and its variety of Swiss chalets which range from authentic reproductions to thin veneers wrapping traditional building forms.
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Architecture with Stewart is a KZbin journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
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Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
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University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: arch.uic.edu/
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[@pipopipo6477]

As someone from Switzerland, I can confirm that some of the houses really do look extremely Swiss. Some of them also look more like theme parks. Somehow it also seems a bit surreal to see Swiss chalets with these long, wide American streets. In Switzerland you see such chalets rather in old mountain villages with narrow, winding streets (These villages mostly date back to the Middle Ages and have slowly grown organically over many centuries....).

[@Ashley-lm4nv]

Schwarzwald sieht nicht anders us.

[@Ty.Wellick]

Exactly men, in Switzerland we have human sised town not car sized 😂

[@PhilipCsurgay]

As a felloe swiss myself, had a bit if a strong exhale from my nose when they said "more swiss than switzerland".

[@corneliahanimann2173]

@@PhilipCsurgay that's basically what people get pissed about when they complain about cultural approproation, although that also usually is associated with colonialism and stuff like that, but as a fellow swiss person, it's cool to be on the other side of this situation for once.

[@pascalschwendener7625]

True

[@CanCobb]

"What parts of Swiss culture would you say influenced the decision to make the town look so Swiss?" "Money. We wanted money."

[@ernstyawo]

I assume you have no idea how correct you are. Many tourist places in Switzerland are build like that. Even the Alphorn you see in this video started in Switzerland just because of touristic reasons. They simple copied the Swiss tourism modell.

[@ernstyawo]

@Cyr Isen you're information is nearly correct. In 18th century the Alphore got quite forgotten. In the 19th century for British tourists it got a reintroduced. History is not that linear and simple.

[@noob.168]

oh my bad. i thought they just had a kink for swiss women so they built homes to make em feel at home.

[@brumgabrasch]

There is not one traditional building style in Switzerland. Each region has its own. If somebody is interested and visits Switzerland, there is a museum dedicated to these building styles called Swiss Open-Air Museum Ballenberg.

[@brumgabrasch]

They have a few videos on their youtube channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5yThKuartCrb9k

[@sirBrouwer]

in the case of New Glarus if they really want to go close to the root they should adopt the style found in (old) Glarus. As it in a way is the best way to pick 1 exact style.

[@potatoraider7320]

I don't think i will be able to afford to travel to the other side of the world, but i would like to learn about it so i want to ask for a site or link where i can find atleast a crumb of information relating to their style. A google search keyword is good enough

[@idkimlikereallybored9533]

Ticinesi: Why is it not built out of stones?

[@thearchibaldtuttle]

Wo sind mini Schwiizer!??

[@yannick8767]

As a Swiss I found this video very interesting. With some buildings they actually got quite close and it almost felt like Switzerland for a brief moment until an average American pick-up truck or SUV passed by in front of the camera. Made me giggle.

[@spaceengineeringempire4086]

Ah American tourists towns. Makes even the natives of the chosen nations to themed after think there back home… until a pick up with a bunch of [AMERICA] stickers and stuff.

[@skyblueo]

Leavenworth is a faux-Bavarian village about 120 miles east of Seattle. It was a logging town. Like so many other rural Washington towns, it was facing depopulation and, eventual death. The town made the decision to "Go Alpine" in 1965. It's been a big success and the town has even expanded in size and population, with a booming tourist economy. That's a big contrast to other decayed logging towns. They take the Alpine look so seriously that Starbucks cafes look Alpine and don't have the typical branding. The Christmas holiday decorations are especially beautiful and well done.

[@sirBrouwer]

I have visited it when I was visiting family. but for me it was very off putting. Also they apparently mistake Bavaria for Austria. As they where using more Austrian things then Bavarian German. But then I have been spoiled by actually visiting Bavaria and then not just München but really off in to a small town . (Deggendorf)

[@half-caffcrochet]

I was just going to mention Leavenworth too - I wonder how many towns have a similar story or approach.

[@freshjefferson]

Came to the comments just to make sure Leavenworth was mentioned.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Isn't there a Danish town in California? (I think it's called New Denmark...)

[@TriegaDN]

Similar to Frankenmuth Michigan. It's marketed as Little Bavaria.

[@franciscolino1475]

As a „Glarner“ (someone from the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland ) I‘ve always wanted to visit New Glarus. Thank you for the awesome video! 🤝

[@jacoblienhardt]

Fun fact: the high school mascot used to be the Glarners. But since nobody outside of NG knew what the hell that is they’re now known as the Glarner Knights.

[@angela_tarantulas]

New Glarus 😅 as a Swiss I really like the style of this town. But you can kinda spot, that it’s not exactly in Switzerland. But some of the buildings really look very Swiss 😍

[@PtolemaicTaweret]

Si mached det sogar Schabziger. Wie me das schriibt isch mit em englisch aber bitz vergässe gange und jetz ischs det meistens "sapsago" 😄

[@angela_tarantulas]

@@PtolemaicTaweret hahaha Sapsago 😂 wie lustig isch das dänn 😂

[@axelfiedler]

Well the huge parking lots and pick-up trucks kinda give it away.

[@Joe-ij6of]

And it's missing a whole lot of public transit, with nary a train to be found

[@joshii32]

@@PtolemaicTaweret haha sabsago tönt nid so korräkt

[@modpopindie]

those chalet look like a mixture from several places, mostly wallis, houses in Glarus are much simpler, but as a swiss this is facinating, in a way this makes it typical new world!

[@luisarihs7255]

But not really the traditional wallis way their houses are on stilts and the bottom is made of stone

[@jasminschneider]

@@luisarihs7255 The residential buildings aren't built on stelts, not even in Wallis.

[@racheltyler4155]

As a New Glarus native, thank you for this video! I’m only 26 so I had no idea about the “swissification” of the town. I assumed it always looked like that since it has my whole life. So fascinating! It’s a lovely town, I will definitely be moving back one day to raise my family.

[@PHlophe]

Racheal, this means the work was done well . the next generation will believe Meta is real. brainwashing is super effective

[@Lukas-qk6ll]

Im from Glarus, now I want to visit new glarus

[@Remo_Wo1kenstein]

to be fare, Switzerland had a similar phase, after old buildings have been left to decay

[@CarloRossi54523]

How many children do you want to raise?

[@josephhuether1184]

Santa Fe New Mexico underwent a similar transformation at the end of the 19 century and early 20th when it’s municipal dictated architectural style pivoted away from what might be called “Frontier Victorian” to “Southwestern Adobe”. It was a very intentional move that was spearheaded by a group of Anglo East-coast architects who had settled in the region.

[@brandonrico6223]

Yes they did that to conserve the look of the city.

[@sashamoore9691]

Smart move! Love Santa fe

[@Exominuz]

As a swiss person that was literally born in Glarus and grew up there until i was atleast 16 years old i can proudly say... They did good work with rebuilding the style of the houses in Glarus.

[@benjaminsiebert1233]

"... from Switzerland, Bavaria and Germany." Couldn't have said it better. Separating Germany in Bavaria and the rest. 🤣 It's a different culture

[@annagrossmann934]

As I am from the original Glarus in Switzerland this was really fun to see, because there are things that looked quite familiar, like the painted "Fridolin" (the red flag/banner with a monk on it) on one of the houses. There is a similar one across the street from our high school. On the other hand were many things just completly wired to see like the swiss chalets next to those big cars and houses, and also with no "real" garden. 😅😂

[@deezynar]

The roof slope the town prescribes is not 3.5 of rise per 5.5 of run. That is much too steep. It is a range of slopes that are allowed, with minimum being 3.5 rise per 12 of run, and the max is 5.5 of rise per 12 of run. The roof slope of the building you used as an example is 3.5 / 12, NOT 3.5 / 5.5.

[@jacobbwalters8133]

I find this very interesting, it reminds me of the towns in Michigan Gaylord, Frankenmuth, and Holland, that all wrapped themselves in their historic roots and adopted specific building styles to reflect their heritage

[@Hankitect]

I live in Frankenmuth. I was going to comment the same thing. Bavarian style facades required by it’s municipal code. In Gaylord, even Wal-Mark has that Bavarian look, same with McDonald’s.

[@erikjohansson2703]

Lmao what there's a town called Gaylord??

[@honeycomblord9384]

​@@erikjohansson2703 Yeah. There's also a town in Georgia called "Gay"

[@cameronwilliamloomis]

@@erikjohansson2703 don't be snide. Of course we name towns after our great gay lord.

[@bluekitty3731]

I was thinking of Frankenmuth also! Zenders restaurant, Bavrian Inn Restaurant, and other shops built to look like a alpine village not to forget the home of chamber of commerce with it tower and mural.

[@BrickFan97]

I remember going to New Glarus and being impressed that even the Casey's Gas Station building was in the Swiss chalet style. The commitment is real in this town.

[@sandyvalentin3072]

My parents had a Chalet home outside of town just 10 min from the downtown area, they owned it for 20 years and me and my family had the best times of our life going up there for the weekend from Chicago, thank you so much for doing this video I will send it to whole family to watch . 😊

[@annegallagher4005]

I'm Swiss and this video really made me smile! Seeing the Swiss-ness facade on typical american building made me giggle but there are some real Swiss-style Chalets aswell, love it!! Hearing also Alp-horns, probably through speakers in the town was hilarious and now they just need "more cowbells" 😅

[@colinjohnson4747]

I visit here pretty often, they have tons of cowbells! But just not ringing out from the hills like you hear in the alps. For what its worth, Wisconsin is "americas dairyland", so at least there is a strong cow tradition in the area lol.

[@annegallagher4005]

@@colinjohnson4747 thank you for the info, I seem to remember Wisconsin being the dairyland from another doc, don't they produce also special cheese? When I was visiting West Virginia years ago I did say, this looks like Switzerland a little bit, with all the rolling hills and farmland, just the houses are typical american 😉

[@henryglennon3864]

If they really wanted it to look Swiss, they should throw up a few sub-sub-sub Corbusien eyesore condos behind the chalets, and make sure they dwarf everything else.

[@kauevampiro7186]

Gramado in Brazil had a similar project. They build the town with a German/alpine style and this have drawn tourists to the region

[@modpopindie]

I'm swiss and i've visited it, for me it was wierd! looked like a ski resort, with fake snow and everything

[@MarcoAZoch]

@@modpopindie That city in the US also looks weird, a fake switzerland it is Edit: in fact all cities trying to portray a different country are just weird

[@kauevampiro7186]

@@modpopindie Yes! Because it’s made to attract tourists (like you, lol).

[@modpopindie]

@@kauevampiro7186 it was on my way to a national park, i stayed like 10 minutes because it freaked me out, i'm not that into bavarian style, but good for the region, as a german speaker i was fascinated with the idea that there are stil people speaking german in south america after a good 100 years, but i didn't get to go to blumenau, so gramado was my small taste, the national park was very beautiful though

[@cryador]

Well, Gramado was settled by germans and italians. It would look weird if it looked, say, portuguese.

[@alexandergutfeldt1144]

I stopped in New Glarus during my student exchange year to northern Illinois back in 82/83. As a home sick 17 year old, the Bernese dialect I heard spoken in the bakery, touched me most. They also sold good Swiss style 'Ruchbrot'. I liked the place!

[@andreash7920]

As a Glarus native I can say that the chalet in New Glarus look very swiss. But you would find them more in Bern or Wallis (country) then in Glarus. Glarus was most famous for its textile fabrics and textile printings in the late 19th century and early 20th century but not for swiss architecture.

[@lisakilmer2667]

Well, that's an interesting video, Stewart! To me a key definer of that mountain style is the fact that the gable side is not the end of the building, but the widest facade. Since late Victorian downtowns tend to have narrow buildings with small gable ends or flat roofs, retro-fitting buildings would be quite a challenge. I live near Berne, Indiana, which is very, very Swiss-Amish, and lots of people speak a Swiss dialect, but their retro-fits are a lot like that one boxy blond brick building you showed with the false pitched-roof on its front.

[@Remo_Wo1kenstein]

2.41 the inscription on the chalet translates to: "built in 1937 home is where you like to come and where you don't like to go away"

[@metricstormtrooper]

This reminds me of Cherrybrook, in north west Sydney Australia, there was a mandate for "Federation style" and what ensued was a horrible suburb full of oversized McMansions that are have none design nuances of the style they were trying to emulate.

[@elluisito000]

Hi! In my country Venezuela, there is a town named "colonia tovar" where this kind of buildings is also mandatory by the local ordinance as a way for the town to keep its German identity (and touristic industry). Interesting enough, that town originated around the same time than new glarus 🤓 🤔

[@xsforreal]

As a wisconsinite, it fills me with joy every single time the state is mentioned 💕

[@badapple65]

Stuck in IL my entire life just below the WI border, I have always been in love with Wisconsin. I look North for every weekend get away and most family vacations. Wisconsin simply has a certain feel to it and the people too.

[@HunterHogan]

I feel that New Glarus, Galena (Illinois), and Pennsylvania "Dutch" clearly demonstrate how architecture creates personal identity and local culture.

[@landgabriel]

Leavenworth Washington 2.0

[@B_Van_Glorious]

I came to say the same thing. Come see Leavenworth for Oktoberfest but for sure winter trip when it's snowing. It's a real gem.

[@dentyH]

Literally I saw the thumbnail and thought it was Leavenworth hahah read my mind

[@YoctoYotta]

Pretty interestingly, Leavenworth's theming also started in the mid 1960's and is similarly enforced by law. A paper titled "Bavarian Leavenworth and the Symbolic Economy of a Theme Town" from 2000 looks to cover this topic extensively, also mentioning New Glarus and other similar towns of the era. It's behind a $51 purchase, so DNR, but looks interesting from the intro preview. I don't think I can post a link so you'll have to Google the title.

[@TheNigahiga2]

@@B_Van_Glorious Leavenworth is no longer hosting Oktoberfest because they didn’t want to have the business that comes with it. It’s a little confusing considering their entire industry is based on tourism but 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@B_Van_Glorious]

@@TheNigahiga2 weeeeeird. I mean, I don't blame them honestly. They'd essentially have to have door to door shuttles for everyone to avoid legalities from hosting any drinking event nowadays, and really, why bother? Leavenworth is so much better on a 'most of the town shutdown' snowy quiet night. Essentially just walking about town in knee deep snow at 3am is seriously one of my favorite memories. It just felt so surreal.

[@0gkmedia0]

Greetings to our US friends in New Glarus from Switzerland 🇺🇸 👍 🇨🇭

[@roccobierman4985]

I love everything about this. The town's celebration of their Swiss ethnic heritage, the commitment to the architectural style, and the persistence to see it continue to grow.

[@reenakemp9132]

I live in Gatlinburg TN right outside of Smokey Mtn Natl park and the tourist come here in droves to stay in all the little chalets and A frames.. It's annoying LOL...

[@nicknicholas2323]

Check out Berne, Indiana. They have a similar goal to this town. Below is an excerpt from the towns website. “Berne, a charming Swiss community with distinctive heritage, in the midst of growth and a future filled with expectation.”

[@deborahmatatall]

Thanks, Stewart! This was really interesting. I love places like this and it’s close enough for me to plan a trip.🌸

[@helljester8097]

To completely Swiss-I-fy the town they need to re-name all the floors: 1st becomes ground then second becomes 1st then 3rd to 2nd etc 😂

[@ohioalphornmusicalsawman2474]

New Glarus was settled by Swiss immigrants, so it has always been Swiss

[@raph3699]

1st isn’t ground in Switzerland as far as I know

[@insu_na]

@@raph3699 Sorry for replying to the ancient comment, just wanted to confirm that in Switzerland Ground Floor is the 0th floor, and above it is called the 1st floor. In the US Ground Foor is called the 1st floor, hence the original comment about changing "1st becomes ground" because ground would then become the correct identifier

[@michaelbarry617]

Well obviously you have to do Columbus Indiana soon!

[@skylarking12]

That's fun. A community in Illinois has a similar thing going on in their downtown but in that case, the style is New Orleans. Have you ever done a video on Tiki or Googie architectural styles?

[@aes53]

Great one Stewart; not only did I learn something as usual, but I learned the word Swissification.

[@Ivanfpcs]

I wished more American towns did this! Most towns (specially suburban ones) look so boring and lifeless. I feel that, sometimes, creating an aesthetic for a city is the best thing for their cultural identity.

[@humanecities]

This was really interesting! Thank you!

[@MrSaemichlaus]

In some of the buildings the remake is easier to spot because the swiss design is simply added on top of mostly flat walls. The dimensions and overall shape of the buildings look more authentic when wood was used to contruct the whole building from the ground up, with statics in mind. The slope of the roof and a generous overhang on the sides is characteristic for chalets too, because it helps with large amounts of snowfall, as it's usual in alpine regions. A stack of firewood or a set of farming tools / snow sled / wood skis hung on the walls for decoration helps too. I'm Swiss (not from Glarus though) and some years back I discovered a plaque in my neighbouring town telling a story of economic emigration quite like this. Maybe it's somewhat related, I'll need to check it out again.

[@etuanno]

Around that time a LOT of Swiss people emigrated to overseas because the economic and food situation were unbearable. The population was exploding and there weren't enough jobs for everyone. Circa 10% of the total population of Switzerland emigrated overseas.

[@harrisonsmith5024]

Thanks Stewart for feeding my mind brain

[@jackisom2518]

what up homie

[@beansupreme2323]

I’ve passed thru New Glarus a few times and I highly recommend stopping by the brewery. They have a delicious selection of beers, and the brewery itself is a neat place to tour.

[@uncinarynin]

What's missing to make this a real Swiss town is an electric railway running perfectly on time at least every hour. Best go all the way to Milwaukee. It looks half-assed to have a typical car-dependent American town with Swiss style buildings .... at least it looks like they made the town center somewhat walkable (I hope).

[@insu_na]

My grandparents live in the original Glarus, and I'd say some of these imitations do capture the charm of the original, others don't really. Still very cool project, and I like the historical appreciation they display

[@qhostary]

i have been here many times and its so beautiful, especially during winter

[@andrewmasin5787]

I don't see tourist trap style regulations contributing to the physical needs of our towns and cities. Yes, there are lots of people driving in and keeping businesses afloat, but without real physical improvements, this gets us, as a country and world exactly nowhere.

[@toddklassy]

There's more to New Glarus than just Swiss architecture. It has one of the most popular breweries in America that sells the best-selling beer in the state of Wisconsin, which even beats out national brands. It has a state park, some of the finest dining in the region, the oldest continuous operating bakery in the state, old-world meat market, wonderful summer festivals, live music at multiple venues, two wonderful museums, and many very popular shops that don't even sell tourist-related items. New Glarus doesn't need to do so. While its architecture is a reasonable facsimile, its ethnicity, heritage and offerings are 100% genuine. Thanks for assuming the worst, though.

[@felipeceriolli9737]

Gramado in Rio Grande do Sul; (the southernmost state of Brazil), a little city founded by germans and italians immigrants are the same. Take one minute and watch some videos from it 🥰. Grettings from Brasil.

[@ohioalphornmusicalsawman2474]

My Mom grew up in a town near New Glarus. A lot of Swiss immigrants settled in Green County WI😁Back in the early eighties they had Swiss hour on the radio every day at noon, on AM 1260 WEKZ in Monroe, the county seat.

[@badapple65]

As a teen we would pass through there a couple times on long bicycle trips, as an adult I ride my motorcycle there on sunny days. About 1 hour from my Northern IL home. New Glarius is a beautiful village. Great place to take the family. They have a beautiful park with public swimming pool and an ice cream place across the street from that. Can be a day trip place. Shops & restaurants too. A walking village.

[@murderdoggg]

When the balcony is on the side of the house instead of on the front. Then it's a Simmen Valley style. Also Simmen Valey "Simmental" cows are the 3rd most popular in the US.

[@TheAaronExperience]

As always, an informative and well produced video. Now, if you would please, do Leavenworth, Washington, because THAT's a Swiss town. Thanks.

[@johnnyblood2]

No, it's a Bavarian-styled town. New Glarus is a Swiss town. Green County, Wisconsin has the highest concentration of Swiss-American anywhere in the U.S.

[@TheAaronExperience]

@@johnnyblood2, you sir, are right. Thanks for the correction.

[@ohioalphornmusicalsawman2474]

​@@johnnyblood2 That is true😁My Mom grew up in Green County, used to visit my Grandparents in Monroe as a kid. Listened to The Swiss Hour every afternoon, which started a lifelong love of Swiss music😁

[@OpenlyClosed]

Would love to see you talk about Helen, Georgia!

[@gatblau1]

We have a similar town here in California by the name of Solvang which replicates a Danish town. My parents would take us there on a regular basis when we were growing up.

[@mrs.manrique7411]

I love Solvang, but my favorite part has always been the ostriches. 😂

[@joshuarote8584]

My parents used to take me here a lot when I was a kid. Such a neat town, and great beer!

[@TristouMTL]

Thanks again Stewart for being so damn interesting! It seems a bit kitsch of course, and wonderfully post modern in a sense, but if you think of it, how different is it from the stately "traditional" neoclassical buildings that have been the foundation of respectable architecture for centuries?

[@swelch2661]

It's like a Frankenmuth for Switzerland! Ive heard you say you grew up around Detroit, hello from Clarkston, really been enjoying your content:)

[@PMfromMB]

As much as I am an architecture nerd and enjoyed this, I clicked this video because "Swiss Chalet" has a totally different meaning to me as a Canadian and I was intrigued.

[@e.loeffelholtz8509]

Hi Stewart. I notice that you use a number of historical photographs in your video. It would be nice if you credited the New Glarus Historical Society and the New Glarus Public Library at the end of your video. Those are the organizations that made the digitization of those photographs possible.

[@particularlybad]

They are a few of our favorite things.

[@pamelah6431]

I've been to New Glarus (let's be honest, to the beer factory), but Leavenworth, WA is what I think of when it comes to Swissness to level 11. Bonus points for the legit alpine mountains.

[@MMadesen]

Leavenworth is rather bavarian/austrian in its style. But there are similarities with the swiss.

[@calsavestheworld]

In Canada, Swiss Chalet is a delicious rotisserie chicken chain. The United States has nothing like it and probably never will.

[@98perova]

It's a really interesting phenomenon, here in Argentina we have certain towns that have done similar a similar thing. Villa General Belgrano in Cordoba, Argentina comes to mind. It's a small town in Cordoba's mountains that has a lot of German heritage and that has leaned into a stereotypical German architecture.

[@largol33t1]

I am not very surprised. I have heard of a few small towns in Brazil that speak German as a second language. I would not be surprised if they have villages that look like 16th century towns in Germany.

[@jeffotte6672]

I was recently reading about the Lucas museum saga in Chicago. I think that would be an interesting topic for you to cover. It’s a really interesting and juicy story that seems to lack in depth reporting on it.

[@josephmcdonnell3107]

Been many times. Some great restaurants and sights there.

[@CriticasDeCineEn2Minutos]

I really hope my town one day can be so united.

[@ab0ve521]

It's nice to see them doing something similar, I wonder if they could bring up the Swiss alps 😁

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

In GONE WITH THE WIND (the book, not the movie), Scarlett tells Rhett that he wants a house in a Swiss chalet style, but pronounces it "chalett"!

[@richardkulling1432]

Incredible, I've only just had a city sightseeing tour in Glarus, Switzerland, where we heard about the many people from Glarus who emigrated to America because of lost jobs in their textile industry due to industrialization, and the resulting hunger in 1816/1817. This city has not grown very much since, with only 8000 residents today, and I just happen to work there.

[@MrDEWaters]

Other places that have adopted European town architecture to attract tourists are Leavenworth, WA (alpine theme) and Solvang, CA (Danish).

[@MrAsianPie]

Reminds me of Frankenmuth, Michigan. It’s a bit tacky, but it is charming in its own theme park style way.

[@hscott3417]

Come visit Pella, IA. Went to college there, great little Dutch town!

[@duanebell100]

I live in New Glarus, and yes Pella is beautiful! You have done a great job!

[@mathiask.5474]

As a Swiss from Canton Bern, I'm impressed on how similar they are to ours, there are some problems of course but for a person that never saw a Swiss one, it's surely impressive

[@Friek555]

New Glarus is many things, but it is definitely not more Swiss than Switzerland. Switzerland is extremely Swiss.

[@stewarthicks]

Very true.

[@mandranmagelan9430]

:'-D

[@kloss213]

My brother lives in the area and has a wonderful 1870s swiss farm with a massive swiss barn.

[@boudidouboudi3891]

I'm from Switzerland. What really impresses me here is the way the relief has been used by architects be it for chalet, castles, or in the towns for exemple the hill in Lucerne. I love when old town houses have been built next to each other but behind you discover a small garden for herbs and potatoes or a place to raise chicken. I highly recommend Ballenberg if you ever visit. It's a museum of rural homes. They moved old homes and farms from all over the country inside an open air museum.

[@sortedsortof3474]

Have you ever looked at Frankemuth, Michigan?

[@joycecardinot9284]

I live in Nova Friburgo or New Fribourg in Brazil. Something very similar happened here, but the major diference is that we have almost nothing from swiss culture. When the swiss people came they quickly replaced their cultural habits for native and Portuguese ones, so we just don't feel very connect to swiss culture, even with our swiss and germans lastnames. People are still trying to make the town look like a small swiss and german village, and shove Swiss culture down our throats. I personally can't accept this. Yes, history happened, yes we are a swiss colony, but this means almost nothing to us nowadays. I wonder how would swiss people feel if they came here and realize that someone is trying to fake their culture. Faking historical heritage is almost always a big FUCK NO to me.

[@jlasf]

If people have "Swiss and German last names," then don't they have Swiss heritage? What percentage of the population has some connection? Don't they have a right to celebrate their heritage, even if you don't? I assume you are not forced to leave the town or have things imposed on you. And the very name of the town is a reference to Switzerland. In short, if this is an effort to create a tourism business and help the town's economy, why do you care?

[@craiganderson5556]

In New Glarus the architecture reflects a lot of other cultural activities that have existed for a long time. I used to visit in the 1960's to attend outdoor productions of Schiller's William Tell, on different days in German or English. My mother, who grew up in Bern, loved it. In addition to Swiss cheese (that's all over Wisconsin), there was Swiss singing and playing of the alpenhorn (the latter shown in the video), and I remember a Swiss embroidery shop. Besides a few well built buildings, the architecture seems to have come later, but it really does reflect the identity of the place.

[@alexandergutfeldt1144]

@@jlasf There is a dfference between heritage and culture. I'm Swiss and I am appalled that anybody should be forced to 'copy' our style of life, that is rapidly changing anyway! Let them live their own culture, ours is not better, only different!

[@erikschiegg68]

In old Switzerland, they didn't go out to kinda disneyland - they were with their farm the disneyland for the rural population when they butched, distilled or payed a jass card game together.

[@daniellejajko6204]

We have several towns like this in Brazil, but they were built like that from the ground up by swiss, austrian, german, dutch, ukranian etc immigrants in the 19th century. look up "treze tilhas" "Nova Friburgo" "Blumenau"

[@LoneHowler]

There's a town called Kimberley BC Canada that is much like this, they went Bavarian in style

[@kvkdiver]

Reminds me of Orange City, Iowa (a similar example but with Dutch influences).

[@daallgeier]

7:23 “…Switzerland, Bavaria, and Germany.” hi from a bavarian: thanks for mentioning us separately from the german overlords 😂

[@hy3na739]

4:44 these roofed signs are pretty common in Switzerland tho... probably elsewhere in Europe too...

[@ZuperZocker]

I remember stopping by the brewery with my family a number of years ago (unfortunately I was still in high school)

[@milliedragon4418]

Georgia has one too called Helen Alpine Bavarian style town.

[@jesush.christ6184]

Stewart, what do you think about "Star-chitecture" and public opinions on architecture in general?

[@TR6-2.0]

Love the video - thank you! Checkout Solvang, CA - beautiful small town with Danish architecture located in Santa Barbara County.

[@lcdh5601]

I’ve been there. It’s cute and all, but not danish at all :D

[@elluisito000]

Did u go there for the architecture or for the beer? 🍺 😀 at any rate, thanks for another nice video.

[@gordybishop2375]

Very nice video

[@arty7926]

My swiss grandmother used to love tilted roofs, now I understand better why!

[@l.k.3113]

ok added to my bucket list, just gotta go there because I'm Swiss. I'll judge it

[@darkmadder9897]

Whoah, up in Canada the style is straight McFranchise with plastic signage and Formica up the yin-yang. I don't frequent the biz, but this was way interesting and kinda hilarious.

[@tomsherwood4650]

I saw a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere made up like that last year. Was unique in the area I think, there were also some Amish around there seen.

[@WrongTimeWatch]

This video reminds me of Frankenmuth. MI.

[@BrightAfternoonProductionsPlus]

This is a lot like Frankenmuth, Michigan!

[@kmturley1]

8:06 This shot disturbed me as the people aren't moving!!

[@Platanov]

I'm a level designer who works with a brush-based editor, and I threw up in my mouth a little when he said the roofs were 3.5 : 5.5

[@Smithfield730]

I love this town.

[@JoelNef]

Greetings from Glarus :)