Slate Factory

A piece of Glarus industrial history awaits in Elm in the middle of the village, between cozy wooden houses near the church: the old Elm Slate Factory. After its closure in 1983, it was converted into a museum by the “Stiftung pro Elm”.

A visit to the former factory is like a journey back in time: It smells of sawdust and glue, and slate dust is in the air. In the old rooms, the historic tools, including unique equipment and machines driven by transmission belts, are waiting to be brought back to life for demonstration purposes in front of astonished eyes. During the one-and-a-half-hour guided tour, visitors gain a lively insight into an old craft and learn exciting facts about slate mining and its processing in the Sernf valley.