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Two authors will be signing their books at the Swiss Historical Village on Friday, July 30, to help launch New Glarus’ 175+1 anniversary celebration. Both books make ideal gifts for residents and anniversary visitors who are interested in the story of New Glarus.

Duane Freitag, of Greendale, will sign copies of his A Common Treasure about the first ten years of the Swiss colony of New Glarus. Jesse Brookstein, of Madison, will sign copies of A Perfect Pair: The History of Landjaeger in Green County, Wisconsin.

Freitag’s book was published in 2019 in advance of the original plans for the 175th anniversary that were canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Freitag, a retired journalist, grew up in New Glarus and has written a number of books and pamphlets about the history of the community. The New Glarus Historical Society will sell hard-bound copies of the book at a special reduced rate of $20.

Brookstein is having an “official release” of his new book that contains historical information about the popular snack sausage and interviews with familiar area sausage makers. Brookstein, a native of New York, lives in Madison and is a marketing specialist with the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union. The book was illustrated by Zack Nichols and sells for $14.99. Landjaeger is a semi-dried beef and pork sausage that keeps without refrigeration. It is traditionally made in Switzerland and in the region around southern Germany.

The gift shop at the Historical Village is also now selling copies of a new translation of pioneer Joshua Wild’s diary about the early years of New Glarus. The book was produced by August Berlinger, of Canton Glarus, Switzerland, for the anniversary celebration.

The Historical Village is at 612 7th Avenue in New Glarus, and is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily, except Mondays.