Switzerland Genealogy
Guide to Swiss ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.
Switzerland Wiki Topics | |
Beginning Research | |
Record Types | |
Switzerland Background | |
Local Research Resources | |
Country Information[edit | edit source]
Switzerland is a landlocked country in Western and Central Europe surrounded by France, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein. Switzerland's east and central cantons are primarily German speakers, western areas include many French speakers, and Italian speakers are found in southern Switzerland. The Swiss Republic is now over 715 years old, making it the oldest republic in the world.[1]
Getting Started[edit | edit source]
Getting Started with Switzerland ResearchLinks to articles on getting started with Switzerland research. |
Switzerland Research ToolsLinks to articles and websites that assist in Switzerland research.
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Finding Your Ancestors' Town in Switzerland[edit | edit source]
- Genealogical records are organized by geographical locality. Civil registration (government birth, marriage, and death records) and church records (christenings/baptisms, marriages, and burials) were kept at the local level.
- If you do not know your ancestors' town, follow the advice in the Wiki article Switzerland Finding Town of Origin to search a variety of records that might provide that information.
The Register of Swiss Surnames[edit | edit source]
Switzerland has one unique feature that can speed up your search for your ancestor's town. Citizenship was held by specific town. The Register of Swiss Surnames is an online tool, based on the reference book, Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz, which lists for every surname the towns where that family held citizenship. Here are the Instructions for using the register. Also, watch the online class The Register of Swiss Surnames
Switzerland Clickable Map[edit | edit source]
Genealogical records are kept at the local level in Switzerland. Cantons:
Cantons[edit | edit source]
Language Map of Switzerland[edit | edit source]
FamilySearch Resources[edit | edit source]
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family:
- Switzerland Genealogy Research Community on FamilySearch
- Central Europe Genealogy Research Community (Facebook)
- Switzerland Course in the Learning Center
- FamilySearch Historical Records
- Family History Center locator map
Research Tutorials[edit | edit source]
- Introduction to Swiss Research
- Beginning Swiss Research Part 1 & 2 class handout
- Switzerland Research Strategies
- Swiss Census Records
- Swiss Chorgericht Records
- Swiss Names and Places
- Switzerland Records Online: Resources for Swiss Genealogy
- Calendar Changes in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Low Countries
- Switzerland Compiled Genealogies
- Reading German Handwritten Records
- Old German Script
- Help for reading French records:
- French Genealogical Word List
- French Handwriting.
- BYU French Script Tutorial
- French Records Extraction Manual. The full manual or individual lesson chapters are downloadable from this webpage. A number of helpful lessons are available here, but the first five lessons are especially useful.
- Chapter 1: Old Records
- Chapter 2: Christening, Marriage, and Other Entries
- Chapter 3: Marriage
- Chapter 4: Other Entries
- Chapter 5: French Handwriting and Spelling
- Help for reading Italian records:
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Switzerland," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland, accessed 23 March 2016.