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    • Home
    • The Collection
      • Museum Collection
      • Tritt Library & Archives
      • Linda Schiesser Gallery
      • Requests and Fees
      • Dr. Donald G. Tritt
      • Nelly's Dolls
    • Support
      • Donate to the Collection
      • Financial Donations
      • Volunteer
    • Genealogy
      • North American Resources
      • Resources in Switzerland
      • Family Name Genealogies
      • Swiss Emigration History
    • Swiss Roots
      • U.S. Swiss Clubs
      • Canadian Swiss Clubs
      • Swiss Government Links
      • Family Stories
    • About Us and Visit
      • Board and Staff
      • Contact Us or Visit
      • News From Us
      • Buy Stereographic Book
      • Purchase Diccon's Books
  • Home
  • The Collection
    • Museum Collection
    • Tritt Library & Archives
    • Linda Schiesser Gallery
    • Requests and Fees
    • Dr. Donald G. Tritt
    • Nelly's Dolls
  • Support
    • Donate to the Collection
    • Financial Donations
    • Volunteer
  • Genealogy
    • North American Resources
    • Resources in Switzerland
    • Family Name Genealogies
    • Swiss Emigration History
  • Swiss Roots
    • U.S. Swiss Clubs
    • Canadian Swiss Clubs
    • Swiss Government Links
    • Family Stories
  • About Us and Visit
    • Board and Staff
    • Contact Us or Visit
    • News From Us
    • Buy Stereographic Book
    • Purchase Diccon's Books
Swiss Center of North America

Family Research in Switzerland

 The Swiss Center receives hundreds of Swiss genealogy inquiries every year from people looking to find the records and the stories linked to their Swiss immigrant past.  We can't do the work for you, but we do have tools, suggestions and advice for you to begin or further your search. Research links for Swiss histories are below, click here to research family in North America. 

Genealogy Research in Switzerland

Tips on doing research in Switzerland:


  • Swiss citizenship is kept on three levels: a national level, the canton level, and the Heimatort, or home community. For most people, citizenship was inherited. Therefore, a citizen’s descendants may never even have seen their original home community. The home community was charged with keeping track of its citizens. If a birth, marriage, or death of a citizen took place in another parish, notice of the event was often sent to the Heimatort.
  • Church books are one of the most reliable and accurate family history sources. 
  • The number of emigrants who left Switzerland without permission and paying the obligatory “moving-away tax” was fairly high, so  there may be no record of their departure. Passports were not registered  until the mid-19th Century.


In order to research your Swiss ancestors you need to know the following information.  
Civil Status: Civil status documents (birth, marriage, divorce, death) have only been recorded by Swiss authorities since 1876.  Prior to this, civil status was recorded by the Roman Catholic and Protestant (Calvinist and Zwingli) churches. You do want to discover to which religion an emigrant belonged in Switzerland. Records would be held in a Catholic or a Protestant church prior to 1876. It is rare for people to change religion upon emigration, so if in doubt, it can be assumed that the religion practiced overseas is the same as in Switzerland.

 
Place of Origin: Where is their town of origin? This refers to the city, small town or community where civil documents are kept. Town is known as the "Bürgerort / Commune d'origine / Comune di attinenza”. This place of origin is handed down from father to child, and to the wife upon marriage. Until recently, a woman would acquire the place of origin from her husband and lose her own.  
Documents concerning changes in civil status are recorded in the the place of origin, regardless of the location where the event actually took place. This has been true since 1876, although in some cases since the end of the 17th century.  
There is one important exception: the places of origin registers only those documents which are sent to them. In past centuries when a person emigrated it was very seldom that changes in civil status were reported back to Switzerland and therefore the family registers were not kept up to date.  


Switzerland’s data protection regulations have made finding living relatives complicated. The Federal Civil Registry Ordinance requires a cantonal research  authorization, which is subject to a fee which is set by the Canton. The Swiss law on data protection has been translated into English: Federal Act on Data Protection 235.1  


For more information about Swiss records and documents, click here.

The Register of Swiss Surnames

The Register of Swiss Surnames provides a comprehensive alphabetical listing of surnames holding citizenship in a Swiss community.  Each entry contains information on the place of origin; the town or village in Switzerland where the ancestor held citizenship rights. 

The Swiss Society of Genealogical Studies

The Swiss Society of Genealogical Studies (SSGS) continues to be our most  important resource in helping you search for your Swiss roots.

The SSGS website has links to research tools and topics and links to regional genealogical and heraldic groups in  Switzerland. Most importantly, SSGS offers a list of members who know how and where to do the research you need for a fee.  

Swiss Research Links

Swiss Government List of Cantonal Archives - most complete list of Swiss archives, updated by the Embassy of Switzerland.


Association for Family and Personal Research March and Neighboring Regions: Genealogy group for family research in the district of March in the canton of Schwyz and neighboring regions of the cantons of Schwyz, Zurich, St. Gallen and Glarus.  


Basel City Local Citizenship Requests:  This is a collection of extracts of requests of citizenship in the city of Basel, Switzerland from FamilySearch.


Bern Genealogical-Heraldic Society Family histories in the city of Bern and surrounding regions.


Canton Aargau Archives 


Churchbooks of Canton Bern:  A list of churchbooks available and price to access a CD with this information.  

 

Genealogical-Heraldic Society of the Regio Basel: Family histories in the city of Basel and surrounding regions. 


Genealogical Heraldic Society of Zurich: Family histories in the canton of Zurich.


The Genealogical Society of Italian Switzerland: Histories of the Italian speaking Cantons Ticino (Tessin) and Grigioni (Grisons,  Graubünden).

Geneva Genealogy Society: Historical research on families in the Canton of Genève.  


Hamburg Passenger Lists: Hamburg passenger lists from 1850-1934.  

Historical Family Encyclopedia of Switzerland   Very large search engine for general name searches, places of origin, portraits.

Neuchâtel Society of Genealogy: Family histories from the canton of Neuchâtel. 


Rhaetian Association for Family Research: Historical research on the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden, and the Principality of Liechtenstein.


Schaffhausen, Directories, Emigration, and Genealogies


State Archives of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden  


Switzerland, Baptisms: Through FamilySearch,  1491-1940  


Switzerland Burials: Through FamilySearch,  1613-1875  


Switzerland, Marriages: Through FamilySearch, 1532-1910


Valais Association for Genealogical Studies   



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