When I was in Switzerland in 2006 I made it a point to visit the Zivilstandsamt. Now many of the Gemeinde records have been deposited in a central location, so it is not necessary to travel in out of the way places to find them. A familienschein is a record of a complete family all on one page with reference to the sons familienschein and the daughters marriages. I went to the office with a family group sheet printed in German and wrote on the top of the page, “Ich Mochte familienschein”. I did not speak German. It is not a good idea to rely on someone speaking English, as I found out. I showed them my group sheet and a woman went and got these old books. I was able to get three generations starting with Hans Christen who was born in 1755; then Ulrich his son born in 1799; then Peter his son who was born in 1834. As you look at these records one can easily see the depth these records have to offer. I ask to get a copy of one of my uncle relations before 1800 and they said I could not look. It cost me $150 for those three generations, which was three pages. They charge by how many children are in a family. In total there were 26 children, you do the math. I have found misinformation about the availability and access to these records, so I was happy to gather quite a few of these records. This discussion will continue later.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Familienschein Switzerland
When I was in Switzerland in 2006 I made it a point to visit the Zivilstandsamt. Now many of the Gemeinde records have been deposited in a central location, so it is not necessary to travel in out of the way places to find them. A familienschein is a record of a complete family all on one page with reference to the sons familienschein and the daughters marriages. I went to the office with a family group sheet printed in German and wrote on the top of the page, “Ich Mochte familienschein”. I did not speak German. It is not a good idea to rely on someone speaking English, as I found out. I showed them my group sheet and a woman went and got these old books. I was able to get three generations starting with Hans Christen who was born in 1755; then Ulrich his son born in 1799; then Peter his son who was born in 1834. As you look at these records one can easily see the depth these records have to offer. I ask to get a copy of one of my uncle relations before 1800 and they said I could not look. It cost me $150 for those three generations, which was three pages. They charge by how many children are in a family. In total there were 26 children, you do the math. I have found misinformation about the availability and access to these records, so I was happy to gather quite a few of these records. This discussion will continue later.
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I was able to obtain my familieschein online. Some Swiss municipalities offer web pages where you submit your family information. Once they find the document, you are notified via email and sent an invoice. They charge 25CHF for the name you requested plus 5 CHF for each additional name listed. You have to wire the money (which can cost almost as much as the requested document) before they will send it to you.
ReplyDeleteThis is impossible to do this in English and one generation cost me $80, but it is a viable option for anyone unable to travel to Switzerland.
what website were you able to receive this information from??
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