This is an update to let everyone know that we now have both the soft and hardbound versions of the first three volumes of Map Guide to Swiss Parish Registers now shipping. This project actually started last May, so, we’ve been at it for a year now.
- Canton Bern (Vol. 1 & 2) took up over 580 pages in the first two volumes Click here for Bern I Soft Cover and Click here for Bern II Soft Cover. The hard cover books are now also in stock and shipping. Click here for Bern I Hard Cover and Click here for Bern II Hard Cover.
- Canton Zürich (Vol. 3) is in one volume and is now shipping in soft cover. Click here to order. The hard cover books also began shipping today..
- Canton Fribourg (Vol. 4) is at the bindery, and both soft and hard bound volumes are expected to ship between May 12 and 19.
- Canton Aargau (Vol. 5) is also at the bindery and both soft and hard bound volumes are expected to ship between the 12th and 19th of May.
The Community Indexes for Canton Bern (in two volumes), Canton Zürich, Canton Fribourg, and Canton Aargau are included in the description of each book – and can be found at their respective pages at the Family Roots Publishing website. Click on their respective links above to find your communities within those Cantons.
The Map Guide to Swiss Parish Registers series is an out-growth of the very popular Map Guide to German Parish Registers project, which is still in process, but nearing completion. Over the years, we’ve been asked by numerous parties to extend the project to cover other German-speaking European countries. We did that with the publication of Map Guide to Luxembourg Parish Registers in 2016. There are 26 current cantons in Switzerland. Many of them are small, so we plan to publish guides to multiple cantons in a number of the books. For this reason, we expect the entire series to be under 20 volumes.
Unlike American genealogical research, where the place to search is usually a civil registration (city, county, and state), European research is usually related to an ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In 18th and 19th century Switzerland, one must search the parish registers for births, christenings, marriages, deaths and burials. The historic boundaries for the Swiss cantons and amtsbezirke are quite well defined, and this volume lays them out in map form. Listings are given for both Catholic and Protestant parishes, along with what records are available and where to access them. Contact information, and the municipalities covered by each parish is found, making your Swiss research much easier to accomplish.
Each of the Map Guide to Swiss Parish Registers does the following:
- Includes an index of all the communities found within the Canton.
- Identifies the major online resources for Swiss genealogical research.
- Identifies each canton with amtsbezirke (districts), and the municipalities, bauerten (farming coalitions), and subsidiary locations.
- Visually identifies church parishes within each amtsbezirk (district).
- Provides an overview of Swiss genealogical records.
- Identifies neighboring parishes, just in case your ancestor may have gone to an alternate parish.
- Aids in conducting area searches, particularly across district and canton borders.
- Provides visual identification of search areas in which to look for your family.
- Helps in determining proximity of one area to another.
- Identifies archives, repositories, and other resources.
- Identifies important gazetteers and online dictionaries available to researchers.
To see the full list (both hard and soft bound) of the first five volumes, click here.
