Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Appenzell Ausserrhoden canton ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Getting Started
If you are new to Swiss research, you should watch this introductory course. Then study the articles on church records and civil registration, as almost all of your research will be in those two record groups.
 * Introduction to Swiss Research
 * Switzerland Civil Registration
 * Switzerland Church Records

History
Settlement in Appenzell started in the 7th and the 8th century alongside the river Glatt. The monastery of St. Gallen was of great influence on the local population. The name Appenzell means cell or estate of the abbot. This refers to the Abbey of St. Gall, which exerted a great influence on the area. By the middle of the 11th century the abbots of St Gall had established their power in the land later called Appenzell. Appenzell Ausserrhoden is a German speaking canton and it joined the Swiss confederation in 1513. It has 20 communities. Women's right to vote was introduced in 1972 on a local level, but only in 1989 on a canton-wide level. 

Civil Registration
Civil registration began in Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton in 1876. To understand the records available, read the Wiki article, Switzerland Civil Registration.
 * Addresses for Civil Registration (Zivilstandesamt) Offices (.pdf)

Parish Registers Online
As of April 2014, the Staatsarchiv Appenzell has published the church records of all twenty Appenzell-Ausserrhoden parishes online. The records can be accessed at this Ausserrhoder Kirchenbücher Online. The records for Lutzenberg are found in the parish of Thal, which is part of the Canton of Sankt Gallen; some records for this parish are available online.


 * For information on the coverage, content, and locating of church records, read Switzerland Church Records

Reading the Records

 * Reading German Handwritten Records
 * Lesson 1: Kurrent Letters
 * Lesson 2: Making Words in Kurrent
 * Lesson 3: Reading Kurrent Documents
 * Old German Script
 * Part 1
 * Part 2
 * Part 3 (German Church and Civil Records)

Search Strategy
This search strategy will help you determine what to write for. Limit tour requests to just one of these steps at a time. Once you have established that the parish is cooperative and perhaps more willing to do more extensive research (for a fee), you might be able to ask them for more at a time.
 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected.
 * When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.