Canton Uri, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Canton Uri 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
Uri, along with Central Switzerland as a whole, resisted the Swiss Reformation and remained stauchly Catholic. The government of Uri spoke out against the ideals of the French Revolution and opposed any attempt to institute changes in Switzerland. To protect their traditional religion and power structure, the seven conservative, Catholic cantons formed a separate alliance or Sonderbund in 1843. In 1847, the Sonderbund broke with the Federal Government and the Sonderbund War broke out. After the defeat of the Sonderbund troops, Uri withdrew from the alliance and surrendered on 28 November 1847. Two days later federal troops moved into Uri. Uri supported the new Swiss Federal Constitution and freedom of worship was now available for other faiths. Uri is a German speaking canton.

Uri (Wikipedia)

Compiled Genealogies

 * Cantonal Archive of Ur, Stammbuch, Wappenbuch, Satmmbäume (family histories and pedigrees) digitized images of researched family surnames. After selecting the surname, look for a "File".  Unless a file appears, the material has not yet been digitized.

Civil Registration
Civil registration began in Canton Uri in 1876. To understand the records available, read the Wiki article, Switzerland Civil Registration.
 * Addresses for Civil Registration (ZivilStandesamt) Offices (.pdf)
 * You will be able to write your request in German with the help of the German Letter Writing Guide.

Church Records
Church records are not available online. Many families of the canton have been researched and compiled into genealogies; these are the best place to begin researching in Canton Uri. These are available from the following sites:


 * The Uri archive website has digitized the collection in color. Click on the + next to the first letter of the surname, then the + next to the surname. Double-click on the entry of interest, then click on the .pdf file to open the record.


 * FamilySearch has microfilmed the records. This collection may be digitized, but may be restricted for viewing only in the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

You will be able to write your request in German with the help of the German Letter Writing Guide.

Genealogical Societies
The Urner Geschlechter (Uri Families) group seeks to create family trees based out of the compiled family records. The website has approximately 150,000 individuals organized in family trees.

Reading the Records

 * German Genealogical Word List
 * [[Media:Swiss_Genealogical_Word_List_approved.pdf|Swiss Dialect Genealogical Word List]]
 * German Paleography Seminar - Lessons on German Handwriting
 * 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.