Giswil Parish, Obwalden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Giswil Parish, Obwalden, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
The municipality of Giswil is in the Obwalden canton. It includes the villages of Grossteil, Kleinteil, Rudenz and Diechtersmatt. Giswil is located on the southern end of Sarnen Lake and the municipality extends up to the summits of Arnihaaggen, Brienzer Rothorn, Giswilerstock, and Höch Gumme. Giswil (as of 2006) has an area of 85.9 km² (33.2 square miles). The land use was divided up as follows:
 * 35.9% - agricultural purposes
 * 53.3% - forested
 * 2.2% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 8.7% - unproductive land

History
In the 11th century, Giswil was first mentioned with the name of Kisevilare. Giswil belongs to the Obwalden canton.

The population history of Giswil is: 1744 - 1,040 inhabitants 1850 - 1,610 inhabitants 1900 - 1,711 inhabitants 1950 - 2,642 inhabitants 1990 - 3,085 inhabitants 2000 - 3,435 inhabitants

In 1275, the old parish church of Giswil was first mentioned. It was dedicated to Saint Lawrence. In 1607, the Saint-Antoine-le-Grand chapel was built in Grossteil. It was rebuilt in 1844-1847. In 1971, it became a parish. In 1684, the chapel of Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue was consecrated in the Kleinteil.

Surrounding parishes
Flühli (LU) Hofstetten bei Brienz (BE) Lungern Sachseln Sarnen Schwanden bei Brienz (BE)

Church Records
Church records for Giswil are located at the Giswil parish office. The family registers are located at the Obwalden State Archives.

Genealogies
In the early 1900s, Ephrem Omlin systematically extracted information for Obwalden parishes and compiled these on family group pages organized by surname and parish. These are available onsite at the Obwalden State Archives. Historian Niklaus von Flüe expanded this collection; his notes are also available onsite at the Obwalden State Archives.

Civil Registration
Civil registration began in 1876. Giswil belongs to the Obwalden civil registration district. Records are only available in Switzerland. For further information, contact the civil registry office at:

Zivilstandsamt Obwalden Brünigstrasse 180a CH - 6060 Sarnen

Tel: +41 666 35 65

email: [mailto:zivilstandsamt@sarnen.ow.ch zivilstandsamt@sarnen.ow.ch]

Duplicate civil registration registers are located at the Obwalden State Archives and are available through 1920. For specific information about duplicate civil registration records, see the archives' online catalog; click the + sign to the left of the folder .02.SCH.Schriften (Zivilstand).

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Giswil prior to 1875:

Related sources
The town's website (in German) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
Obwalden State Archives

Societies
Zentralschweizerische Gesellschaft für Familienforschung (in German)