Wilchingen Parish, Schaffhausen, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Wilchingen Parish, Schaffhausen, Switzerland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.



Geography
The municipality of Wilchingen is in the Unterklettgau district and in the Schaffhausen canton. It is located west of the Wanneberg. The village of Osterfingen was added in 2005. Wilchingen (as of 2006) had an area of 21.2 km² (8.2 square miles). The land use was divided up as follows:
 * 50.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 42.1% - forested
 * 6.9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.4% - unproductive land

History
In 1049, Wilchingen was first mentioned by the name of Wilechinga. Wilchingen grew in size over the years by adding or purchasing Rossberg (1548), Triesberg (1648), Haslach (1849), and Osterfingen (2005). The Wilchingen municipality is in the Schaffhausen canton.

The population history of Wilchingen is: 1771 - 763 inhabitants 1798 - 1,139 inhabitants 1850 - 1,345 inhabitants 1900 - 908 inhabitants 1950 - 1,091 inhabitants 2000 - 1,301 inhabitants 2008 - 1,692 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 11.9% were Roman Catholic
 * 74.3% were Swiss Reformed Church

In 1482, the Saint-Otmar chapel was mentioned and served as the parish church. In 1676, it was replaced by the current temple.

Church Records
The parish records for Canton Schaffhausen are found online from the Cantonal Archive of Schaffhausen. They can be accessed here.

Census Records
(see here for article describing the Zürich census records)

The following censuses are available for Wilchingen:

Genealogies
(see here for article describing Swiss compiled genealogies)

The following genealogies have been researched for Wilchingen families:

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

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

Societies and Libraries
Cantonal Archive of Schaffhausen