Buochs Parish, Nidwalden, Switzerland Genealogy

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



Geography
As of the 2004/09 survey, Buochs has an area of 9.96 km2 (3.85 sq mi). The municipality is situated along the roads between Ennetbürgen, Beckenried and Stans. It is located on the western side of Lake Lucerne between the Engelberger Aa and the Buochserhorn mountain. It includes the former linear village of Buochs.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 46.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 33.5% - forested
 * 18.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.7% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Buochs was in 1124 as Boches. It was also mentioned in 1184 as Buoches, then in 1210 as Buches, and in 1229 as Buchs.

The population history of Buochs is: 1743 - 850 inhabitants 1850 - 1284 inhabitants 1900 - 1638 inhabitants 1950 - 2355 inhabitants 2000 - 4856 inhabitants

The oldest remains of a church on the site of today's St. Martin's Church (built 1802-1807 according to plans by Niklaus Purtschert) date back to the 10th century. Therefore, Buochs is the second oldest parish in the canton. At that time, it consisted of the entire area "ennet der Aa" (including Beckenried, Emmetten and Ennetbürgen). The two Benedictine monasteries of Muri and Engelberg split patronage rights in the 12th century. By the 13th century at the latest, Engelberg was the only proprietor. In 1309, the church was included in the monastery. The parishioners of Buochs freed themselves in 1454 and at the same time acquired the rights of patronage and since then, formed an independent parish.

Surrounding parishes
Beckenried Ennetbürgen Gersau (SZ) Oberdorf Stans

Church Records
Church records for Buochs begin in 1728; the older church records were burned.

These church records can be accessed onsite on microfilm at the Nidwalden State Archives. The archive does not undertake family research for private researchers, but the archive will provide a list of local researchers.

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

Zivilstandsamt Nidwalden Marktgasse 3 Postfach 1244 CH - 6371 Stans

Tel: +41 618 72 60

email: [mailto:zivilstandsamt@nw.ch zivilstandsamt@nw.ch]

Duplicate civil registration registers are located at the Nidwalden State Archives. The following records are viewable in person:
 * Births before 1900
 * Marriages before 1930
 * Deaths before 1960

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

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

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Nidwalden

Societies
Zentralschweizerische Gesellschaft für Familienforschung (in German)