Hergiswil Parish, Nidwalden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Hergiswil 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 2006, Hergiswil has an area of 14.2 square kilometers (5.5 sq mi). The municipality is situated between the foot of Mount Pilatus and Lake Lucerne.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 29.3% - agricultural purposes
 * 44.4%- forested
 * 9.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 16.6% - rivers, glaciers or mountains

History
The first mention of Hergiswil was in 1303-09 as ze Hergenswile.

The population history of Hergiswil is: 1769 - 460 inhabitants 1850 - 804 inhabitants 1900 - 1080 inhabitants 1950 - 2904 inhabitants 1970 - 4364 inhabitants 2000 - 4754 inhabitants

The spiritual affiliation to Stans is suspected as early as the 13th century. A chapel is recorded for the first time in 1504. In 1618, the people of Hergiswil began constructing the parish church, and when it was consecrated in 1621, Hergiswil became an independent parish. The building was rebuilt on another site in 1857.

Surrounding parishes
Alpnach (OW) Horw (LU) Kriens (LU) Schwarzenberg (LU) Stansstad

Church Records
Church records for Hergiswil begin in 1813/1832; 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. Hergiswil 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 Hergiswil 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)