Küssnacht Parish, Schwyz, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Küssnacht Parish, Schwyz, 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, Galgenen has an area of 13.3 km2 (5.1 sq mi). The municipality includes the village of Galgenen and village section of Siebnen-Galgenen as well as the hamlets of Achern, Buechli, Stöckli, and Steinweid.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 50.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 39.8% - forested
 * 9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.4% - non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)

History
The first mention of Galgenen was in 1229 as Galgênne.

The population history of Galgenen is: 1850 - 1343 inhabitants 1900 - 1410 inhabitants 1950 - 2299 inhabitants 2000 - 3927 inhabitants

The parish church of St. Martin and Nicholas was first recorded in 1275. A new church was built in 1472-75, then underwent major transformations in 1689. Architect Hans Konrad Stadler directed the building of today's church in 1822-26. In 1355, the collation rights were owned by Gottfried of Habsburg-Laufenburg, who sold them to the dukes of Austria in 1358. Duke Frederick of Austria having been banished from the Empire, Emperor Sigismund took back these rights; between 1417 and 1424, he gave them to Ital Reding the Elder of Schwyz. The parish benefice remained in the hands of the Reding family until 1809, who also furnished the clergyman in Galgenen from 1707 onwards. In 1809, the collation rights were bought back by the parishioners for the sum of 3800 florins. The St. Jost chapel on the old country road (Obergasse) was first mentioned in 1362; consecrated in 1398, and transformed in 1622-1623. In 1927, despite some resistance, a new parish was established for Siebnen-Galgenen.

Surrounding parishes
Adligenswil (LU) Arth Greppen (LU) Meggen (LU) Meierskappel (LU) Risch (ZG) Udigenswil (LU) Walchwilo (ZG)

Church Records
The parish of Küssnacht is ancient. Records are available from 1650.

The church records for Küssnacht can be found in a variety of places:
 * (Digital copies of the church records can be accessed onsite at the Schwyz State Archives. The archive has an online inventory of the records for Küssnacht.
 * Luzern State Archives has digital records available for the parish of Küssnacht. These are accessible through the online inventory from the archives.
 * FamilySearch has digitized records for the parish of Küssnacht. These records can be seen at a family history center or FamilySearch affiliate library.

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

Zivilstandsamt Innerschwyz Herrengasse 17 CH - 6431 Schwyz

Tel: +41 41 819 07 14

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

Duplicate civil registration registers are located at the Schwyz State Archives. Additionally, the archive has a partial inventory of its holdings. The following records are viewable in person:


 * Births before 1900
 * Marriages before 1930
 * Deaths before 1960

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

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

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Schwyz

Societies
Zentralschweizerische Gesellschaft für Familienforschung

Historischer Verein des Kantons Schwyz