Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Appenzell Ausserrhoden canton ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Settlement in Appenzell started in the 7th and the 8th century alongside the river Glatt. The monastery of St. Gallen was of great influence on the local population. The name Appenzell means cell or estate of the abbot. This refers to the Abbey of St. Gall, which exerted a great influence on the area. By the middle of the 11th century the abbots of St Gall had established their power in the land later called Appenzell. Appenzell Ausserrhoden is a German speaking canton and it joined the Swiss confederation in 1513. It has 20 communities. Women's right to vote was introduced in 1972 on a local level, but only in 1989 on a canton-wide level. 

Parish registers accessible online!
As of April 2014, the Staatsarchiv Appenzell has published the church records of all twenty Appenzell-Ausserrhoden parishes online. The records can be accessed at this URL: https://www.ar.ch/verwaltung/kantonskanzlei/staatsarchiv/kirchenbuecher-online/. The records for Lutzenberg are found in the parish of Thal, which is part of the Canton of Sankt Gallen; some records for this parish are available online.