Hinwil Parish, Zürich, Switzerland Genealogy

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



Geography
Hinwil is located in the countryside near the city of Zürich in the Zürich Oberland. It has an area of 22.3 square kilometers (8.6 square miles). The area is used thusly:

53.9% agriculture 26.8% forest 17.6% settlement

History
Settled since Roman times, Hinwil was first mentioned in 745 as Hunichinwilari in a deed of donation; the parish church, first mentioned in 837, is nearly as ancient. During the Middle Ages, it belonged to the land district of Grüningen; by 1451, the monastery of the Knights of St. John in Thurtal had acquired rights to much of the parish. In 1525, the monastery was secularized during the Reformation, after which most lordship rights passed to Zürich. During the Reformation, Hinwil was hit particularly hard by the unrest surrounding the Anabaptists.

After a population slump in the 1640s due to the plague, regional linen production developed; silk developed in the 1600s, with a switch to cotton processing during the 1700s. Animal husbandry, always an important part of the economy, developed in conjunction with embroidery and homemade silk goods after a railway connection was established in 1876.

Surrounding Parishes
Bäretswil Bubikon Dürnten Fischenthal Gossau Wald Wetzikon

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

The following censuses are available for Hinwil:

Genealogies
(see here for article describing Swiss compiled genealogies)

The following genealogies have been researched for Hinwil families:

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

Zivilstandsamt Wetzikon Bahnhofstrasse 167 CH-8622 Wetzikon

Tel: +41 44 931 32 00

email: [mailto:zivilstandswesen@wetzikon.ch zivilstandswesen@wetzikon.ch]

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

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

Societies and Libraries
Cantonal Archive of Zürich