Liestal Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Liestal Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
The municipality of Liestal is in the Liestal district and the Basel-Landschaft canton. Liestal is the capital of the Liestal district. It is located on a rocky outcrop between Basel and the Jura Mountains and between the Ergolz and Orisbach rivers.

Liestal (as of 2009) has an area of 18.19 km² (7.02 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 16.4% - agricultural purposes
 * 58.7% - forested
 * 23.9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.5% - rivers or lakes
 * 0.2% - non-productive

History
In 1225, Liestal was first mentioned. Liestal is in the Liestal district and the Basel-Landschaft canton.

The population history of Liestal is: 1850 - 3,032 inhabitants 1870 - 3,863 inhabitants 1888 - 4,850 inhabitants 1900 - 5,403 inhabitants 1910 - 6,072 inhabitants 1930 - 6,698 inhabitants 1950 - 8,449 inhabitants 1970 - 12,500 inhabitants 1990 - 12,853 inhabitants 2000 - 12,930 inhabitants 2021 - 14,963 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 28.2% were Roman Catholic
 * 43.5% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 2.02% were Orthodox Church
 * 0.28% were Christian Catholic Church
 * 2.96% were Other Christian Church

In the 7th century, the Saint-Martin church was mentioned. The Protestant parish united those in Liestal and in Seltisberg. In 1866, the Nicolas de Flue Catholic church was consecrated.

Catholic
In modern times, Catholic services were first held in the Reformed church in 1835; in 1866, an independent building was dedicated. The church covered most of the surrounding areas. Catholic parish records for Liestal are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 15 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1835-1912 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1835-1934 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1835-1916 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1858-1951 Confirmations at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1860-1924 Family books at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

Reformed
First mentioned in the 7th-8th century, the parish of Liestal was Catholic until 1529, when the area became Reformed. It includes the municipality of Seltisberg. Parish records for Liestal are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 46 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1542-1914 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1542-1918 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1665-1917 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1757-1915 Confirmations at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1672-1896 Family books at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - organized by community

Census
(See here for information regarding Basel-Landschaft census records.)

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Liestal:
 * 1815 (images 407-463)

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

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

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Basel-Landschaft

Societies
Genealogical-Heraldic Society of Region Basel (GHGRB)