Melchnau Parish, Bern, Switzerland Genealogy

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Geography
Melchnau shares a 12 mile border with Luzern canton on its east. The significance of this is that Luzern was a Catholic canton, and prior to the 1848 Federal constitution, the canton’s were separated by a religious divide. Literally, people living in a Swiss reformed canton were not allowed to settle in a Catholic canton and vice versa. Even in the 1840’s there was conflict in the region over religion. After the 1848 constitution there was slow and small changes in religious demographics, even today Melchnau is about 70% Swiss reform.

Church Records
There is an article describing the challenges of using the online collection and a general description of the records. i.e. Taufen, Heiraten, Toten, Auswärtige, and Ausbürger. Melchnau registers are available on microfilm, CD, or online.
 * available for loan at Family History Centers
 * Melchnau registers on CD at Picton Press available for purchase
 * Melchnau online registers can be view at Family History Centers around the world, and by members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from home computers.

The parish registers for Melchnau were recorded in the following volumes, as numbered by the Cantonal Archive of Bern:

Genealogies
There are numerous compiled genealogies that have been created since 1900; however, they need to verified by researching the parish registers since it has been proven that a percentage of them are inaccurate.

The following genealogies have been researched for Melchnau families:

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

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

Societies and Libraries
Cantonal Archive of Bern