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 the 2004/09 survey, Küssnacht has an area of 29.37 km2 (11.34 sq mi). The municipality is located at the foot the Rigi mountain between the Lake of Lucerne and Lake Zug. It includes the villages of Küssnacht, Immensee, and Merlischachen as well as the hamlets of Haltikon and Seebodenalp. Küssnacht is the capital and only municipality of the district of Küssnacht.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 55.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 26.4% - forested
 * 16.5% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.3% - non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)

History
The first mention of Küssnacht was around 840 as in Chussenacho though this is from an 11th Century copy of the original document. It was also mentioned as Chussenacho in 1179.

The population history of Küssnacht is: 1743 - 1,506 inhabitants 1799 - 1,987 inhabitants 1850 - 2,788 inhabitants 1900 - 3,562 inhabitants 1950 - 5,680 inhabitants 2000 - 10,704 inhabitants

At the end of the 12th century, the Engelberg monastery owned goods in Küssnacht. In 1361, the Engelberg convent received patronage over the church of Küssnacht, dedicated to Saint Pierre. Refurbished in 1488 in Gothic style, it became the Saints-Pierre-et-Paul church. After many disputes between patrons and church members, they received the church charter in 1551, with Udligenswil separating from the parish of Küssnacht. The parish of Immensee was formed in 1940, the rectorate of Merlischachen in 1980, and the Protestant parish in 1932. In 1708, a three-nave baroque parish church was built and then rebuilt in 1963 into a column-free hall church.

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