Urnäsch Parish, Appenzell, Switzerland Genealogy

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Geography
Urnäsch has an area of 18.6 square miles (48.3. square kilometers). The area is used thusly:

53.9% agriculture 41.1% forest 3.4% settlement 1.7% non-productive

History
In 831 a part of Urnäsch known as Färchen was first mentioned. The village was sold to Graf (Count) Werdenberg in 1344; the Abbey of St. Gall later acquired the land. The area became independent as part of Appenzell in 1405. The parish of Urnäsch was established in 1417 with the building of a church. Urnäsch had a devastating fire in 1641.

Surrounding Parishes
Hemberg (Sankt Gallen) Hundwil Krummenau (Sankt Gallen) Nesslau (Sankt Gallen) Schönengrund Schwellbrunn Waldstatt

Church Records
Urnäsch was established as a parish in 1417. Records held at the Family History Library include baptisms (Taufen) 1581-1875, marriages (Heiraten) 1581-1868, and deaths (Tote) 1638-1875. The first volume of records contains a register of the surnames found in Urnäsch and the years of their first appearance in the parish registers.

Family books (Familienbuch) were created for Urnäsch, and are available at the Cantonal Archive in Herisau, for the following years:

Volumes 1-2 (1770) - Family register of citizens living outside of town Volumes 3-4 (1780) - Family register of residents Volumes 5-8 (1800) - Family register of citizens Volume 9 (1830) - Family register of residents

The Family History Library has copies of some of these volumes. They are cataloged under the years 1804, 1807, and 1822/1823.

Genealogies
(see here for article describing Swiss compiled genealogies)

The following genealogies have been researched for Urnäsch families:

Alder family, by Gottlieb Büchler (FHL Film 962,790) Altherr family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 193,467)Badenmann/Bodenmann family, by Julius Billeter (see FHL Book Q 949.4712/U1 D2b) Bodenmann family, by Rosa Holzer (FHL Film 1,224,620) Bondt family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 193,469) Bürkle/Bürkli family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 1,181,674; see also FHL Film 193,470) Frehner family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 128,007; see also FHL Film 193,471) Frehner family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 1,181,674) Frischknecht family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 127,966; see also FHL Film 193,471) Müller family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Films 128,042 and 128,043) Näf/Naef/Nef family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 128,035; see also FHL Film 193,480) Ottinger family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 193,481) Schiess family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 128,044; see also FHL Film 193,483) Schmid family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 1,181,674; see also FHL Film 193,483) Schoch family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 127,986; see also FHL Film 128,009) Signer family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 193,484) Zellweger family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 128,008; see also FHL Film 193,488) Zuberbühler family, by Julius Billeter (FHL Film 128,036; see also FHL Film 193,488)

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

Zivilstandsamt Hinterland App. A. Rh. Poststrasse 6 CH - 9102 Herisau

Tel: +41 71 354 54 35

Email: [mailto:zivilstandsamt@herisau.ar.ch zivilstandsamt@herisau.ar.ch]

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Urnäsch prior to 1875: Alder Altherr Ammann Bischof Blum (extinct) Bodenmann Bondt Bruderer (extinct) Brülisauer Buff Bühler Bürkle/Bürkli David (extinct) Ehrbar Engler Etter Fässler Fisch Fischbacher Frehner Frick Frischknecht Gähler Goldener Heierle Hirsche (extinct) Holderegger (extinct) Jäger Kästli (extinct) Klarer (extinct) Knöpfel (extinct) Krüse Langenauer Lieberherr Meier Messmer Mettler Müller (extinct) Nabulon Näf/Naef/Nef Nagel (extinct) Ottinger Rechsteiner Reifler (extinct) Reutegger Reutener (extinct) Rohner (extinct) Roos Rotach (extinct) Schedler Schefer Schiess Schlumpf (extinct) Schmid Signer Solenthaler Staub Steingruber Stricker (extinct) Sturzenegger (extinct) Suhner Tanner Tobler (extinct) Vetter Vögtle (extinct) Walser (extinct) Weishaupt (extinct) Weiss Wild (extinct) Zähner Zellweger (from Trogen) Zölle/Zülle (extinct) Zuberbühler

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

Societies and Libraries
Cantonal Archive of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden (in German)