Switzerland, Church Records, 1277-1992

What is in This Collection?

This collection contains images of original church records (christenings, marriages, burials, etc.) from various cantons of Switzerland for the years 1277-1992. The images for the canton of Bern can only be viewed at the FamilySearch Library, FamilySearch Centers, and by members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Images for Basel-Stadt and Schaffhausen are unrestricted and can be viewed by all users. Original records are maintained in Basel-Stadt, Bern, and Schaffhausen State Archives.

In Switzerland, a parish was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction consisting of many villages and hamlets, with one of the villages designated as the main parish town. Evangelical Church records began as early as the mid to late 1500s in Switzerland; most church records, however, began in the late 1600s. Church records continue to be kept in the present day. Event types were often compiled in separate volumes, for instance, baptisms in one volume and marriages in another. In smaller parishes, however, event types were intermixed and grouped into a volume according to year range. When this is the case, the baptisms, marriages, and burials for one year (e.g. 1785) were grouped together before the baptisms, marriages, and burials for the next year (e.g. 1786), and so on. For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Church records were created to record church sacraments associated with life events (e.g. baptism after birth, burial after death) and those who had received these ordinances. The church records also served as official (civil) records. Church books are one of the most reliable and accurate family history sources. Accuracy in the records is, however, dependent upon the accuracy of the informant’s knowledge coupled with the priest recording the information correctly. Ages, birth dates, and birth places recorded in marriage and death entries have a higher probability of being inaccurate.

The following records may be included in this collection:

• Taufen (baptisms)
• Taufenregister (baptism index)
• Ehen (marriages)
• Ehenregister (marriage index)
• Eheverkündigungen (marriage announcements)
• Eheverkündigungenregister (marriage announcement index)
• Familienbuch (family book)
• Familienbuchregister (family book index)
• Konfirmanden (confirmations)
• Konfirmandenregister (confirmation index)
• Toten (deaths/burials)
• Totenregister (death index)

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Reading These Records

These records are written in German. For help reading these records see:

• German Language and Languages
• German Genealogical Word List
• Germany Handwriting

FamilySearch Learning Center videos:

• German Paleography Seminar

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  1868 Sample of Basel, Switzerland Baptism Record

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  1845, 1860 Marriage Record Example 1

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  1859 Marriage Record Example 2

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  1842 Sample of Basel, Switzerland Burial Record