Family search trip

This is a great time to visit, before things start shutting down. Check the RS Tour itinerary, and the route in the RS Guide book, as a start. Also, this has been a popular topic recently, so review the posts under Switzerland. I will attach my Trip Report from 2021. There are also other great Trip Reports under that section. Enjoy this beautiful country!

It would help if you included your group size, budget, travel style, and interests.
Have a wonderful trip!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/lucerne-62eb4d28-60ab-4837-b4b4-91a2486eb732

I would start by downloading the SBB app and looking at the train options between these areas.

What fun! We did this for my husband’s roots in the Bern region—-his ancestors were cheesemakers there (and one brewer;y owner). We took the train to Then and caught a taxi to an address we had in Steffisburg—-it was the estate and brewery owned by the the great x3 uncle, with the same last name (Schüppach). Uncle was childless and gave the estate to the commune, which turned it into a community center. It was open that day with a special exhibit focused on the architecture and decor of the building, which they proudly showed us.

Then we went to Langnau, to have lunch at the Bären restaurant, a building used long ago as a medical clinic by naturopath Michel Schüppach, another relative. He was famous for treating Goerthe, who traveled quite a distance to see him.

The restaurant closed and was put up for sale sometime after our visit in 2007, but it re-opened in 2023.

https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/110508

https://emmental.ch/de/erlebniskarte/detail/gasthof-baeren-langnau-b6c6169c-d278-44b6-b645-b444598ffbd5.html

They have redone the outside; the building was dark, aged wood when we were there. but the roofline is the same.

Now to your quest: Both Herisau and Heiden are served by trains, as is Bern, of course. so that makes it easy to reach if you do not wish to rent a car. Wald came up on google map as a small farm just outside of Herisau, just down the road from a different Bären restaurant (the name is popular in Switzerland). There are photos here:

https://restaurantguru.com/Baeren-Herisau

And there is a hotel in Herisau:

https://www.hotel-saentis-herisau.ch/de/home/

I suggest you spend at least 2 nights in Bern—it is a charming little city with porticoes streets and restaurant tables spilling into the traffic-free area in the evening. We spent one night there after landing in Zurich, on our way to Mürren last September. We liked it so much that are going back for 2 more nights this September.

So let’s say 2 nights Bern (fly into Zurich San head straight there like we did) and then 2 in Herisau? I did not check Heiden but you should do that.

Then you have another 5-6 nights to spend in Switzerland. I will be back with some thoughts. I am thinking you might was another day or so in Appenzell since that is where your family is from. Apparently Rick has some suggestions in his book and videos.

Do you have family names to attach to the places? Is it possible that the farm marked as Wald on Google maps is your family’s?

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum so not sure how to answer individual posts. What does "report" indicate after the post?
The name I am looking for is mainly Stricker as they are my direct relative. Other names are Graf, Egli, and Eugster . A few of the Stricker family emigrated to the USA .
Bern is also on the list to visit. My mother and aunt did travel there many years ago and met with two family members who were living in a nursing convent in Bern so I think there was family there also.
The towns everyone recommended are on our list to visit. With the seemingly easy train/bus travel we can visit more.
Right now it is just my husband and myself travelling.
Thank you for all the replies! I am sure I will have more questions.

Welcome to the forum. Just post your questions and responses right here; if you want to direct it to a particular person, just say their name.

The “Report” button is to report spam or other improper posts to the Webmaster. You don’t want to use that to address someone here!

Lola,
Thank you! so glad I didn't hit the report button!!! I will definitely look into he hotels in Herisau.

Pat, thanks for the tips. I have Rick Steve's book on Switzerland and getting some good idea. Right now it is just my husband and I. We are pretty good at independent travel but don't mind small groups either.

travel 4 fun, the train would be fun. I will definitely look into that option !

Thanks again everyone!

If you end up staying in Herisau, the Hotel Herisau is also home to the tourist office, which might be handy. You may want to look at staying in St Gallen as well - it is a larger city with more hotel options that is fairly central to all the villages you mentioned. Herisau is just a 9 min train ride away. St Gallen also has a historic abbey with medieval library and a nice old town.

Heiden does have a train station, but it is a very limited service so probably easier to take a bus there.
I believe Wald may not be the farm mentioned but more likely the village of Wald (AR, the abbreviation for Ausserrhoden). It is reachable by bus (on a route to/from Heiden).

I don't know if you can read German, but many old AR church books and some of the civil registers (scroll down to online Archivkatalog) are available online. If you have specific event dates/locations/names, you may be able to find some info there, or you could email the Staatsarchiv (local archive) in Herisau at the address given and perhaps they could help and/or arrange for you to visit
https://ar.ch/verwaltung/kantonskanzlei/staatsarchiv/kirchenbuecher-online-familienforschung/
The Appenzell tourist office may also be able to recommend any family research specialists or local historians who could give you a tour.
Good luck!

hopper18
Thank you for the information on accommodations. We will check out St Gallen also. I agree with the village of Wald not being the farm. I do have a picture of the Stricker home in Heiden but not sure if it is still standing. We did live in Germany for a few years in the late 70's early 80's but I don't think my German is very good now. I do have names/ dates and locations for some of the family that date back to 1850 - 1880's. I will check the site you listed and also contact tourist office.
Thank you again! I really appreciate all the help!

Thanks everyone for the information for our trip to Switzerland. It has been very helpful. As of now our route looks like this: Fly into Zurich, train to Appenzell area ( either Heiden, Herisau or St. Gallen) travel to Zurich, Luzern, Interlaken, Zermatt, Geneva, Lausanne. We were thinking of basing out of Bern after Luzern to cut down on hotel changes. Then flight home from Zurich. Is this doable in 10 days? Our time frame is either early or late September. Thanks

There is direct train from Herisau (originating in St Gallen) to Luzern called the Voralpen Express, The operator, Sudostbahn, is promoting it as a scenic train.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/trains-boats/panorama-trains/voralpen-express.html

If you decide to go Luzern-Bern, think about going the long way via Interlaken as the Luzern-Interlaken Express has spectacular scenery. Failing that, take the RE direct train to Bern for some decent scenery as well.

Bern to Zermatt, think about taking the BLS "Loetschberger" train to Brig, see it on the trip planner by putting Kandersteg in the "via" box on the SBB trip planner or app. Takes about 1 hour longer to get to Zermatt, but worth it in my book.

Sam,
Thank you for the train information. Will definitely look at them.

Good luck with the family research! I've done a similar visit to the places my great-grandparents came from and really found it interesting and worthwhile. In both cases, the local tourist offices and church staff were very enthusiastic and helpful.
As for your itinerary, there are different ways to configure things depending on when you have to be in Zurich for your flight home, as there are good train connections to the airport from around the country (check schedules on sbb.ch/en). I wouldn't use up an overnight in Zurich itself unless you have an early flight. I'd also skip Geneva and Lausanne on this trip unless you have specific reasons to visit them. For a ~10 day trip, I'd recommend sticking to your family destinations, Luzern and the mountain areas (best bet is to stay directly in the Berner Oberland rather than Interlaken or Bern - you can read all about this topic in many other posts in the forum). Zermatt might be tough to fit in, but if it's important to you, it is doable. Weather can be amazing that time of year - I've had good luck with late Sept weather in both Zermatt and BO.
Bern has a direct airport train service or can also be done as a day trip from the Oberland or Luzern if you want to cut out hotel changes.
If you want to go to Luzern directly after Herisau/St Gallen, the Voralpen Express mentioned in Sam's post is a pleasant option and uses nice new trains. It's also usually not that crowded since it bypasses Zurich and travels through smaller towns. It would have the additional advantage of no train changes en route to Luzern and you don't need reservations or special tickets. All that being said, it's not a train ride I would build my itinerary around and if it ends up making more sense to end your trip in Luzern, don't worry about skipping it. And don't discount the possibility of starting in the mountains, then going to Luzern and then ending in Herisau/St Gallen (which are close to the airport) as well.

Hopper18
Thanks for the tips. We have definitely considered starting in the Herisau/St. Gallen area. Since I am trying to do some family searches that would be nice to do that first. We will definitely look at the Berner Oberland also. So many choices!

There used to be magazines (remember those?) for people interested in genealogy and they would have lots of ads for companies that would do your research and then the legwork when you got there. I assume such outfits still exist, you could try contacting a few TIs to see if they have leads? Or the info desk at some larger hotels? Or do the google?

We did the ancestral research trip twenty years ago with my husband’s mother and our two girls. His mother also had a photo from 1920 of the family farm. And with the help from our tour bus driver on his day off, bless him, we found the farm house and relatives. I hope you have the same luck! Some tips, talk to the older locals, they know so much in the smaller villages. And check the church, they normally have records because in Switzerland they don’t leave people buried very long because of limited space. One of the problems we encountered was that in Erstfeld, most of the people had the same last name, makes things just a bit complicated trying to sort them out.

There is a town named Wald north of the Zurichsee, and it shows up on SBB routing. I remember seeing it on signage on a train ride from Zurich to Rapperswil. I remember it because I knew Wald means forest in german, and later met someone from there. .

Margie
I do have a photo of the family home in Heiden. I am not sure if it is still standing but would like to check it out. Also have a photo of the church they attended. In comparing it to the one on the website it is the same one. Hopefully will find more information.

Stan,
I did see the town of Wald on the map. I have a document that lists the family and they moved from Wald to Heiden. When someone translated the information for me they put down "forest". I kept thinking the family was living in the forest! Happy to learn it was a town!

Bev, as I mentioned if you know any Swiss (I would always get stink eye if I called it German) politely stop someone in the village and show the picture. That’s what we did. It’s amazing what’s still there in these villages. The first person suggested another person who might know and after some debating, laughter and pointing, we found it and a distant relative that lived in to boot! My Mother-in- law was on cloud nine, not only had we found the house her mother was born in but discovered a Swiss relative. Good luck and have a wonderful trip!

Margie, Thanks. That is what I planned to do! I'll remember the Swiss vs German. My great great grandfather was from a large family so hopefully there will be a few remaining relatives.