6017 Ruswil - December, 1974 No. 1 

Dear members of the Stirnimann families, dear relatives and cousins,

On September 8, 1974, the association of the Stirnimann families was founded in Ruswil. On the occasion of this founding meeting, the attached statutes were also approved. In it, the purpose of our organization is described as follows: The association aims to cultivate the family and community spirit, research and publication of family history, the creation of a family archive and the promotion of family members.

At a time when people who live under the same roof often pass each other indifferently year in and year out, it seems important to us to consciously cultivate this sense of community. A first means of achieving the set goal is to publish a so-called circular, the first issue of which is in front of you. This small family magazine should appear at least once a year. It will be sent to all members of our association in the future.

This brings us to our most important concern for the time being, the recruitment of members. No association can develop a fruitful activity without a minimal financial backing. To this day our association has unfortunately more expenses than income. We have to pay the high cost of printing our family chronicle. We therefore ask you to use the attached payment slip and thus to pay the annual fee of CHF 10.- decided at the founding meeting. The first payment is valid for the calendar year 1975. Anyone who paid their contribution on September 8th can put the payment slip aside. Since almost all of the people who pay the annual subscription are called Stirnimann, we ask that you give the addresses as precisely as possible so that a clear list of members can be created and unpleasant mix-ups can be avoided later.

It is very important to us to bring together the different tribes and branches of the family, which are already represented on the board if possible, in our family association. The well attended and in The founding meeting, which ran in a brilliant mood, formed a speaking start for our work. Please grant us your support by joining the family association.

The president:

Hans Stirnimann-Haupt

How our family association was founded

The founding meeting on September 8, 1974 in Ruswil was an impressive experience for all participants. Teacher Hans Stirnimann-Haupt, under whose skillful direction the conference - like the one four years ago - took place, was able to greet around 180 people in the hall of the parish home. The members of the various branches of the Ruswil family (Untere Roth, Etzenerlen, Saal, Mittelarig, Ohmstal, Lochhof, Ober Merzenberg, Neuenkirch) were particularly numerous. The Stirnimann from Ettiswil-Gettnau and Altbüron were well represented, from the Stirnemann from Aargau, to the great delight of everyone, Roland Stirnemann, Lachen, and factory owner Othmar Stirnemann, Sempach, were present with their wives. A special welcome went to the ethnologist Dr. Hans Stirnimann, Friborg, respected researcher of the language and religion of the Pangwa mountain people in the south of Tanzania, and also Mme Suzanne Stirnimann-Barraud from Charenton near Paris (the father of her deceased husband emigrated from Ruswil to France 100 years ago), the representatives of the family association the Knüsel and the doctor Franz Xaver Stirnimann, Horw-Zurich.

The conference president recalled the successful family reunion almost exactly four years ago in Rüediswil; Even then, the establishment of a family association was considered and a committee commissioned to take the preparatory work in hand, today the project should be examined and a decision made. For the time being, the assembly listened to a lecture by Prof. Josef Stirnimann, Lucerne, on the "purpose of a family association". The unanimous applause with which the statements were thanked left no doubt about the attitudes of the audience. Since no discussion was requested, the vote could be taken immediately. This important act, the actual purpose of the conference, took barely a minute, because the 180-fold hand-up did not call a teller on the scene, the will to found the association was unanimous.

The statutes gave something more to talk about. It became the duty of the department secretary, Dr. Theodor Stirnimann, Chur, wrote the draft statutes read out in place of the one sent with the invitation. All eight articles along with two amendments were approved by the Assembly. The elections went just as smoothly. The board is composed as follows:

President: Hans Stirnimann-Haupt, teacher and church council president,

6017 Ruswil

1. Vice President: Prof. Dr. Josef Stirnimann, Dreilindenstr. 26, 6006 Lucerne

2. Vice President: Josef Stirnimann, teacher, Strick, 6017 Ruswil Actuary: Miss Heidy Stirnimann, telephone operator and clerk, Seehus, 6362 Stansstad 

Treasurer: Anton Stirnimann-Schöb, Spitalkassier, Wesemlinstr. 20,

6006 Lucerne

Material manager: Josef Stirnimann-Wälchli, host of Landgasthof Eintracht,

Rüediswil, 6017 Ruswil

Extended Board:

Roland J. Stirnemann-Bächi, forest engineer, Bauernhofstr. 6, 8853 Lachen Hans Stirnimann, machine draftsman, Worblaufenstr. 21, 3048 Worblaufen Willy Stirnimann, teacher, 6170 Schüpfheim

Auditors:

Hans Stirnimann-Bucher, Managing Director, Windbühl, 6017 Ruswil 

Erwin Stirnimann, businessman, Haldenrain 5, 6006 Lucerne

After the snack served by the Hotel Rössli, we drove to the main farms of the Ruswiler Stirnimann: Etzenerlen, Saal, Untere Roth. Most of them saw this beautiful landscape for the first time, removed from the noise and the hustle and bustle of the major traffic routes, and for centuries the cradle and home of the majority of our families. In Etzenerlen, on the playground in front of the small schoolhouse, the young linden tree donated by Josef Stirnimann-Wälchli, Rüediswil, was planted as planned; it should keep alive the memory of the hour of birth of our family association.

The vocal and musical performances contributed significantly to the success and the festive atmosphere of the conference. The orchestra of the Kurt Stirnimann family, Inwil, the 6th grade student choir, the student orchestra and the Children's costume group Ruswil, all under the direction of teacher Josef Stirnimann, received enthusiastic applause for their folk songs from German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino (some with play) accompanied by guitars and drums.

A splendid exhibition was shown in the small hall of the parish home: original and photographed documents on the history of the family from the 14th to 18th centuries, artistically designed family trees and a pedigree, the painting of the Fourteen Helpers from the Chapel in Etzenerlen, which was demolished 50 years ago (loaned for the occasion by the Sigrist family), by Maria Stirnimann, Lucerne, oil paintings and watercolors of the Ruswiler Stirnimann farmhouses.

Meaning and purpose of a family association

In the following the main ideas of the lecture given at the founding meeting are given.

Today we are witnesses to a newly awakening understanding of the past, a preference and appreciation of the furnishings and objects, be it furniture, pictures, clocks or whatever, that embody and remember the way of life and attitude to life of our grandparents and earlier times and generations. Closely connected with this phenomenon is another: the more spacious the world and the more serious the general threat, the more people seek security in the small groups. The endeavors to unite the European states to form a political and economic community resulted in the individual countries and peoples increasingly reflecting on their independence and values. Something similar can be observed in our immediate surroundings. There are today, like hardly ever before, a myriad of large and small associations, societies, clubs and whatever their name is, in which people with the same interests and ideals come together; Very often for them it is not just about maintaining sociability and interpersonal relationships, above all they seek support and protection against the increasingly pervasive threat and dissolution of all spiritual and moral orders and values, against spiritual uprooting, homelessness and loneliness.

The closest human ties and relationships, because they are natural, include those that are established through the descent from common ancestors, the ties of blood. The community of blood relatives who The clan should therefore be the first and strongest body in the state and community next to the family. Descent and ancestral inheritance are of decisive, often almost fateful, importance for us. All of his skills and Human beings receive assets, valuable and disadvantageous, from their ancestors through their parents. If we didn't have to be deeply interested in their origins, their curriculum vitae, the homeland and the region in which they lived, often following one another in a chain that spans centuries, founded their families, tilled the clods or pursued another profession, the fortunes of their community have determined and decided their lives.

Family, clan and home have always been part of the forces that give us support, protection and security or should normally give us. This realization is gaining strength again today, it is taking shape in family get-togethers and family associations. What exceeds the strengths or possibilities of an individual or a few, is possible for a strong and, above all, a legally organized community of like-minded people: the systematic research and especially the publication of the history and genealogy of a family (our family chronicle is only a preliminary, very summary overview), the creation of a family archive, the rescue and preservation of family antiquities (e.g. an ancestral home) etc. But above all, the cultivation of the family and community spirit, which our statutes, following the example of most family associations, should be given first priority. The fund to be invested must also serve this noble and beautiful goal. It would be in line with the best family tradition if our association were able to provide financial support to family members or orphans in need through no fault of their own. There may be times again when such help is very welcome. But until this is possible, we are dependent on the loyalty, the sense of community and, in addition to the annual contributions, the generosity of our members.

Josef Stirnimann

We congratulate

Franz Stirnimannn-Müller, Allschwil (son of our President), obtained a degree in economics from the University of Basel.

Franz Xaver Stirnimann-Fuentes of Horw, obtained his doctorate in economics from the St. Gallen School of Business.

Dr. theol. Josef Stirnimann, Lucerne, was commissioned by the Bishop of Basel to write a history of the diocese of Basel and was appointed titular professor of the Lucerne Faculty of Theology by the Government Council of the Canton of Lucerne.

The brochure "The Stirnimann families in the cantons of Lucerne and Aargau" was reprinted due to printing defects. You will receive a new one for the copy you bought (and keep the old one). If you want to make use of this option, please contact Josef Stirnimann, Eintracht, Rüediswil.

Inquiries regarding family tree should be directed to Prof. J. Stirnimann, Dreilindenstrasse 26, 6006 Luzern (please give name, place and date regarding birth, marriage and death of parents and grandparents).

The 4 coats of arms of the letterhead:

1 = Stirnimann of Ruswil (1673) 

2 = Stirnimann of the Suhrental (1884)

3 = Stirnimann of Ruswil (seal from approx. 1700) 

4 = Stirnimann of Gränichen (1660)

We would like to thank the editor Hans Kurmann, Lucerne, for his excellent reporting on our founding meeting in the "Vaterland", Luzerner Tagblatt and Anzeiger vom Rottal. - The Lucerne Latest News (property of the Ringier Verlag, Zofingen.) Rejected the report. 

The letterhead was drawn by Ms. Heidi Meyer-Schläpfer, graphic artist, Reckenbühlstr. 7, Lucerne.

The President asks for contributions and communications that interest the association.

Enclosures: Articles of Association, payment slip