6017 Ruswil - November 1975 No. 2
Dear members and friends of our family association
How fast time goes by! Our association was barely launched and it is already past its first year. It took a calm course. The board met for three meetings, which took place in Lucerne and Ruswil.
On the basis of the paid annual fees, the treasurer created a list of members. Unfortunately we had to find out that it still has large gaps. We refrain from sending out dunning letters for 1975, but decided to send the second circular to all addresses known to us. The enclosed payment slip is used to pay the annual fee for 1976 in the amount of CHF 10. Those who do not pay now will not receive a circular or invitations to further association meetings afterwards. However, the board hopes that the number of members will increase significantly.
The cashier gives the following overview of the state of the till:
Costs: Printing and mailing of the family chronicles Fr. 4 828 .--
Formation costs and other expenses Fr. 1,276 .--
Fr. 6 104 .--
So far Fr. 5,004 .-- paid
Remaining debt as of November 1, 1975 CH Fr. 1,100
In return for our debts, we still have a considerable remaining stock of family chronicles, which can still be obtained at a price of CHF 15 from our material manager Josef Stirnimann, Eintracht, 6017 Ruswil
All board work is done on a voluntary basis. Our family researcher Prof. Stirnimann has not yet received a fee for his immense work.
And now a clever idea from our association treasurer. We would like to enclose a kind of company directory of all business people belonging to our family association in our next newsletter. We are thinking of advertisements of various sizes at an extremely cheap price (minimum price around CHF 10). The format of the supplement would be the same as that of the newsletter. The action would have a dual purpose. The association members would be encouraged to do their shopping from their namesakes whenever possible. This would certainly promote the feeling of togetherness among our name bearers.
At the same time, we could cover at least part of our newsletter costs with the income from the advertisements. Interested parties should send their usual advertising texts to the cashier Anton Stirnimann-Schöb, Wesemlinstrasse 20, 6006 Lucerne, by April 1, 1976.
The president:
Hans Stirnimann-Haupt
The origin and meaning of the baptismal names
It was repeatedly suggested or requested that our newsletter would like to include a contribution about the first or baptismal names of our gender. We thought it useful to first explain the origin and meaning of our mostly Christian first names. This is followed by an overview of the baptismal names that have been common or particularly popular in our families for centuries. The Christian meaning and educational value of the first name has largely disappeared today. Perhaps the following remarks are helpful or suggestive for some parents when choosing their children's names.
The purpose of the name is to identify a person or thing and to distinguish them from others. For a very long time man was content with the first or first name. The Germanic peoples loved first names that recalled war and struggle or meant power and fame. Only since the 12th/14th century, the practice of adding a family name to the first name emerged in German-speaking countries. We are only interested in the first or baptismal names.
As in most areas of life, Christianity also had its peculiar, lasting effects in the area of naming. As early as early Christian times, it was common practice for adult baptized people to exchange their pagan names for those of the apostles or Old Testament prophets. The bishops, among them St. Ambrose of Milan (t397), urged the faithful to name the children of virtuous men and martyrs for the protection and intercession of these saints. In our regions the custom of naming the child at baptism after the name of a patron, i.e. patron saint, has been traceable since the 8th century. After the crusades (11th-13th centuries), which brought the West into contact with the in many respects superior culture of the Christian East, the names of the Greek, Latin and Old Testament saints appear in our country. John the Baptist has been the most common baptismal name among most peoples since the 11th century; its extraordinary popularity is explained by Christ's saying that John is the greatest of those born of women (Luke 7:28). Since the 14th century we have encountered the names Paul, Thomas, Philip, Simon, Nikolaus, Hieronymus, Abraham, Zacharias, Kaspar, Balthasar, Magdalena, Elisabeth and others; since the 15th century Anna, Barbara, Matthias, Andreas, Erasmus; even later Agnes, Katharina and Apollonia. In addition, the names of much venerated German saints are preserved: Ulrich, Bishop of Augsburg (t973); Konrad, Bishop of Constance (t975), to whose diocese almost all of German-speaking Switzerland belonged; Emperor Heinrich II (t1024), the founder of the Basel Minster, his wife Kunigunde; Otto Bishop of Bamberg (t1139; Mechtild von Hackeborn (t1299); Gertrud the Grosse (t1302). Out of awe, the names Maria and Joseph were avoided until around 1500. The names Jesus and Christ can only be found as baptismal names among the Spaniards and Greeks.
The church did not issue regulations on baptismal names until the 16th century. The reason for this was the bad custom that arose under the influence of the Renaissance and humanism, instead of the Christian names again that of the to introduce pagan antiquity. According to the Roman ritual of 1614, the priests should ensure that not obscene, ridiculous or names of idols or pagans are chosen, but rather those of saints who can serve the believers as models and intercessors.
The baptismal names of our family
Almost every generation has a preference for certain baptismal names, these are often passed on over a chain of several generations. Less common are the cases in which a characteristic baptismal name or several persisted for centuries. The latter is especially true for our family.
In the early days the name Heinrich (Heini) was predominant. Of the few bearers of the name documented between 1352 and 1447, four are called Heinrich (cf. the family chronicle, p. 2 ff.). It cannot be proven, but it is very likely, that these bearers of the name were related to one another or descended from one another. The name Heinrich meets us again in Triengen in 1532 and in Luthern in 1569.
For the period after 1500, let's first take a look at the Stirnemann in Gränichen in Aargau. For centuries Hans and Jakob have been the preferred baptismal names here; the first five ancestors of the family in the period from 1540 to 1712 are called Hans, followed by five ancestors named Jakob in the period from 1678 to 1924.
But the most impressive example of faithfulness to tradition with regard to baptismal names is offered by the Ruswil family. We remind you that Peter Stirnimann-Bircher (the grandson of Peter Stirnimann who acquired the Witelingen farm near Pfaffnau in 1534), the progenitor of the Ruswiler Stirnimann family, settled in Ruswil around 1610 with his three sons Hans, Peter and Hans-Jakob. We now make the astonishing statement that their descendants kept the baptismal names Peter, Hans and Hans Jakob (or just Jakob) faithful for almost 300 years. Up to 1900 we encounter these three names in almost every one of the numerous families, especially the Lower and Upper Roth, and especially Peter almost never goes missing. Hans has remained one of the most common baptismal names with us to this day. Over time, new names became common, such as Leonz and Joseph. In 1647 the Muri monastery in Freiamt received the body of the Roman martyr Leontius, whose worship and name spread from there. On November 1, 1671, the first child from the Lower Roth was baptized with this name (the year before, Peter Stirnimann, the father's brother, had entered the Muri monastery under the name Jost). Among the descendants of the aforementioned Leonz Stirnimann (Elisabeth Bühlmann), the name Leonz remained alive until the 19th century, one of them, Leonz Stirnimann (00M.A. Wüest), had each of his seven sons baptized with the name Leonz in addition to the given name. We did not hear the name Joseph until the end of the 17th century. One of the first with this name was the official ensign Joseph Stirnimann (00A. Hüsler), from whom the vast majority of those who live in Ruswil today or who are entitled to their homeland come from. Hardly any married couple named not one, but often several (2nd baptismal name!) Of their sons Joseph.
Sebastian is one of the preferred baptismal names of the Ruswil family and has been characteristic of the family in Vorder Etzenerlen for generations. This name became indigenous to our family through Sebastian Stirnimann-Helfenstein (t1673). The Roman officer and martyr Sebastian, pierced by arrows, was the patron saint against the plague, which was the horror of earlier centuries; Sebastian was also the patron saint of the riflemen and their brotherhoods. That at all times sons of our families, like most of the others in the parish, after whom the Ruswil patron saint Mauritius was named, goes without saying. - Children have always been named after their godparents. Examples of this are the names Augustin and Matthias. The name Augustin, which stayed with the families in Etzenerlen, but even more so with those in Roth, goes back to Dr. Theology Johann Augustin Mahler, parish assistant in Ruswil from 1695 to 1698 and later pastor and dean in Rothenburg; On December 2, 1702, Mahler gave birth to the penultimate son Johann Augustin of the official woman Peter St. and in 1725 was again the godfather of the first child of his baptized child. - The first bearer of the name Matthias was the sixth son of the official ensign Joseph Stirnimann (°° A. Hüsler), baptized on May 21, 1746; his godfather was Matthias Schmidli. Mathis remained the until the end of the 19th century characteristic name of the family in Hinter-Etzenerlen and a line of the Lower Roth, which branched out via Neuenkirch to Lucerne. - The names Walter, Adam and Hans Georg (Hans-Jörg) have also been popular since 1700. In the 19th century the names Leo, Michael, Kaspar, Niklaus, Eduard, Alois and others became common - The most common girls' names of the Ruswil family are Maria, Anna, Elisabeth, Barbara, Katharina, Margaritha (often several of these names together). Rosina and Magdalena used to be popular, and Adelheid are less common
Catacomb Saint Lucilla, venerated in the Ruswil parish church.
We congratulate
On March 31, 1975 in Kirchbühl ob Sempach Ernst Fuchs, von Horw, and Beatrice Stirnimann, from Ohmstal and Lucerne (daughter of our treasurer Anton Stirnimann-Schöb).
On April 7th 1975 Gregor Andreas Stirnimann married in Chur, Business economist, from Ruswil (son of Dr. jur. Theodor Stirnimann-Rey, Tamins / GR), and Angela Mary Hill Smith, from Middlessex, England.
Dr. Oec. Franz Xaver Stirnimann-Fuentes, from Horw, in Rüschlikon, was Appointed Honorary Consul of Peru in Zurich in October 1975. The office of the newly appointed consul extends to the cantons of Zurich, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Glarus, Zug, both Appenzell, St. Gallen, Graubünden and Thurgau. - Dr. Stirnimann is the son of Franz Xaver Stirnimann-Seiler, Horw, who was a member of our family committee until the family association was founded.
The board received knowledge of the following birthday celebrations:
11/07/74 Anton Stirnimann-Gründler, Etzenerlen, Ruswil, 85 Years
05/28/75 Franz Xaver Stirnimann-Seiler, Horw, 80 Years
02/17/75 Hans Stirnimann-Brun, Saalhof, Ruswil, 75 Years
10/18/75 Anton Stirnimann, master cooper, Rüediswil / Ruswil, 75 Years
03/17/75 Alois Stirnimann-Helfenstein, Vorderstrick, Ruswil, 70 Years
07/10/75 Prof. Dr. J. Stirnimann, Lucerne (our researcher family), 60 Years
We give our condolences
On October 2, 1975, Anton Stirnimann-Gründler died in Ruswil, Etzenerlen, at the age of 86. The immortalized was a capable farmer and beekeeper, an exemplary husband and father, a man who enjoyed general respect and appreciation for his upright, peaceful character and his Christian outlook. Father Stirnimann spent his whole life in Etzenerlen. We owe a lot of valuable information and memories about family history to his good memory.
The President asked for contributions, communications and suggestions for the newsletter. Inquiries regarding the history and genealogy of the family should be directed to Prof. Joseph Stirnimann, Dreilindenstrasse 26, 6006 Lucerne.
Enclosed: payment slip