Newsletter No. 24 Ruswil - March 1998

Contents

Preface 1

Swiss donations for the Storbeck Church 2

5722 Gränichen AG 4

The progenitors of the Stirnimann 6

Current 11

Various 12

Preface

Dear relatives and cousins

Dear members and friends of our family association

"Turn small joys into happy events in your life." This advice from the German writer Friedl Beutelrock (1889-1958) may initially not really fit into today's hectic and overwrought world, in which the small and seemingly insignificant hardly count anymore, in which many people run after bigger, mostly paid sensations to experience events that can be told about later. Even if buzzwords of our time such as "fusion" or "globalization" also show the trend towards even bigger things, I still believe that we must not lose ourselves in these tendencies. It may take a bit of courage, maybe a special instinct, maybe just open ears and eyes, so that one becomes more aware of those little things that can bring real joy in us. Our conference at the beginning of June 1999 in Gränichen could well be such a "small" joy. Gränichen, the ancestral home of the Stirnemann families, is briefly presented on pages 4 and 5. In the charming village we want to make our 25th anniversary a happy event, where you can celebrate a reunion with acquaintances, relatives, but certainly also many new people. On behalf of the board of directors, I cordially invite you all to Graenichen.

It is not uncommon for us to experience enough in life that joy and sorrow often stand side by side. So last November we received the sad news of the death of our dear board member Othmar Stirnemann. Othmar Stimemann had been on the board of our association since 1985. We really appreciate his active participation as a representative of the Stirnemann families and also his sense of art estimated. His life story, which was published in the newsletters, gave us an insight into his impressive life. We want to keep Othmar Stirnemann in joyful memories and are grateful to him.

With great regret, we had to take note of the resignation of our honored treasurer Alois Stirnimann-Zihlmann, Wolhusen, at the end of 1997. Alois Stirnimann was elected as auditor at the 5th family conference in Ruswil in 1984. As early as the spring of 1985, he took over the office of treasurer, as his predecessor left his position due to illness. I would like to thank Alois Stirnimann on behalf of the Board of Directors for around 14 years of work on the board and wish him all the best for the future. That such board work cannot be taken for granted is shown by the fact that, despite many phone calls and discussions, we have not yet been able to occupy the two empty board seats. I am happy to take the opportunity to encourage all interested people to get in touch. Because despite everything, the work on the board is always a little joy that can turn into a happy experience in life.

In accordance with the advice of Friedl Beutelrock, I now wish you many little joys in the end, in the hope that they will turn out to be happy events and I remain with warm regards.

The President 

Beat Stirnimann

Swiss donations for the Storbeck church

More than three hundred years ago, the Elector of Brandenburg had Bernese farmers fetched to plow his "desolate" land. Today the long-time relatives, who are only remembered by the family names, help with the renovation of their old church.

Neu-Ruppin, a small town, is a good hour north of Berlin in sandy Brandenburg. In the faded world of real socialism, it was known for a television factory, the largest tank training area and a 50,000-strong Soviet garrison. A few kilometers outside there is Storbeck, a farming village. Half a dozen gray, squat houses on the left, half a dozen on the right, in between the cobblestone street from the last century, which ends at the end of the village in a dusty tropic.

The war memorial is in the center of the village. The names of those who fell from the First World War are carved in the stone, those from the Second World War are painted on a plaque underneath. It was thanks to him, says Heinz Stirnemann, who is from Storbeck, and only became possible after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 14 names are on the board - "my childhood friends", as the 80-year-old Stirnemann says. A high toll for a village that, even in its best times, never had more than 300 inhabitants.

Heinz Stirnemann is the village chronicler. His Swiss name is not the only one in Storbeck. The Scherlers and Nussbaums are still here, and the last Wenger has only recently moved away. They are all descendants of the immigrants who were sent to distant Brandenburg by the city council of Bern at the end of the 17th century. Around 22,000 Swiss came to the Margraviate of Brandenburg between 1685 and 1700 - some of them were enterprising guys, some of them were well-stocked with talent, some of them were, "homeless" devils, which Bern dumped so far away. They settled 28 Brandenburg villages, Storbeck is one of them.

1865: Long voyage by ship

Not that they hadn't checked where the journey was going. When the "Great Prince" asked the friendly city of Bern for new peasant seeds after the end of the wars in Sweden in order to stimulate his exhausted country, the gracious gentlemen set conditions: freedom from all feudal burdens, no serfdom, no military service, free homecoming, own Bernese preachers . And before a deal was closed, the city doctor Albrecht Bauernkönig traveled to Brandenburg to inspect it. There his delegation found all kinds of hairs in the soup in the "Golmer Bruch" assigned to tillage: Too many Storze in the cleared land and houses built too close to one another.

After all, the Bernese were satisfied enough to recommend a posting; on April 30, 1685, the first 102 emigrants began the voyage on the banks of the Aare in the Nydegg, which took them to Potsdam via the Rhine, the Baltic and North Seas, the Elbe and the Havel. A second, larger wave traveled on foot in 1691, including the ancestor of Heinz Stirnemann. Storbeck, which had existed as a village but had become "desolate" in the long chaos of war, was repopulated by these immigrants.

Twelve subjects of Bern, most of them from today's canton of Aargau, are mentioned in the settlement deed of May 6, 1691. Because they were privileged and comparatively free, the Swiss immigrants were viewed with envy and initially kept to themselves, writes Heinz Stirnemann in his chronicle. How long the improvement lasted is unknown.

In 1735 there is no trace of the preachers imported from Bern, and in the Napoleonic wars the Bern-Storbeckers had to do military service like everyone else. Today, apart from the family name, nothing is reminiscent of Swiss origins.

Firing range on farmland

For nine generations, the Stirnemanns did not budge. They built in Storbeck - just like the other twelve emigrant families. Their farms owned between 56 and 72 hectares of land - too small to be transferred to the "peasant hands" by the Soviet occupiers as latifundist "Junkerland", but large enough to fall into the harassed category of "large farmers". How they fared with collectivization in the sixties, how they had to sell the land to the state for the firing range and why they are not getting it back today, is a different story. In any case, none of the Swiss descendants have taken up agriculture again today.

Heinz Stirnemann's field of activity is the church. In Storbeck it is a little church, an old half-timbered building from 1709, set back from the street, with a wooden tower, strict wooden benches and a brick floor. One of 1500 listed churches in Brandenburg in need of renovation. Renovations have been underway since 1993 and the building has been closed by the building authorities since the beginning of the year. This year the manna of the Brandenburg monument protection flows to Storbeck, but that is not enough. 660,000 marks are still necessary to bring the building up to date, a third of which is provided by the state, 7,000 marks have been raised by the 110 members of the Storbeck community.

Don't spoil it

The historical memory awakened by Heinz Stirnemann has now opened up another source: Switzerland is also doing good. Like 

Ruswil Stirnemann the first contacts with his ancestors in the Confederation - the ones in the GDR

Today the ties are solid, and thanks to an active Swiss embassy in Berlin, private Swiss donations are flowing to Storbeck. Above all, the Swiss companies operating in eastern Germany have not let themselves be ripped off. At an American-style "fundraiser" last month, the envoy Paul Widmer was able to announce that they had donated over 49,000 marks.

This closes the circle. The new building of the church had already been completed with 4,600 thalers of "money aid" from Bern. On the Storbeck bell it is still engraved today that it was "presented" to the emigrants of that time "by this generous" estate of Bern “.

Annotation

This article was published on October 17th, 1997 in the "Basler Zeitung" and was written by Johann Aeschtimerin, Storbeck.

(See also the volume 'Woselbst they probably recorded', 300 years of Swiss colonies in the Mark Brandenburg using the example of the Storbeck community, by Heinz Stirnemann, Storbeck).

5722 Gränichen AG

As announced at our last family meeting in Kaysersberg, our next meeting will take place in Gränichen next year. - In the following article we would like to briefly introduce you to this beautiful place, as the name "Stirnenman" was mentioned in a document in this community as early as 1540 and today represents the most numerous family in the community.

The name is documented for the first time in 1184 with “Granechon” in an umbrella letter for the Engelberg monastery in Central Switzerland. There are different opinions about the meaning and origin of the village name. One possible interpretation is derived from the Latin “granaries”, which means something like granary.

History

This small patch of land was certainly inhabited by people as early as Roman times. The many springs and watercourses also offered ideal conditions. Various excavations and finds bear witness to this. About 500 years ago, the Bernese conquered the Aargau and made the community a subject. At the time of the Reformation (1525-1531) the church was the servant of the state. Under the Bernese Gränichen had an official grain house, a mill and an inn. In 1798, the French revolutionary armies freed the community from the bailiffs. Gränichen was assigned to the canton of Aargau.

Until the beginning of the 19th century, Gränichen was almost exclusively a rural settlement. The cotton industry found its way in as early as 1800 and in 1904 the Wynental Railway was built, which was of great importance for the entire valley. Little by little, craft businesses grew into industries, so that today a considerable part of the workforce can go to work in their own village. Recently there has been a steady increase in the population thanks to heavy building activity.

Architectural monuments

The church, built in 1663, is a major part of the early Reformed church building in the canton of Aargau. It is a choir-less rectangular building with strong corner pillars, two-part tracery windows, a western front tower that ends in curved clock gables and a pointed roof turret. Excellent furnishings with important grisaille paintings and a cycle of coats of arms. 1978/79 complete restoration.

The rectory was built in 1580 and redesigned in Baroque style in 1719. Broad plastered building under Gerschild roof with rounded gables from 1908. Property of the parish. The Vogthaus on Lochgasse, also called "Chitzhaus". Built in 1674 as the Bernese Lower Bailiwick its accentuated asymmetrical fronts and the steeply curved Gerschild roof is one of the best post-Gothic secular buildings in Aargau. Inside there are two paneled rooms with early baroque splendid buffets. 1955-1957 total renovation. Private property.

Surfaces

Total area 1723 ha

Forest area 925 ha

Share of local citizenship 721 ha

Heights above sea

Highest point 635 m

Lowest point 402 m

Population (as of 1991)

Total 5820 (100%)

Of these, 5078 Swiss (87%)

Foreigners 741 (13%)

Evangelical Reformed 3814 (66%)

Liebegg Castle was the original seat of a family of Kyburg-Habsburg servants. The former double castle was replaced by new buildings between the 16th and 19th centuries. On the eastern retaining wall of the garden there are grave slabs from the 18th century.

Culture

The local history association has set up a museum (an interesting local history collection) in the Oberdorf schoolhouse, the oldest surviving schoolhouse. A generously endowed community library is available to the residents free of charge.

More than 50 clubs with a wide variety of interests offer a wide range of leisure activities. For example, various sports facilities, leisure workshop, forest nature trail, forest house Susten, various fire pits and resting places to use. The youth festival, which takes place every four years, is an integral part of life in the village.

Industry, trade, traffic

The once simple farming village is long gone. Today the face of the village is shaped by a whole range of industrial and handicraft businesses, which offer the residents a wide variety of employment opportunities. The most important large companies include Gebr. Zehnder AG (formerly known for the famous "Zehndervelo"), a radiator and measuring device manufacturer with various operations throughout Europe, and Jowa AG, a large bakery that supplies Migros branches in Central Switzerland and part of the middle lands as well as for the production of frozen baked goods for all of Switzerland.

Today there are only about 30 full-time farms and a large number of efficient craft and service companies. Hunger and thirst can be quenched in 11 inns and restaurants.

The public road network covers approx. 44 km. There are also about 6 km of private roads and about 64 km of forest paths. Public transport is also of greater importance. Today, the Wynental and Suhrental railroad offers travelers good connections and short travel times with their comfortable regular schedule.

The progenitors of the Stirnimann of Ruswil and Neuenkirch

(Continuation)

Walter Meyer and Elisabeth Stirnimann

In 1668, judge Walter Meyer, who moved from Luternau near Buttisholz, acquired the two Upper-Huprächtigen farms in Nottwil above Lake Sempach, on the northern slope of the Nottwil Mountain, with an area of ​​200 Jucharten land and 28 Jucharten forest - around 83 hectares according to today's figures for the price of 6,500 guilders. This amount was the greater part of the trousseau or dowry that the wealthy farmer Hans-Jakob Stirnimann gave to his only daughter Elisabeth, who married Walter Meyer in the same year, in the Rot in Ruswil. According to the law applicable at the time, Walter Meyer set up a "surcharge" on both of his farms. At that time, a surcharge was used to describe a type of validity that could only be established by husbands on their properties for women's property obtained from them.

As already noted, the 6,500 guilders were not the bride's entire trousseau. As her twin brother, Father Jost Stirnimann, monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Muri in Freiamt in Aargau, reports in his diary (page 54), "Her main property, that is, property that she inherited from her father and mother, and from me, was Husband Walter Meyer spent 10'076 guilders, 23 Schilling and 3 Batzen", according to today's value a full 2 ​​million Swiss Francs.

Nottwil, where Huprächtigen is located, has only had its own parish since 1801. Before that, Nottwil belonged to the large parish of Sursee. Walter Meyer and Elisabeth Stirnimann therefore married in the parish church of Sursee on October 1, 1668.

The large farmer Walter Meyer provided the office of judge, i.e. the chairman of the village court, in the village Ruswil, to which the honorable one belonged. As such, he decided with the governor or his deputy, the official man, in the last instance on matters that did not exceed the value of 99 guilders. The judges, along with the jury, were also the official Appraisers of the land and liable ones with their assets for the correctness of the estimate.

The Meyer-Stirnimann couple had an only son named Joseph and two daughters Anna Maria and Elisabeth, apparently his only children who grew up with the high infant mortality rate at the time. Walter Meyer died on May 7, 1686. His wife's brother, the Benedictine Jost Stirnimann, reports in his diary (May 5, 54) how the responsible officials, namely the official Johannes Wüöst of Pfaffenschwand in Ruswil, the Kirchmeier of Sursee, i.e. Jakob Bucher, the Ruswil official clerk Jost Süöss and some cousins, among them especially Peter Stirnimann from Etzenerlen (the son of Sebastian Stirnimann) and the young Peter Stirnimann in Rot made an inventory of the active and passive holdings of the late Walter Meyer. There was no division because the widow and her children took over the housekeeping and the entire business, in the opinion that she could manage this with the help of her bailiffs, i.e. assistants. About two years after the death of her husband, the widow entered into a second marriage with Bernhard Dobmann, the previous master servant in Upper-Huprächtigen. It can be seen from the Ruswil District Bailiff's files that this connection, probably mainly due to the great differences in class, was anything but pleasant. Serious tensions and arguments broke out between Dobmann and his wife's relatives. On March 28, 1689, the baptismal register of the Sursee parish records one child from this marriage, namely the daughter Elisabeth. The mother died on October 6th, 1692. On November 5th of the same year the inventory and division of her estate took place in Upper-Huprächtigen. The division protocol names the four children who were represented as minors by their guardians as heirs. The two farms with a total of 212 Jucharten open land and around 28 Jucharten forest, two houses, barns and storehouses were "honored by the jury, and the total value of this item was 19,500 guilders." The leasing of the two farms or the appointment of a guardian who is of legal age for Children who had taken responsibility for the two farms were apparently out of the question. It was decided to sell.

Hans-Jakob Hüsler

On December 12, 1692, Peter Stirnimann of Etzenerlen, jury member of the court (from 1692 official man) and his cousin, the tax expert Peter Stirnimann of the Upper-Rot, both guardians of the heirs, sold the two Upper-Huprächtigen farms to the three brothers Hans-Jakob, Jakob and Klaus Hüsler of Rickenbach in Michelsamt for the price of 26,000 guilders and 150 guilders tip According to today's figures, that is over 5 million francs. The Hüsler, who mainly lived in Rickenbach, had been one of the leading and wealthiest civil servant families of the Michelsamt since the 16th century.

Hüsler Coat of Arms

Of the three brothers mentioned, only Hans-Jakob Hüsler moved to Upper-Huprächtigen. In 1709 and 1713 he expanded his property by acquiring three further farms in what is now Middle- and Lower-Huprächtigen with his four sons Hans-Jakob, Hans-Martin, Joseph and Hans-Joseph for a total of 7,750 guilders. It should be noted here that the eldest son Hans-Jakob was married to Anna Maria Stirnimann, the only daughter of the farmer and tax manager Peter Stirnimann from Upper-Rot.

The Hüslers did not forget the services they had been rendered by the Stirnimann, they remained closely connected to the Stirnimann in the Rot and in Etzenerlen for several generations, above all through baptism and company sponsorships and by helping one another with divisions and purchase contracts as witnesses, advisers and guardians.

Three marriages

Three marriages were also concluded between members of the two families. The first of these marriages has already been mentioned, namely the one that the eldest son of the same name of Hans-Jakob Hüsler entered into with Anna Maria Stirnimann of the Upper-Rot on January 27, 1731 in the parish church of Sursee.

The most important of the three marriages was that of the official ensign Joseph Stirnimann, farmer in Rear-Etzenerlen, and Anna Hüsler of Middle-Huprächtigen, which I’m going to be talking about below.

The third marriage was made by Joseph Stirnimann (1749-1817) on April 22, 1793 with 19-year-old Maria Agatha Hüsler in Nottwil. The bridegroom was the son of Joseph Stirnimann, a farmer in Mittelarig in Nottwil, and Anna Egli. The bride was the daughter of Joseph Hüsler and Regina Muri, who moved from Little-Huprächtigen to Figlisberg high above Nottwil in 1771.

Official Ensign Joseph Stirnimann and Anna Hüsler

The official ensign Joseph Stirnimann was the first-born, eldest son of the official man Jakob Stirnimann, who was mentioned in last year's newsletter. The baptismal register of the parish of Ruswil reports his baptism on March 31, 1706. This was one of the first of our family to receive the baptismal name or first name Joseph. From then until recently, Joseph remained one of the most common and popular baptismal names of the Ruswil Stirnimanns. The same applies to the names Peter, Johann / Hans, Leonz, Sebastian, Jakob and Moritz.

Joseph Stirnimann married on February 22, 1734 in the parish church of Ruswil Anna Hüsler, one of the two daughters of Hans-Martin Hüsler and Anna Maria Bucher of Middle-Huprächtigen. Hans-Martin Hüsler was the second son of Hans-Jakob Hüsler in Upper-Huprächtigen. Hans-Martin and his brother Joseph jointly managed the three properties acquired in the years 1709 and 1713 in Middle and Lower-Huprächtigen. Built in 1734 by Joseph Hüsler in Middle-Huprächtigen the stately baroque farmhouse, which was restored to its original splendor in 1990 through a thorough restoration.

House of the Hüsler in Middle-Huprächtigen in Nottwil

On the gable of the main front you can see the coats of arms of the Hüsler and the Bächler. In the coat of arms of the Hüsler are the initials I and H (= Joseph Hüsler), in the coat of arms of the Bächler the initials V and B (= Verena Bächler, i.e. the wife of Joseph Hüsler). This is the sure proof that Joseph Hüsler was the builder of this elaborate house. When it was divided up, probably after the father's death in 1717, Hans-Martin Hüsler, Joseph's older brother, received or took over the Middle-Huprächtigen farm with its magnificent house.

The house, built by Joseph Hüsler in Mittler-Huprächtigen in 1734, is very similar in its spatial structure and in its artistic furnishings to the original house of Stirnimann in 1705, which was expanded by Leonz Stirnimann the Rot in Ruswil. We have every reason to believe that the only daughter of tax manager Peter Stirnimann, who grew up in Rot, recommended the architect or builder of the parent house in Rot to her husband Hans-Jakob Hüsler and his sons.

Parent house of the Stirnimann in the Rot in Ruswil