| The name Bircher, written and spoken Birrer since the middle of the 18th century, derives from the Birche farm in Roggliswil in the Willisau district. The family appears there early in a leading position. The brothers Hans, Heinz and Chuenzli (= diminutive of Konrad) Bircher, free farmers in Roggliswil, appear as judges at the court in Pfaffnau in 1380 and 1393; Hans Bircher is Weibel zu Pfaffnau in 1400 and there on behalf of Countess Elsbeth von Montfort chairman of the court (1). The progenitor of the Bircher des Luthern Valley, who came from Roggliswil or Pfaffnau, is Hans Bircher ("Henslin Bircher, Birchers Sohn im Mos"), who lived on September 17, 1414 with Uli Hugi from Ritter Götz of Hünenberg at Waldsberg Castle near Luthern near Twing and bought ban, ie the lower jurisdiction, the fodder and the tavern, ie Inn of the valley, (2). Hans Bircher sold these rights to the city of Lucerne as early as 1421, with the exception of the tavern (3). Subsequently, the Birchers remained the most politically influential and leading family in the valley for centuries; up to the French Revolution, they provided the weibel six or seven times, who, like his colleagues in the other five districts of the Willisau office, was responsible for collecting taxes (4 ). The patrician family Bircher of the city of Lucerne, which has been documented since 1500 and died in 1791, from which a large number of important personalities deserving of church and state emerged, also came from Luthern and Pfaffnau (5). |
Kaspar Bircher
Kathrin Bättig (Bircher)
Birth