Peter Stirnimann ⁶⁸

  General Notes:

FROM Denkmalpflege im Kanton Luzern 1988


On the north side of the Ruswil Mountains, approx. four kilometers northwest of the village of Ruswil and approx. two kilometers southeast of the village Buttisholz, is the rural group of farms "In the Rot" (In the Red) in a scenic, delightful, protected and fruitful valley, flanked on the south and west by the Red Dog Ditch Forest. The farm "Unter Rot" with the powerful house and the old cheese factory is the core area of the former farm "In the Rot", which was fief-property of the monastery Muri.3 Since when and on which conditions the fief-farmers received the full vested titles, is not well-known. It was one of the large and richly wealthy farms with influential families from the period of the mid 15th up to the mid 18th centuries in central Switzerland.

The farm and field-name comes from a near by brook, "the Rot (Red)", which is in the area of the upper Säliwalds on the Ruswil Mountains. The "Geißbach (Goat-brook)" and "Eselbach (Donkey brook)" springs rise and join to form the Rot. The two brooks flow north and south respectively by the real estate "Unter Rot" and unite below in the Red Forest that is adjacent to the "Rot". The Luzern Red Valley also received its name from this red brook, which flows below Ettiswil into the Wigger.4 The correct form of the farm name is different in various sources: In the Roth, Us of the Roth, Rot, Root, Rodt and Rott.

The name Rot, Roth or Root frequently defines a larger or smaller farm which is because of a brook or a similar settlement which was situated in the Canton Luzern.

The origin the name has different interpretations. For one, it is of Celtic origin and would mean "the run", others explain the name with red water, which can flow in the brook.5

3. The Farm And The Families Stirnimann

From 1610 to 1821 seven generations of the family Stirnimann lived on the farm in the Rot. These families had, as evidence from the following summary is largely economic, cultural and political influence in the district Ruswil. The farm in the Rot and the farmhouse in the today's "Unter Rot" became the actual master seat of the families Stirnimann in the Cantons Luzern and Aargau.15

3.1. First Generation: Peter Stirnimann-Bircher

Peter Stirnimann (1560?-1620), the son of Heinrich and Kunigunde Sinner of Luthern, acquired the farm in the Rot in 1610. He sold his former real estate in Luthern around the year 1610 to Jakob Luchs. A process between seller and buyer had preceded this sales, where the Mayor and Advisor of Willisau had decided in favor of Peter Stirnimann.16 The reasons, conditions and relations, which caused Peter Stirnimann to abandoned the farm and start over with his family on the farm in the Rot in Ruswil, is not well-known. The fact that his wife Adelheid Bircher originated from the wealthy and politically leading family of this valley, might have facilitated the acquisition of this farm for him.

Peter Stirnimann had his domicile in Ruswil on the farm in the Rot since approx. 1610 with his family, his wife Adelheid Bircher and their children, as well as, his mother Kunigunde Sinner. Witnesses to it the entry of the family from 16 April 1610 in the second year donation book of the parish church at Sursee.17

The oldest, non-church document of the family on its new domicile in the Rot is a responsible-letter from 5 February 1613, which the Luzern City Clerk Renward Cysat (1545 to 1614) wrote and issued.18 From this responsible-letter it follows that Peter Stirnimann with his son Hans acquired the farm in Ruswil to the extent of 20 Jucharten country and 2 Jucharten forest for 950 guldens in cash.

The marriage partners lived to the end of their lives on the farm in the Rot. The book of Sursee announces the death of Peter 1620 and of its wife Adelheid Bircher 1629.19

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Property: 160 Jucharten farm, 1610, Roth, Luzern, Switzerland. ¹⁰

Peter married Adelheid Bircher in Luthern. (Adelheid Bircher was born in Buttisholz, Luzern, Switzerland ¹⁰ and died on 3 Apr 1629 in Ruswil, Luzern, Switzerland ¹⁰.)