The following is a translation of the original book, "Die Familie Stirnimann In Den Kantonen Luzern Und Aargau" written by Prof. Joseph Stirnimann in Swiss-German. I have tried to have the translations as accurate as possible. However, there is no guarantee of this accuracy. Walter Sterneman
THE FAMILY STIRNIMANN
IN THE CANTONS
LUZERN AND AARGAU
by
Joseph Stirnimann
This text is based on the lecture that the author gave on the occasion of the first conference of our families on September 6, 1970 in Ruswil. Before a publication came into question, as the participants and numerous interested parties wanted, the results at that time, which were mainly limited to the beginnings in the Lucerne area and to the Ruswil family, had to be completed by further research. First of all, the canton of Aargau was to be included in the investigation. The aim was to find out where the family lived and migrated in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The most important sources that were questioned were the numerous land registers, i.e. the registers of the properties and income of the former spiritual landlords, who have been wealthy in today's cantons of Lucerne and Aargau since their founding: the canons of Beromünster and Zofingen (Aarau State Archives), the Benedictine monastery Muri in Freiamt (Aarau State Archives and Kollegium Samen), the Cistercian Monastery of St. Urban (Lucerne State Archives). The Solothurn State Archives (see list of sources), the Sursee, Willisau and Zofingen city archives and numerous parish archives were also consulted. The research in the Bernese archives had to be postponed until later.
The results so far exceed all expectations. The most important finding: Since 1531, seven bearers of our name moved within a few years - as can be assumed, with their families - from Aargau, which had become Protestant, to the northern canton of Lucerne. This is how the tradition, which has survived in most of the clans of the Lucerne dynasty to this day, that their ancestors immigrated to the Luzern area at the time of the Reformation, found its late documentary confirmation. There is no doubt about the common origin of the Luzern Stirnimann and the Aargau Stirnemann. For the time being, the question remains unanswered as to when and under what circumstances the namesake from the Lucerne region, which has been documented in Ürkheim, Argovia since the middle of the 15th century, came there.
One of the most gratifying discoveries of recent years is the Latin diary of the Ruswil-born Benedictine Jost Stirnimann (1654-1706), which is kept in the archives of the Muri monastery (Kollegium Samen) and is hardly known outside of the specialist community - one, a welcome source for the chronicle and genealogy of the family - as well as two, splendid glass paintings with the coat of arms of the religious, also kept in seeds.
It was the author's endeavor to record all major clans and tribes of the cantons of Lucerne and Aargau with their most well-known representatives (living persons are not mentioned) and, if possible, to classify them in the genealogical context. The author is grateful for further information, additions and any corrections.
The most detailed is the Ruswil family, the most numerous and well-researched of all. The clan history expands here to the history of the farm and property. Please refer to the family tables at the end.
The bosses and the staff of the various archives made my work easier with their courteous help and many valuable tips and advice. Librarians, professionals, relatives, and namesakes supported my research with valuable information. The most welcome service was done by Dr. Alfred von Speyr, Hergiswil NW, by including this little family story in the journal "Der Schweizer Familienforscher - Le Généalogiste Suisse", which he edited. The Wallimann book printing company, Beromünster, did everything to make the special print appealing. We would like to thank everyone, both named and unnamed, who contributed to the success and appearance of this publication.
Luzern, in Dezeniber 1973 The author
Contents overview
Most important unprinted sources IX
Printed sources and literature XII
The Stirnimann Family in the Cantons of Lucerne and Aargau
Guests, Ausburger and Burgers of the City of Lucerne
Feudal farmers of the St. Leodegar Monastery
In the service of Lucerne. . .
Ürkheim
Safenwil
Zofingen
Zetzwil
Graenichen
Aarburg
Immigrated to the Luzern Area at the Time of the Reformation
The refugee cross
In the Wiggertal and the surrounding area
Buchs
Uffikon
Feline. . . .
Langnau. .
Triengen. . .
Witelingen. . .
Schötz . .
Reiden
Knutwil
Neuenkirch
Pfaffnau, Altbüron, Großdietwil, Ettiswil, Gettnau
Family Tables
Map: The oldest farms of the Stirnimann family from Ruswil
Main unprinted sources
FaA Familienarchiv PrA Propsteiarchiv
KlA monastery archive StA state archive
PfA Pfarrarchiv StiA Stiftsarchiv
Parish Archives: Altishofen, Buttisholz, Ettiswil, Luthern, Neuenkirch, Nottwil, Oberkirch, Pfaffnau, Reiden, Ruswil, St. Urban, Sursee, Uffikon, Willisau, Wolhusen: Baptism, marriage, death, year books, brotherhood rags and, if available, Arable.
FaA Am Rhyn, Geißenstein, Lucerne
Perg document from April 20, 1361: Heinrich Stirnimann returns moss to the provost of the Benedictine monastery in Lucerne.
PrA Beromünster
No. 95-106: Chamber books 1514-57.
No. 193: Land registry office Willisau 1588-1690.
No. 506: Chamber Book 1535.
No. 716: Chamber book 1552.
No. 749: Old protocol on case and treasure trove 1570-1648.
No. 1053: Register of Gülten and Interest People 1544-98.
StiA Beromünster
Vol. 45: Adjustment of some Stüftsgüetter 1536.
Vol. 192: Urbar 1683.
StA Lucerne
Council minutes
Cod. 590: Directory of the ground interest, so a pastor in Ruswil are due 1640.
Cod. 795: Toe books of all 26 toes of a high princely house of God, Mury 1724-1741.
Cod. 2100: Register of the court and country settlers in the instead of Lucerne country starting in 1583.
Cod. 2700: Land rent and valuable property of a pastor in Ruswil, adjusted March 23 and 24, 1640.
Cod. 4115: Purchase record of purchases made in the Lucerne governorates and sales during 1596-1621.
Cod. 4135: court record of the Ruswil bailiff 1676-92.
Cod. 4140: court record of the Ruswil bailiff 1692-1715.
PA 18293/885 Recognition by the mayor and council of the city of Lucerne in the legal dispute between the Beromünster Abbey and the heirs of Peter Stirnimann zu Etzenerlen (Hertzen-Erlach) in the Ruswil office (April 17, 1670) - copy of the in the StiA St. Leodegar, Lucerne, kept document.
KIA Muri-Gries (StA Aarau)
No. 6084 List of validities that Sebastian and Hans Stirnimann gave the lobl. Handed over the Muri church to her brother Jost Auskauf (1673).
KIA Muri-Gries (college seeds)
Ms 399, Pp 40: P. Jodocus Stirnemann, Annale breve (Diary of P. Jost Stirnemann OSB) Purchase letter from Fr. Jost Stirnemann (March 20, 1673).
P. Leodegar Mayer (1687-1761), Book of Arms of the Muri Monastery.
PfA RuswiL
Account book of the parish 1636-1744 (Contains the accounts of the Kirchmeier, chapels and clergy caretakers with a complete list of their names, which are made every two years).
Municipality of Ruswil
Partitions of the municipality of Ruswil: since 1673.
KLA 5 :. Urban (StA Lucerne)
Document 603/12043: Judicial decision by the mayor and advice to Willisan regarding the hay tenth of Peter Stirnimann in Witelingen near Pfaffnau (December 5th 1548).
No. 4a: White land register, so-called white book (mid 15th century).
No. 4b: Black land register, so-called black book.
No.59: Land of Lucerne Area 1562.
Nr.60: Urbar of Lucerne area 1593.
No 85: Knuwiler Urbar 1570.
No.106: Bursariat, Ehrschatz summarized, 1443-1680.
No. 107a: Bursariat, Ehrschatzrodel 1650-1700.
No. 606: Interest toboggan of the parish church Knutwil 1555.
No. 716: Invoices from the Sursee-Knutwil Schaffnerei 1521-77.
No.720: Zehnten toboggan from Knutwil 1588.
StA Solothurn
Interest toboggan run by Gösken and Wartenfeis in 1484.
Urbar Gösgen 1528.
Land of the Gösken rule in 1536.
Urbar Gösgen 1540.
City of Sursee
1. Archive of the mortgage law firm Ruswil:
Purchases by the municipality of Ruswil from 1668 to 1938.
Gülten of the municipality of Ruswil, from 1677 to 1939.
2. Court record of the Ruswil bailiff 1715-58.
Court record of the Landvogtci Ruswil 1759-c. 1880. (The first two volumes in the StA Lucerne).
3. Purchase record from the Ruswil office 1755-90.
StadtA Wiliisau (PfA Willisau)
Council book, since 1567 (volume 1559-67 seems lost).
Official account book, since 1569.
Judicial record of the Landvogtei Willisau, since 1590.
Hand change protocol, since 1629.
StiA Zolin gene (StA Aarau)
No. 1697: Interest-Land Register, c. 1531.
No 1739: Land interest and invoice sled 1501-30.
No 1740: Landzinsbuch 1, c. 1521.
No 1741: Soil Zinsbuch II, 1523 and 1531 (= basic stock), 1531-36, 1543, 1550-51, 1557.
Printed sources and literature
Aarg. Document, 10th part: The documents of the Zofingen monastery archive (edited by G. Boner): Aargauer documents, 10th part. Aarau 1945.
Aarg. Document, 15th part: The documents of the city and office of Aarburg (edited by G. Boner): Aargauer documents, 15th part. Aarau 1965.
Bättig: Richard Bättig, The Citizenship of the City of Lucerne (1252-1798): Gfr. 77 (1922) 1-96.
Boesch: Gottfried Boesch, Sempach in the Middle Ages. Legal and economic history study of the city's foundation and city constitution. Zurich 1948.
Egli: Gotthard Egli, The Development of the Judicial System in Lucerne. Lucerne 1912.
Feller: Richard Feller, Geschichte Berus, 2nd vol .: From the Reformation to the Peasants' War, 1516 to 1653. Bern 1953.
Frickhardt: Joh. Jak. Frickhardt, Chronicle of the City of Zofingen, 2nd volume, Zofingen 1812.
Gfr .: Geschichtsfreund, messages from the Historical Association of the 5 Places. Einsiedeln and Stans 1844 ff.
HBLex .: Historical-Biographical Lexicon of Switzerland, 7 vols. + Supplementary volume. Neuchâtel 1921-34.
Henggeler; Rudolf Henggeler, The season of slaughter of the confederates according to the Swiss yearbooks: Sources for Swiss history, N.F., 2nd department, 3rd volume Basel 1940.
Kaufmann: Hans Kaufmann, The Book of the Dead of the former Franciscan monastery Werthenstein: Ztschr. F. Switzerland. Church history 52 (1958) issue 1, 5. 87-110.
Merz: Walther Metz, The documents of the Zofingen City
Archives. Aarau 1915.
Reinle, art monuments: Adolf Reinle, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Luzern, Vol. 5: The office Willisau with St. Urban. Basel 1959.
Reinle, Folklore: Adolf Reinle, Folklore in the Lucerne Art Monuments: Switzerland. Archives for Folklore 51 (1955) 93 ff.
Saladin: Guntram Saladin, Upper Lucerne family names: Gfr. 84 (1929) 109-142.
Salat: Chronicle of the Swiss Reformation from its beginnings up to and including Ao. 1534, written by Johann Salat on behalf of the Catholic localities: Archive for the Swiss Reformation History. Published at the event of the Switzerland. Pius Club. 1. Vol. Solothurn 1868.
Schacher: Joseph Schacher, immigrated to the Lucerne area at the time of the Reformation ?: Gfr. 107 (1954) 173-205 and 108 (1955) 127-161.
Schauenberg-Ott, Schauenberg-Ott C., The register of the current and deceased bourgeois families of the city of Zofingen began since it was accepted into civil law, along with a list of all genders since 1200 and notes about Zofingen in the 19th century. Edited from official sources by C. Schauenberg-Ott. Zofingen 1884. Ms. Stadtarcbiv Zofingen.
Segesser: Anton Philipp von Segesser, Legal History of the City and Republic of Lucern. 4 vols. Lucerne 1850-58.
Weber: P. X. Weber, The oldest tax rod in Lucerne (1352): Gfr. 62 (1907) 185-252.
Wey: Franz Rudolf Wey, Die Deutschordens-Kommende Hitzkirch, their twinge Buttisholz, Menznau-Geiß, Oberreins, ch, Tannenfels and the parish Altishofen incorporated into the order. Lucerne 1923.
Zimmerlin: Franz Zimmerlin, Zofingen, monastery and city in the Middle Ages. Zofingen 1930.
Characters and abbreviations
* before 1834 = baptized
after 1834 = born
m. married
+ died
Jzb year book
The Stirnimann Family in the Cantons of Lucerne and Aargau
With special consideration of the Ruswil tribe
It is nice to follow the traces of one's gender; for the genealogical tree of a family is to the individual what the history of the fatherland is to the whole people.
Esaias Tegnér
The origins of the family referred to below lie in the Lucerne area. The first news about them comes from the middle of the 14th century. It was the time when the up-and-coming young city on the outflow of the Reuss, under the leadership of its far-sighted mayor Peter von Gundoldingen, directed all its efforts towards one goal, to dissolve from the rule of the House of Austria and to achieve full state independence. At first, Lucerne became more closely associated with the three Waldstätte with which it swore the perpetual alliance in 1332. In addition, the city had to find ways and means to carry out its political plans. The most important of these means was that Lucerne, like Bern and Zurich, included the residents of neighboring and distant communities in castle law and thus bound these communities to itself. Because these burgers lived outside the city walls, they were called Ausburger; the simultaneous imperial law calls them Pfahlburger. The Ausburger belonged to the city, were members of the urban community and enjoyed its advantages: they lived under the protection of the city and were exempt from customs duties.
On the other hand, the Ausburger were partly subject to municipal jurisdiction, they had to go into the field in armed conflicts with the Burgers and had to make their contribution in the event of extraordinary taxes. Originally the Ausburger only differed from the established citizens in terms of their place of residence and the resulting special rights, but they were allowed to move to the city at any time and become established citizens.
The city gained a foothold in the country through the naturalization of local residents. The Ausburger promoted the political goals of the city, they created the conditions for the formation of the later city-state. The admission of Austrian subjects from the near and far into castle law and the thereby expressed intention to wrest the city with its lucrative tariffs from Austrian rule, led Lucerne in 1332 into incessant arguments with its sovereigns, the dukes of Austria, and finally to the Sempach war ( July 9, 1386). The political importance of the Ausburger was only lost when the city became free of the empire in 1418
Legally worse off than the Ausburger were the guests (hospites). A guest was anyone who stayed at the site without entering into castle law. The relationship between the guests and the burgers in Lucerne was regulated by old statutes. The guest did not enjoy the same benefits as the burger and Ausburger
Guests, Ausburger and Burgers of the City of Lucerne
The Lucerne State Archives keep a tax role from the city from 1352, the oldest that has been preserved to us 3. The role records the names of the citizens, Ausburger, guests and properties, of which in June 1352 an extraordinary wealth tax applied ( 2 pfennigs per pound). The tax item to be paid is attached to each name, and in individual cases also the amount paid. At the same time, we have the oldest directory of the Burgers, Ausburger and guests of Lucerne in front of us. Among the guests and properties in the parish of Horw is mentioned:
Heinis Stirnimanns child, schilling 16, debit 9 schilling 5
Heini Stirnimann died, probably not too long after, perhaps from the plague of 1349. Therefore, the tax is levied on his child, probably a son. The tax code names a larger number of children, sons and daughters who are called on to tax instead of their parents. Heini Stirnimann is one of the four most possible of Horw's 53 taxpayers. His tax amount is 16 schillings, that is 192 pfennigs (1 schilling = 12 pfennigs). Of this, 9 shillings have already been paid. Since 2 pfennigs per pound of assets are drawn, Heini's fortune is estimated at 96 pounds. Two examples may illustrate the purchase value of the money at that time: in the 14th century a cow cost 12 to 20 shillings, a cattle around 12 shillings. 6
Our attention is drawn to another name for the tax code. Among the Ausburgers, more closely under the title "Das sint moslüt und ze Tribschen" is mentioned:
Ueli von Stirnrüti, schilling 12, debit 7
Moslüt were the people who lived in the wide, flat area that extends southeast of what is now Lucerne's main train station, is bordered by the lake, Tribschen and Geißenstein and extends into the area known as Breitlachen. This largely built-up area was known until recently under the name of Moos. How many people on the tax role are named after well-known locations in this area, e.g. B. in Horw: Ueli von Winkel, Heini von Langensand; in Tribschen: Werne ze Geißenstein, Ueli von Schönenbül, the name of Ueli von Stirnrüti is also derived from a field name of the Horw community, which has been preserved to this day. Stirnrüti is the name of a heap-free area or a recently closed farm on the south-western slope of the Bireggwald above today's Blindenlieim.
The Germanist and name researcher Guntram Saladin suspected that the family name Stirnimann, which appeared for the first time in Horw, was derived from the Horw field name Stirnrüti. "The forehead (brow)- he writes - is the upper, forest-free edge of the hillside." 8 Ueli von Stirnrüti no longer lived in Horw in 1352 like Heini Stirnimann's child, but in neighboring Moos or perhaps in Tribschen.
In 1385 we meet a Uelli Stirnemann in the oldest town book 9 of Lucerne. He is the guarantor for a Heini Seiler in Littau, who is included in the Lucerne castle law.10 This Uelli Stirnemann consequently already had the castle law of Lucerne, i.e. he was an established citizen. Whether he is the same as the aforementioned Ueli von Stirnrüti can of course no longer be determined.
Feudal Farmers of the St. Leodegar Monastery
Together with Moos and Tribschen, Horw was one of the 16 Ding- or Meierhöfe that belonged to the oldest property of the Alsatian Benedictine monastery Murbach, to which the Lucerne monastery of St. Leodegar in the farmyard, founded in the first half of the 8th century - the predecessor of today's canon monastery - shelter. The peasants who lived in and built on these Murbachian farms were so-called church people - a state of tempered bondage. They paid the monastery an annual loan in kind.11 In the 13th century, the services and personal taxes owed to the monastery lord were transformed into real burdens and were regarded as interest on repayable capital. The people of the house of God became fully free owners of the land, which remained charged with the land and land interest (the former loan interest ).12 Otherwise, the owner could freely dispose of his property, bequeath it, pledge it or sell it with the permission of the Lord. However, the heir had to obtain the transfer ("receiving the fief") and pay a transfer fee, called Ehrschatz, for it, just as when the buyer was sold at the monastery.
In the area of the Murbachian dinghies, however, there was also free property of free peasants, who handed it over to the house of God and received it back as an inheritance without completely losing personal freedom
In 1291 the abbot of Murbach ceded the city of Lucerne and the other dinghies to Austria. In most dinghouses, the people's inheritance no longer belonged to the church as such, but either to the provost's office or to one of the monastery offices.14 The provost of the Benedictine monastery in the farm from then on lent the fiefs and took them back.
Fortunately, we have received a document from 1361, according to which a Heinrich Stirnimann gave up his inheritance in the Moos that year, i.e. returned it to the provost of the Benedictine Monastery or his deputy. The document, which is kept in the Am Rhyn family archive in the Geißenstein15 castle, has the following wording:
For all those who look at or hear this letter, I announce Andres von Mörsberg, kamrer des gotzhus zu Lucern and fürweser mins. Mr. Bern Hugo von Signouwe, rehearsals of the same gotzbus sant Benedict order that Heinrich Stirniman came for me and gave Only on min hand a prayer: landes. lit in the Mose hinder the stadel von Gundoldingen and hinder der matten, which one speaks of the Strelarrun, in the name that I have the bed liche Uolrich Fönnen, burger ze Lucern, also he wrapped the written bed of imrecht und had honestly bought and really paid off when they both were off notes and forgiven in front of me and that also I at the before mentioned gentleman of the rehearsal Ulrich Fönnen the above. the prescribed bed lech and compared to legal inheritance Our gotzhus right and habit with the interest that our gotzbus is supposed to get from us.
There against by me Stuont Ruodolf von Fruenbach, none of our gotzhus, an sim and Heinrich Stanners, ammans ze Lucern, stat burger, amptlüte after our gotzbus law and habit. Theseschach show Lucern in the statute on the Vischmerickt that xc were against di. The traits written down were: Wilhelm Schultbeiß, Klosterher Unsers Gotzhus, Claus and Peter von Gundoldingen and other erber lüte. And if this was dealt with in front of me and with miner hand at the previous mins, the gentleman of the trial stat as a preliminary decision, so I also sin ingesigel to this letter to give a certificate was your thing, who was waiting for the sifting and Twenty-east day Abrellen after God's births three hundred iar after that in the one and sixty-east jar. 17
The property (bed = country area), as it is the subject of the legal transaction and whose two offenders are named, is expressly referred to as inheritance.
Heinrich Stirnimann has very probably taken over the property from his father as well as this in turn from his father, etc., whereby Heinrich's father is perhaps the same as the one mentioned in the tax role of 1352, also resident in this area Ueli von Stirnrüti. It is possible that Heinrich and his ancestors were free farmers. Heinrich sold his inheritance to the Lucerne burger Ulrich, who is presumably identical to the burger Uolrich Föno, who lives in the small town and named in the tax role of 1352. 18 Heinrich Stirnimann probably left his father's farm for good and settled in the city. In any case, the family is attested there in the years 138419 and 1394 20. In 1400 a Verena Stirnimann lives in Obern Grund. 21
In the Service of Lucerne
Towards the end of June 1422, Lucerne troops, under the leadership of the mayor Ulrich Walker, moved to the Livinental to bring help to the Urners and Obwalden, who were being oppressed by the Duke of Milan. The wanton enterprise ended in crushing defeat. One of the 93 Lucerne mercenaries who died a heroic death in Arbedo on June 30, 1422 and whose names are immortalized in the Lucerne battle was Heini Stirnimann. 22 So this was certainly a Lucerne Ausburger, if not a burger, and therefore conscripted.
The family in Sempach has been traceable since 1408, namely in connection with the Seevogtei. In 1434 Jenni (= Hans) Stirnimann, who presumably worked as a fisherman, testified twice in court that he had fished at the Winkel 50 years ago. 1 This is the bay of Lake Lucerne, known as Winkel, south of Horw. The Sempach Stirnimanns of the 15th century certainly came from Horw, where Heini Stirnimann and his child are recorded as the first namesake as early as 1352.
In the years 1441 and 1447 Henzmann (= Heinrich) Stirnirnann held the office of mayor in Sempach. 2 As the name suggests, he could have been a descendant of Heini Stirnimann, who was recorded in Horw in 1352. The mayor, who was mainly an administrator and judge, had lost importance in Sempach since the city was incorporated into the Lucerne castle law (1386). Lucerne granted Sempach the right to propose four suitable men for the election of the mayor, from whom Lucerne then chose "who valued us and dotted us well". 3 On January 29, 1441, mayor Heinrich Stirnimann notarized the donation of an annual measure of oil or that much money from a Sempach couple to the chapel of Our Lady in Nottwil. Worth mentioning is the mayor's remark that he did not have his own seal and therefore had Kuonz von Egersvil for his seal (it shows a pecker in the shield). The document is kept in the archives of the parish church of Nottwil. 4
Since the middle of the 15th century, the family name Stirnimann disappeared in the canton of Lucerne. Since the same time, we have met it, at first sporadically, then more and more frequently in the southwestern area of the then Bernese Aargau, bordering the canton of Lucerne. The earliest documentary in this area and probably outside the Canton of Lucerne in general that mentions our name is a document from the Canons of St. Mauritius in Zofingen dated February 25, 1457 1; it concerns the parish church of the parish village of Ürkheim, also called Ürken, northeast of Zofingen. On the date mentioned, Werna Stirneman, za disen ziten kuchenpjleger der kuchen ze Uirtken, made a purchase of 16 Rhenish guilders in the name of this church. Since Werna (= Werner) was a church caretaker - according to the Lucerne parlance, a churchman - his family must have been settled in Urkheim for some time. It was never customary, least of all in small communities, to entrust newcomers to public office. Probably Werner's father or grandfather had settled in Ürkheim. This could have happened in connection with the conquest of Aargau (1415), where Lucerne extended its territory to today's northern border. It should be remembered that the Ausburger and especially the citizens of a city were conscripted. Just as Heini Stirnimann was among the Lucerne mercenaries in 1422, led by the mayor Ulrich Walker in front of Bellinzona and in the battle of Arbedo, so a member of the family may have participated in the campaign in the Austrian Aargau in April 1415, with King Sigismund's neighbors of the outlawed Austrian Duke Friedrich IV, it is conceivable that he was assigned to a Lucerne border garrison, perhaps in Wikon, where the Lucerne people conquered one of the three castles and where Ürkheim is located in the vicinity. Let us not overlook the fact that the new northern border of the Lucerne city-state was an artificial border, it probably separated the land and people of the Wiggertal and the adjoining areas, which have always formed a geographical or ethnic unit, into a southern and northern half, but it could impossible to get rid of the family, legal and economic ties, relationships and institutions that have been ingrained for centuries. For example, the common graciousness between Zofingen, Bottenwil, Ürkheim on the one hand and Wikon, which had become Lucerne, on the other, which undoubtedly goes back to the Alemannic immigration, was not lifted until the years 1788-1790. 2
Finally, it should be remembered that the Gotthardweg led northwards from Lucerne through Sempach, Sursee and Zofingen, which resulted in lively contact between these cities and their hinterland.
It can be considered certain that the Stirnimann in Ürkheim and other Aargau communities, of which we will still speak, originally came from Lucerne, because the name is only recorded in Lucerne before the middle of the 15th century in all of today's German-speaking Switzerland . Also in our area after 1400 there were only exceptionally new family names.
The descendants of the church caretaker Werner Stirnimann can be traced in Ürkheim until around 1530 using an interest document and three land records from the lords of Gösgen and Wartenfels, to which four farms in Ürkheim were subject to tax.
The tax roles from 1481 3 names Hanns Stirnenman as the owner of the first farm and Werli Stirnenman the second. The first owes 14 quarters of Viertel grain (also called SpeIt, a type of wheat), 14 quarters of oats, 1 pound of money, 1 Malter oat, 1 Mütt oat, 1 Mütt grain annually from his farmstead; the second owes annually: 1 Malter grain and 14 shillings.
Hans and Werli (= diminutive of Werner) are likely to be brothers and as such sons of the clergyman Werner; probably they had shared their father's farm. Unfortunately we do not have the most important source for this time that could give us more information about the genealogy of the family: the Urkheim yearbook; Like most of the now Reformed Aargau parishes, it was destroyed or lost at the time of the Reformation.
The tax role does not give the names of the two farms and their individual mats and fields, we only learn these from the land records of 1528 4 and 1536 5: the first farm includes other, unnamed properties:
the Teaffenthal the Hofacker
the Buchmatt the Banacker
the Rohrmatt the Fluoacker
the Bilgersacker
The second farm, called Wilhelmshof, includes:
the Mockenmatt
the Grabmatten
a mat called Geßlerin
a field by Weinlis Brünnen (probably named after Wernli Stirnemann)
a field in the Stampfental the Hofacker
the Blöwacker the Langacker
the Moosacker the Grünächerli
The name Stirnimann is no longer found in the land registers of 1528, 1536 and 1540.6 However, in the land register of 1540 at the first farm, it is noted on the edge that Hans Stirneman had it: (above: Ulrich) Lienhart, otherwise known as Kleinbuob, has an annual retirement of his business, according to Stirneman ghept. 7a
In Safenwil, north of Urkheim, too, Stirnimann lived before the Reformation and built on property subject to tax for the Zofingen monastery; they left Safenwil around 1531. 7b
It is very likely that one or more Stirnimann families moved from Ürkheim and Safenwil to the Wiggertal in Lucerne at the time of the introduction of the Reformation. About this in the next section. Before that, the earliest officially identifiable namesake of the other Aargau communities are listed.
In Zofingen, a Stirnimann became a citizen at the end of the 15th century; 8 It is uncertain whether they came from Ürkheim or directly from Luzern area.
The city's oldest rifle guild book from 1528, the new version of an earlier model and continued until 1608, 9 mentioned in its list of members, in which the Müller and Pfister are also included, after 1484:
f. 8v: Henntz (= Heinz) Stirnenman
Hanns Stirnenman, miller
The last is attested in a document dated December 23, 1513 as the upper miller and as a citizen of Zofingen 10 and belonged to the council; he drowned in 1519 on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady Schöntal in Baselland, which was much visited, especially during the plague. 11
The Rifle Guild also mentions from the time before the introduction of the Reformation:
f. 9v: Hans Stirneman 1520
Rudolf Stirnenman
Shortly after these names follows in the list of members the first believed new preacher and real reformer of Zofingen to be appointed by Bern: Toctor Sebastian Hofmeister, diser zytt predicant, who came to Zofingen in May 1528 and died there on June 26, 1533. 12 The tax code of 1534 13 mentions:
Hanns Stirnenman, träyer (= lathe operator): 8 schillings.
Hanns Stirnenman, müller: 20 Plappart.
On October 30, 1533 Friedli Stirnemann renewed his citizenship; 14 it is likely to be Fridolin Stirneman mentioned in a document dated June 2, 1566.15 The baptismal book 16 from Zofingen records ten children of the married couple Fridlin Stirnemann m. Elisabeth Rubi in the years 1575 to 1601.
The document book of the city of Zofingen also mentions: on July 25, 1556 Bartlin Stirneman. 17
His tree garden is on the road to Brittnau.
According to the Zofingen family registers, the family would have died out in Zofingen in the 16th century. 18 But it is also possible that it moved away from Zofingen.
In the first half of the 16th century, the family is documented in the communities of Zetzwil and Gränichen:
Zetzwil:? ? 1523 Stirnenman, the muiller von Zettzwil. 19
Gränichen: January 16, 1540 Hanns Stirnenman, derzyt undervogt zuo Grencken. 20
Erwin Stirnemann (1885-1970), engineer, City Councilor of Zurich and Head of the Building Department I 1935-46, 1st Vice-President of the City Council since 1942, National Councilor 1943-46, came from the family of Stirnemann of Gränichen - today the most numerous in the municipality. Founder of "Pro Sihltal". 20a
The Stirnimann Lehenmüller family have been in Aarburg from 1589 to the middle of the 17th century. 21
At the time of the Reformation Immigrated to the Lucerne Area
After years of hesitation and noticeable uncertainty, which was expressed in several religious mandates, the Bernese Grand Council hosted the well-known religious talk in the Barfüßerkirche from January 6th to 26th, 1528, that of the Reformation in the Bernese lands, i.e. also in Aargau, helped to victory. The Protestant Richard Feller, one of the most important Bernese historical researchers of recent times, describes without glossing over the arbitrariness and one-sidedness with which the authorities conducted the religious conversation and subsequently enforced the Reformation in town and country. 1 Feller speaks of "arbitrariness that broke with the unity of the Christian world", particularly with regard to the use of church power by the state. 2 The most painful loss was generally felt, also in the Bernese countryside, in addition to the ruthless destruction of pictures and church decorations, the abolition of the mass. The authorities therefore initially left the subjects in the uncertain of their true intentions with regard to the mass, and how calculative tactics were in their course of action. Depending on the circumstances, he initially exercised forbearance and restraint or ruthlessly put down resistance, if necessary with arms as in the Bernese Oberland. 3a The action by Bern against Zofingen was significant. In a letter dated July 20, 1528 to Schultheiss, Rät and gmein Burger zu Zofingen, the Bernese council demanded the punishment of those who were still negative and unruly against the new doctrine, and added: "But where someone lock themselves up and the punishment I don't want to carry the waves, we help them to breathe. " 3b
Only in the knowledge of what actually happened then can we today be able to roughly measure the psychological distress of those many who, if they want to remain true to their church and convictions, decide to do the last and most difficult thing: to leave their ancestral home and move to catholic territory. Soon after 1528 Old Believers emigrated from the reformed areas 4 because they apparently saw that any resistance was fruitless, associated with disadvantageous consequences for them and that no change could be hoped for. The emigration after the Battle of Kappel and after the second Kappel Land Peace took place on a larger scale. Due to the defeat of Zürch at Kappel (October 11, 1531), where Zwingli fell, the spread of the Reformation in the Confederation came to a standstill. The second Land Peace in Kappel, concluded in November 1531, allowed the individual cantons to adhere to their faith. Anyone who refused the confession that was valid and permitted in the canton concerned had to emigrate. Joseph Schacher has proven that there was, contrary to expectations, a documented number of Emzel people and entire families who immigrated from what is now Aargau to Lucerne at the time of the Reformation.5 These include - not mentioned by Schacher - the Stirnimann, who are in those years in the northern area of the canton of Lucerne.
The Fleeing Cross
In March 1528, the pictures of the collegiate church of St. Mauritius were publicly burned in Zofingen. The town's chroniclers report how an Old Believer named Stirnimann saved a picture from destruction. Dean Joh. Jak. Frickhardt writes:
In the church it happened that the common people downed three of the largest pictures and burned them to ashes in the Stiltbof. The other pictures and ornaments were carried outside the gate of the Schützen, behind the monastery courtyard, where the same thing happened to them.
One of these pictures is said to have been rescued from the fire by a local citizen, Stirnemann, undamaged and carried to Reiden, where he became a citizen
One of these pictures is by a local citizen, Stirnemann, still intact of the fire errettet and after Reiden carried seyn, where the same on it citizens ward. 6
There is no doubt about the same incident that Hans Salat from Lucerne recorded in his well-known Reformation chronicle which follows:
Item as one storms and burns the pictures to Zofingen, nam a guoter eerenman a hüpsch seer large crutzifix uff himself and a guot sword on the hand, the view of the strikers of all eyes from inside to the gate to Reyden ulf the mountain in sant bannis kilchen. 7
The two reports complement each other. Frickhardt only knows of one picture that came next in Reiden, Salat specifies that it was a crucifix that was brought to Reiden in the church of the Johanniter-Kommende on the mountain of what was then the main and parish church of Reiden; Salat either does not know the name of the person who saved the cross or it is irrelevant to him, he is only interested in the fact; but it is understandable that the name of the man whose courageous act was spoken out was not soon forgotten in Zofingen. 8
The mentioned cross is very likely to be found in the Wikon Castle Chapel today. The impressive late Gothic, 115 cm high corpus attached to a baroque cross was - as is reported on an inscription cartouche - thrown into the fire "in one place" in vain during the Reformation and later, at the time of Governor Jost Rüttimann (1699-1705), to Wikon has been brought. 9
The family of Stirnimann is attested in Reiden since the middle of the 16th century. It probably goes back to one of the immigrants who are discussed below.
In Wiggertal and the Surrounding Area
Within the short period of about four years, six bearers of the name Stirnimann - as can be assumed, with their families - settled in six different places in the northern canton of Lucerne, mainly in the Wiggertal, a seventh followed about three years later. We know the full name of each of the seven from contemporary sources, and of six of them the exact or approximate date of their settlement in their new homeland. It is noticeable that all seven families of emigrants settled down within a narrow space. So it was probably the members of a closely connected clan who planned and carried out their emigration together. All of them - with the exception of the last immigrant - settled in communities or on farms belonging to the rich and powerful monastery of St. Michael in Beromünster (Langnau, Triengen, Kätzigen) 10 and belonged to the Cistercian monastery of St. Urban (Buchs, Uffikon, Witelingen) or were subject to the tax. The monasteries of the Catholic places were bulwarks in the defense against the new doctrine, from them religious refugees could first and foremost expect understanding and help. The Urbare, 11 the case and treasury records of Beromünster and St. Urban, but also the archive of the Zofingen Abbey, which was abolished in Bern in 1528, are, along with the parish annual records, the main sources that we know about the first immigrants, their descendants provide information on property and fate. Let us now turn to the first immigrants and their descendants in the localities concerned.
Buchs
We met the earliest immigrants in Buchs, which until 1809 belonged to Altishofen, the largest parish in the Wiggertal. The parish was owned by the Hitzkirch Order of the Teutonic Order, who provided the pastor - a priest of the Teutonic Order - and the administrators of the branch. The Beromünster and Zofingen monasteries also owned goods in Buchs. The Zofingen monastery, whose income - as with other abolished monasteries- from now on demanded to the great disappointment of the peasants, mentions the second fief farmers under Buchs:
f. 90 r: Stirneman sol 2 malter korn and 15 schillings from
1 hof ze Duchs 13
The presumed first name of this fiefdom was recorded in the Altishofen yearbook: Vester i.e. Silvester. According to a note in the year book, in 1536 Vester Stirnimann replaced the land rent from a year-long foundation on the Hardere Rüti ob dem Zügholz field near Buchs. Undoubtedly from the same Vester Stirnimann, the year book reports on October 16 that he replaced the land rent of a year-long foundation set on the Hochfuren, an estate in Buchs, and used it for the big bell; In the year in question, the Kirchmeier is expressly authorized to set and relieve the field in question, on which the pledge was liable. This Vester Stirnimann was therefore Kirchmeier, i.e. administrator of the church property. This statement fits in well with the situation in Altishofen at that time. Around 1535 the Lucerne authorities intervened in Altishofen - as in Hitzkirch - the new believing-minded pastor Hans Hüßler was deposed and Damian Egli, who came from Lucerne, was appointed. Until 1542, Lucerne administered the parish and the branch of the Teutonic Order in Altishofen - as in Hitzkirch - through its own conductors and officials. In those years of confusion and distrust, a religious refugee might offer the guarantee of unconditional tirelessness and reliability for the post of Kirchmeier.
Silvester Stirnimann is also mentioned in the interest role from 1555 of the parish church of Knutwil. 18 Based on this document and the land register of St. Urban 19, we know the extensive property of Silvester, which also included the mill in Buchs, and the names of his four sons, who shared his inheritance: Lorenz, Lenz (m. Anna Mangolt) , Hans (m. Anna Thuner) and Bartholomäus or Bartil (m. Elisabeth Gut) 20; the last is in 1559 Ammann of Altishofen, 21 as such he had to collect the taxes due to the Teutonic Order-Kommende Hitzkirch.
Probably the Stirnimann in Buchs and Uffikon came from Ürkheim. The first name Silvester, which was popular with the Stirnimann of the Wiggertal until around 1700, while it was previously used in this area, points there. St. Pope Silvester (314-355) was the patron saint of the parish church in Ürkheim 22 - incidentally, the only parish church with this patronage in all of Central Switzerland, 23 which in turn explains the rarity of this baptismal name. It has always been and is still a vowed custom in Catholic areas to name one of the children after the patron saint of the local church. 24
In the course of the 17th century, the Stirnimanns left Buchs. In 1687 one of them bought the Burgrain mill near Alberswil. 26
Uffikon
From 1531 to 1544, in the Uffikon near Buchs, the neighboring parish of Mtishofens, Stephan Stirnimann is attested as a fief builder of the Zofingen and St. Urban monasteries. 26 He should be a brother to Silvester. The Zofinger land registers 27 show that Stephan bought the farm of Hans Vogt in Uffikon around 1530/31, after another land registers 28 he also acquired Buchs property; both properties were apparently close to each other in the border area of the municipalities of Uffikon and Buchs. One of Stephen's sons was perhaps Jon (m. Anna Suter), who has been traceable since 1562 and died on January 13, 1565. 29 According to the Uffikon yearbook, his son Jakob (m. Ottilia Gut) was under bailiff. 30a The latter's son Gabriel (* 4.4.1608) moved to Knutwil and became the progenitor of the family there. Silvester Stirnimann was a judge in Uffikon in 1662.30b
Kätzigen
The Kätzigen farm (Kätzingen) on a hillside south-west of the village of Buch belonged to the oldest holdings of the Beromünster and Zofingen monasteries. Today's two hamlets, Upper - and Lower Kätzigen, belong to the municipality of Dagmersellen .. The share of the Zofingen Monastery was assigned by Bern to St. Urban in 1570, in exchange for St. Urbans goods located in the canton of Bern. In the interest register of c. In 1531 of Zofingen 31, Jakob Stirnemann is mentioned as the previous owner, so he could be the first of the family to immigrate.
Owners of the goods subject to tax to Beromünster were:
1542-72 Andres Stirnimann (married Maria Kleeb), in 1572 in Uffikon bought the farm of Uh Fischer 32
1572-90 Heini Trochsler in the name of Melchior Stirnimann 33
1590-95 Bartlin Stirnimann in the name of his constable daughter Anna Stirnimann (probably daughter of Andres) 34
1595-1603 Wolfgang Hunkeler 35
Langnau
In Langnau, which, along with Richenthal and Melsecken, belonged to the largest property in Beromünster in the Wiggertal, extending to the canton border, the family can be traced back to 1532. The chamber book, that is the income directory of the monastery, names a Häflinger as the first fiefdom farmer in Langnau in 1532, underneath the same hand wrote: gytt jetz Stirnimann. 36 The first name is given in the minutes of the tithe adjustment from 1536: Klaus 37; in the chamber book of 1542/43 he is called Kläwy Stirniman. 38 He owns a Säßhaus with a tree garden and a granary, 5-1 / 2 Mannwerk Wiesland and around 16 Jucharten arable land, which are distributed over three Zelgen according to the medieval three-field economy. 39 Klaus was succeeded by Jacob in 1557, 40 without a doubt his son. In 1570 Klaus Stirnimann's heirs sold their farm to Heini Widmer. 41 Around 1571 a Klaus Stirnimann (m. Agatha Schmid), presumably a son of Jakob and grandson of Klaus, acquires an estate in the neighboring Melsecken, where the Schmid, also known as Welnauer, were wealthy. 42
Triengen
In the years 1534 to 1538 the chamber books of the Beromünster provost in Triengen record a Heiny Stirnimann 43 He is the second of the three fiefdoms there and has taken over his farm from Daniel Kesler, who is still listed in his place in the chamber book of 1532. 44 Since there was no chamber book between 1532 and 1534, it is possible that Heiny Stirnimann came to Triengen in the meantime. In the chamber book of 1542, the next one after 1538, the name Stirnimann can no longer be found.
Witelingen
The farm Witelingen (Witteldingen), 3 km south of the village of Pfaffnau, a fiefdom of the St. Urban monastery and subject to interest up to the 16th century also to the Niedern Spital in Burgdorf, comprised 30 manpower in Wiesland and 150 Jucharten fields and pastures. The farm bordered on Roggliswil and on the farms Hertmelingen, Eppenwil, Renzligen and Linegg. 45 The White Urbar (middle of the 15th century) lists the order of the fiefdoms:
Hentz von Badachtal Peter Stirnenman
Mathis Knüsel Uoli Bluom (+ after 1562)
From a court decision by the mayor and council of Willisau on December 5, 1548, we learn that Peter Stirnimann acquired the Witelingen farm on the Tuesday before St. Nicholas Day in 1534. The subject of the lawsuit was the tenth of the day that St. Urban claimed. The fiefdom farmer explained to the court how the Witelingen farm had come to him and that up to now he had paid as his seller had indicated to him, he hoped to keep paying the interest and not be obliged to pay any longer. Among the documents that he presented to the judges was the above-mentioned production letter of 1534.46
Peter Stirnimann was the only feudal farmer of his family in Witelingen. Its buyer was Uoli Bluom, who was succeeded by Hans Bluom, undoubtedly his son, between 1662 and 1593. It is almost certain that Peter Stirnimann had two sons named Heinrich and Ulrich. Heinrich (m. Kunigunde Sinner, probably from the long-established family of Pfaffnau) moved to Luthern, Ulrich is to be regarded as the progenitor of the line of Eppenwil; two of his sons were called Klaus, a farmer from Eppenwil, and Andres, presumably Müller from Melsecken. 47
Schötz
The last immigrant, Sebastian, settled in Schötz. According to the Altishofen Annual Book, he had owned two properties there since 1537, on which the land rents of two annual foundations were liable: The Banholz and the ufgend Acker. 48 For both seasons it is noted in the margin that Bastian Stirnimann has the Gut zu Schötz in the [15] 37th year. The two properties can no longer be determined, the only thing that is certain is that they are to be found in the northern half of today's Schötz parish, which until 1867 belonged to the Altishofen parish.
Most of the Stirnimann families, who lived in the canton of Lucerne before 1800, are believed to have descended from the immigrants of the Reformation period documented here. From the first headquarters in the 16th and 17th centuries, the families mainly branched out into the following communities: Reiden, Knutwil, Pfaffnau, Altbüron, Großdietwil, Ettiswil, Neuenkirch, Ruswil. Of the families of these communities, most of which still exist today, only those of Knutwil and Ruswil have been researched in more detail.
Reiden
The family has been attested in Reiden since 1558. Peter Stirnimann, who lives in Wikon, 2 km north of the village, is from 1558-86 subordinate bailiff of the Vogtei or the Wikon office, 49 in 1569 he is also attested as an official sixth. 50 The position and powers of the subordinate of an office were the same as that of an official man. The last section discusses the status and powers of these offices. Peter Stirnimann set up a tithe for himself on November 4th at the lower, i.e. today's parish church in Reiden, where Wikon was parish until recently, and his three wives Anna Murer, Barbara Kastler and Katharina Lenner, for all their parents, ancestors and offspring. 51 The son Gabriel was also subordinate bailiff of Wikon (1596-1622) 52 and an official sixth. He also donated a tithe in Reiden (established April 4, 1623) for himself, his two wives Magdalena Kaufmann and Barbel Schürmann, for his parents Peter and Barbel Murin and for his children Magdalena, Elisabeth, Jakob, Anna, Katharina, Verena, for his ancestors and descendants. The former official, who evidently appreciated a happy group of people, determined - a unique thing in the annual foundations - that 3-1 / 2 guilders of the annual interest income be "given to an honest drink". 53
The sources of the 16th century mention other namesake:
In 1564 Jakob Stirnimann received two men from Beromünster Abbey, called the Moßmatten, for which he pays 8 schillings. In 1571 this estate passed to his son Peter. 54
In 1567 Uoli Stirnimann of Reiden sold his estate to Hans Fischer of Triengen. 55
1577 - Andres Stirnimann sells his mill in Melsecken near Reiden to Heini Trocheler. 56
1578/79 - Peter Stirnimann is attested as the host of the Leuen. 57
1582 - Vester Stirnimann, Unterervogt of Reiden, is negotiator and arbitrator in a dispute between the residents of Melsecken and Brittnau. 58
The most important representative of the Reiden family in the 18th and 19th centuries is Anton Stirnimann (1771-1831), clerk of the court, governor of the Altishofen district 1801-1802, member of the daily statute 1802, magistrate of Willisau 1805-11, councilor 1814-32, conductor of the Johanniter-Kommende Reiden. 59
Knutwil
The progenitor of the numerous Knutwil family, 60, is, as noted above under Uffikon, Gabriel, baptized on April 4, 1608 in Uffikon as the son of the local subordinate Jakob Stirnimann and Ottilia Gut. Gabriel (m. Barb. Kaufmann) acquired the farm, later named Gäbelihus (after Gabriel), in Knutwil below the forge in 1657. Gabriel had four sons: Hans, Jost, Jakob and Gabriel. Of the descendants of the last we can mention
Joseph (* 1777, + 1842, oo Christina Fries), farmer, landlord zum Kreuz, last clerk of the Knutwil office, chief judge. Of his ten sons were:
Joseph Anton (1804-83), priest, chaplain in Lucerne 1830-39, pastor in Romoos 1839-59, canon in Beromünstr 1859, custodian there in 1869.
Franz Xaver (1812-82), teacher, parish clerk, parish administrator, parish president, advocate, innkeeper of the cross.
Bernhard (1816-63), official veterinarian.
Neuenkirch
In 1600, Hans Stirnimann bought the Rüeggeringen farm, 2 km south of the village of Neuenkirch, from the Willisaü office from Georg and Ulrich Hiltbrand for 3500 guilders. 61 The buyer, whose descendants lived in Rüeggeringen until the 19th century and branched out widely, certainly came from Eppenwil. 62
The industrialist Franz Stirnimann (1885 - 1961), the founder of the world-famous construction machinery factory Franz Stirnimann AG in Olten, came from Neuenkirch. He lives on in the memory of his home community as its greatest patron and benefactor.
The Pfaffnau family is not directly related to that of Witelingen. It has appeared in the church registers since 1618. The Lucerne pediatrician Dr.med Fritz Stirnimann came from Pfaffnau. (1877-1947), who emerged as a medical writer.
The family in Altbüron and Großdietwil, whose families are mostly outside of the city today, should have its origins in Eppenwil.
The Stirnimann from Ettiswil and Gettnau came from Schötz and Buchs, they branched out among other things. to Menznau, Sempach, Lucerne and Winterthur. The painter Friedrich Stirnimann (* 1841 Ettiswil, + 1901 Lucerne) was an Ettiswil resident, whom connoisseurs call a fertile and brilliant artist. 63 Twice, in 1901 and 1945, the Lucerne Art Museum organized an exhibition of his versatile work, in which the portrait and the genre predominate. The painter trained in Karlsruhe, Munich and Paris and was closely related to Arnold Böcklin and Hans Thoma. The work of the master, sometimes called the Lucerne anchor, has not yet received the appreciation it deserves. In Ruswil, the artist painted the picture of the Mother of God in the Aesch chapel.
The clan, by far the most numerous and still held together by strong bonds of friendship and solidarity, has had its headquarters on the heights of Ruswil for three and a half centuries. The second year book of the parish church of St. Georg in Sursee provides information about the origins of the Ruswil family, which have been researched most thoroughly among their peers. The year, founded around 1610 and registered under April 16, has the following wording:
Künigund Sinnerin uss der Root and Peter Stirnimann, her son, hand-crafted by her soul's will as well as nobility Bircherin, his wife, Hans, Peter, Hans Jacob, Maria, Barbara, his children, namely 60 gulden main good, so the family priest with the schoolmaster your jarzit söllen began on the evening with a seebes per, in the morning with a sung vigil, two o'clock. more subdued as well as common. That is why each priest is given 12 shillings, the scholae 6 shillings, sacristae 4 shillings, patrono 20 shillings, largae 1 18 ß.
In this group of people we encounter three generations - a case which is rather rare in our regions:
the progenitor of the Ruswil family: Peter Stirnimann, his wife: Adelheid Bircher,
both children: Hans, Peter, Hans Jakob, Maria and Barbara, the mother of Peter Stirnimann: Kunigund Sinner; her husband is not named for reasons unknown to us.
The foundation conditions are the usual for solemn seasons: the six priests of the parish church should begin the year on the eve of April 16 with the sea vespers (Placebo Domino) and in the morning give lauds, which is the morning praise of the church hours, two offices, ie sung masses follow, first a funeral office (Requiem), then the mass (Salve sancta parens) in honor of the Mother of God. The celebration of the year usually ended with a visit to the graves.
From the interest of the foundation capital of 60 guilders, everyone who had contributed to the year received their share as usual: each priest 12, the schoolmaster who played the organ or conducted the choir boys, 6, the Sigrist 4 schillings. As was generally the rule, the largest contribution went to the church patron, i.e. the house of God, and the donation, i.e. the poor, namely 20 and 18 shillings, respectively. 2
According to the words of the year, the family of the founders uß der Root. This is the hamlet of Roth, 2 km southeast of the village of Buttisholz, in a fertile valley basin of the Ruswil mountain, which even then comprised several farms. The place takes its name from the Rothbach, which rises on the heights of the Ruswil Mountain, in the lower Sällwald and flows through the hamlet of Roth in the direction of Großwangen. The hamlet of Roth, today divided into the Lower and Upper Roth, belonged to the parish of Sursee until 1819.
Where did the founders of the year come from? The family name of Adelheid Bircher shows us the way. The Bircher family (today Birrer), originally from Roggliswil near Pfaffnau, has settled in Luthern since the beginning of the 15th century. In fact, the baptismal register of the Luthern parish church lists the following three sons of the married couple Peter Stirnimann m. Adelheid Bircher:
January 19, 1588 Jacob
April 2, 1590 Melchior
June 3, 1605 Jacob
The baptismal register shows a gap from October 15, 1593 to January 1, 1605. Three other children of the same couple are entered in the baptismal register of the Willisau parish church:
August 28, 1596 Anna
August 12, 1598 Johann Jakob
November 3, 1600 Peter
Of the five sons mentioned in both baptismal registers, only Hans Jakob can be found with certainty in the Sursee yearbook. The birth of Hans and Peter and the two daughters, who are listed in the yearbook, should fall in the years when the baptismal register in Luthern was not kept or the entries were neglected.
Together with the previous documents, the name of the husband of Kunigunde Sinner can now be determined on the basis of the previously mentioned register of farms and country estates created in 1583. For the Kilchhöri and the Luthern district, the directory mentioned includes a.o. 3:
Heini Stirnenman, Hanß and Peter, sine sün
Without a doubt, it is the same Heini Stirnemann who appears in the log of the St. Elogius Brotherhood of the Lutheran Parish, established in 1569 - this time with the name Heinrich - among the first members and donors. A later hand, like most of the others, placed a cross in front of his name, an indication of what we may assume was his death in Luther. This must take place in the spring of 1592, as can be seen from a court action in which a Wilhelm Müller appears as Vogt, i.e. Heini Stirneman's deputy Frauwen. 4
It is very likely that Heinrich Stirnimann from Witelingen near Pfaffnau came to Luthern and is to be addressed as a son of Peter, who owned the aforementioned farm i.J. Bought in 1534. 5 The Stirnimann do not have a year in Luthern, nor are they represented in the Brotherhood of Our Lady, whose membership directory was created in 1511. This leads to the conclusion that the family only stayed in Luthern for a short time. After 1607 the family disappears from the church records.
We are in the dark about the reasons that prompted Peter Stirnimann to move with his family from Luthern or Willisau to Ruswil. It is very possible that this relocation was connected with the plague, which struck Switzerland in the years 1608-15, depopulated cities, villages and large areas and wiped out entire families and families. Large farms, the owners of which were taken away, could be bought at bargain prices. The Black Death also had a rich harvest in Ruswil, especially in the years 1611-12. Perhaps Peter Stirnimann and his mother established their year under the impression of this mass extinction.
The earliest document outside the parish registers that gives information about the family, who lived in the Roth, is a mortgage note dated February 5, 1613. According to this, Peter Stirnimann and Hans, sin son, established in the Rußwyl office, Surseer kilchgang, for Jakob Steiner in the Emmer Kilchgang, Office Rothenburg, for a debt of 250 guilders a validity for a period of seven years. 6 Gut Grissenegg, which Jakob Steiner's father and son had bought for 950 guilders, probably on September 1, 1612, served as pledge, which is probably why the mortgage note was drawn up with effect from this date. Presumably it was not possible to issue the mortgage note on the occasion of the purchase because of the plague. Gut Grissenegg, the extent of which is stated on the purchase letter as 20 Juch types of open land and 2 Juch types of forest, borders the Roth to the east. Which estate Peter Stirnimann acquired first, the Roth or the Grisseneggg, has not been clarified. We are sure to be looking for the residence of the progenitor of the Ruswil family at the place where the Muff-Sidier family's home in Lower Roth is today. In the north wing of the mighty semi-detached house, which Leonz Stirnimann built in 1705, an ancient log house built on rock can be seen. This log house, which was included in the new building from 1705, was, so to speak, certainly the home of the first three generations.
According to the marriage book of the parish Sursee, the three sons of Peter Stirnimann married in the same order as they are listed in the year book:
February 9, 1613 Hans Stirnimann m. Anna Bächler
February 18, 1624 Peter Stirnimann m. Maria Süeß
August 18, 1630 Hans Jakob Stirnimann m. Barbara Bucher
The baptismal register of Sursee reports four children by Hans Stirnimann-Bächler in the years 1614-22. The family can be traced back to the Roth in 1630, after which its trace is lost. They probably moved away from Ruswil.
Peter Stirnimann-Süeß, whose marriage remained childless, was distinguished by his extraordinary social ethos and charity. He gave the donation of 1000 guilders, which was responsible for caring for the poor in the parish, 7 He was - a convincing example of spiritual fatherhood - alone or together with his wife, godparents of around a hundred children. Apart from his relatives' baptized children, the majority were children of homeless parents or of illegitimate relationships. All of this must be seen against the background of an impoverished time shaken by severe political and religious tensions and turmoil. The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) raged in Germany, which had an economic impact on Switzerland as well. The church registers of the Lucerne landscape also record a large number of beggars and traveling people during these years. In addition, there was the ferment and dissatisfaction among the rural people, which erupted in the Peasants 'War in 1653, also awakened by the Thirty Years' War and exacerbated by incomprehensible representatives of the aristocratic city regiment.
Peter Stirnimann gave another 1000 guilders as foundation capital for a tithe, which he set up in 1653 for himself, his wife Maria Süeß, his parents and everyone who is of the same family. 8 The year was to be celebrated by four priests. The proceeds of this ecclesiastical foundation, which farm Goldschrüti had to pay, also mainly benefited the general public, especially the parish and the needy. From the annual interest? which was 50 guilders, 20 guilders were intended for the church, 30 guilders had to be used for the celebration of three different seasons. All those involved were generously compensated, but the poor received the largest share of 3 guilders each year. The foundation of Peter Stirnimann, the most generous foundation ever established in Ruswil, remained the actual foundation of the family for many generations until the family agreed to merge it with other foundations in the 19th century whose foundation capital was devalued. Peter Stirnimann was chairman of the Twing or village court. He lived in Etzenerlen, where he can be traced back to 1640. 9 Etzenerlen (formerly Herzenerlen) is the name of the area on the northern slope of the Ruswil Mountain over a length of around 2 km between farm Sahl and Hintern Lochhof; on the hill to the south, the farms of Etzenerlen meet the Buchmatt, the farm Wießannen and the Kropfmatt, down the valley, to the north Etzenerlen borders the Upper Roth, the Grissenegg and the farm Ehschwand. Peter Stirnimann probably came to Etzenerlen by marriage. After his death (January 8, 1668) the farm passed to his brother Hans Jakob in the Roth as the only heir.
The Etzenerlen farm was inherited from the Beromünster canon monastery from time immemorial. Its owners had to pay the monastery the ground interest, in case of a change of ownership, the honorary treasure. The monastery also asked Hans Jakob Stirnimann to hand over his inheritance. But he refused on the grounds that no honor was ever demanded from them in the event of death or inheritance, the requirement of the monastery was an innovation for the entire Ruswil office and therefore affected not only him, but also other officials. The legal dispute in which the official man and the Kirchmeier of Ruswil supported the Etzenerler farmer in court as a representative of the Ruswil office, was decided by the mayor and council of the city of Lucerne on April 17, 1670 by a Solomonic judgment: the honor is in principle also in the event of death - or in inheritance cases, but to a reduced extent. 10 According to the testimony of the land register of the monastery, the descendants of Hans Jakob, who divided the Etzenerlen farm several times, held the office of porter until the ground rent was replaced in the 19th century. 11 The replacing owners of the individual farms were carefully entered in the monastery registers of honor.
In 1668, Hans Jakob acquired the Huprächtigen farm in today's Nottwil community for 6500 guilders, probably as a buyout for his daughter Elisabeth (m. Walter Meyer, Huprächtigen).
Hans Jakob Stirnimann-Bucher died on May 1, 1670 in the Roth. At his express request, he was not buried in Sursee, where he was part of the church, but in Ruswil. This led to a violent dispute between the pastor and dean Johann Fridolin Lindacher of Ruswil and the four gentlemen who presided over the parish of Sursee. The Ruswil death book contains a detailed, indignant report in Latin about what has happened. 12 In it, the deceased is called a pious, benevolent, and highly respected man who, in a secret place, but with the knowledge of his heirs, left a rather large inheritance and treasure. 13 It invokes the provision of ecclesiastical law that allows every believer the free choice of burial, etc.
Hans Jakob Stirnimann left three sons along with three daughters: Sebastian, Hans and Peter. The first two shared the property inherited from the father. Sebastian took over the Etzenerlen farm, Hans stayed in the Roth. With the two brothers, the family divided into two tribes of Etzenerlen and Roth. The third son, Peter, became a monk of the Muri monastery under the name Jost.
1. Sebastin (* c. 1635, t 1679, m. 1.1655 Maria Helfenstein, of Neuenkirch, m. 11.1673 Rosina Wüest, of Ruswil) appears in letters of validity and purchase contracts of the Ruswil office as a jury and the court, from 1673 until his death Called judge. The jury, also known as the advocate, was the finder of the verdict who decided in the last instance with the governor or his deputy, the official man, on matters that did not exceed 99 guilders. They were also the official appraisers of the properties, they were liable for the correctness of the appraisal with their property. The jury was elected by the local community on the two-year oath days. 14 The judge was the presiding judge of the Twing or Village Court. On March 10 or 11, 1675, Sebastian made a pilgrimage to Rome, as his brother P. Jost reports in his diary. Sebastian increased his property in Etzenerlen through several purchases of adjacent properties. When he died, the Etzenerlen farm had 231.5 Jucharten land and 24 Jucharten forest. Sebastian left two sons: Peter and Walter, of whom we will speak later.
2. Hans (* c. 1638, t 1675, m. 1661 Elisabeth Zimmermann, of Schenkon) took over the farm in the Roth. At that time this comprised a total of 238 Jucharten land and 19 Jucharten forest. Like many other farms in the area, the farm was a fief of the Muri monastery. After the early death of their father, the two sons Leonz and Peter shared the farm:
Leonz (* 1.11.1671, t 7.11.1715,m. 1691 Elisabeth Bühlmann) took over the Lower Roth. The name Leonz is explained by the relationship with the Muri monastery, where the veneration of the martyr Leontins arose in the middle of the 17th century and was widespread. In 1705 Leonz built the thirty-room Lucerne farmhouse mentioned above, in which the original log house, perhaps built around 1600, if not earlier, was included.15 In 1821 the descendants of the builder left the Lower Roth. The stately building, with its richly carved ornamentation, its painted doors and gables, was once a masterpiece of Lucerne craftsmanship and rural culture, is still a shadow of its former condition. 16
Peter (* after 1667, +?, m. 1688 Anna Maria Steiner) settled in Upper Roth, called the upper farm. Like several members of the family, Peter was a tax inspector for the Ruswil office. The tax investor, also known as the tax jury, was responsible for the assessment of government taxes and common official needs. 17 Peter built today's house in Upper Roth, which is very similar to the one in Lower Roth, but much smaller. In the middle of the 19th century this farm was also given up by the descendants.
3. Peter (* 25.2.1654, + 28.12.1706), the third son of Hans Jakobs, made his profession as a monk in the Benedictine monastery Muri in Freiamt in 1673 under the name Jost (Jodocus) Papal nuncio was ordained a priest and celebrated his primacy on June 29th in Muri. Father Jost held the office of grain master (Granarius) in the monastery, who - it was the age of natural farming - accepted the tithes and taxes of the feudal farms and supervised the grain stores. P. Jost left behind - a rarity for the time - under the title Annale breve a diary written in pleasant Latin; only smaller parts are written in German. 18 The diary is considered to be one of the main sources for the building history of today's monastery church, built between 1695 and 1698; it contains a number of events and observations of historical and cultural interest.
Last but not least, the diary is for the history of the family, with which the religious is closely associated
Let's go back to Sebastian Stirnimann's two sons: Peter and Walter. They shared the Etzenerlen farm in 1684. Peter (* 8.2. 1660, + 9.1.1709, m. 1682 Anna Brunner, of Rothenburg) took over the upper part, roughly today's Rear-Etzenerlen (115 Juch. Land and 9.5 Juch. Wald). Peter held numerous offices. Among other things, he was:
Juror and the court
Tax levy, church judge
1694-96 Kirchmeier
1696-98 caretaker of the chapel of Our Lady
since 1696 official woman (probably until his death).
The Amtsweihel, also called Unterervogt, was the permanent representative of the governor in administration and jurisdiction. With the exception of the bailiff of Willisau, the bailiff of Wikon and the bailiff of Sempach, all bailiffs - until 1798 members of the city patriciate - lived in Lucerne, they only appeared in their offices on oaths and court days. The official man took care of the smaller day-to-day business and represented the governor in the ordinary court sessions. The clerk was at his side in the administration. The Weibel provided official letters with his personal seal. Although the man was extremely busy with his office and had a great deal of responsibility placed on him, he received only modest compensation. The official man was appointed by the governor for two years, either at the suggestion of the resigning official man or the voting men of the office. The office was under the absolutist and exclusive regiment with which the 28 families of the Lucerne patriciate ruled the canton of Lucerne of men the highest and most desirable, to which members of the rural families could rise. 20
Of the thirteen children of the official man Peter Stirnimann, the son Peter died at the age of 21 in the Battle of Villmergen (1712). His eldest son, Hans Jakob, was also elected official man in 1736 and 1747. He and his two brothers Johann Sebastian and Johann Augustin shared their father's farm again in 1725: the first two received the farm in Etzenerlen, Johann Augustin took over the Neu-Sahl farm, which his father had acquired in 1700 for 5900 guilders.
Walter (* 16.6.1676, + 13.3.1735, m. 1.1696 Magdalena Marbacher, of Krumbach, m. 11.1732 Elisabeth Erni), Peters' significantly younger stepbrother, took over the lower part of his father's farm, the area of today's Front-Etzenerlen. Walter was a jury member and of the court, furthermore the official father to whom the guardianship system was entrusted. His farm was also divided again in 1738 by his two sons Adam and Joseph. The Stirnimann of Ohmstal and Schüpfheim descend from the latter.
Sebastian (* 22.10. 1796) deserves a mention from the family in the Sahl; he was a judge and official father and belonged to the parish and in 1781 he commissioned a commission of four who prepared the construction of today's parish church and appointed the two master builders Jakob Purtschert from Pfaffnau and Jakob Singer from Tyrol.
To this day, three families in Etzenerlen cultivate their own land, inherited from their fathers over three centuries. After a short break, the Sahl-farm also remained in the family's property to this day.
The following farms in the municipality of Ruswil have been owned by the family for a shorter or longer period of time or are still owned today: Bleischür, Buchmatt ,Deckehonig, Geißbach, Kastlergut, Upper-Merzenherg, Musegg, Nellenhüsli., Upper-Eichig, Upper Schwärzi , Paradiesli, Sonnenrain, Strick, Than, Rear Lochhof, Front Lochhof, Windbühl.
From Ruswil, the family spread to numerous communities in the canton of Lucerne and abroad. Today members of the Ruswil family can be found in all major cities in Switzerland, Germany, France and overseas.
In addition to Fr Jost mentioned above, the following are known to be priests and religious:
P. Fortunat (Leonz) November 5, 1733 in the Untere Roth, monk of the Franciscan monastery Werthenstein; worked. 18 years as a preacher in the parishes assigned to the monastery and just as long as a spiritual in Bremgarten and Muotathal, + Werthenstein August 12, 1808. 21
The three brothers come from a family that moved from Ruswil via Mittelarig to Neuenkirch:
P. Karl (Klemens), December 13, 1842, Capuchin, professed 1862, ordained priest in 1865, preacher, Guardian in Schüpfheim and Näfels, + Zug June 2, 1897.
P. Sigismund (Anton), August 18, 1844, Capuchin, professed 1867, ordained priest in 1870, preacher and confessor, + Arth January 18, 1904.
P. Leodegar (Pius), * December 4, 1855, monk of the Benedictine monastery Einsiedeln, professed 1876, ordained priest in 1882, teacher at the grammar school, curate in Groß 1888, pastor in Feusisberg 1896, + there 7.4.1904.
Eduard came from Etzenerlen, * 10.6.1865, diocesan priest, ordained priest in 1893, vicar in Pfaffnau 1893-95, in Malters 1895-96, chaplain in Buttisholz 1896-1917, coffin in Beromünster 1917, member of the monastery administration since 1933, + Beromünster 9.12. 1937.
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The 19th and 20th centuries with their profound changes, the emergence of industry, the development in technology and economy opened up new tasks and opportunities for the Ruswil family as well. The division of farms also finally reached its limits. Numerous young people left their father's farm or closer home and turned to other professions. Today members of the family are active in most of the professions that support modern work processes, its economy and technology.
A sociological study of the Ruswil family would reveal three predominant occupations: farmers, civil servants and social workers. A considerable number of the families have remained loyal to the farming community to this day. At all times the family represented a striking number of officials. From the 17th century until today, members of the family have held most of the offices that the parish, and office of Ruswil had to assign. As representatives of the numerous civil servants who are now in the service of the general public, three men should be named who have enjoyed the undivided trust and respect of their fellow citizens in Ruswil over the past few decades:
Johann Stirnimann-Meier (1868-1930), councilor, mayor and poor relief worker, managing director;
his brother: Jost Stirnimann-Hodel (1875-1947), for 40 years a highly deserved teacher of the boys' secondary school;
the son of the first: Hans Stirnimann-Grüter (1905-1968), mayor, grand councilor during a legislative period, managing director, president and board member of numerous agricultural associations.
Finally, the trend towards social professions is unmistakable. Several members of the family took on orphans and those disadvantaged by life in the 18th and 19th centuries as the official father, which office corresponds to today's poor carer. They are joined by the numerous nuns, the nurses, medical assistants, welfare workers and kindergarten teachers who selflessly put themselves in the service of their fellow men. And don't forget the numerous teachers who devote themselves to the upbringing and education of our young people.
On September 6, 1970, a carefully prepared conference of the Stirnimann families took place in Ruswil, 22 to which all namesake of the canton of Lucerne were invited in addition to the members of the Ruswil family. Around 250 people from all over German-speaking Switzerland came to Ruswil. The conference began with a service in the parish church. Then the participants gathered in the Landgasthof Eintracht in Rüediswil, whose spacious room three painters of the family (Marie Stirnimann, Lucerne; Alois Stirnimann, Dättlikon-Zurich; Werner Stirnimann, Männedorf) had decorated with their paintings (including depictions of the family seats and farmhouses). Documents, records and pictures - originals and photocopies - on the history of the family were displayed in a showcase. An artistically designed family tree attracted general attention. Mayor Adolf Bühler addressed the meeting with a greeting. The writer gave a lecture on "The family of the Stirnimann in the canton of Lucerne". The respected name researcher and genealogist Dr. Alfred Helfenstein, Lucerne, gave an interpretation of the origin of the family name.
