Genealogy in Switzerland - A Longenecker Family Search

I recently visited Langnau, Bern, Switzerland and spent two days immersed in all things Langenegger. My wife and I arrived at the Langnau rail station on June 25, 2004, exhausted from a long flight from San Francisco. As we left the train station we were immediately struck by the unique character of this area.

Outside the train station are the remnants of a cobblestone street, now patched by asphalt. Everywhere we looked were beautiful Swiss houses and buildings ? many of them hundreds of years old ? and all colorfully decorated with pink and red begonias placed in flower boxes below each window. As we found later, the Emmental is also a wonderland of covered bridges, friendly people, church spires with Swiss clocks and chimes, tinkling cow bells ? everything you expect Switzerland to be.

As we walked toward our hotel in Bareau we noticed how friendly and courteous the locals are ? stopping to allow us to cross the street and smiling as we passed with a friendly "Hallo" or "Guten Morgen." The town is dotted with long stone tanks with well water splashing in at one end and draining out the other. They look something like a stone horse tank. These are available to anyone who wants a cool drink of well water.

After we settled into our room at the Landgasthof Hotel Adler, the owner kindly invited us to a short ride into the countryside where we saw more beautiful houses and pastures. After we returned we asked a few locals in the hotel restaurant about the Langenegger farm and they had a good laugh. Turns out that there are a lot of Langeneggers there and we didn't know the name of the people who lived in the original house that we came to see.

The hills are about 1200 feet above the valley floor and incredibly green with grass and forested areas visible from anywhere in town. Langnau is small ? perhaps three or four long blocks across and the hills seem very close. Black and white cows break up the greenery and produce and wonderful tinkling sound as they graze around ringing the bells around their necks. Higher pitched bells worn by sheep and goats blend with the clunk-clunk bong-bong of the cow bells making a delicious backdrop to the scenery. This is the last sound we heard as we drifted off to sleep covered with a feather quilt on our first night in Langnau.

The birds woke us up to wonderfully green world that is Langnau in the summer. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of homemade bread and jelly provided by our host, Stephen. We hoped to attend church, but found that our information was incorrect and arrived too early. Instead we started our walking tour of Langnau early. Langnau is a small town and we walked all of the main streets by about noon when we took a break for lunch to share a small cheese tart and an apple pastry from a small shop near the center of town. By that time, the local museum had opened. It is housed in one of the oldest houses in Langnau and is a great opportunity to look around inside one of these magnificent buildings and see all of the fancy joinery done by the builders. It is also a great museum with a number of permanent and rotating exhibits that depict the history of Langnau and its residents.

The museum's docent has lived in Langnau for 70 years and knows the Langenegger name very well. She quickly found a book that contains the Langenegger family crests ? one for those in the valley (Langenegg Ey) and one for those up higher in the hills (Langenegg Unter). She also loosely parsed the name into Lange (Long in English ? pronounced 'Long' in German too) and negg (hill in English ? pronounced 'neck' in German). I haven't been able to confirm the word 'negg' anywhere ? but that is what she said. The book also included a statement, "Ulrich, von Langnau, wanderte 1748 nach Pennsylvanien [USA] Aus (Faust 61)" which roughly translates that Ulrich Langenegger immigrated to Pennsylvania in the United States in 1748. This is our ancestor Ulrich Langenegger Sr. The book doesn't give a further source for this information. On the map, the Langenegg Unter is just about a 30 minute hike up the hill from the museum and Langenegg Ey is about a mile down river from Langnau. Since the Unter had been owned by someone other than a Langenegger for many years, we decided to take a closer look at the Ey property in the valley to see if we could at least get a picture of the house and perhaps, if we were really lucky, meet a distant relative.

Margaret and I walked along the river where many of the local people were taking a break from regular life to cool off. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of covered bridges in and around Langnau ? all still being used. We even drove over one just outside of Langnau.

Just as we approached the long driveway to the Langenegger house, two women came up from the river and one of them spoke English. She told us that we were in the right place and that the Langenegger family did live here. She offered to escort us to the right house among a group of several houses and buildings located on the property. With a cheery German "Woo hoo" she called out to the people inside and introduced us to my 9th cousin who lives in the house where Ulrich Langenegger Senior was born in 1664 (the same one mentioned in the book that immigrated to Pennsylvania).

Our new-found cousins were gracious and greeted us warmly even though we just showed up on their doorstep after over 250 years without a Christmas card! We had a short conversation about the family and viewed some of the information that they had there. Coincidentally, the couple's sister-in-law next door was in Pennsylvania to attend a Longenecker reunion while we were in Langnau. We exchanged contact information so that we can follow up with them with information we find that might be useful to them. They kindly offered us a cool drink from their well before we took a short walk around the farm to get some photos. The cows were in the barn as it was unseasonably hot that day. Milk from their cows is sold into a coop of local farmers that makes it into cheese. If you are looking for some authentic Langenegger cheese, look for the Emmentaler type as that is what they make there. It is sold in the US as simply Swiss cheese ? the type with holes in it. I must admit that it tasted much better in Langnau than in California.

The house is located an easy hike along the river from Langnau and consists of the original house plus some additional houses and outbuildings. I found the house a challenge to photograph by itself. It is a typical Swiss farm house arranged with living quarters and barn under one roof. On one side is an earthen ramp going directly into the attic over the barn that is used to move hay into that area for storage and use during the winter.

The roof is steep by US standards but not as steep as I expected in an area that gets lots of snow. Most roofs in the area are tile and include a series of brackets about six inches high that hold the snow in the winter so that it doesn't all fall down at one time. Some buildings had a simpler system with only one set of brackets near the bottom of the roof that held a four inch pipe running the entire length of the house ? apparently for the same purpose as the brackets on other buildings. In addition, this system probably uses the snow to insulate the roof from the cold. Another interesting thing about some roofs and houses ? the builders sometimes put their initials and the date of construction on the roof by using different colored tiles. Others painted this information under the eaves or on the face of the building under the eaves.

The Langenegger house is not as fancy as some in town but is large and includes some fancy joinery work that we saw repeated inside the museum, on the covered bridges, and elsewhere in the area. The main structure appears to be large beams carefully joined together at the proper angles so that they get stronger as more weight is put on them ? and held together with wooden pegs. On one bridge near town we saw metal strapping that seems to have been added later.

The business of the farm centers around the milk cows. There was a large field of corn planted near the house along with a well-kept garden that seems to grace every house we saw in Switzerland. Along the driveway approach to the farm there are some cherry trees with mostly green fruit just beginning to turn pink in places. The rest of the farm appeared to be in grass. My friend John Garland in Oklahoma would call the fencing "psychological fencing" ? not much of a barrier to an animal that wants out. We noticed that a lot of fences appeared to be temporary and electrified so that the cows can be easily moved to fresh grass as needed. We even saw one electric fence hooked up to a solar panel up high in the mountains a long train-ride away from Langnau. Out of respect for the current occupants' time and space, we only stayed briefly.

We returned to our hotel via a path the goes along the river and stopped for a rest in the shade of an old covered bridge. We were exhausted again and happy at getting to meet our distant relatives and to view the old house.

Research: If you are researching this area, no genealogy information is readily available in Langnau. The records office has records from 1886, but doesn't release it without permission of the persons mentioned in the records and the charges to do so are very high. You will have much better luck in Bern where most of the Swiss records are held. There is almost always someone around that speaks English and the records offices are no exception. The records are neither computerized nor indexed ? but they are very neatly categorized by location and time frames. You will need to tell them exactly who, where, and when you want to look in order to get the right microfilm. Then it is an old-fashioned search browsing through records written along time ago using unfamiliar styles and letters. Lockers are located outside the office in the hallway and you will have to leave your backpack, purse, etc. there. It's free and secure.

The Archives de I'Etat de Berne is located at Falkenplatz 4, CH-3012 Berne near the main railroad station. It was easy to find the third time I tried. The rail station is large and busy and on several levels. Locate the elevators on one end of the station and take them all the way to the top. If you have trouble, follow the students and the signs to the university in order to find the elevators. Once you are at the top, go toward the campus ? the only way you can go really ? and pass between two large university-looking buildings. Falkenplatz 4 is the first building on the right after you pass through the campus area. There is a small street stand just across the small park where the students congregate for a cheap and good sandwich ? get there early as they run out of sandwiches quickly after noon. The office is open from 8:00 to 12:00 and 1:00 to 5:00 every weekday except Friday when it closes at 4:30. If you want to confirm before going, their phone numbers are 031/633 51 01, fax 031/633 51 02. Copies are one Swiss Frank per page ? so take along plenty of cash so that you can get everything you want. You can easily spend 50 franks in one afternoon depending on the records you want. I didn't have time, but you may also want to check out these sources provided by the museum in Langnau . . .

Zivilstands-und Burgerrechtsdienst
Des Kantons Bern
Eigerstrasse 73
3011 Bern
031/633 47 85
Fax: 031/633 47 39

Nieisen Paul-Anthon
Biochstrasse 7
3753 Oberhofen am Thunersee
033/243 24 52

Gene Hall has been working on the family tree for over 25 years and currently is the CEO of FamilyTrackers, Inc. - a World Genealogy Exchange located at http://www.familytrackers.com/
The Landgasthof Hotel Adler mentioned in this article is located at http://www.landgasthof-adler.ch/

This article comes with reprint rights. You are free to reprint and distribute it as you like. All that I ask is that you reprint it in its entirety without any changes including this text and the link above.

---

Google News Updated : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:06:59 GMT McCain pledges change, touts experience in convention address - Detroit Free Press Telegraph.co.uk McCain pledges change, touts experience in convention address Detroit Free Press - 3 hours ago ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Preaching a message of bipartisanship and insisting he's the man to throw the "me-first, country-second" crowd out of Washington, a buoyant John McCain steered his Straight Talk Express into its biggest berth ever Thursday night ... Video: McCain Vs. Obama: Got Change? AssociatedPress Reuters Politics Summary Washington Post BBC News - Financial Times - Christian Science Monitor - New York Daily News all 1,491 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:41:29 GMT Serena, Jankovic will duel in final - Boston Globe ESPN Serena, Jankovic will duel in final Boston Globe - 6 hours ago By Cindy Shmerler NEW YORK - Maybe someone put a Whoopie Cushion on Richard Williams's chair. Because there he was, jumping up and down after every point, high-fiving everyone around him. Video: Serena Williams Tries for 3rd US Open Title AssociatedPress Williams has edge in semis Washington Times Washington Post - Bob Larson Tennis News - Sports Network - Houston Chronicle all 4,138 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:34:34 GMT Use of 'Barracuda' for Sarah Palin nets GOP a Heart attack - New York Daily News Use of 'Barracuda' for Sarah Palin nets GOP a Heart attack New York Daily News - 11 hours ago BY NANCY DILLON They put the "amp" in campaign and get voters tapping their toes to the ballot box - but hit songs can be tricky territory for political campaigns. Heart Wants To Be Ripped Out Of Republicans’ Campaign eFluxMedia Wilson sisters slam GOP's use of Heart's "Barracuda" Seattle Times E! Online - TMZ.com - San Francisco Chronicle - Boston Globe all 186 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:19:34 GMT NetSuite Says Chrome-optimized Apps Are Flying - PC World eFluxMedia NetSuite Says Chrome-optimized Apps Are Flying PC World - 16 hours ago It was in line with the likelihood of summer following spring that somebody would declare an application optimized for Google's Chrome, the new web browser that has dominated the geekier end of technology news this week. Google Chrome Hit With Another Security Bug CRN NetSuite boasts of Google Chrome support CNET News eFluxMedia - Financial Times - Waukegan News Sun - Motley Fool all 206 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:39:42 GMT MTV's VMAs: DOA? - E! Online MTV's VMAs: DOA? E! Online - 34 minutes ago MTV's Video Music Awards are this weekend, and we're lukewarm on the whole affair. Russell Brand as the host? We've only seen this Brit bloke once before, in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which feels like eons ago, and those VMA commercials costarring ... Kanye West to Close Video Music Awards New York Times Russell Brand looks to make big splash as VMA host Boston Herald eFluxMedia - ABC News - Singersroom News - Columbus Dispatch all 1,185 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:32:57 GMT Palins on move The Palin story . . . - Chicago Sun-Times ABC News Palins on move The Palin story . . . Chicago Sun-Times - 4 hours ago Sarah Palin and her hubby, Todd, went separate ways Thursday night after John McCain's speech. • • To wit: While Sarah Palin headed with McCain to Cedarburg, Wisc. Poll on Palin: GOP likes her, Dems don't Houston Chronicle Sarah Palin will be missing from action Sunday am Los Angeles Times Lawrence Journal World - Austin American-Statesman - ABC News - San Francisco Chronicle all 1,406 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:07:37 GMT Dell May Shrink Its Network of Factories - New York Times DailyTech Dell May Shrink Its Network of Factories New York Times - 11 hours ago By STEVE LOHR Dell, in a government filing this week, strongly suggested that it planned to shrink its network of factories as part of the computer company’s drive to reduce costs. Dell Trades Factories For Money Forbes WSJ: Dell could sell off Winston-Salem plants Bizjournals.com guardian.co.uk - Wall Street Journal - Seeking Alpha - Bloomberg all 239 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:57:22 GMT RSS For Web Pages Increase Website Traffic

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Candle Maintenance

Many people don't know that you can actually improve the... Read More

Picture Frame Crafts For Your Kids Party

One of the most popular party favors is a framed... Read More

How to Make Gel Candles - 11 Easy Steps

Do you love burning beautiful, scented candles? And do you... Read More

Embroidery Designs Testing for Machine Embroidery

We have found a "new" way to see how well... Read More

World Skills & Learning About Old World Skills

There was once a time when almost everyone acquired, or... Read More

Woodworking Tools: Right Selection And Care Will Save You Money, Part 6

Woodworking: Tools Of The Trade, Part 6 - Finishing EquipmentA... Read More

Ribbons and Lace, Embroidery Cotton, and Hemp to Spice Up Your Scrapbooks

Ribbon and lace are by far the most common, and... Read More

Identifying US Coins with Bullish Futures

Okay, let's get something straight? I do not advocate the... Read More

Russian Nesting Dolls - The Beginning

According legend, first nested doll prototype appeared in Russia in... Read More

Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue: Unity Candle Craft Project

Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. There... Read More

Copyright: Five Facts Every Scrapbooker Needs To Know!

Here are five basic things that EVERY scrapbooker should know... Read More

More Than A Memory- A Legacy

Everyone has that box of pictures either in a close... Read More

Scrapbooking Yourself as a Girl, Youth, and Your College Days

Now that you grasp the importance of scrapbooking yourself and... Read More

A Beginners Guide to Buying Authentic Swords Online

Looking at all the various swords for sale online can... Read More

Tech-Savvy Crafters Can Go Global

The image of a crafter or artisan is often serene,... Read More

Treasure Hunting - Part Two

Treasure hunting begins at home. People regularly find famous old... Read More

Green Thumb Not Required

Ah, the sweet smell of fresh flowers, herbs and fruit.... Read More

Sell Hobby Items by Mail

You can, if you are ambitious, start a Mail Order... Read More

Are Your Airbrush Products Selling? If So, Here Are 3 Ways To Further Skyrocket Sales!

One of the biggest challenges faced by airbrush artists are... Read More

From Clutter To Treasure: Re-use and Not Reject!

Make use of clutter to decorate your home! Sounds strange?... Read More

Handmade Quilts are Made with Love and Make Great Family Heirlooms!

Today's handmade quilts are more like a work of art... Read More

Puzzle Pieces, Sequins, and Rhine Stones in Your Scrapbooks

Puzzle pieces make playful embellishments and borders. Puzzle pieces give... Read More

Starting A Coin Collection

The best place to start collecting would be with pennies,... Read More

My Greatest Stamp Find

I have been involved with stamps nearly my entire life.... Read More

Woodworking Beginners: Introduction To First Time Crafts

Woodworking: The Process Of Making Something Using WoodThe art of... Read More