Need help finding birth/baptism record in Scharans, Switzerland

Question

Hello, I have been trying to research the Banzer family in Osnabrück, who owned a confectionery business in the mid-1800s in downtown Osnabrück. I had to learn that their forefather was a Swiss immigrant, and now I am trying to research his baptism record (and earlier roots), but I know very little about Swiss genealogy, so any help / pointers will be much appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi Sven,
The churchbooks of Canton Graubünden are not available online, but they might be available at FamilySearch.

According to the Familiennamenbuch, the surname Banzer only had Feldis/Veulden in Canton Graubünden as "place of origin" ("Heimatort"). And there are three families that migrated from Fürstentum Liechtenstein to Switzerland in 20th century. This means, you want so search in the church books of Scharans and also Feldis/Veulden, and if you are not lucky, also try Liechtenstein.

Do you have the names of his parents and the exact date of birth to search in Switzerland? If not, you would first need more information from Germany.

Comments

There is some overview information at the Bündner Cantonal Archives: English German

However, as mentioned above, access to the church records, and whatever else is available seems to be in person only.  Though, it might not hurt to contact them to ask if they might be able to help you out remotely.

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Thanks, I will check those out.

Answer 2

FamilySearch does have a huge collection of records for Graubunden. Many have been indexed but still more not and they are only available as images at a FamilySearch facility or affiliate library. Beware that some of the indexed ones may appear as unsupported stubs - ie without any source to support the record.

I suggest you look with your knowledge of family names and any hints as to location. Good Luck. Mike Tosio

Comments

Thank you very much, I will check that out!