Day 14: European Family History Trip – Private Tours of Lustdorf Chapel/Belfry and Kyburg Castle – Creation Girl

Lustdorf, Rickenbauch, Kyburg Castle Switzerland

Wow! What an amazing day! We started off in the morning with a visit to the Reformed Church in Lustdorf where my 11th Great Grandfather, Hans Conradt Wohnlich (or Wonlich) (1590-1656) was a minister.

David arranged for us to have a private tour of the church. The bulk of the church has been completely rebuilt, but the original bell tower remains. The woman who cares for the church took us up into the bell tower and showed us how the clock and the bells work. It was fascinating and a tricky climb up old steps.

She also gave me a copy of a book about Lustdorf called “Dorfgeschichte von Lustdorf TG” by Adolf Rietmann, published 2011. The book is written in German, so I used Google Translate to help me read it after I got home.

According to this book, Hans Conradt Wohnlich served as the Pfarrer of Lustdorf (A Reformation Church) from 1617-1656. He is discussed in this book on pages 108, 109, 133. It also says that his grandmother’s father, Leo Jud, was a close friend of Zwingli.

Video of Our Lustdorf Church / Belfry Tour

Playing the Organ in the Lustdorf Chapel

I’d mentioned a couple days earlier to Dave that one of my bucket list items for this trip was to play an instrument (preferably a keyboard) in one of the historic buildings that have such wonderful acoustics. The caretaker at the Lustdorf church is also the organist. Dave arranged for me to be able to play the organ! That was fun, even though I didn’t really know what to do with the foot pedals. I’m a pianist, not an organist.

Next, we took a quick drive through Rickenbach where Hans Rudolph Wonlich (my 13th Great Grandfather) served as minister and where his son Rüdolff (my 11th Great Grandfather who was the father of Hans Conradt Wohnlich) was born. We visited Rickenbach to get a feel for the town where they lived. We stopped at a church there but found no trace of the Wonlich/Wohnlichs.

Having the Run of Kyburg Castle

The bulk of the day, we spent at Kyburg Castle where my 13th Great Grandfather, Hans Rudolph Lavater (1500-1557) lived and served for 11 years as a Landvogt or Bailiff of the castle (aka Schloss). A Landvogt or Bailiff is like a Sheriff – protecting a town, caring for the castle, and collecting taxes. Because the castle is closed this time of year, Dave arranged a private tour for me there too. Isn’t he AWESOME!?

I hoped to discover more about Hans Rudolph Lavater’s parents and grandparents (whom I hope connect back to the royal von Sulz line). While I didn’t discover that, I learned some other cool stuff!

First, I learned that a Bailiff is someone who has a lot of money. When a Bailiff is elected, he throws a banquet for all the people who voted for him. Also, the Bailiffs at Kyburg were often chosen as Burgermiesters (aka Mayors) of Zurich. This is what happened with Hans Rudolph Lavater. He went on to be a Senator and then the Mayor of Zurich.

Finding More Ancestors at Kyburg

The main thing I discovered here was that Hans Rudolph Lavater’s second wife (my 12th great grandmother, Ursula Stapfer, 1522-1569) was the daughter of another Bailiff at Kyburg. Her father was Hans Jakob Stapfer (1467-1526). His father (Ursula’s grandfather) Heinrich Stapfer (1446-1493) also served as a Bailiff at Kyburg.

This means 3 of my great grandfathers served as Bailiff’s at Kyburg Castle. It was fun to see the living quarters where Hans and Ursula would have lived.

Not only did the historian give us a private tour, but also when I had questions for which he didn’t immediately have an answer (like a list Hans and Ursula’s children or what the symbol on my Stapfer grandfathers’ family shield meant), the historian would leave us to explore the castle on our own while he researched the answers.

I loved sitting in the window seats of the upper levels of the castle and soaking up the incredible views. For a spell my ancestors shared their castle with me and Kyburg was mine.

A Video our Private Kyburg Schloss (aka Castle) Tour

You can see the views in the video tour I made below.

Click here for a behind the scenes look at how Dave scheduled these private tours.

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