European Family History Trip: Day 12 – Stein am Rhein Switzerland
Saturday, October 12, 2024 – First thing in the morning, we stopped by Migros (Dave’s favorite grocery store from his missionary days in Switzerland) and picked up some croissants. Oh my, they were still on the rack from having just been baked and they were the biggest, most delicious croissants I’ve ever had! Now I understand why my mom loved to go to the local bakery in the morning and pick up a fresh croissant when she lived in Germany!
Family History at Stein am Rhein
We spent the day in Stein am Rhein, studying the plaques on the buildings. Most of the marked buildings were there back in the 1500’s when my two ancestors were born (one around 1530 and another around 1590).
The city archive may have more information on my ancestors, but it was closed on Saturday. It’s only open Monday – Friday. We’ll either email or call them and see what they have.
Swiss Reformers: Zwingli and My Ancestors
We spent the day walking the town, reading plaques, and taking a tour of the local St. Georg Kloster museum. I took some of my favorite photographs here. I found the tour very interesting. Included in the tour were some clips from the Zwingli movie which was filmed in the St. Georg Kloster.
Switzerland was Catholic until about 1520 and then the Reformation started with Zwingli who edited the Martin Luther Bible into a regional form of German that ordinary people could understand and added some Apocrypha. He called out the Church for forcing everyone to pay tithes, for the elaborate icons, celibacy of the clergy, intense fasting, etc.
Shortly thereafter, the Catholic monks were forced out of the Kloster. Zurich sent Bailiffs to help govern the area of Stein am Rhein. The Bailiffs moved into the Kloster. The ornate church was stripped of its icons and is plain in comparison to the Catholic cathedrals we’ve seen in Germany thus far.
Leo Jud and Zwingli
By the time my 13th great grandfather, Hans Rudolph Wonlich, was born in Stein am Rhein in 1530, the Reformation had taken hold and was being advocated by the seats of power in Zurich. Hans Rudolph Wonlich’s wife (my 13th great grandmother) was Susanna Jud. Susanna was the daughter of Leo Jud.
Leo Jud was Zwingli’s best friend who helped him translate the Zurich Bible and participated in the “affair of the sausages” where a group of clerical leaders ate sausages during Lent (which was against the law). The two movies about Zwingli show Leo Jud performing the marriage of Zwingli to Anna Reinhard.
Zwingli, Leo Jud, and other priests believed that priests should be able to marry instead of simply impregnating women and then paying a tax to the church for doing so.
Many of these Reformation priests married former nuns. For example, Leo Jud married a former nun Katharina Gmünder and had several children with her (including my 13th great grandmother, Susanna Jud).
My ancestor Leo Jud is prominently featured in this Zwingli Movie:
Zwingli, Hans Rudolph Lavater and the Battle of Kappel
In 1531, Zwingli died at the battle of Kappel, which was a battle between the Reformers and the Catholics.
Interestingly enough, another one of my 13th great grandfathers, Hans Rudolph Lavater, also knew Zwingli. Lavater was a Chief Commander at the battle of Kappel where some poor strategic moves contributed to Zwingli’s death. But it didn’t hurt Lavater’s career. He went on to be a Bailiff at Kyborg Castle (1525), Senator (1536), and Burgemaster (aka Mayor) of Zurich (1545-1556).
My 13th great grandfather, Hans Rudolph Wonlich (born 1530) became a minister in the Reformed Church and became a Priest at Albisrieden in 1553, a Deacon at St. Peter in Zurich in 1553, A Priest in Rickenbach in 1557 and Archdeacon at Grossmunster in Zurich in 1594.
His grandson, Hans Conradt Wonlich (born 1590 in Stein am Rhein) married Hans Rudolph Lavater’s granddaughter, Ursula Lavater, on 14 December 1612. They are my 11th great grandparents. Hans Conradt Wonlich became the priest of Lustdorf and served for a few decades there.
You can see that there is a lot of Reformation history in this branch of my family tree (Via my mother Betty White Morton’s White-Brown-Ford line.)
After immersing ourselves in the history of Stein am Rhein at the Kloster, we had some hot chocolate and a pastry from the local bakery. I got an apricot pastry, and Dave had a rhubarb one.
They don’t mix the chocolate into the hot chocolate here. They give you a spoon with a big blob of chocolate on it that you mix around in some warm milk until it becomes hot chocolate. It took a bit of time to stir it in, but I did enjoy the flavor of it. Unfortunately, it cooled off while we did all that stirring, so we drank a little and then Dave had them bring us some boiling water to add to it. That heated it up without making it watered down.
We topped off the evening with a concert at the local church. The acoustics were amazing, and I became so immersed that I was moved to tears more than once. After the concert we walked across the bridge over the Rhein River and were awestruck by the sunset. Photos don’t do it justice.
Sunset on the Rhein River
Click here to read my next day’s blog where I cover visiting more areas my relatives lived, including Tiengener Castle and the Grossmünster in Zurich.
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