Jean-Luc Aubert > Genealogy in French-speaking Switzerland

Switzerland is a federal state divided in 26 political districts called cantons (23 cantons and 3 half-cantons). Although they are a lot smaller, they are akin to the States in the United States or to the Canadian Provinces. Each of them can be defined as a small republic with its own libraries, archives, and above all, its own habits! For this very reason, studying genealogy in Switzerland can be sometimes a puzzling and challenging task for the beginner.

When you are born in Switzerland, you are a citizen of your administrative commune (county) and of your canton well before being a Swiss citizen. This particular right to citizenship will be inherited by your descendants, wherever they are born. For instance, if your family has lived in Geneva for more than five generations, you may still be a citizen of a district in far-away Aargau, where no member of your family has set foot for a hundred years. The family registrar of the district will keep registering your children's births, even if you have never been there. Some families may even have several districts of origin. This "archaic" proceeding can be useful if you are researching about your ancestors and know their district of origin.

Civil state is the job of the communes. Each canton has its own specific civil administration. However, since the 1874 Constitution, basic rules have been set by the Confederation. Since 1928 Switzerland has had a generalized system of family registrars, one for each district.

In some cantons, the archives own copies of the family registrars located the districts under their administration, which generally covers a period beyond 50 years. The parish registrars are administered in much the same way: in some cantons, these registrars are now part of the cantonal archives, while in others (Fribourg, Valais) they have remained in parishes.

Switzerland has four official languages: German (or Schwyzertüütsch), French, Italian and Romansh (an ancient rheto-latin language). Before undertaking any research in Switzerland, you should make sure that you know the canton and district of origin of your family. The Swiss National Library and the Swiss Federal Archives won't be of much help to you, as most of the information has been stored at the cantonal archives and at the State registrars of the districts.

French-speaking Switzerland (or Romandy) is divided into six cantons: Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura (100% of French-speakers), Fribourg/Freiburg and Valais/Wallis (French-speakers with a German-speaking minority). The Bernese Jura is the name of the French-speaking part of German-speaking Bern.