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Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Keywords

Swiss national languages, Swiss Genealogy

Abstract

These three works offer a pleasantly optimistic view of Swiss research. The disadvantages of not one, but four, national languages, (German, French, Italian , and Romansh), and a lack of federal census schedules or military pension files are more than offset by the availability of records relatively untouched by war, political instability, or extensive civil boundary changes. Particularly reassuring is Mr. Nielson's observation that, with few exceptions, one can trace his lineage in Switzerland to about the time of the Reformation. However, success is not synonymous with simplicity. All three authors stress the inability of one publica tion to deal with the complexities of Swiss research and Ms. Wellauer suggests several volumes on one canton alone might be more appropriate .

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