GENEAL-FORUM

I know the lineage of my father on his father's side. I am trying to find the lineage on my father's mother's side. She had the same family name as her husband, my grandfather (Lüthold). I also would like to find the lineage on my mother. I only know her parents. Her father was Johan Vogler-Kiser. My father's family was from Alpnach, Obwalden. My mother was born in Lungern, but later lived with her parents in Schoried, Alpnach (Zeisel).

I was born in California in the US and have lived here all my life, presently in Maryland. Although I can speak Schweizer-Deutsch and can usually understand simple written German I am having difficulty trying to find out how I can trace my ancestors. I am registered as a Swiss citizen in Obwalden, and I would think that my parents and their parents, etc. would also be in the governmental records. But I do not know how to get this information. So please, any help and advice you could give me would be much appreciated.

Arthur Lüthold

First of all - welcome to the forum, Arthur.

Some general introduction can be found on viewtopic.php?f=49&t=21154#p569 (which has not been updated for some time). More up-to-date is my presentation Besonderheiten der Familienforschung in der Schweiz (though in German only). This is free of charge and can be requested by email (http://www.seelentags.de/kontakt.htm): it also includes some basics about sources in Obwalden.

Now re your query: how to start depends on the data you already have - e.g. when was your "oldest" Lüthold ancestor born (in both lines, as you seem to have both, a paternal and a maternal Lüthold line).

Please, note that we only discuss single families (defined by name and place of citizenship) in any single thread - see Structure of contributions to the Swiss forum. In other words - start new threads on Vogler and Kiser (they can be linked to each other): the more info you can give, the better - as it will be easier to give relevant advice.