GENEAL-FORUM

Die folgende Diskussion hat sich im Thema Zimmermann von Steffisburg BE entwickelt und wurde wegen ihres generellen Characters in ein neues Thema abgetrennt.
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In this previous post I have shown the difference between the images from the Bern State Archive and on familysearch: as you live in California, you can access Bern records on familysearch - Swiss residents can not . I can only recommend to view the file on familysearch - and if you still have problems, post a screenshot

I cannot speak for California, but in the US-State of Minnesota, the Bern church records cannot be viewed online via familysearch except at a Family History Center of the LDS church. That’s fine, I suppose, if one lives near a FHC, but for me the closest one is 100 miles away. That’s too far, even for the advantage of a superior image. After many years of reliance on Lewis Rohrbach’s CDs, the easy, at-home, online access on the Bern Canton archive site is like a dream come true.

bstahly hat geschrieben: Fr 13. Aug 2021, 00:46I cannot speak for California, but in the US-State of Minnesota, the Bern church records cannot be viewed online via familysearch except at a Family History Center of the LDS church.

That's interesting: from other posts I got the impression that it was possible from home for US residents ... seems to be wrong. It should be possible from "affiliated libraries" as well (no idea how many there are in the US - none in Switzerland to my knowledge). Or is it possible to view from home as ancestry subscriber (another rumor)?

Apart from that: in Switzerland (I believe all Europe) viewing is not even possibly at FHCs since June, due to some sort of maintenance.

Or is it possible to view from home as ancestry subscriber (another rumor)?

The Bernese parish images are not available on Ancestry with, or without, a subscription. My subscription is at the “world” level, which unlocks all available international content.

It should be possible from "affiliated libraries" as well (no idea how many there are in the US - none in Switzerland to my knowledge).

There are several FHC libraries in Switzerland, e.g. Zürich, Bern, Basel, Luzern, e.t.c.

https://www.familysearch.org/fhcenters/locations/#

I have no idea if they are actually open.

bstahly hat geschrieben: Fr 13. Aug 2021, 14:50There are several FHC libraries in Switzerland, e.g. Zürich, Bern, Basel, Luzern, e.t.c.

I know - but that's not what I meant: there are supposed to be "affiliated libraries" outside FHCs ... or how should I interpret the attached message?And this is apart from the fact that these films have been blocked in Europe even for FHCs since June for some sort of "maintenance".

Helmut, you may be right. Perhaps the deceased was Hans Rohrer, the Zimmermann.

I concur with Bruce regarding access to the Bern Kirchenbücher. Nothing is available through Family Search. I still use Lewis Rohrbach’s CDs for Steffisburg records, just because it’s quick and easy—and I built my database to reference the CD pages. But the free online availability of the State Archives of Canton Bern is a marvelous thing. I have not gone to a FHC in years, even though there is one 15 minutes from my house.

I use the Archion portal for German church records, but it is not free.

This week I discovered the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg web portal at https://www2.landesarchiv-bw.de/ofs21/home.php
It contains 16,5 Millionen digitale Reproduktionen von Archivalien direkt im Internet anschauen und herunterladen.

Maybe I’m the last to find that resource, but if anyone is looking for historical documents in Baden-Württemberg, they have a well-structured site.

[I know - but that's not what I meant: there are supposed to be "affiliated libraries" outside FHCs ... or how should I interpret the attached message?

Good question. Here is the message that I receive when attempting to access the records:

Images of original church records (christenings, marriages, burials, etc.) from various cantons of Switzerland. The images for the canton of Bern can only be viewed at the Family History Library, FamilySearch Centers, and by members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Images for Basel-Stadt and Schaffhausen are unrestricted and can be viewed by all users. Original records are maintained in Basel-Stadt, Bern, and Schaffhausen State Archives.

By “members of the supporting organization…” I presume it means tithing members of the LDS church. Otherwise, I don’t fully understand the wording. The main Family History Library is in Utah — that’s where microfilms or other material come from when ordered for a local FHC.

As far as I know, LDS no longer sends films to local FHCs, the digitalize their stocks. In their catalogues icons indicate whether
- anyone who is registered can access the originals, OR
- the digitalisation is still in progress, OR
- due to some restrictictions (like European laws, original owners' demand, ...) digitalized material can only be viewed from FHC-computers

Sorry to -"party-poop", but maybe the exchange about what archives are on-line, and/or how to access, should be continued in a different thread - ...

Having asked several people I had gotten - as usual - different, partially contradicting answers.

Let me first report on my experiences viewing films at the Zürich FHC: I had met on several occasions people travelling to Zürich from Germany as they could not order films of German records to a German FHC. In other words - regional differences did (for whatever reason) exist.

Films are "history" - we now have the digitized records - and (apart from national differences, which still may exist) my impression is now, that accessability in Europe and the USA is almost the same. The only difference seems to be the "affiliated libraries": they seem to be few and far apart - the only ones I heard about are libraries at universities offering degrees in Family History Research (BYU Provo, BYU Idaho and BYU Hawaii).

Just leaves the question what is meant by the following:

bstahly hat geschrieben: Fr 13. Aug 2021, 16:29

... and by members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.