Enchanting Swiss Journal: Part 7: Genetically Related

Taken from the train, Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen

I received an email out of the blue from a woman in Switzerland who claimed to be a relative of mine. I had recently signed on with a website GedMatch which helps one with genealogical research. It was through this website that Marlise Wunderli of Schaffhausen, Switzerland contacted me.

Try as we may through various DNA websites, we could not find the connection. But she insisted that we were at least 4th cousins and was convinced that we had common relatives in Schleitheim, where she grew up. 

Marlise was invaluable to me in my genealogical research. I sent her a family tree

The Record from the State Archives of Zürich showing
my earliest ancestor, Thomas Klimmer, 5th name down

of the Klemmers (Clemmer, Clymer) that began in 1535 with the earliest ancestor of mine, my 9th great grandfather Thomas Klemmer. Because she had worked in the archives of Schafhausen, she was able to find the marriage records of the three earliest of my ancestors from the State Archives of Zürich, Switzerland. Unfortunately nothing was found for the next  ancestors, Valentine Klemmer, who immigrated to the USA in 1717. I have lost the trail of him after he left Switzerland and supposedly went to Germany before coming to the USA. 

Because we were traveling to Switzerland, I wanted  to meet up with her in person. Her dialect of German was difficult for me to understand, so she asked if she should speak with me in High German. I readily agreed, but I spoke the Bernese dialect with her. We were able to understand each other. 

Marker for the Anabaptist trail.

After a dinner at Restaurant Babental, high in the hills behind Schaffhausen, we journeyed on to Schleitheim where she had arranged a tour for us in a museum related to the Anabaptist Schleitheim Confession of 1550, 25 years after the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. On our journey from the restaurant to Schleitheim, we passed the "Täuferweg" (trail of the Anabaptists). Apparently they used this trail to find secluded places in the woods where they could worship in secret. 

Copy of the original Schleitheim Confession

The museum proved to be enlightening. We not only observed the original printed book of the confession, but also artifacts of Anabaptist history in the region. 

Despite the fact that we couldn't yet find how we were related, we agreed to keep in touch and continue the search for our relationship and my lost ancestor Valentine. 

My cousin Marlise Wunderli and me