The following letter is to John and Anna Wichser from Edward and Etta Wichser. It talks of their trip to Switzerland in July of 1962. This is the original text of the letter of which I only have a copy.
There were pictures of various places included with the original letter. These I have never seen. I have include Etta's text which accompanied the pictures.
-Bill Wichser, 1989
Dear Sister and Brother:
It makes Ed and me very happy to be able to give you a copy of our branch of the Wichser Family history dating back to 1347, together with a bit of a story of our trip to the Schwanden area. We hope it will please you to receive it.
We reached Schwanden, the birthplace of Grandfather and Father Wichser, about three o'clock in the afternoon of Monday, July 9th, 1962. On the recommendation of Albert Appleton who had visited this section during World War 2, we went to the Schwanderhof Hotel and registered. It is a three story, family type hotel, with a wooden winding staircase through the center, and as luck would have it, the only available room was on the top floor. This turned out to be just fine as the view from our windows was magnificent. Albert had told us to ask for the "bridal suite" which he had occupied during his visit. However, this practice, under new ownership, had long been discontinued and we were content with our basin in the room and our "john" in the hall.
Our first interest was to inquire about Henri and Hilde Zimmermann to whom we had written from the US telling them of our anticipated trip to Schwanden. We made our needs known to our landlady who immediately telephoned a Mr. Kundert in Mitlodi, a long standing friend of Henri Zimmermann. It was arranged that we would meet him in front of his home, a beautiful brown chalet, on the edge of Mitlodi which is adjacent to Schwanden on one side. There being only one road, we could not get lost. Mr. Kundery, a kindly old gentleman, informed us that Henri Zimmermann had died a couple of years ago but that his wife, Hilde, lived at the Gasthof Sterner in Mitlodi. He gave us directions and on to the Gasthof Sterner we went. It was closed!!!!!! A sign on the door said the Gasthof was closed every Monday. I inquired in a neighboring house and learned that Hilde had left about 2 PM that day and would probably not return much before 11 PM that night since it was her custom on her day off to take a ride in the mountains. While looking around, a man approached us and I told him the reason for our trip. He turned out to be Mayor Besug Markus who also held every other office in the town. He knew of our letter written to the Zimmermanns and said Henry had died on December 3, 1959; would tell Hilde of our visit and also that we would return to see her.
So we took a ride and viewed the majestic mountains and breathtaking scenery. Schwanden is a lovely country ton complete with hotel, Church,railroad station, a Main Street and a swimming pool and sports area recently completed. It, like all towns of Switzerland, is nestled in the mountains and one can sit on a bench at the Railroad Station, just outside the door of the hotel, and drink in the surrounding beauty. Before going to bed we wrote a card to each of the Wichsers. Receive it?
The next morning we took the 9:05 bus to Schwandi, birthplace of Mother Wichser. Schwandi is at the top of a very narrow, steep, winding hill (by our standards, a mountain) at the end of which everybody must get out and walk the rest of the way. We were warned by our bus driver to watch our time (busses don't run very often) as the walk back to the bus-stop would be made much slower than our walk from it since we would be pretty tired. It is all circuitous and uphill. It was so very peaceful and beautiful. We saw villages here and there, all identified by the Church steeple in each; snow capped mountains; well kept farms; the school house in front of which was an ambulance equipped as a dental office to which children were going one by one, and at one point as we sat among the pines we just "looked", talking in whispers as it seemed almost sacrilegious to talk out loud in this very quiet and peaceful spot, the only sound being the occasional mooing of a cow. Ed' remark was that it took some hiking to go a-courting in the 'ole days; all uphill and stony and dirt roads.
On out return "home", we were told that Hilde had telephoned and had invited us for "coffee" that afternoon. What a visit that turned out to be!! She had been watching at the window for us and was at the door to great us. Made us feel very welcome. She is a vivacious, attractive, and well-built person, forty-nine years old as of last May 18th. A very pleasing personality, ideal for mixing with people which is so essential to her kind of business -- a type restaurant which is open from about 10 AM to about 2 AM depending upon the guests. here one may have a lunch, afternoon coffee, light supper, followed by an evening of dancing to the juke-box, sipping wine or drinking beer, etc. The young ladies are permitted to dance with the guests but must, at the same time, keep their eyes open in order to serve other guests. It is all very friendly and it is most usual to have someone burst into song with everyone else chiming in.
Hilde told us that she was Henri's second wife, being married to him twenty-two years. Said he had been very sick from August 15th, 1959 to the time of his death on December 3, 1959. He had been accidentally struck, with a stone, on the back of his head. Ignored it at the time but a couple of days later it pained him so much that Hilde called the doctor against his wishes. Infection had already set in and the doctor said if he had not been called in Henri would have gone insane. Seemed to improve for a while but then grew steadily worse. Went from 210 pounds down to about 100 pounds. His bones softened; flesh began to fall off and he had a painful death. We heard the story in great detail which should have been recorded because it was a three-way conversation; Hilde speaking only German, I interpreting, Ed answering in English, I again interpreting. It also seems that Henri had a son by a previous marriage who is attempting to break Henri's Will. Since Hilde and Henri bought this business when it was run down and had built it up to its now prosperous state, Henri had Willed the business to Hilde, leaving his wood-furniture business outright to his son. Seems his son has now brought action in the Courts to have the Will set aside, claiming the Gasthof Sterner should be his. The afternoon drew to a close and we finally left with the understanding we would have dinner with her the next day and then take a ride in her Mercedes Benz, she then to be our guest at evening dinner. This we did, and enjoyed a hair-raising ride over the Klaussen Pass, a narrow, winding road without ANY protection whatsoever on the outside - a sheer drop of a couple of thousand feet at one point. Always honking the horn on the approach to another turn, and then one of the drivers would "back" to the nearest "insert" in the mountain made for this purpose. It was exciting to put it mildly, but Hilde is an excellent driver and commanded much confidence which permitted us to view the awe inspiring scenery and wonder if we were in this or the next world, being on top of snow and ice-capped mountains. On our return to Hilde's place about 10 PM, arrangements had been made for a "party" for us and also, as a complete surprise, to meet your two cousins on your Mother's side, Agatha and Babette, two charming ladies in their late seventies, but spry as the dickens, who had brought innumerable pictures with them, of all members of the USA family, as sent them by your Mother. We chatted and chatted; laughed and sang; drank and ate, and it got so late (should say early in the morning) that our landlady telephoned that she would place the hotel door key under the mat!
The next morning we visited the Church where your parents were confirmed. Because of its age, since it must necessarily date back a couple of hundred years, we expected to find a truly rural Church. Imagine our surprise when we entered -- first a courtyard of slate tiling beautifully edged in all colors of flowers, and then an arcade type approach into the Church, and THEN a very modern interior. It had been completely renovated in 1950 with hearing aids for each parishioner in the first six pews of the Church!!! A new pipe organ; paneled wood ceiling; hand painted Biblical pictures over the pulpit. As is the custom of Protestant Churches in Europe, there is no Altar as we think of a Church Altar. Instead there is a long, directory-type, hand-carved wooden table. We assume that on Sundays a Bible is placed in the center but it was bare when we saw it. Ed has taken a picture of the Church which is on a following page, of which I am mighty proud; it is so beautiful and turned out so well. I believe it is like one already in the family. Cousins Agatha and Babette substantiated the fact that this was the Church in which your Mother and Father were confirmed.
The next day we went to Glarus. Glarus is the name of the city which is the capital of the Canton. All cities in Switzerland have a wampum or a crest, which appears on flags flown with the Swiss flag on all buildings. The Glarus wampum is a figure of Father Fridolin, a missionary who founded the entire section. We have a copy. The wampum for Schwanden is a Swan. The graceful swan is a treasured bird in all Switzerland and it is against the law to harm it in any manner.
In Glarus we found the Hall of Records and made inquiry as to the Wichser Family history. We were introduced to Dr. Winteler who is the Chief Archivist and with whom we spent a very pleasant hour. It was most fortunate that we made this contact as he is retiring from office on December 31st of this year. He had no difficulty in tracing the Wichser Family. In less than twenty minutes, with his finger "galloping" down one column on one page to the next column on another page, he had the history back to 1347, and all written in the tiniest, most legible and beautiful handwriting we have ever seen. The first notation is dated 1347 with the insignia shown as a large Z with a small circle on either side; in 1559 a Swan became the insignia and has continued to this date. There are four wampums. We arranged with Dr. Winteler to make a copy of the history for us and it was waiting for us on our return, September 25th, together with a copy of the wampum.
It is our hope to be able to show Ed's beautiful pictures to each of you, not only of Schwanden, but of all the other places we visited. It was a never-to-be forgotten trip and between Ed's 500 pictures and my three books of daily recorded activities, it will always be a live memory. We hope to be able to share it all with you.
Lovingly,
[signed: Etta]