November 2, 2014

Visiting the Christian Reformed Church in Birr, Canton Aargau, Switzerland where our Seeberger ancestors attended.

I owe many thanks to our friend Ulrich Seeberger for making all of the arrangements for my visit to the church and to see the original record books. Ulrich volunteered his communication services and contacts to make this visit one of the highlights of an amazing trip.

I also want to thank the pastor of the church, Mr. Jürg Luchsinger, who took time out of his day to show us the church, explain the history and to escort us to the town office where the records are stored. Mr. Luchsinger seemed quite fascinated that so many Texas Seeberger descendants showed such interest in our Swiss heritage and was pleased to pass on what information he was able to provide.

Below are photos taken of the church, the church yard and one of the record books containing the marriage of our ancestor Martin Seeberger to Barbara Vogt in 1643. There is also a photo of Mr. Lunchsinger standing next to the pulpit which dates back to 1664 so it would have been in the church during the time our ancestors worshiped here. This is a Christian Reformed Church and has been remodeled a few times since our ancestors attended but the outside is mostly the same as well as the simplicity of the inside.

I've added some photos of our meeting with Ulrich and his lovely wife Ann in Cologne here.