Cherry Trees, Hurlers, Speicher and Shopping in Appenzell

It was a long shot. And it might take hours and we could still come up empty handed. But I wanted to try to find the “2 story house with a cherry tree next to the window” that Emil Hurler described in his history.

We got up early and were out of the house by 8:30 or so. Our destination was a Civil Records house in Hubler. This is a small town marked on the map with very light, thin letters and it doesn’t even warrant a dot. Spencer has a keen sense of direction and, had long since mastered this area of Switzerland. We drove straight to the town. Then next issue is to find someone who speaks English. That is almost impossible in a town of this size. So between repeated pointing, “200 meters”, more pointing and the map one middle aged lady drew for us, we found the building. In the country, the Government buildings look just like homes. We found the building but they are only open between 2 pm and 5 pm. A dead end. However, Appenzell was only 20 minutes away!

Women love to shop. And Mom and I are no exception. We both came to Switzerland with a “wish list” in mind. But our itinerary took us completely out of the tourist loop and we had not seen “hide nor hair” of any shops that wanted our money. We needed to go to Appenzell.

It is worth pointing out that the term Appenzell can refer to the Appenzell Innerhdoen Canton, the Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton, or Appenzell the village. And, when you search the internet for tourist information in Switzerland, Appenzellland is right there in the top 3 of the list. They sponsor dance festivals, yodeling contest, and other programs, illustrating early Swiss traditions and dress. Hurlers are from Speicher and Tuefen whih are in Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Kunzler’s are from St Margarenth which, I believe is in Appenzell Innerhoden. But no one is from the village of Appenzell, so I had not planned to go there, until we heard about the shopping.

At first, Mom just ohhh’ed and ahhh’ed over little items, but always put them back. Finally Spence and I gave her the “If I have to tell Todd and Wayne that you would not buy a few things because of money, they will kill me” lecture. Her eyes lit up and off we went! She got most of the items on her wish list! Christmas Gifts, Birthday Gifts, and little things to give her friends for birthdays – everything for other people. Eventually she picked up some earrings with Edelweiss flowers on them, a cow bell for her Christmas tree, and a couple little things for her. She had a blast. It is true that with the exchange rate and the high cost of living in Switzerland it cost more than a penny, but Mom was thrilled with her “Treasures”.

It was just after 2:00. It is hard to describe the level of fatigue that we carried around with us each day. I almost chose not to return to Hubler. Fortunately we did.

The lady in the Zivil office was darling. I explained our goals, reviewed the research that Bernadette had done and showed her my permission from Zurich (the permission does not apply to her area but she could see we were legitimate) and she went to work. Within a few minutes she had pulled up a map showing the street and area that is referred to in the marriage records of both Emil’s father and grandfather. More importantly we made an agreement that we would work together through email to get the names I was looking for. This was a real miracle. I had previously emailed this office multiple times and been told no one could help me and no one spoke English. In addition, she referred us to the Government Office that held the records of property and community (Administer of Community), and gave us the name of her contact who could help us.

On with our detective work! Now, finding this building was even more challenging. Sometimes you can’t tell the difference between walking paths and side roads. I am not sure which we drove up. But Spence did it!

I must admit that the gentleman, Herr Preisig, seemed to think we were a little odd in our requests. But he pointed out the section of the street where it is most likely Emil’s childhood home stood. And, he agreed to research further to confirm. That additional information is not available until Friday.

The street “Hinterweis” was not far away. It is in an unbelievable area. It runs from the back to the front of a hill. The area we were seeking is on the front of the hill. It overlooks the valley and Lake Constance. It has a million dollar view. The new homes are obviously premium properties. Then the road turns to something between a walking path and a cow trail. Again, Spence drove on it anyway. I’ll acknowledge that there was no cow dung on this “path” so maybe it was a road! At the very end, the path leads right into the driveway of a very old home. It is 2 story home. Again, a long shot. I jumped out and stumbled (it is very steep) down the hillside to walk around the home, hoping there were no dogs – and based on the area, no ‘billy goat gruff”. As I came around the home, there was a cherry tree. Cherry trees don’t live 100 years. But cherry trees grew along that mountain side, behind the homes.

I don’t know why this happens at one location and not another. But as I stood there, photographing some man’s Swiss home, the spirit of Elijah filled my heart and tears poured down my face. I’ve had this experience 4 or 5 times. The feeling comes from the ground, up into your body and overwhelms you. I don’t know if Emil climbed out of that specific window to eat cherries, but I am pretty sure he played in these meadows and stood to gaze at Lake Constance, just as I was then. This is where his mother, Elizabetha Kunzler Meier accepted the gospel. Standing there, with a better understanding of the people and the pressure on them to be either Catholic or Protestant, I can better imagine how startling the news of a current prophet and an additional book of scripture might have been. I had thought these early members were courageous to walk across America to Utah. But now I know the courage began when they explained to their families and friends that they believed these strange missionaries and their message of an angel, a prophet and golden plates. This is where Elizabetha and her husband somehow decided to part ways. Her husband had previously immigrated to America and lived in New York for a year. For whatever reason, he (with his first wife and children) returned to Switzerland after a year. And, he was older – he died 3 years later. Records show he did not join the church. This is where the persecution pushed the new members to immigrate to Utah. Six months later, armed with money from her husband, Elizabetha took Emil, her brother Henry and her father Hans Kunzler and left for America. And several years later, this is where Emil returned to collect the inheritance left to him.

In preparing for this trip, it became clear to me that these small moments are gifts. And that my hobby of searching out the ground where our ancestors lived is just that, a fun hobby. But I should not loose sight of the Lord’s goal – that of collecting names, processing them through new.familysearch.com and providing the ordinances for these people. How can we think that Emil has not been teaching and loving his family members, his nieces, nephews, uncles and aunts, and distant cousins? Have you read his testimony and his dream recorded in his history? Of course he is. And of course gathering these names and doing the work is our part of the process. However, to document my success with my hobby, I picked some flowers from this meadow and dried them. I need tangible reminders of moments like this one.

I will forever be thankful to Spencer’s patience and expert driving and Mom’s willingness that allowed us this experience.

It seems this is enough for the day – but there was more!!!

We drove home and packed.

The Zimmler’s, the owners of our Bed and Breakfast, had invited us to have dinner with their family. They are the cutest family. They have twin girls, Nina and Kim, that are about 11 and a boy, Luka that is 9. Zmie (the husband) and Simone became ‘friends” at 15 and have been together for 21 years. They are happy, jovial and very enjoyable. Kim had set a lovely table with Swiss decorations and a piece of Swiss Chocolate for each of us. They served salad, a macaroni dish that was great and home made aslkglasglh. Mom and I were apprehensive but found it was delicious. We had a great time. They played “Swiss folk” music in the background which the kids hated! Simone speaks pretty good English and Zmie speaks a little bit. The kids understand a few words. But we were able to communicate and laugh a lot. The highlight was the skdgjlshglshdf horn. Zmie owns one and played it at one time. It is about 12 feet long. He played for us. Then he offered Spencer a try. That was hysterical. Just imagine Spencer with a little Swiss hat and blowing into this huge horn! Surprisingly Spence was great. He played the national anthem – he did have to tell us what he had played – and a few little melodies. Pretty soon the dog was so traumatized we had to quit. It was a lovely evening and we will be friends forever. (My talent as a cameraman is still horrid. But it is worth hanging in there on these 2)