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| Hans Rudolf Bachman and his family about 1884, Switzerland, his wife passed away in 1877 so she is not in photo 1. Maria b 1861 2. Elizabetha b 1862 3. Rudolph b 1864 4. Verena b 1866 6. Jakob b 1871 7. Bertha or Herta b 1874 8. Rosina or Rosa b 1896 9. Johannes b 1877, the same year his mother died |
Hans is a masculine given name. In German, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish, originally it is short for Johannes (John) but is also recognized in Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands as a name in its own right for official purposes.
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| Full first name: Johannes Rudolf, but people just called him Rudolf Last name: Bachmann Last name of his spouse: Müller Area where he used to live in Wiliberg: Sacher, the „s“ at the end comes from the saying he is the „Sachers Ruedi“ (Ruedi from the Sacher)
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My father and his wife joined the church in 1855; also my father's brother and his family. Persecution caused the spirit of emigration to seize upon the brothers and it was decided that my father would
come to Utah first, and if he found conditions satisfactory his brother would follow him. The homestead was owned jointly by the brothers and my Uncle purchased my father's interest for $2,000, 10,000 francs in Swiss money, a considerable fortune in that locality at that time.
Jakob Bachman, son of Hans Rudolf Bachman and Elizabeth Aerny was born 26th of April 1830 in Wiliberg, in the parish of Bottenurl, Canton Aargau, Switzerland. He was the third child in a family of five, two sisters, Elizabeth and Verena, two brothers, Johann Rudolf and Melchoir, the latter died at the age of nine months.
In about the year 1854, Mormon missionaries came to the neighborhood and found good friends in Wiliberg. Jakob and Elizabeth joined the church in 1855, as did also his brother Johann Rudolf and his family.
My uncle never left Wiliberg and none of his family are members of the church.
Birth 20 June 1828, Wiliberg,Aargau,Switzerland
Research:
From Steve Bingham's visit to Switzerland in the early 1972
Diary: My visit to Verena's birthplace in Switzerland. I
traveled with my then wife to Aargau Kanton Switzerland in July 1972
when I was 28. The following is what I wrote about that visit:
In
Switzerland, the foremost historian of Aargau Kanton helped me find the
Bachmann home in Wiliberg. The Bachmanns, although citizens of
Bottenwil, have lived in Wiliberg for many hundreds of years. We drove
to Wiliberg and asked an elderly resident if there were any Bachmanns
still living in Wiliberg. He said that the last Bachmann family had
moved out around 1920, but they still owned some forest nearby. Also,
he directed us to the Bachmann home where Verena Bachmann Hill was born
and where the brothers, Jakob and Hans Rudolf had lived before they
joined the Church and before Jakob left for the USA.
The house is very big and still in good shape, having been enlarged and
remodeled from time to time. It is not the only house on the hillside;
in fact, there are houses on either side of the old Bachmann home. One
house is inhabited by a Suter family, but I don't know whether they are
relations of Elisabetha Suter, Verena's mother. The Bachmann home is
not on top of a hill as I had previously read; it is on the slope. In
fact, we had to come down the slope quite a ways from the elderly
gentleman's home to find the Bachmann home. The little valley that
includes Wiliberg could be out of a storybook or a National Geographic
magazine. It is green and beautiful. When I saw the home and valley, I
felt I knew the sacrifice that Jakob and his wife had made-- to leave
this paradise and follow their faith to Utah. Now, of course, I would
rather live in the USA, but back in those days Utah was such a hard and
barren land that I am sure Jakob often wondered if he had made the right
decision.
We climbed the hill again, and at the top we looked over into another valley at the church at Reitnau where the Bachmanns had attended and where the children were christened. I would estimate that the church is 2 miles from the home, but I could be off on this. Our historian friend said that there has been a church standing on this site since 1045 A.D. (I believe that was the date.) At any rate it was a very historical chapel.
We found Erich Bachmann, a great-grandson of Hans Rudolf, in Kölliken about 5 miles from Wiliberg.
Evidently Hans Rudolf's younger son (also named Jakob, the same name as his uncle, our ancestor, who had left for America) had moved to Kölliken to be closer to the railway as he had begun to branch out from forestry to transporting. At this time he was interested in importing McCormick farm implements.
Erich was this nephew Jakob's grandson. Erich was about 36-years old, and his wife, Suzy, about 27. They had been married about 4 years-- the Swiss not marrying as early as we Americans. Erich confirmed that his grandfather Jacob, had an older brother who had settled elsewhere in Switzerland, and that there had been a number of sisters, 4 of whom never married. Thus, this explains why Hans Rudolf had somewhat fewer descendants in Switzerland than our Jakob has in the USA-- that and with the older marrying age.
Erich's father, Jakob's son, had died 6 years ago of a heart attack and the transport business had grown considerably under Erich's leadership since then. Erich has a brother who is a driver for the company. Because of the exorbitant rent rates in Switzerland, Erich, his wife, his mother, his brother and brother's family all live in the same large home in Kölliken. Furthermore, the Bachmanns rent out an additional portion of the house. Also, come to think of it, the home housed the company's office and a workshop!
Erich was quite well off, having a number of trucks and sightseeing buses. He was glad to meet us and very hospitable. The next day after we had met him, he had an English-speaking friend (and employee) show us around and interpret for us. The friend drove us (very fast) to Lake Lucerne, Brünig Mountain, and Bözberg, where our great-great grandmother Elisabetha Suter was from. In Unterbözberg, we talked to the mayor who was just recovering from a "100 years' Bözberg celebration" and was at that moment in his cherry tree. He said that the Suter family that we were concerned about had left Bözberg many years ago and had settled in another Swiss town. He seemed to know just which Suter family was ours-- the family whose daughter had gone to America. I guess it was a rare thing in those early days for the comfortable Swiss to leave their country; so, again, I believe that shows the dedication and determination of those early Swiss Mormon immigrants.
The last evening we joined Erich, Suzy, and our interpreter for a fondue dinner in a spectacular mountaintop restaurant. Our conversation was interesting-- my wife, Linda, a French teacher, conversed with Suzy in French. Erich and I used the translation skills of the interpreter, Linda, and Suzy to communicate in English and Swiss-German. I had a feeling that Erich understood a lot more French and English than he let on.
Erich was very interested in the story of Jakob and Elisabetha's trials in America, and he was very interested in getting a copy of any genealogy that we might have. He and his English-speaking friend were interested in the Church and I believe that we changed a few opinions in this respect. Erich asked why Hans Rudolf had not remained a Mormon, and we could only give him our supposition that times were tough for Mormons in those days, and there were many temptations to try one's faith.
I hope to correspond with Erich and his wife and eventually see him again.
One more thing-- Erich mentioned that they had Hans Rudolf's tombstone in their house. I didn't understand why. Steven R. B. July 1972
History of Bachman Kollken Transport:
1933 Company founded by Werner Bachmann
1936 First coach with an interchangeable tipper body
1959 Introduction of the first tanker for liquid fuels
1962 The small business becomes a limited company
1965 Unexpected death of the company founder, Werner Bachmann, at the age of 57. His sons, Erich and Kurt Bachmann, take over the running and expansion of the company.
1965 Unexpected death of the company founder, Werner Bachmann, at the age of 57. His sons, Erich and Kurt Bachmann, take over the running and expansion of the company.
1968 The move towards professional bulk logistics – use of the first bulk transporter
1973 Withdrawal from the tourism market and sale of coaches
1979 Start of combined road-rail transport
1996 Creation of Bachmann AG, Transporte International
2003 Sale of Bachmann AG, Transporte International to Bertschi AG in Dürrenäsch and concentration on bulk transport of foodstuffs both nationally and internationally.
2004 New generation. Philipp Bachmann (son of Erich Bachmann) takes over control
2008 The company celebrates its 75th anniversary