Magdalena Stälin abt Abt 1548 -

Coat of Arms - Maschwanden

This Sidler family line begins with two people: Magdalena Stälin and Johannes Sidler her husband . Julius Billeter was unable to find births for either and we have also come up empty. The couple had 10 children. 8 either died in infancy or their records are unavailable.

Since both birth dates are missing it may be instructive to see how Billeter determines birth dates. Famous Genealogist, Julius Billeter often calculates the birth dates as follows: Marriage date minus 21 for men, this he the designates as abt. = about. Usually he makes the wives age one year younger. This is because most of the marriages were taken when the young adults reached the age of 20, before the church would only allow marriages in exceptional cases (a baby under way). This usually needed approval of the marriage court in the city of Zurich.

Johannes Sidler born about 1547 married Magdalena Stälin 24 October 1568. and they had 10 children. All of their children were born in Ottenbach and were buried in the Ottenbach Kirche yard. 

What happened to their children?

Johannes Sidler b 1570 infant death
Heinrich Sidler b 1572 - 1623, married Margaretha Burger, had five children, 1 of whom married, large posterity, nicknamed after his mother "Stälin", lived 50 years 9 mo 9 days
Hans Jakob Sidler b 1576 infant death

Elisabetha Sidler b 1577 infant death
Verena Sidler b 1579 infant death
Susanna Sidler b 1581 infant death
Johannes Sidler b 1583, when Johannes was born one of his god parents was the Ottenbach Pastor Johannes Blunschli, married Katharina Kleiner, had 11 children, their first five children married, he lived to at least 42, no death date found, Katharina died 2.5 years after the birth of their last child, large posterity
Aneli Sidler b 1586 infant death

Barbara Sidler b 1590 infant death
Mathis Sidler b 1593 infant death

Madalena Stälyn, the female version (-yn, -in, -j) of Magdalena Stäly, Stäli, today spelled Stähli (orginally von Maschwanden). In Switzerland names are associated with communities.In this case Sidler's will remain in Ottenbach for hundreds of years. The name Stälin is associated with the community of Maschwanden. The community is is 3.5 miles south of Ottenbach. Most likely Johannes walked the 3.5 miles south to date, fall in love and marry Magdalena Stälin. When looking for her birth date in the early Ottenbach records we found many references to the Stälin name in Ottenbach. According to FamilySearch the name Stälin held citizenship in Maschwanden prior to 1875. As seen above, there are a variety of spellings associated with the name.  In 1634 Maschwanden had a population of 339. 

History of Maschwanden

The lords of Eschenbach owned a castle and a town in Maschwanden. Because Walter von Eschenbach was involved in the royal murder in Windisch, the castle and town were destroyed in 1309 and never rebuilt. These were on a hill southwest of the village.

When the church was built in 1505, stones from the castle and the town were reused in a meaningful way. After the expulsion of the Eschenbachers, Maschwanden came into the possession of the city of Zurich and became the seat of the Maschwanderamt. (Gemeinde Maschwanden website)

During his lifetime the Reformation of the Catholic church had already taken place and Catholics and Protestants were both recognized. Johannes died in 1611. He was 43 when he died. (Temple Record of Sidler and Hegetschweiler Families, by Julius Billeter, page 4)

Note: Many Stalin relatives were found in the Ottenbach 1500 records from Ober Lunnern, Obfelden, Zürich, Switzerland but no link to Magdalena was found.

Documents related to Magdalena Stalin:

Sidler and Hegetschweiler Temple Record by Julius Billeter page 4

Johannes Sidler and Madalena Stälin marriage 24 October 1568 film 8014328 page 9

Maschwanden Kirche