A village named Coffinger in Switzerland?
Jillian is trying to find the location in Switzerland where her Great Great Grandfather, possibly from a village called Coffinger, was born. She plans to travel to Switzerland in a few months and seeks help identifying the correct place for a meaningful visit.
- Look for towns with similar endings like -ffinger or -fingen, as there might be a misspelling.
- Consider the possibility that Coffinger could actually refer to Zofingen based on historical spelling variations.
- Check relevant paperwork for additional details such as the canton to narrow down your search.
- Use the Swiss telephone subscriber database to look for her ancestor’s last name in Zofingen.
AI-generated summary-
I am trying to locate the town/village in Switzerland where my Great Great Grandfather was born: Coffinger per this document. I would like to travel to this location. Anyone familiar with this location?
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Hi Jillian,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
I am not familiar with a town or village called Coffinger in Switzerland. I did a quick internet search and can’t find a town or village of that name. It might be have a different spelling? There is a town called Zofingen. If you know which canton it is, maybe we can narrow down the search. Or any additional information could also be helpful.
Regards,
Anna
Thank you for your reply Anna. I have been checking for a few years to see if that village shows up. Maybe perhaps the person writing the document heard Coffinger when it was spoken to them. I have no other paperwork. It could very well be Zofingen. I will never give up trying to find it :). We are traveling to Switzerland in a few months and it would be nice to know where he came from and visit that area.
Hi Jilian,
There are several towns and villages that end with -ffinger and -fingen in Switzerland. Additional information such as the canton or region or landmarks could be very helpful. I hope that your search is successful. It would be certainly be nice to visit the place that your great great grandfather came from.
Regards,
Anna
Hi Jillian,
I second Anna”s opinion: It is likely to be Zofingen. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the letter C was frequently used instead of present-day’s Z. In German, both are pronounced “TS”. A Swiss railway company was called “Centralbahn” (today it would be called “Zentralbahn”). But, as far as I know, Zofingen was never spelled with an initial C.
Was the document you are referring to issued in Switzerland?
I also agree with Anna on the fact that there is no “Coffinger” town in Switzerland.
You could also search your ancestor’s last name on the Swiss telephone subscriber database (http://www.local.ch) and see if people with that name exist in Zofingen.
Good luck!
Snowman
Thank you Snowman for your interesting information – that makes total sense. Both you and Anna have helped me a great deal. My relative was born about 1831 in Switzerland and the document was from the US Military which he served as a soldier during the Civil War. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Jillian
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