Rent a car in Burgdorf for 1 day? Problem finding.

Hi Liz,

You can buy the pass at the Bern train station. Or online, so you can board trains etc. immediately and have one less thing to deal with when there: myswissalps.com/ regionalpassberneseobe rland/ price.

I see I have confused you. We don't have a hotel in Berne at all.

Aug. 12: Train from Maastricht to Burgdorf OR Berne (depending on car rental) - stay in Ruegsau at an Airbnb place for 1 night.

Aug. 13 - Drive around the Emmental area to see villages, cheese, etc. - return rental car to Burgdorf or Berne. Take train from Berne to Thun for the night (using newly purchased rail pass).

Renting a car in Berne came from desperation - we would have to pick it up and drive over to Ruegsau on the same day we take the train from Maastricht. Ugh.

Crossing in the mail. Yes. ;-)

One reason for staying in Rüegsau is because that's where my grandfather's grandfather lived, and to be able to get an early start in Emmental on Saturday. The other was because an Airbnb house can be cheaper than 3 hotel rooms, and the one available nearby was in Rüegsau. Actually (by chance) it's up the hill on the Wildenbach road, but with a left turn and then a bit further along.

Thanks Arno. Somehow collecting all the passport numbers and then wading through the online booking to get printable passes seemed more daunting than finding the right window in the Bern railroad station! ;-)

Hi Liz-

answering some of your comments here, and will have more suggestions about the Emmenal hotel location in another.

<"I love maps. Will definitely have a look. I used google maps in satellite and little "guy" map view to check out some of the routes virtually. Beautiful country!">>

Carry a paper map for driving. it lets you easily see the total region much more than any map on a tablet or smart phone. You will need that in the Emmental for what you want to do.

<<"After my last post, the Burgdorf car folks emailed again about the car rental. I'm still confused about the total cost, but I sent them a response with further questions. I also changed my backup car reservation to the Enterprise location next to the Bahnhoff in Berne. The problem with that is we can't return the car later than 4 PM on Saturday the 13th. I was hoping for 6 PM to extend the day in Emmental.">>

Enterprise in Bern as more than twice as far from the station compared to Sixt or Avis.

You are creating a part of the stress by trying to work against the system. The major cities are set up to deal with tourist routinely. In places like Burgdorf, the support mechanisms for tourists are less robust.

Major car rental places in Bern don't require deposits, and have key drops. Small guys may not have key drops. And, even though the Swiss are very honest, I personally would not count on a small shop to not find some defect on the returned car after they looked it over the next day. There goes your deposit. The major shops don't work that way, and are more tolerant of minor defects upon return. And, repairs are expensive.

I had a minor dent on an Avis a few years ago, fully covered by my credit card insurance, and the repair cost was 4 or 5 times what it would have cost for the same repair in the USA.

<<" I assume we will be able to buy our Bernese Oberland Rail Passes at the Bern Banhoff on Saturday afternoon. Since the pass doesn't cover Burgdorf, I don't think we can buy them there. ">>

Why do you assume that? Myself, I'd assume that you can buy the pass at any SBB manned ticket counter, although I culd be wrong. I don't use such specialized passes, but I'd at least check to see if you can get it online. Arno/Annika know those details.

Count on taking precious time to do that purchase at the station if there is a line there.

If you do get on the train at Burgdorf, you will, indeed have to change at Bern for Interlaken.

(By the way, the spelling is "Bahnhof.")

<"I got an email from a distant Reist relative who travelled to Ruesgau and Summisvald back in 2002. She learned that the family probably lived on a farm called "Wildenbach". On google maps I saw a road and stream just north of Ruesgau also named Wildenbach. A short road leads east from there to a large farmhouse. Is there someone I could I contact by email to learn the history of that place?">>

Don't know about a contact.

A good friend has relatives in the area, but I don't know if the friendship extends to genealogical research by the relatives.. Given a few weeks, i could surely work through that and find soureces, but your timing is rather short for such inquiries, at least with my knowledge.

There exists an extensive set of resources for Anabaptist ( e.g., Pensnylvania "Dutch" ) who are looking into their roots in Switzerland. if you could find your way into that, it might be helpful, too.

I'll check, but don't hold your breath.

The single best map for fine detail in Switzerland on line is the map from Swisstopo, which is the Swiss Land Office/map department:

map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=ech&lang=en&bgLa yer=ch.swisstopo.pixel karte-farbe&layers=ch.bav.ha ltestellen-oev,ch.swisstopo.swiss tlm3d-wanderwege&X=208479.00 &Y=617565.00&zoom=10

<<" I used google maps in satellite and little "guy" map view to check out some of the routes virtually. Beautiful country!">>

Some of the pictures that I posted in that thread about langnau were taken within a few kilometers of Rüegsau. Did you look at them?

Slowpoke

<<"Somehow collecting all the passport numbers and then wading through the online booking to get printable passes seemed more daunting than finding the right window in the Bern railroad station! ;-)">>

There can be significant lines at the "right window" in Bern main station.

Buying each pass can take 2 or 3, maybe 5 minutes.

Where would you rather spend the time...hear or there?

Slowpoke

<<"One reason for staying in Rüegsau is because that's where my grandfather's grandfather lived, and to be able to get an early start in Emmental on Saturday. The other was because an Airbnb house can be cheaper than 3 hotel rooms, and the one available nearby was in Rüegsau. Actually (by chance) it's up the hill on the Wildenbach road, but with a left turn and then a bit further along.">>

I think that the person for whom I prepared that Langnau thread stayed there, but unfortunately, he gave no feedback after the trip.

;-(

All those items make sense. You can still consider leaving heavy luggage in a locker or at left luggage in a train station.

The drive from Burgdorf to Rüegsau is uncomplicated, once you get on the route #23. Finding your way through town without a map or directions can be confusing. I do that 2 or 3 times every year when i stay in Affoltern, , and still get lost getting from the train station to Affoltern.

However, for you, it would be easy, once you are at the rental place. How you would get from the rental place to the train station at the end of the day is unclear at the moment. And, where you would pick up the car/van/SUV is not clear to me, either. Don't plan on its having a lot of luggage space unless you check it out ahead of time.

For you, if you rent in Burgdorf at the Selvam location, get yourself onto route 23 which is only 300 meters and a couple of turns from Selvam and drive direction Luzern, Langnau, etc.

6 km later, at Hasle, turn left and go up the hill to Rüegsau.

As far as cost of Air BnB vs. rooms, at least check out the inns in Rüegsau or Rüegsbach. I don't know how that would add up, but I suspect that you are correct.

emmental.ch/en/taste/r estaurants-traditional-inns/

emmental.ch/en/eventma nager/page/gasthof-baeren-rueegsau/action/offerS how/Offer/

I looked further and found out that the one that pops up in Rüegsbach is only a restaurant, but it is run by Leuenbergers.

They usually include breakfast in the price; I don't know if Air BnB does; you probably do. . And, you get a different atmosphere in an old inn than in a private home. Different may not be better for you, of course.

The inn that I was going to suggest will surely be a lot more more expensive and probably does not fit your plan or budget. It is more in or above the price range called "Well, we'll only be her once. Why not?" but would have an excellent kitchen, a deep wine list, and stunning views on a clear day:

www.sonne-affoltern.ch/

See attached picture.

And, there is a good chance that the people at the AirBnB may know something about your ancestors. Likely, local innkeepers would , also. Many families have been in the region for along time. Les so today, but for centuries, the inns have been the communal gathering places.

Slowpoke

<<"Renting a car in Berne came from desperation - we would have to pick it up and drive over to Ruegsau on the same day we take the train from Maastricht. Ugh.">>

I can understand that and agree completely. In fact, that was why I assumed that you would stay in Bern before I re-read your post.

However, since you will not be jet-lagged, it could probably be made to work. it is really not that far away - 35 minutes by a couple of routes that are mostly or very straightforward (at least from Avis, close to route 10 and the motorway to Kirchberg and thence Burgdorf). But, I'd not recommend it under the circumstances , either. I'd be more likely to suggest it if you were arriving before mid-afternoon, allowing more time for error.

By the way, I'm sure that you know it, but Rüegsau is pronounced rather differently than is Ruegsau.

Slowpoke

"By the way, I'm sure that you know it, but Rüegsau is pronounced rather differently than is Ruegsau."

Yeah. I was just being lazy in not searching out the umlaut version of the letter "u" on my macbook. ;-)

Re: the Enterprise car rental location - my bad. I carelessly mistook the Bern Wankdorf station for the main Bahnhoff on the google map.

Hi Liz -

My Swiss contacts also mentioned a Budget rental car " depot" near the casino in Bern. A couple of tram stops from the main station.

If you would like me to pursue information about your ancestors around Rüegsau, I think i can make a start. However, I'd need your permission to use your name ( or family names) , and possibly quote a couple of your comments made here involving family names/history. My friends are trustworthy, but I'm not quite sure where it might go from there.

Your thoughts?

Probably church records are an appropriate source. I think you do not read German. If you do, how about Fraktur, probably handwritten?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Fraktur

Slowpoke

Slowpoke, it's very kind of you to offer to look into the Reist genealogy. I'd be happy to learn more about the family. No worries about using their names. However, please don't feel obligated. It's too much to ask!

Here is what I already know:

When my 3rd cousin (whom I only know via email) was in Switzerland in 2002 she went to the Gemeindehaus in Ruegsau (which I assume is closed on Saturdays). She says they had all the old church books that kept track of births, deaths, baptisms, etc. and they made copies of the pages that applied to Christian and Katherina Reist for her going back to the mid-1700s. His parents were likely Johannes Reist and Verena Schwartz.

She says: "The name of the farm they lived on was (and still is) named Wildenbach…Wild Brook."

What I would most like is to find out whether this is true, and if so, to try to visit. I'm not sure how to proceed. The records I expect I can get eventually, but I'm not sure when we will be back in Switzerland to see where they lived.

Ideas?

Hi Liz-

<<"I'd be happy to learn more about the family. No worries about using their names. ">>

I'll ask around a bit. However, you have already gotten valuable information, and if you could get copies from your relative and take them with you, they would be immensely valuable.

You have had described by your relative an example of the kind of records that many Pennsylvania Dutch, Amish, and Mennonites from all around the USA take advantage of when finding their roots.

The Gemeindehaus is unlikely to be open on Saturday, but there might be some chance. But, it would be time consuming to find the records and try to understand the old written German in the time you have, which might be better spent looking around. I'd not be surprised if a few visitors before you have trod the same path, so the staff may be bored to do it again, cautious about being asked to spend to much time, or, most likely glad to help because they understand your interests and really try to help tourists appreciate Switzerland.

If i were you, I would e-mail the hosts at your BnB and remind them of your name ( or family name Reist) and explain your interest in learning more about the area. If they appear accommodating I'd bring up Wildenbach, and ask if the thought it might be possible to arrange with the current owners for you to take a look.

Less so today, but traditionally, inviting someone into a Swiss home mandated full dress neatening and cleaning before a visitor crossed the threshold. Don't know whether that is true today, but if the family is traditional they may have some vestige of that urge (or need.) So, asking to visit should be done with care, in what I might call a "gentle" way, and a visit might not be possible.

There is place over near Fankhaus that has a Täufersteck (maybe Täufer Versteck...my German is not strong and the Swiss put a special spin on it) used by Anabaptists, and I have the impression that they have heavy tourist traffic. So, some places are used to dealing with the curious. I don't know about Wildenbach.

Maybe (don't hold your breath) I can find out a bit more before you get there.

Any piece of paper with indication of the connection to Wildenbach, copied from the records by your relative, would likely help your chances.

Slowpoke

PS-

I forgot to wish you an enjoyable stay in and near Maastricht. It is not typically Dutch on some ways. There is an old joke about Maastricht. When you visit a Dutch household for a cup of coffee and a chat, the coffee always comes with exactly one Jan Haagel cookie. In Maastricht, you get two.

PPS-

Masthof Publishing is a rich source of material on the Anabaptists, especially the Mennonites.

Don't know if it would be useful for you.

www.masthof.com/

Indeed, Maastricht and most of the province of Limburg is definitely known for a more Burgundian lifestyle than the rest of the Netherlands.

<<"a more Burgundian lifestyle ">>

I had learned that, somewhere, but two Jan Haagls still seemed rather extreme when I found that out. ;-)

Slowpoke

<<"in Switzerland in 2002 she went to the Gemeindehaus in Ruegsau (which I assume is closed on Saturdays). ">>

Yes.

www.ruegsau.ch/verwalt ung/gemeindeverwaltung .html

This looks like a useful site.

You will see the Friedli's of Lützelfluh and the Reists of Sumiswald.

kunden.eye.ch/swissgen /familybe.htm

From that link -, from the section on Reist, which has a special interest in die Täufer - -

<<"Wenn Sie etwas beitragen können oder möchten, würde mich Ihr Kontakt freuen. Vor allem, wenn Sie ebenfalls an den REIST ( aus dem Emmental oder im Ausland ) interessiert sind">>

"If you can or would like to contribute something, your contact [ing] me would please. Above all, if you as well are interested on [about] the Reist [ family] from the Emmental or foreign countries."

hanswreist@vbmail.ch

Slowpoke

I had to look up Jan Haagls. Sounds like something I'd like to try...yum

Ah. Hans Reist! I've been looking for a current email address for him. He is a Swiss Reist genealogy researcher.

In 2002 in an Ancestry forum he told my 3rd cousin that our branch of the Reist family came from Rüderswil and not from Sumiswald. That was very important. He also told her about the location of church birth records.

Thanks!

<<"Ah. Hans Reist! I've been looking for a current email address for him.">>

I hope that the link is still current.

If not, let me know.

Slowpoke