By THE KERNEN'S
Lee has had a life-long dream of visiting his homeland…Switzerland. So, in September 10-19, 2024, that dream came true for he and his wife, Janet. He had a variety of information from relatives long ago, and as it turns out, much of that information was inaccurate.
We hired a genealogist, Erwin Fässler, from Zürich, Switzerland, who worked with us for over eight months to search out Lee’s relatives and to create a trip of a lifetime for us. We found his website on Google and after reading the reviews, we felt confident he was our guy.
With modern technology, we were able to have several conversations with him via WhatsApp prior to our visit. It really put all three of us at ease getting to know each other’s personalities and expectations. We spent the entire eight days in September having him drive us around, do our interpreting, taking photos, and frankly, just taking care of us. He assured us he had many surprises for us and, boy was he correct. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and now consider him our friend.
After landing in Zürich, Erwin showed us a couple of notable landmarks, namely the Grossmünster church (originally Catholic) and the Zwingli Protestant church built in the mid-1500’s. Many Catholic churches changed from Catholic to Protestant during this Reformation period. Unbeknownst to us, there is a Zwingli United Church of Christ in Monticello, Wisconsin!
We toured many small picturesque towns located in the Lake Thun area. We saw the Inn in Blumenstein that Lee’s great great grandfather (Jakob Kernen II) operated prior to going bankrupt and emigrating to America in 1883. A special moment of the trip was actually stepping foot in the house in Reutigen that his great great great grandfather (Johannes Kernen) was born in in 1813.
Lee and Janet inside the house (along with the current renter) where his great great great grandfather was born in in 1813.
The house was built in 1556 and is still standing! The current renter was so excited to have us come in and see the house. It was a very emotional experience for Lee. Not only was it surreal to be walking in his ancestors’ footsteps, but the scenery in Reutigen is exceptional. It is located in a huge valley with the Stockhorn mountain peak soaring to over 7,100 feet!
A view from outside the house that was built in 1556 where his great great great grandfather was born.
We also had an opportunity to walk in another Kernen house a couple of days later where a Kernen (by marriage) still lives. This house was built in 1684. These two houses were approximately a half a mile apart, and of all things, there is now a fish hatchery in between the two houses. How apropo is that given Lee’s career choice!!
One of the beautifully decorated cows during the St. Stephan cattle drive.
Janet’s favorite moment was attending a cattle drive in St. Stephan. This is an event where the farmers move the cows from the high meadows down to the valley for the winter. The farmers decorate each animal with a flower-laden “headdress” and, of course, they each have a huge, bell on their neck. Janet loves cows so this event will be one that she will remember for the rest of her life.
Lee being presented with the Kernen crest flag by Stephan Kernen.
Another highlight was attending a town gathering in Reutigen, the Kernen’s hometown. Lee was surprised with the presentation of a Kernen crest flag along with viewing a variety of Kernen displays in the town hall.
The local historian, who happens to be a Kernen, created a display that showed Lee with his induction into the National Fishing Hall of Fame and a picture of one of his biggest fish of his life that they had downloaded off the internet. Another event that brought tears to his eyes!
On Sunday morning, we attended a Reutigen Protestant church service (the same church that his ancestors attended) and were introduced to the congregation as guests from America. They had an 18-piece brass orchestra that played songs during the service. They even played “Go Tell It on the Mountain” so we could sing along. We met the band director at a social after the service and he told us that he purposefully played a song that he figured we would recognize! We met more Kernens at that social and had a really nice time despite the fact that we couldn’t always communicate given the language differences.
One destination Lee had always dreamt about seeing was the Matterhorn. Even though it was not near the Kernen hometown, Erwin drove us there to hopefully be able to see Switzerland’s tallest mountain at over 14,000 feet. Luckily Mother Nature accommodated us and we saw the peak in full view when we arrived early evening.
The Matterhorn at over 14,000 feet at sunrise.
It was an even more spectacular view the next morning as the sun splashed the peak with a deep orange glow. It almost looked like someone dumped a can of Sherwin-Williams paint on top! It almost didn’t seem real.
The mountains in Elm where Lee’s great grandmother emigrated from in 1881.
After having spent 3 days in the Kernen ancestral region, we spent the next couple of days in the Elm area where Lee’s great grandmother, Ursula Elmer, came from. She emigrated to America as a 13-year-old in 1881. On our way there from the Matterhorn, we drove the Furka Pass which was made famous in the 1964 Goldfinger movie with Sean Connery.
We saw many of the actual spots where the movie was filmed. The view from the top of the pass back into the valley was amazing. We have been to a variety of mountainous venues in our travels, but we’ve never seen anything quite like this.
We had the opportunity to meet more relatives from the Elm area. We thought the mountains in Reutigen were spectacular, but the mountains in Elm are even more stunning. Elm is located as a dead-end in a very narrow valley with huge mountains on three sides. Once again, we were able to set foot in Lee’s great grandmother’s house. We met the occupant who also happens to be a relative at 92 years of age! He was very touched that we visited and spent time with him. Everyone was so welcoming to us. We could not have asked for more.
On our final day, we took a cable car ride to the Swiss Tectonic Area which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Elm. We spent an hour or so at a tiny cabin sipping some special coffee with whipped cream.
It was a beautiful, clear morning so you could see for miles. After taking a short hike in the Alps, it was time to start heading back to Zürich.
Erwin had one more surprise in store for us. After spending 8 days with him, he revealed to us that he also is related to us on Lee’s great grandmother’s side!! You can’t make this stuff up!!
This was a special trip, one that was even more special given the stage we are at in our lives.