Sources and research aid in the State Archives: until the 18th century

General

Search the archival catalogue for the respective names. However, our records are not always fully indexed, a hit is therefore a matter of luck. [Example]
Search the archival catalogue for the respective place of residence or for the land bailiwick and look through the search results for key words such as ‘Abwesende’ (absent) [Example]
Search the protocol of the ‘Small Council’ in the register of persons for the respective names (copies of said protocols can be found on the first floor of our reference library)

A large number of persons served as mercenaries in foreign military (see article on foreign military service in the Swiss Historical Lexicon)

Some few edited name lists exist:
- Lucca 1653-1792 (400 names, download)
- Lorraine, Florence and Vienna (17^th and 18^th centuries) (ca. 500 names, download)
Consult the list on ‘military persons and mercenaries in Lucerne records of deaths, 1585-1858’ for persons whose deaths were reported back to Lucerne (ca. 1800 names, list according to names, list according to places of origin, list according to places of service)
Search the archival tectonics for further records on foreign military Service (AKT 13)

Lucerne and Alsace have always been closely connected and this connection led migration

Use the edited lists in the reference library
- Schürmann-Roth, Joseph, emigrants from Lucerne, 1640-1740 (library reference number E.z.91.1, part A)
- Schürmann-Roth, Joseph, Names of persons from Lucerne or central Switzerland in Alsatian local histories (library reference number E.z.91.2)
Search the information of the Centre de Recherches sur l'Histoire des Familles in Guebwiller (Alsace)

They left their places of residence for longer and shorter periods.

See inheritance case of Jakob Frank, who died in Vera Cruz (Mexico), in 1703 as a fortress builder, taken from our collections with source examples

Passport form, ca. 1750 (taken from A1 F4, provisionally AKT 14/175)