Hello Wolf, Thanks very much for explaining the fees. I really did not know about the minimum fee. I have no problem paying the 25, my point was that I thought is was too high for what I got. I appreciate your time in explaining it to me and the list. I have subscribed to this list for several years and have learn a lot, not only from you, but other members. By the way, do you research for families? If so, how much do you charge? I may have already ask this question to you years ago. robert ----- Original Message ----- From: Seelentag Wolfhart Dr. KSSG_RO <wolf.seelentag@kssg.ch> To: <SWITZERLAND-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 28, 2000 2:55 AM Subject: AW: [SWITZ] Familenschein fees (was: Some Advice Please) > Dear Robert, > > so this is yet different again ;-). The discussion in the list was about a > Familienschein, i.e. a document issued by a Civil Registry Office - which > has no connection to anything you get from Staatsarchiv, so this shouldn't > be confused. As this might be of general interest to others as well, I hope > you don't mind that I cc'ed the list. > > Most Staatsarchivs have fees like "sfr 25 per half hour", always "rounding > up", i.e. starting anything, even if it takes only 5 minutes, will always > result in these sfr 25 as a minimum fee :-((. I'm not sure about taxis in > the US - but when you get into a Swiss taxi, there will be a starting fee of > several sfr - before you have actually moved a single inch. This is pretty > much the same. Now for just a single photocopy of a quickly located page, > some people working at a Staatsarchiv will tend to say "don't bother all the > administration", and just send the photocopy ;-). But this is entirely up to > the individual person (likely with some rules being issued by the head of > the archive), and there are two methods to find out - either just ask for > information and find out (like you did - running the risk of being costly), > or enquire about fees first. > > Conclusion : > > 1) Whenever you ask for information, you are on the safe side when enquiring > about possible fees first ! I would recommend to describe exactly what you > want, when you enquire about the fee : in some cases you'll just get the > info you wanted, free of charge, in others you'll be told how much to > expect. > > 2) Whatever you can do yourself (e.g. copy from a microfilm, if the record > in question has been filmed by LDS) you should do yourself - for two reasons > : in many cases it will be cheaper - and it will free staff at Staatsarchiv > to provide service where you cannot do it yourself, e.g. when a given source > has not been filmed by LDS. > > Good luck with your further research - Wolf > ---------------------- > Wolf W. Seelentag, PhD, e-mail : wolf@swissmail.com > Reherstr. 19, CH - 9016 St. Gallen, Switzerland > Tel (home) : +41-71-2885121 Fax : +49-89-2443-91987 > Tel (work) : +41-71-4942233 > > > > ---------- > > Von: Robert Rothenbuhler[SMTP:piepint@nbtx.com] > > Gesendet: Donnerstag, 27. Januar 2000 20:49 > > An: Seelentag Wolfhart Dr. KSSG_RO > > Betreff: Re: [SWITZ] Familenschein fees (was: Some Advice Please) > > > > Hi Wolf, > > > > All I received from the Staatsarchiv is a xerox > > copy of a page from a parish book. It was not > > certified or registered. There was no stamp on > > it as being certified. I provided them all the > > infor they needed to go directly to the film. No > > research was required on their part. The > > copy I received was in old german script which > > I translated myself. If I knew it was going to cost > > me 25 Schweizer Franken, I would have paid > > $4.00 and ordered the film from my local LDS > > site and made a copy for 10cents, myself. > > > > robert > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Seelentag Wolfhart Dr. KSSG_RO <wolf.seelentag@kssg.ch> > > To: <SWITZERLAND-L@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 12:39 PM > > Subject: [SWITZ] Familenschein fees (was: Some Advice Please) > > > > > Dear Swiss Rooters, > > > > > > after the fairly recent discussion about the cumbersome procedure to get > > any > > > data from Swiss Civil Registry Offices, we now have a discussion about > > their > > > fees. I'm not going to repeat any of the earlier issues - if you are new > > to > > > the list, please, search for "ordinance" in "2000" in the list archive : > > > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > > > (note : you have to search for "Switzerland-L" as our list in a first > > step > !!) > > > > > > Let's now turn to the fees : as with the procedure, I'm not going to > > defend > > > them - just trying to explain ;-) !! > > > > > ==== SWITZERLAND Mailing List ==== > Support RootsWeb! Help provide FREE genealogical resources on the > Internet: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html >