Switzerland - can someone explain 'Heimatort' to me in plain English please?

[merlin]

I am researching my maternal grandmother who came from Switzerland and am struggling to get my head around their systems of recording information!

Thanks.

The place (village/town/city) where she lived. It seems a bit strange to me to use that term in a document though. It's a bit ambiguous, maybe the Swiss use it differently to Germans. Heimatort means the place where you are at home which may be very different to the place where one lives. I would expect to see "Geburtsort" (place of birth) and/or "Wohnort" (place where the person actually lives).

Thanks Gracelo

I have the definition as 'place of origin, community of citizenship.'

Does that mean origin of the surname or actual place of birth?

It is the home town, not place of birth. Swiss people have a heimatort that is passed down from their fathers, so they might never have lived there, and their family might not have lived there for generations. The heimatort is the place recorded on passports rather than place of birth.

Mrsden - thank you.

The surname I am searching for I know is mainly in the Canton of Bern).

Therefore if I search the registries that cover that area presumbably the person's details should be there somewhere regardless of whether they were actually born or lived there?

Yes, I think so. Place of birth isn't that important for Swiss records. All civil registrations are made in the Heimatort so if you know the person's place of origin then you should look at the registrations for that place.