Introduction to the Bachmanns
My link to the Bachmanns.....
…..is through my mother's mother. However, not a lot is known about the Bachmann family. My Great Grandmother, Elise, was a Bänninger and she was born and brought up in Embrach. Apparently among her ancestors was a young noble girl who came from Teufen Castle. She later lived with her husband in Gstein, still today a grand country house, and is believed to have bathed only in milk. There are still some relations in the brick-kiln in Embrach.
Elise married Johann Bachmann from Bertschikon, near Wiesendangen. One of his relatives, presumably a brother, Rudolph, lived with his family in Islikon, in Thurgau.
It’s believed that Elise and Johann were both born some time between 1860 and 1870. After they were married they lived with Elise’s mother, who was apparently a large, strong woman. Their farmhouse still stands in Embrach’s Dorfstrasse, just down from the primary school. Elise worked on the farm whilst Johann is believed to have worked in the Bänniger’s gravel pit. He was known as "Giacomo Griegummibachme". The word "gummi" comes from "commis" and means "clerk" or "assistant". They also used the expressions, "Bürogummi" and "Commis-voyageur" ("commercial traveller/bagman"). Johann/Giacomo was a handsome, curly-haired man. His daughter described him as a kind-hearted soul, but weak. And his greatest weakness was alcohol. He didn’t care at all for his family – that task fell to Elise as long as she lived. In 1896 the couple’s first daughter, also named Elise, was born, and on 20 January 1901 Ida, my grandmother, came into the world. The children grew up in poor conditions, but they had a good mother. When they went for walks with her the children would sing "Here with go with Mother, walking in the vineyard: on one side we have a field, on the other we have a meadow". The cows were used as draught animals.
However, the relationship between Elise and Johann deteriorated, and they finally reached a point where Elise threw her husband out of the house. He took on work as a casual farmhand, whilst Elise herself sold the farm and took up work in the Zinggeler’s silk-winding business. The children had to fend for themselves after school hours. Then, when her husband became sick, Elise took him in again and nursed him till his untimely death.
In 1929 Elise Bachmann died from blood-poisoning. Shortly before her death she took her two eldest grand-daughters, Trudi and Lore, to her field where, in a patch of strawberries, she showed them a bird’s nest with eggs or young birds in it. She told the girls to be very careful and quiet. For the two girls it was a happy memory of the old lady who wore long floor-length dresses.
My Grandmother: IDA BACHMANN was born in Embrach on 20 January 1901 and died, also in Embrach, on 13 April 1994 aged 93.
She was a good scholar and, unlike her older sister, didn’t have to work after school hours in the silk-winding factory. She had learned a lot from her mother’s friend, Frau Volkart, who was a tailoress and who often gave the young schoolgirl help with sewing her clothes.
After finishing school Ida took a course in book-keeping and started working in the Post Office in Embrach. However, she suffered a lot at the hands of the strict postmaster and when the opportunity arose, thanks to her cousin Zwingli, she transferred to the office of the big Milk Co-operative in Winterthur, which he had founded.
My Great Aunt ELISE BACHMANN was born on 2 February 1896 and died on 25 August 1977 aged 81.