STUSSI

Ancestral, wide-spread, reformed, senatorial lineage in Linthal, Ruti, Haslen, Glarus, Riedern, Niederurnen, and Bilten. With one exception, it is not possible to trace the several lines to a common founder. Landolf Stussi appears in 1333 as a witness on the foundation document of the nunnery of Linthal [US.56]. Rudolf Stussi of Zusingen-Haslen is named as a member of the senate in 1372; he moved to Zurich with Rudolf Kilchmatter and Heinrich Landolt, and in Zurich, he was accepted in 1375 into the Federal Senate, and was elected member of the Senate, master of the guild, and senior councellor of Kusnacht. As a Zurich Senator, he participated in the draft of a sales agreement between the bishopric of Sackingen and the County of Glarus [US.117]. His son is the mayor Rudolf who was knighted by Kaiser Sigismund in 1433 and who died in the Battle of Saint Jakob on the Sihl River in 1443. The Zurich branch dies out by 1450. Amalia Stussi, in 1413, makes a donation to the chaplain in Nafels. Heinrich Stussi of Linthal becomes the county governor in Gaster in 1530. However, since he is a follower of the [Protestant] reformer Zwingli, he is compelled by the people of the Canton of Schwyz to resign after the battle at Kappel. He is replaced by the orthodox Hans Vogel. One branch of the Stussis of Linthal acquired citizenship at Ruti during the 18th Century, but in 1800, this branch died out. In 1926, a new family of Stussis became citizens there.

The genealogical father of the family tree of the Stussis of Haslen at the end of the 16th Century was called "Niklaus the Rich." The evangelical <Landesseckelmeister>, Mathias Stussi of Haslen, in 1623, bought citizenship at Schwanden, but in 1757, this branch died out. Since 1914, the line from Haslen is also represented by a branch at Glarus.

The line of the Stussis in Glarus derives from Ensign Balthasar, who was county secretary in 1621; while the line in Riedern is descended from the master mason Gabriel Stussi of Niederurnen, who officiated there at the beginning of the 17th Century as the house steward at the Ziegelbrucke Bridge and who lived in Riedern in 1650. From him are also descended the Stussis of Niederurnen who, since 1783, are also represented by a branch in Bilten. From the branch of Riedern families moved and bought property in Glarus in 1870, 1901, and 1918, and in 1887 in Hofstetten in Canton Zurich.

Finally, in the second half of the 16th Century, a branch of the family is founded in Ennenda by city councillor Jakob Stussi, who was county governor of Werdenberg from 1556 to 1559, and whose sons Jeremias and Lux stussi are all recorded in the troop of riflemen of Ennenda in 1589. The LR[?] is renewed in 1547 by Jorg Stussi in Uri, in 1571 by Jakob for his sons and himself in Uri, in 1585 by Jakob in Schwyz, in 1597 by Jakob in Muotatal, and in 1681 by Master Jakob and Master Jochem, brothers and sons of Friedolin of Mollis; the first lives with a son, Hans Georg, in Mulhausen (Mulhouse, France); the latter in Heidelberg (Germany). No further Stussis are known in Mollis.

[1] JsB Linthal, Zinsrodel Netstal, UB[?].
[2] Schwanden and Betschwanden, Uf.S[?], Reg. 1532 ff., Muller: reformed law.

(Plate XXXI, 1.) Divided between red and silver with two ibex horns of alternating colors. Hz.: the horns of the shield. D.: Red/silver, according to the paintings of the coats of arms of the 15th Century in the Grosminster Cathedral in Zurich (compare to J.R. Rahn, Heraldry in the Grossmunster, Zurich, in AHS, 1898). Gerold Edlibach shows a variation: Divided between silver and red with ibex horns of alternate colors. On a crowned helmet is a split lilly staff between red and silver ibex horns (Plate XXXI, 3). The seal of Hans Stussi, 1454 in LAG[?], also shows this coat of arms; this must be that of the son of the Zurich Mayor, the last of his line. In the LMZ[?] (antiq. ges.), there is the seal from about 1440 of Rudolf Stussi, the Mayor; a lilly surmounted by a brand (Plate XLV, 101). Gatschet, in 1799, shows this coat of arms in silver with red figures. The StAZ[?] has the seal from 1530 belonging to Heinritzi Stussi of Glarus, the under-county bailiff (or deputy governor) of Windegg, which shows only a simple ring in a shield. The Werdenberg County bailiff (governor) Jacob Stussi has a chamois horn in this ring (the seal from 1556 in the StAZ[?]), and another seal from 1583 (in the GAG[?]) of governor Jacob Stussi in Ennenda shows the chamois horn alone in the shield. After about 1590, the coat of arms and seal show the chamois horns growing out of a threefold mountain, in alternate colors, and on the helmet, a golden lilly staff between the horns (Plate XXXI, 2); compare also the books on coats of arms by Ag. Tschudi and Stumpf. A coat of arms from 1645 of Mr. Thomann and Mr. Johannes Stussi, both of the Council of Glarus (photograph in the possession of the architect Hans Leuzinger, Glarus-Zurich), shows two chamois horns, as does also Trumpy, 1816, in the LbG[?] (Plate XXXI, 4). Johann Melchior Stussi, county governor of Werdenberg, shows, according to his seal from 1761 in the LAG[?]: Divided between gold and red, wtih a threefold mountain and chamois horns of alternate colors. Hz: On a red/gold bulge, a red and gold split lilly staff between a red and a golden chamois horn. D.: Red/gold (Plate XXXI, 5). Blumer and S. Wild show the same coat of arms.

Pages 80 and 81.

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Summary of Individuals in the Archive Extract

Year	Location	Name	Wappen	Notes
1333	Linthal, Glarus	Landolf Stüssi	1	Witnessed a Foundation Document at the nunnery.
1372	Zürich, Zürich	Rudolf Stüssi	3	Moved from Haslen to become a Canton Senator.
1413	Näfels, Glarus	Amalia Stüssi		Donation to charity recorded
1433	Zürich, Zürich	Rudolf Stüssi	3	Knighted in 1433. Mayor of Zürich 1433-1443.
1530	Windegg	Heinritzi Stüssi		Became deputy county governor.
1530	Gaster, St. Gallen *	Heinrich Stüssi		Became county governor. Resigned in 1531.
1556	Werdenberg, St. Gallen *	Jakob Stüssi	2	Became county governor (until 1559).
1589	Ennenda, Glarus	Jeremias Stüssi	2	Recorded in the list of Riflemen of Ennenda.
1589	Ennenda, Glarus	Lux Stüssi	2	Recorded in the list of Riflemen of Ennenda.
1599c.	Haslen, Glarus	Niklaus Stüssi		Also known as "NIKLAUS THE RICH."
1621	Glarus, Glarus	Balthasar Stüssi		Was County Secretary at Glarus.
1623	Haslen, Glarus	Mathias Stüssi		Bought citizenship at Schwanden.
1630's	Ziegelbrucke, Glarus	Gabriel Stüssi		Became house steward of a bridge over Linth River.
1645	Glarus, Glarus	Johannes Stüssi	4	Became member of the Council of Glarus.
1645	Glarus, Glarus	Thomann Stüssi	4	Became member of the Council of Glarus.
1761	Werdenberg, St. Gallen *	Johann Melchior Stüssi	5	Became county governor.

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