The Federer family is an old Swiss family that is part of the

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

Berneck, St. Gallen Berneck is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Berneck is first mentioned in 892 as ''Farniwang''. In 1210 it was mentioned as ''Bernanc''. Coat of arms The blazon o ...

. The family originated in the 5th century and rose to prominence in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, with members holding local government offices under the Prince-Abbots of the Abbey of St. Gallen. Notable members of the family include the tennis player

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...

, the Catholic priest and writer

Heinrich Federer Heinrich Federer (6 October 1866 – 29 April 1928) was a Swiss writer and Catholic priest. Biography Federer was born on 6 October 1866 in the Bernese village of Brienz. His father, Johann Paul Federer, was a wood carver and school teache ...

, and the politician

Barbara Schmid-Federer Barbara Schmid-Federer (born 10 November 1965) is a Swiss politician, educator, and philanthropist. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, she was elected to a seat in the National Council in 2007, serving until 2018. ...

History

The Federer family originates in the 5th century from the village of

in northeastern Switzerland, near the Austrian border. As part of the

Swiss bourgeoisie In some cantons of Switzerland, the bourgeoisie is both a form of local community right and a personal right. The system of bourgeoisie stems from medieval urban law which was common to all the cities of Western Europe (see: Bourgeois of Brussels ...

, members of the family were entitled to positions in the local government. The name Federer translates from the

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

word for "feather" or "quill", referencing the family's role as scribes in Berneck. In 1544, Ulrich Federer served as the

Ammann Ammann is a surname of German origin which is an alternative spelling of Amtmann or Amman, an historical kind of bailiff. Notable people with the surname include: *Alberto Ammann, Argentine actor * Daniel Ammann, Swiss author and journalist (born 1 ...

of Berneck for the Prince-Abbots of St. Gallen. Sebastian Federer served as Ammann in 1665. The Federer family coat of arms includes a gold cross atop a white feather on a red shield. In 1525, during the

Reformation in Switzerland The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...

, the population of Berneck converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, following the teachings of

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Unive ...

. By 1532, the Federer family had converted back to Catholicism. In 1848 Berneck suffered a great fire that destroyed over one hundred buildings in the village. A branch of the Federer family were blamed by the rest of the clan for the fire, and were cast out of the municipality. Members of the family later settled in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

, Eichberg,

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

, and

Rebstein Rebstein is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Rebstein is first mentioned in 1270 as ''Rebistain''. Geography Rebstein has an area, , of . Of this area, 60.4% i ...

. In 2019, Jakob Federer served as the vice president of Berneck.

Notable members

* Josef Anton Sebastian Federer (1793–1868), Swiss theologian and politician *

(1866–1928), Swiss writer and Catholic priest *

Mirka Federer Miroslava "Mirka" Federer (born Miroslava Vavrincová on 1 April 1978, later Miroslava Vavrinec) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She is married to tennis player Roger Federer, having first met him at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She ...

(b. 1978), Swiss tennis player *

(b. 1981), Swiss tennis player *

Urban Federer Monsignor Urban Federer (born 17 August 1968) is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church. A member of the Order of St. Benedict, he is the current Abbot of Einsiedeln Abbey and Fahr Convent. Prior to serving as abbot, Federer was the Prior and ...

(b. 1968), Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church *

(b.1965), Swiss politician

References

{{Reflist Roman Catholic families Swiss families

History

Notable members

See also

References