New Zealander visits a tabernacle created by her ancestor

New Zealander Julie Byrne has roots in Switzerland. A direct ancestor of hers was the sculptor Franz Schumacher. She has now been able to visit one of his works.

Julie Byrne, who was born in New Zealand to Swiss parents, has already invested a lot of time and money in genealogical research. She found out that one of her direct ancestors - Franz Schumacher - built a tabernacle in 1667, and that this now stands in the Burg Zug Museum. She was recently able to view this object, and this was a special moment, as she recalled afterwards: ‘I was overwhelmed and just stood in awe of this beautiful work of art.’

The 69-year-old retired software consultant lives in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. She has always had a strong connection to Switzerland through her parents, but she didn't know her other relatives well. So she started researching her family. Her father's family names are Arnet and Meier, and her mother's are Schumacher and Uttinger.

Records from the state archives
Julie Byrne first learnt about her ancestor Franz Schumacher from a copy of records she received from the Zug State Archives, which stated that Franz ‘Bur’ Schumacher made the tabernacle. Julie Byrne received this information in August 2023, and is very grateful to the responsible employee at the Zug State Archives for her help with the research.

Julie Byrne in front of the tabernacle made by a direct ancestor of hers
The records of the Schumacher family    Photos: zvg

She and her husband John travelled to Switzerland in mid-December 2024. Her daughter and her family had moved here in 2019, so it was a family visit. With the aim of celebrating ‘the first white Christmas’ together with her grandchildren, as she explains. ‘I've seen snow before, but not when it's actually snowing.’

She didn’t know where the tabernacle was located, and visited St Michael's Church in Zug on 22 December to look for it. ‘The only clue I had was the inscription in the family documents.’ She didn't find anything in the church in Zug. But as she left the building, it started to snow, says the pensioner.

The snow turned out to be a good omen. An enquiry at St Michael's parish centre (Pfarrei) shed some light on the matter. They were able to help her, and told her that the tabernacle was now on display in the Burg Zug Museum. The New Zealander visited the exhibit on the same day. ‘It was bigger than I had imagined,’ she reports. It filled her with humility, but also pride at gaining an insight into such an exquisite craft. ‘This is a very important event for me and my family.’ She can't remember her mother or her family ever talking about it.

On loan from the church
According to the Museum Burg Zug website, the tabernacle is on loan from the Catholic parish of Zug. It is designed like a model of a central domed building. The description reads: ‘The main storey rises above a high plinth zone with figure niches, on which rests a double cornice with angel-studded balustrades.’

One of the angels is St Michael, the patron saint of the city of Zug. In the three niches, Saint Bartholomew (the patron saint of the donator of the tabernacle, Father Bartholomew Keiser) stands on the left, Christ as Ecce Homo (Christ is presented to the people after being scourged and mocked) in the centre, and Saint Charles Borromeo (the patron saint of Swiss Catholicism) on the right. The tabernacle is sumptuously veneered with brown and yellow chequered tortoiseshell. The maker's signature and the date of manufacture are depicted under the niche on the right-hand side. The sculptor Franz Schumacher lived from 1629 to 1697.

Julie Byrne now knows a lot more about him than just his name. She will leave Switzerland to return to New Zealand again on the 17th January - one more moving experience and one more chapter in her family's history.

For more information (in German) about the tabernacle in the Burg Zug Museum:
https://www.burgzug.ch/page/en/sammlung/sammlung-online/details?said=1205