Hamlet in the municipality of Lauperswil, Emmental, Canton Bern · coordinates approximate
About
The place the Ramseyer name comes from. Ramseyer / Ramseier is a habitational surname: “one from Ramsei”. The first bearers lived at or came from this hamlet on the Emme, before surnames were fixed (14th–15th centuries). Lauperswil is next to Signau, where Hans Ramseyer (bapt. 1594) was baptized, and the 2002 Family Record places Christina Trachsel (16th c.) at a Lauperswil baptism.
Earliest mentions
- 1343: Johans von Ramseia, burgher of Burgdorf, and his wife Katerina of Langnau; 1361: his brother Chünrat von Ramsey and the widow Adelheit; 1369: Rudi Ramseis farming at Gosslawile. See Fontes Rerum Bernensium - Ramsei mentions (1343-1369).
- The hamlet lies where the Grüne stream joins the Emme (FRB vol. 9 index).
The Ramseier juice company
RAMSEIER apple juice is named after the same hamlet, not after a family. It began as the Emmentalische Obstweingenossenschaft Ramsei, a fruit-wine cooperative of eight founding farmers set up at Ramsei in 1910; by 1912 it was making unfermented apple juice (Süssmost). The firm (RAMSEIER Suisse AG) is now based at Sursee, Lucerne. So the juice and the family share a place, not (as far as is known) a family tree. The founders’ names have not been found; if any was himself a Ramseier of Ramsei, he would be a distant cousin at best, through a common ancestor from before about 1500.
Registers
Lauperswil baptisms begin in 1528, among the earliest in the canton (K Lauperswil 1, downloaded to the archive). See How far back each line goes.
Narratives and research
- Research: How far back each line goes
Record compiled 31 October 2026.
About this research
Supporting documentation is linked throughout. This project is an exercise in AI-assisted research and development, and I haven’t manually verified every link or conclusion. All transcriptions and translations of Swiss parish records were made with AI, and their accuracy should be treated accordingly.