The Swiss Connection to Naples

For almost a decade I could not figure out my Great Great Grandmother’s Swiss connection to Naples.  From various records, I knew that she was from Lucerne.  Why was she in Naples in the 1850’s?  How did she come to meet my Great Great Grandfather, who was the son of Prince Luigi Caracciolo di Torchiarolo?

As she was not of noble Italian blood, it was strange that they would marry in the first place.  Back then rank and status was very important.  I never thought that I would ever find her father, let alone trace her back to the 1400’s in Lucerne.  But I did!  Here’s the link to Lucerne Family Trees.

One of the big problems in tracing her was that on the Antenati, many names are misspelled on the name search records.  Understandable, due to the age and penmanship of some of the original records.  I did eventually come across this record, stating that Louisa Mohr’s father was Martino Mohr, a Captain in the Swiss Guard, at her birth in 1830. Later he became a General.   Now, I only associated the Swiss Guard with the Vatican, so why were they in Naples.  

Upon further research, I learned that many of the European armies would hire soldiers from the Swiss Cantons as mercenaries.  Remember, Italy was not yet united and Naples had its own army.  Naples, as it happened, got soldiers from Lucerne.  So, a Swiss connection to Naples.  So now we are getting somewhere.

Bouncing around the internet one day, as most genealogy junkies do on a regular basis, I was searching for Filippo Caracciolo and I found him in this book, as a Lieutenant in the calvary.  Since it was indexed, I looked for Martino Mohr.  Low and behold a Colonel in the Swiss Guard in Naples. Note: He lated was promoted to General.

You can find links to the Naples Army Records for 1846 and 1853 on our links page.

So now what.  By chance ( again just bouncing around ) I found a Swiss group that advertised that if you have any genealogy questions send us an email in German, Italian or English.  I asked about the Mohr’s and they sent me a link that contained family tree charts for the most prominent families in Lucerne, dating back to the 1400’s.  Sure enough, Martino and his father, who was also assigned to Naples were there.