Need help identifying stamps in passport

[jitzblitz]

Hello everyone, so finally, I got a chance to go through my late grandfather's stuff last night and came across his passport. I didn't really know the man so it was interesting to see all the places he's been to. There were some stamps I didn't recognize and had trouble determining the language. I was wondering if there is a site out there that displays samples of passport stamps. The three I'm trying to figure out seem European, the wording sounds very similar to German.

Example: In <stamped name of city> an gemeldet von <hand written name of country, in this case, "Kanada"> am <date stamp> inwohnerkontrolle.

Does anyone know what this sentence is saying? Or, again, if there's a site out there with a library of passport stamp samples, please do share the info. Thanks!

[asdfvcx]

Well, with my very basic knowledge of German along with some googling, here's my best guess.

It is German, and the last word seems to suggest it may be a Swiss stamp.

In = In
an gemeldet von = Reported on by (is there a signature or initials after this phrase?)
am = on

And inwohnerkontrolle is a bit more complicated word.

A quick google search for it shows almost all instances of it appear on Swiss sites.

kontrolle is German for control.

inwohner seems to have a number of meanings, based on this translated wikipedia page: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inwohner&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dinwohner%26num%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe% 3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DzxM
The most reasonable one in this context would seem to be residents.

As well, this translated page: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.justlanded.com/nederlands/switzerland/tools/just_landed_guide/visas_permits/residence_registration&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dinwohnerkontrolle%26num%3D20%26hl%3De n%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3D5Zh
also refers to inwohnerkontrolle as residents registration department.



I know is used to be a rule (and I believe still is in some parts of Europe) that if you are a visitor to a city and plan on staying for a while, you are required to register with the local authorities. My best guess is that he was staying in some Swiss town for a while, and this was the stamp that he got in his passport after registering himself.

[jitzblitz]

Hey asdfvcx! Thanks so much for your help! I googled the name of the city after the first word and it is a Swiss city!!!

That's so interesting. I asked my Dad and he had no idea my grandfather was in Switzerland for any period of time...

So "an gemeldet von Kanada" would mean "Reported on by Canada" I guess, right?

So is that stamp saying that the Swiss "residents registration department" deemed my Grandfather to be a resident in Switzerland on the date specified, while originally being from Kanada? The "reported on by Canada" is tripping me up - Canada wouldn't be reporting that he's in Switzerland, right? Kinda like a pre-authorized leave from Cananda, by the Canadian gov't... That doesn't sound right...

[asdfvcx]

My German is very basic, so you may not want to trust everything.

It looks like another meaning of gemeldet would be to announce or notify. http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/deutsch-englisch/gemeldet.html

So, the phrase may be trying to saying that the person declared (or announced) that they were from Canada.

My original thought was that the Swiss official was supposed to sign or initial here, but my new guess in the previous paragraph probably makes more sense. :)