THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS No. 105
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2002
(c) G. J. Berghold-all rights reserved
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This first section of our 4-section newsletter includes:
1. Burgenland Governor (Landeshauptmann) Niessl To Visit
2. New LDS Civil Records
3. Austrian Foreign Ministry Website
4. BB Songbook Enlarged
5. Burgenland Activity (Bad Tatzmannsdorf) - Chicago
6. Canadian Olympic Skier - Burgenland Descendant?
7. Dutchman Tschida?
8. Sacher Torte
9. Burgenland Coat-Of-Arms
1. GOVERNOR NIESSL TO VISIT
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Burgenland a delegation of the
provincial government of Burgenland is going to pay a visit to their fellow
countrymen in the United States. The delegation includes Hans Niessl
(Governor of Burgenland), Franz Steindl (Deputy Governor of Burgenland),
other members of the government of Burgenland and Walter Dujmovits, President
of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft.
Outline of the preliminary PROGRAM (tentative):
Friday, May 10 Arrival in Toronto
Sunday, May 11 Get-together with countrymen
Sunday, May 12 Burgenländer meeting
Monday, May 13 Arrival in Chicago
Tuesday, May 14 Get-together with countrymen
Wednesday, May 15 Arrival in Northampton, PA Burgenland evening
Thursday, May 16 Northampton, Coplay, Allentown, PA Burgenland evening
Friday, May 17 Arrival in New York
Saturday, May 18 Get-together with countrymen
Sunday, May 19 NJ Burgenländer meeting in New York
The final program will be published in the next issue of the BG newsletter
(and the BB Newsletter).
Auf Deutsch:
Aus Anlaß des Jubiläums "80 Jahre Burgenland" wird eine Delegation der
burgenländischen Landesregierung die Landsleute in Amerika besuchen. Zu
dieser Delegation gehören unter anderen Landeshauptmann Hans Niessl,
LH-Stellvertreter Franz Steindl, weitere Mitglieder der Burgenländischen
Landesregierung und der Präsident der Burgenländischen Gemeinschaft Dr.
Walter Dujmovits an.
Nachstehend geben wir das vorläufige PROGRAMM im Auszug wieder:
Freitag, 10. Mai Ankunft in Toronto
Samstag, 11. Mai Begegnung mit Landsleuten
Sonntag, 12. Mai Burgenländer-Treffen
Montag, 13. Mai Ankunft in Chicago
Dienstag, 14. Mai Begegnung mit Landsleuten
Mittwoch, 15. Mai Ankunft in Northampton, Heimatabend
Donnerstag, 16. Mai Northampton,Coplay, Allentown, Heimatabend
Freitag, 17. Mai Ankunft in New York
Samstag, 18. Mai Begegnung mit Landsleuten
Sonntag, 19. Mai Burgenländer-Treffen in New York
Das endgültige Programm bringen wir in der nächsten Zeitung.
2. NEW LDS CIVIL RECORDS (Margaret Kaiser, Fritz Königshofer)
(The LDS effort to capture family history material is never ending. It is to
our advantage to constantly check the LDS indices to determine what has been
added to their microfilm files. Civil records for Burgenland villages which
remained in Hungary have previously been unavailable. They are now becoming
available. These cover the period post-1896. The following concerns some of
this material.)
Margaret Kaiser writes:
Thank you, Fritz, for your very interesting message advising of the recently
available 1895-190X civil registration records. Since I was uncertain which
civic district offices were applicable (as several of the districts were
possibilities, particularly in the case of Felsörönök), I sent a query to the
SLC archives. The response I received reported these villages served by the
following district offices.
Felsörönök in Rabafüzes
Rabafüzes in Rabafüzes
Lapincsolaszi in Nagyfalva
Alsörönök in Rábaszentmihály (Note)
Borosgodor in Németujvár (Güssing)
(Note: 1901-1909; the LDS response did not mention earlier records, Fritz
suggested these could be in with Csörötnek.) While browsing around, I found
1895-1920 civil records for Dobra (Szentgotthard), later Vasdobra, Hungary,
now Neuhaus am Klausenbach, Burgenland, Austria (Film nos. 700622-700626).
There are also 1868-1918 civil records for Vashedigkut Tót, Vas, later
Cankova, Slovenia.
Fritz had written:
For quite some time, LDS had the films of places now in Austria or
Slovenia such as Mogersdorf (Nagyfalva) including Wallendorf, Neuhaus am
Klausenbach (Vasdobra), Cankova (Vashidegkút) and Vizlendva (Jurij). I did
not know that Inzenhof (Borosgödör) had the civil recording in Güssing ...
Albert's village lists states it was in Rabafüzes. Before 1901, Alsórönök may
well have recorded with Rabafüzes (or Csörötnek). I'll soon know as I have
ordered films of Rabafüzes.
The new films are of places that remained in Hungary, such as
Szentgotthárd, Rabafüzes, etc. My LDS Library at first even refused to order
the films as they have numbers above number 2.2 million and are not in their
local CD indices yet. These are brand new films.
The LDS had replied:
Subj: Re: Aust.-Hung Civil Registrations (1895-190X)
Following are your ancestral towns with the appropriate civil registartion
jurisdiction (and film numbers):
Sylvie Pysnakova, A.G. - International Reference Unit
Title: Állami anyakönyvek, 1895-1909
Authors: Rábafüzes (Vas). Anyakönyvi Hivatal (Main Author)
Note Location Film
Születtek (Birth) 1895-1897 (máj.) VAULT INTL Film 2201361 Item 2
Születtek (jún.) 1897-1900 (feb.) VAULT INTL Film 2201362 Items 1 - 2
Születtek (márc.) 1900-1903 (márc.) VAULT INTL Film 2202356 Items 1 - 2
Születtek (márc.) 1903-1906 (nov.) VAULT INTL Film 2202357 Item 1
Születtek (nov.) 1906-1906 (dec.) VAULT INTL Film 2202358 Item 1
Házasultak (Marriage)1895-1902 (jún.) VAULT INTL Film 2202358 Item 2
Házasultak (jún.) 1902-1906 VAULT INTL Film 2202359 Item 1
Halottak (Death) 1895-1898 (ápr.) VAULT INTL Film 2202359 Item 2
Halottak (máj.) 1898-1901 VAULT INTL Film 2202360 Item 1
Halottak 1902-1906 (okt.) VAULT INTL Film 2202361 Item 1
Halottak (nov.) 1906-1908 VAULT INTL Film 2202362 Item 1
Születtek 1907-1909 VAULT INTL Film 2212856 Item 6
Házasultak 1907-1909 VAULT INTL Film 2212856 Item 7
Title: Anyakönyvek, 1895-1920
Authors: Nagyfalva (Vas). Anyakönyvi Hivatal (Main Author)
Note Location Film
Születtek 1895-1902 VAULT INTL Film 700389
Születtek 1903-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700390
Házasultak 1895-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700391
Halottak 1895-1906 VAULT INTL Film 700392
Halottak 1907-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700393
Title: Állami anyakönyvek, 1901-1909
Authors: Rábaszentmihály (Vas). Anyakönyvi Hivatal (Main Author)
Note Location Film
Születtek 19011904 (jan.) VAULT INTL Film 2233517 Item 6
Születtek (jan.) 1904-1909 VAULT INTL Film 2233518 Item 1
Házasultak 1902-1906 (aug.) VAULT INTL Film 2233518 Item 2
Házasultak (szept.) 1906-1909 VAULT INTL Film 2233519 Item 1
Halottak 1901-1909 VAULT INTL Film 2233519 Item 2
Title: Anyakönyvek, 1895-1920
Authors: Németujvár (Vas). Anyakönyvi Hivatal (Main Author)
Note Location Film
Születtek 1895-1898 VAULT INTL Film 700420
Születtek 1899-1902 VAULT INTL Film 700421
Születtek 1903-1906 VAULT INTL Film 700422
Születtek 1907-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700423
Házasultak 1895-1906 VAULT INTL Film 700424
Házasultak 1907-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700425
Halottak 1895-1900 VAULT INTL Film 700426
Halottak 1901-1906 VAULT INTL Film 700427
Halottak 1907-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700428
Title: Anyakönyvek, 1907-1920
Authors: Németujvár (Vas: Környéke). Anyakönyvi Hivatal (Main Author)
Note Location Film
Születtek 1907-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700429
Házasultak, halottak 1907-1920 VAULT INTL Film 700430
3. AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY WEBSITE (Inge Schuch)
I have some information you may find interesting. In mid-January our
(Austrian) foreign ministry launched the website www.auslandsoesterreicher.at.
It is designed to cater for the needs of Austrian expatriates, for instance
by providing access to services and information on issues relating to
Austria. The site contains a selection of links, a contact and discussion
forum and a database of associations in which you will also find the
Burgenland Bunch!
4. BB SONGBOOK AND WEBSITE ENLARGED (Hannes Graf)
We added some new songs to the Songbook, some Easter-songs. Now we have songs
for most religious holidays of the year and the songbook is complete.
In the next few weeks, I will get a new Website with triple the amount of
space we now have. I want to provide space only for the Bunch and call it BB
or Burgenland.Bunch and add to it everything I now have at the
"lagraf1"-account; the member-list, the "Berghold-award" and the songbook and
maybe a page of the Burgenland-officials visiting in Allentown.
5. BURGENLAND ACTIVITY - CHICAGO (Tom Glatz)
William Hosh writes to Tom Glatz: Thank you for the info. you have provided;.
please have the following printed in the Burgenland Bunch newsletter:
NOTICE: For those who may be interested. A reunion of immigrant descendants
from Bad Tatzmannsdorf and surrounding villages will take place this year in
Chicago. Herbert Rehling from Bad Tatzmannsdorf will be present. For details
contact Wm. Hosh, 8030 W. Lincoln Hwy, Frankfort, Il 60423.
6. CANADIAN OLYMPIC SKIER - BURGENLAND DESCENDANT? (Albert Schuch)
Subj: Dujmovits (jr) request - Fw: Steve Omischl
Gerry, I just received an email from Walter Dujmovits, Jr. He noticed the
name of a Canadian freestyle skier who participated in the Olympic games -
one Steve Omischl from North Bay, Ontario. Walter suggests that we might
publish an inquiry in the BB newsletter as to whether anybody knows if this
Steve Omischl is a descendant of Burgenland immigrants. (Omischl is a common
surname in southern Burgenland.)
7. DUTCHMAN TSCHIDA? (Dale Knebel)
Would you include a curiosity item in the newsletter? At an antique show, I
found a miniature beer mug (2 inches tall) that is marked "The Dutchman
Tschida, St. Paul, Minn." I am hoping that descendants researching the
Tschida name might have some background on the item.
(ED. Note: Tschida is a very common name in the northern Burgenland lake
region - many BB members research this name.)
8. SACHER TORTE (Ralph Nielsen)
Ralph Nielsen, member from the UK, has been reading Marboe's "The Book of
Austria," which I have often recommended. I enjoy this book so much that I
keep a pristine copy as well as a work edition. It's an English language
Austrian classic.
Ralph writes:
Hi there, Gerald. You appear to have such a huge amount of information about
Burgenland that I wonder if it is possible to find any snippets of knowledge
which you don't already know about.
However, on browsing (again) in one of my books, I came across the following
two items and thought that, if you don't yet know of them, you might
appreciate them.
Sachertorte (From "The Book of Austria" by Ernst Marboe, 1948)
"We are indebted to Metternich for this specialty. The story goes that at a
special banquet, the prince wished to give his guests something absolutely
new and of exquisite delicacy for the occasion. The founder of the house of
Sacher then created that cake which has since then gone triumphantly round
the whole world. The guests of the prince were as delighted with the cake as
are its countless admirers today. Shipments have been sent by air to
England, America, India and even Japan. The Sachertorte has won premiums as
a supreme Viennese achievement at countless international culinary
exhibitions. It is as much at home on the royal table at Buckingham Palace
as it is at a ceremonial dinner of the president of the French republic or in
the cunningly devised menu of an Indian Maharaja. This cake is a well
planned composition, and none of the attempts to imitate it have been
successful. Form and color are characteristic. Its flavor is delicate,
blended, mild, not too sweet; it is not too soft, not too dry and not too
spongy. It melts on the tongue and has the great advantage of keeping well,
for it stays fresh for at least two weeks without any signs of staleness."
(Incidentally, the delivery van which Hotel Sacher nowadays uses to supply
restaurants and other hotels in Vienna has the vehicle registration SACHER 1.)
ED. Note: Also see BB newsletter no. 88B dtd Sept. 30, 2000.
8. BURGENLAND COAT OF ARMS (sent by Ralph Nielsen)
Extract from "The Book of Austria" by Ernst Marboe, 1948. (page 342)
"Far above the little village of Forchtenstein stands a well preserved castle
of the same name. It was once the seat of the Counts of Mattersdorf, whose
forebears, Simon and Bertram, came from Spain in the year 1200 with their
sister Tota, of whose beauty it was said that it had no equal throughout the
world. A poet might well harbor the fancy that her beauty lives on in the
spring splendor of the flowering hedges on the Rosaliengebirge. The student
of history may remember that in the year 1374 the Counts of Mattersdorf and
Forchtenstein placed this part of the province under the jurisdiction of the
Duke of Austria. Their escutcheon, combined with that of the Güssingers,
forms today the coat-of arms of Burgenland."
Many regards, Ralph, in The East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
ED. Note: picture of the arms as well as flags can be found by using the
BB Homepage URL list.
Newsletter continues as no. 105A.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 105A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold) March 31, 2002 (c) G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved 21 NEW MEMBERS ARE SHOWN AT THE END OF THE MEMBERSHIP LIST This second section of our 4-section newsletter contains: 1. Addendum To Oberwart Story 2. A Night In Stremer Berghäuser (Strem) 3. Village Names - Again 4. Countries Listed On Census And Ship Records 1. ADDENDUM TO OBERWART STORY (Fritz Königshofer) By chance, I recently browsed my copy of the "Canonical Visitation of Year 1674" of parishes in Vas county. The record of this visitation was found only recently, in year 1958, in the diocesan archive of Pécs (where nobody ever thought it would be). The researcher Jenő Házi of Sopron published this document in Eisenstadt in 1967 with an interesting preface, as issue 45 of "Burgenländische Forschungen." The issue is out of print, but I have a copy, which I believe Albert Schuch gave me. The interesting point is that this visitation of 1674, essentially an inspection of parishes with elaboration of an inventory, was carried out by Peter Tormásy who, as per the Oberwart article in the BB Newsletter, was the church official who attacked the Calvinist congregation in Oberwart with 500 soldiers in year 1664 and confiscated the church on behalf of Roman Catholicism. As you know from the article, the date of 1664 for this raid is in dispute. According to Házi's preface, which refers to unpublished notes of Prof. Tibor Anton Horváth (a Premonstratensian monk), Tormásy was born in Csepreg (Tschapring) in county Sopron. In 1665, the Diocese of Győr sent him to the Pazmaneum in Vienna, where he completed studies of theology and was ordained priest. In 1673, he is mentioned as a lector at the chapter of Vasvár county, which at that time had already relocated from Vasvár to Szombathely. He was also the pastor of Szombathely. In the second half of December 1673, archbishop Georg Széchenyi appointed Tormásy as provost (which might be the same as archdean in this case) of Vasvár (county). In this new capacity, he is said to have carried out the confiscations of the Protestant churches in the villages of Wolfs, Agendorf, Wandorf and Harkau (all parishes near and subordinate to Sopron city) between December 21 and 23 of 1673. In 1676, Tormásy also became the abbot of Kapornak. He died 1689. Archbishop Széchenyi asked Tormásy in early 1674 to perform a partial visitation of parishes within the area of jurisdiction of the archdean of Vasvár (county), with emphasis on visiting parishes that had been recovered from the Protestants. The visitations took place between April 25 and July 15, 1674, and 33 parishes were visited. There is additional information in the preface, but it is of little relevance to the Oberwart story. However, the data sheds additional light on the story of church confiscation in Oberwart. First of all, Tormásy appears to have become provost in December 1673, i.e., after All-Saints-Day. His visitation of 1674 does not describe a Roman Catholic parish in Oberwart. It only states at its last page that the pastor of "Ör" was administering the communes of Felsö Ör, Alsó Ör and Sziget, but the way I read the preface, the last page of the visitation may have been added in 1697, at the occasion of the next visitation of parishes performed by archdean Stefan Kazó. Therefore, I feel that either Tormásy had carried out the Oberwart raid before he was provost, or, more likely, this raid happened in 1674 the earliest. It would be interesting to take a look at the canonical visitation of 1697 by Stefan Kazó (who was the archdean/provost of Vasvár by that time) to see whether it describes the catholic parish of Oberwart, and contains historical data on its starting year. There are a few more observations that can be made. According to the material used for the Oberwart article, the confiscation of the church took place under pastor Martin Fülöp, for whom the years 1667 or 1673 are stated as end dates of his tenure. However, it would appear from the above, that Fülöp may well have served till at least 1674. He is said as having been imprisoned in Pressburg, from where he later escaped and even returned as pastor in Oberwart. On the other hand, the wooden church was built under pastor Michael Szikszay in, or very soon after, 1681. This now provides for a much tightened timeline for the dismantling and re-establishment of the Calvinist congregation of Oberwart, its darkest period. Secondly, from the material I had used, I had assumed that Tormásy was provost in Vasvár (city), but reading what Házi says, the term Eisenburg (Vasvár) might have meant the church chapter after its relocation to Szombathely. Lastly, Házi states that the superior of Tormásy, namely Georg Széchenyi, was the Archbishop of Kalocsa who was then also the administrator of the Diocese of Győr. This might well mean that, due to the Turkish occupation of Kalocsa, the archbishop had relocated to Győr, but had retained his higher title. If this was the case, then it would have been easy for the Archbishop to order the raid of Oberwart during a time when Győr, Szombathely and Oberwart were under Austrian control and in a fully contiguous diocesan area, and there was peace between the Austrians and the Turks. Austrian BB editor Albert Schuch checked his copy of the (Roman Catholic) church visitation of 1697/98 of Vas county carried out by Stefan Kazó, and provided more relevant information: Oberwart was visited by Kazó on March 12, 1697. He writes that the old church was recovered from the Protestants "about 25 years ago." This would place the raid of All-Saints-Day around 1672. Since we already know that Peter Tormásy did not ascend to the position of archdean of Vasvár before December 1673, and took back various Protestant parishes in the same month (but not Oberwart), the raid on the Calvinist congregation of Oberwart might have happened on November 1, 1674 at the earliest. During the visitation by Kazó, Oberwart had long since been a tolerated "article" parish again of the Protestants (since 1681). Kazó reported that at the time of his visitation there were only 126 Roman Catholics in the town, but 1,013 Calvinists and 26 Lutherans. This shows that the Roman Catholics must have had a hard time to make the old church work successfully as a Roman Catholic parish. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the Roman Catholic matrikels only start in 1700. The Catholic parish priest, Georg Böjtös, is stated as serving in Oberwart since 18 years ago. This means that he started his tenure in Oberwart in about 1678/79. Kazó also mentions a letter in which Calvinist pastor Johann Szeremlei in 1648 confirms that he had received about 1.5 acres of arable land from one Thomas Kelemen as a security for giving Kelemen 29 Hungarian florins. This letter provides further confirmation about the time of Johann Szeremlei's tenure. 2. A NIGHT IN STREMER BERGHÄUSER (July 2001) I've already mentioned what a fine world-class establishment we found at the Hotel-Pension Krutzler in Heiligenbrunn, District of Güssing. What I didn't mention is that, through a misunderstanding, we had to move elsewhere on what would have been our last night in Burgenland. Herr Krutzler was most apologetic, but it was really my fault in misstating reservation dates. He was able to secure us a spur-of-the-moment reservation at the Frühstückspension "Zur Alten Mühle" near the village of Strem. As the name implies, this pension is a restored old mill property. It is now a rustic bed and breakfast. Like all area accommodations, they were also full up (vacation season) but had suggested to Herr Krutzler that we might like to use a chalet they had in the "Bergen" or hills south west of Strem. They would give us breakfast at the main building. While the "Alten Mühle" has Strem as an address, it is really located across the highway (Rt 56) from Strem (east of Güssing) at the foot of the Stremer Berghäuser. (Most villages have an area in the hills nearby, which is composed of small houses, "wein keller" and farm properties, called "Bergen".) Our host took us up into the hills, over a series of winding roads that became narrower and narrower, until we reached a graveled crossroads surrounded by wine cellars. We stopped in front of a chalet that looked like it was a renovated wine cellar. It had a porch, modern bath and kitchen and a living room cum bedroom. Rather attractive but in need of a good straightening up. Our host said she'd be back later to clean things up and bring fresh linen. When we returned from lunch, the place was immaculate. It reminded us of some place in the Alps. It was very remote and quiet. We settled in and heard a small car go down the side road to a wine cellar. Later Molly walked down the road and was approached by the driver, a Herr Tanzos from Rehgraben. He owned the nearby vineyard and had made over his wine cellar into an overnight cabin. I joined them and Herr Tanzos poured us some of his own wine. He makes wine just for his own use, is a widower and retired. His Bergen property gives him something to do and supplies his wine needs. There were no other people in sight. I imagine this place is a beehive of activity during the grape harvest. We had our lunch in Strem at the Gasthaus Legath (good food and service) suggested by Herr Tanzos and later shopped at the local A&O store for Burgenland delicacies (pickles-cookies-wine-chocolate-pumpkin seed oil). The Gergers (cousin Klaus and Heidi Gerger and daughters) found our new quarters and visited us in the afternoon to say goodbye. They kindly offered to mail all of the books we had accumulated, thus decreasing the weight of our luggage substantially. It was a tearful goodbye to what had been a busy and eventful two weeks. We had breakfast next morning at the Alten Mühle and then headed north to Vienna for a farewell dinner with the Schuchs. The Alten Mühle offers B&B at very reasonable rates. A sleepy place in the Güssing countryside. The chalet, about 6 kms away, (sleeps two) rents for about 700-750 schillings per day ($45), 3-day stay expected, with a discount for longer stays. Address Frühstückspension "Zur Alten Mühle, 7522 Strem 89, Burgenland, Austria. This is a remote area and far removed from most amenities, but staying there is a slice of old Burgenland. A great place to sit on your own porch, walk some country lanes, drink the local wine and listen to the bees. Güssing is just a short distance away if you need to visit a "stadt." To really experience Burgenland, it pays to sleep around! 3. VILLAGE NAMES - AGAIN One of the most important services we offer are our village lists, called "Burgenland Bunch Villages" and "Albert's Village Data" available from our homepage. "Burgenland Maps" also includes much village data. There are over 400 villages (Dorf) and towns (Stadt) in Austrian Burgenland. There are about another 100 near the borders with Hungary, Slovenia, Styria and Lower Austria. The names have alternated between German, Hungarian and Croatian. Some have been modified by adding or eliminating "over-upper" (Ober, Felso), "under-lower (Unter, Also)", "small" (Klein, Kis), "large" (Gross, Nagy), etc. from their basic name; others have been absorbed by nearby villages - it can be very confusing. Recently I've had a number of queries from people who find a village mentioned in the Ellis Island records and can not find the name on current maps. The most recent example was Alsolzolnok, now part of Felsöszölnök (German name Oberzemming). It is located in Hungary just south of Szt. Gotthard and is in Vas County, Hungary, district of Szt. Gotthard. It is just across the Austrian border southeast of Jennersdorf. While not in Burgenland, Austria, it is close enough to fall under our research. If you look in a modern Hungarian atlas you won't find this name - you'll find Szölnök, while some maps may use the older names. What this points out is that Burgenland researchers must acquire a feel for village naming conventions. The way to do this is to study our lists. If you search beyond your immigrant family, you'll find that many other villages play a part in your family history. You must learn how to find them. If you search the LDS microfilm, you'll find many villages mentioned in any one church's records, sometimes they'll be abbreviated in German or Hungarian and you must learn how to recognize them. The way to do this is to be familiar with all villages within striking distance of your family's origin. When you find your villages in our lists, you'll not only have the German-Hungarian-Croatian names, but you will also know the district the villages are in, where they were pre-1921, where the church and civil records are located, immigrant family names from that village and the BB members researching the village. Study these lists if you have village-name problems. If your village is still in Hungary (won't be on Albert's List), try the LDS geographic file (experienced researchers) or ask the BB editors. 4. COUNTRIES LISTED ON CENSUS & OTHER RECORDS Germany, Austria, Hungary, Austria/Hungary - to many immigrants and census and immigration officials, they were all the same place. History and geography were not well known (still aren't) and European political subdivisions at the turn of the last century were very confusing. Frequently the wife would answer census questions and she often wasn't sure herself as to where her husband was born. Likewise a census official, being confused, would take the easy way out and write Germany. As far as they were concerned, it was all the same place - somewhere in central Europe. Do not be confused if you find conflicting entries. You will find that ship lists (as captured by the Ellis Island Records) are normally correct. Naturalization records are also good. Census records are very suspect. You must dig deeper to verify country of origin and you cannot be certain until you find a birth or baptism record. Your best approach may be to query your relatives or family papers looking for a village name - then find where that village is located, then look for proof. A recent email from Gloria J. Martinson states: Just wanted to let you know that, in the latest issue of Family Tree magazine, there are some really good maps of what Hungary looked like from the mid-17th century until now. I think these maps are very useful and quite good in explaining how Hungary came to be and who used to rule them. They are also some nice Web sites to visit. I am researching the Rongish/Rongisch name and finally found my grt-grandfather on the 1900 Census from Nebraska, where he was listed as from Germany and immigrated to America in 1881 along with his wife. It is strange, though, that his brother, Joseph, has Hungary listed on his 1900 Census. Just thought I would pass this on. I love your web site and have contacted several other persons researching the same names I am. Still don't know on what ship the Rongish's came. Newsletter continues as no. 105B.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 105B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold) March 31, 2002 (c) G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved WE HAVE 879 RESEARCHERS AND 3325 FAMILY SURNAMES This third section of our 4-section newsletter contains: 1. On-line German-English Dictionary 2. BB Archive Monthly Search Report 3. Taste Of The Burgenland - Senator's Nüssen Kipfel 4. New Roads Change Burgenland 5. World GenWeb Project Sites 6. Taste Of The Burgenland - Spätzel-Nöckerl 7. St. Kathrein and Szentpeterfa Records Captured 1. ON-LINE GERMAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY (from Inge Schuch) Linguatec Language Technologies has launched linguaDict, an on-line English-German-English dictionary containing more than 2 million words, along with phrases and idioms. The dictionary is available free of charge at www.linguadict.com. The linguaDict dictionary is based on the complete dictionary of the translation program "Personal Translator PT," which was increased by 300,000 general and technical terms. The idioms were taken from the well-known Schemann dictionary, which is probably the most comprehensive collection of idioms. In addition to that, linguaDict contains more than 35,000 phrases and modules for business correspondence. Words you are looking for are displayed in their context, which illustrates their correct use. Language International, February 2002 www.language-international.com 2. BB ARCHIVE MONTHLY SEARCH REPORT (suggested by Charles Wardell) In February, 33 people searched the archives. Some specific search words were Allentown, boarders, Glatz, Paukner, Schluttner, flag, and Catasauqua. There is also an index which can be scanned. 3. TASTE OF THE BURGENLAND - SENATOR'S NÜSSEN KIPFEL - CHRISTMAS CRESCENTS (from Tom Glatz) (ED Note: The ethnic food of our childhood remains with us forever. This one is no exception, but is a favorite with a US Senator. Tom says Durbin is from the East St. Louis area of southern Illinois, where there were lots of Hungarians & Burgenlaenders. He remembers these cookies, as his mother made them. Some of my own relatives settled there in the 1920's. I wonder who gave the senator the cookies? Note the name he gave them.) Hungarian Butterhorn Cookies Recipe from The Honorable Dick Durbin, United States Senator Senator Dick Durbin first obtained this recipe about 40 years ago, when he was a paperboy for the now-defunct East St. Louis Journal (the same paper that the late Congressman Melvin Price once wrote for as a sports reporter). One Christmas, a customer gave Durbin a box of these cookies, which proved so popular with the entire family that he went back for the recipe. Durbin's mother baked them every Christmas. Ingredients for Cookie Dough 1 package yeast 4 cups general purpose flour, sifted 1-1/4 cups margarine 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 egg yolks (beaten) 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla Ingredients for Filling 3 egg whites 1 cup of ground nuts (must be well-ground) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup powdered sugar Dough: Sift flour with salt, add yeast. Cut in margarine, add beaten egg yolks, sour cream and vanilla. Stir until just blended. Wrap in wax paper and chill while making filling. Filling: Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually fold in sugar, nuts and vanilla. Brush pastry board or cloth with powdered sugar. Divide dough into 8 parts. Keep balance of dough refrigerated while working on each part. Roll out each portion of dough very thin and round. Cut into 8 wedges. Put one teaspoon of filling on each wedge and roll up from the broad side. Curl and place on buttered baking sheet, tips down. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. When cool, roll or sprinkle the horns with powdered sugar. From: Back to Congress Cooks! Index Glatz found this recipe on 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook. (www.virtualcities.com) 4. NEW ROADS CHANGE BURGENLAND For most of its history, the Burgenland area, particularly the southern portion, was back of beyond. Like our own eastern shore of Maryland before the Chesapeake Bay bridges, you had to want to go there. A few roads from Roman times, which connected major Roman settlements, were retained and the old Amber and Salt trading roads from the north and west did pass nearby on the way to Savaria (Szombethely). New medieval roads were superimposed upon them. Major trading roads also connected Graz to Kormend and Vienna to Sopron. By the turn of the century, some short line railroads connected the larger towns (like Wiener Neustadt-Sopron and Güssing-Kormend) but, when Sopron remained in Hungary with the formation of Austrian Burgenland, it pretty well again isolated southern Burgenland from the rest of Austria. Existing roads were then further fragmented by the iron curtains along the Hungarian and Czechoslovakian borders. As late as fifty years ago, many roads were still unpaved. One has only to view old photos to see that many village roads were little more than dirt farm tracks. Then came the automobile and paved highways began replacing the old roads, including a north-south autobahn, Vienna to Graz. Every trip from 1974 on, I saw more and more highway construction. Many villages were bypassed as roads were paved, straightened and widened. A tour of Burgenland villages now requires deviations from the main routes. The Graz-Kormend road, which passes through a number of villages before it reaches Fürstenfeld, Styria, crosses the Burgenland border at Rudersdorf, goes through Eltendorf, Poppendorf and then the Heiligenkreuz border crossing to Hungary, is now being considered for replacement by a bypass. The only questions being whether it should be to the north of the existing road or to the south and where should the bypass start and end (see article at http://members.aon.at/bankerlsitzer). While it will remove much through- traffic from the villages, it will isolate them. Like our Interstate and Federal Highways have changed the United States, the face of Burgenland is being changed forever. To see Burgenland as it was, you must now plan your route to ignore the new road network. WORLD GEN WEB PROJECT SITES (Previously published in RootsWeb Review: Vol. 5, No. 8, 20 February 2002 and written by Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, RWR-Editor@rootsweb.com) "The WorldGenWeb Project http://worldgenweb.org/ is one of the several volunteer genealogy projects and many of its pages are hosted by RootsWeb. You might be surprised at some of the treasures found here. The USGenWeb Project http://usgenweb.org/ is another volunteer genealogy project and many of its state and county Web pages and mailing lists are hosted by RootsWeb. The USGenWeb Archives Newsletter contains the USGenWeb Archives submissions for the past week is available online: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/index.htm The USGW-ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE is a read-only mailing list for weekly announcements of new updates and submissions to the USGenWeb Archives. To subscribe send the following as the only text in the body of a message that says SUBSCRIBE to: usgw-archives-announce-l-request@rootsweb.com. Online version: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/USGW-ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE/2002-01 Also available is the CENSUS-ANNOUNCE mailing list -- a weekly announce-only mailing list for the USGenWeb Census Project. It contains the current census additions/updates of the previous week. To subscribe send the following as the only text in the body of a message that says SUBSCRIBE to: CENSUS-ANNOUNCE-L-request@rootsweb.com Information about recent census additions and update of the USGenWeb Census Project is here: http://www.rootsweb.com/~cenfiles/nu/index.htm TASTE OF THE BURGENLAND - SPÄTZLE-NÖCKERL I no longer have relatives with whom I can discuss Burgenland kitchen food. While in Burgenland last summer, I spent a few hours in the kitchen of the Schuch family in Kleinpetersdorf. I felt I was home again in my grandmother's kitchen. As a result, Inge Schuch and I correspond about ethnic food, which she then shares with her mother. Following is the latest: I write: Thought of you the other night. We were having goulasch (Molly makes a wonderful one) and we usually have rice with it. We had rice the previous night so I told Molly to try making spaetzel. She said they do not get tender for her so she looked in the Viennese cookbook and made them from the same dough you use to make plum dumplings (flour, potato, egg, water). She made them about the size of a small peanut. Oh they were so good. I ate them in a big bowl with goulasch poured over them. Tell me, does your mother make a dumpling like that or does she just make the big ones? Inge replies: I loved your goulash/spaetzle story, and so did my mother when I phoned her to share the story. She thought that using potato dumpling dough was a very clever idea, and said that she is sure that the spaetzle made from this dough were tender and tasty. It is nothing she has ever tried, however. My mother's version of Nockerl - that is how we call spaetzle in our family - is very basic: she uses nothing but flour, water and salt to produce a soft dough/batter. From this batter she cuts small longish pieces with a spoon. The dumplings thus formed she puts into salt water where she lets them simmer until they rise to the top. The recipe she found in her cook books was less basic - it used milk instead of water, plus 1 to 2 egg(s) on top of the salt and flour (1 kg) - but did not give any measurements for the liquid either, which is of course the most crucial thing for ensuring that the dumplings will be soft. In my collection of cook books I found the following Nockerl recipe for a goulash side dish: 250 g flour 1/8 l water 2 table spoons oil 1 egg salt Stir together the ingredients, form small dumplings from the dough using a small spoon, put into the boiling goulash and let simmer. This is part of a goulash recipe from the Grosswarasdorf edition of the series of Croatian cook books published by the Kroatisches Kultur- und Dokumentationszentrum, 7000 Eisenstadt (ISBN 3-85374-345-5). This book, incidentally, also contains a recipe for deep-fried dumplings. It is meant to be eaten as a soup pasta and should also be very soft. Perhaps it would also go with goulash? 350 g flour 1/2 l milk 3 eggs salt Form a thick batter from the ingredients, pour spoonfulls into a pan and deep-fry on both sides. ST. KATHREIN & SZENTPETERFA RECORDS CAPTURED Shortly after I began contacting people interested in Burgenland family history, I heard from Frank Teklits and John Lavendoski. We not only had similar interests but we were all three from the Lehigh Valley, a Burgenland enclave. Frank and I had also attended Lehigh University together. In fact, all three of us are graduates of Lehigh University. We were independently seeking those most elusive English language Burgenland references and family data. As the months went by, we shared our findings, among which were the LDS church and civil records, the village and parish definitions, Prof. Burghardt's English language book "Borderland" and many other items which have been fully covered in the BB newsletters. Frank's interest in his roots resulted in his deciding to translate Burgenland Prof. Dobrovich's German language book "People On The Border" - a history of the Croatians in Burgenland. (John and Frank for the most part have Croatian origins). This translation was published in 12 issues of the BB news and is a definitive study of that Croatian migration. I have always considered this one of the BB's most important contributions. Since that time, many other German language publications have found their way into our libraries and many BB articles have resulted. None the less, translation is still our biggest problem and we rely heavily on the help of our Austrian friends, Fritz Königshofer and Albert and Inge Schuch, as we did in that case. I had spent five weeks in southern Burgenland in 1993, tracing my own families and I had come away with the thought that it would be possible for an experienced person to capture all of the extant data for any one particular church and digitize it via computer. I had captured only my family data by hand from the Lutheran Records (1770-1828) available at the Martin Luther Kirche in Eltendorf. It was not possible for me to photograph it, as I did not have the necessary equipment. At that time, microfilm was the only way to easily copy such data. I also had a very good feel for how difficult it would be, even with the proper equipment, given the condition of many records, the German, Latin, Hungarian languages in which they were written, the use of archaic German script in some cases and the varying degrees of cooperation that could be expected from the parish priests and pastors. John, however, would not give up and, after visiting his families' villages of origin (see index of BB Newsletters for trip reports), he decided to capture all of the available parish data from both the village church and the oldest data archived at the Diocesan Archive in the Bishop's Palace in Eisenstadt. To do this, he acquired a state of the art digital camera and, after securing the proper permission and some BB help from Albert Schuch, proceeded to photograph everything available. A long and tedious job, best explained in his own words in his trip reports. Having tried this myself last summer, for just my family data, I can assure you it is not an easy task. With both Frank & John having ancestors from Szentpeterfa, upon John's return they decided to digitize the records - a thirty-month job, which Frank has just concluded. Not content with merely copying the photo images, Frank has sorted the data, provided CD and printed copies and arranged to supply the parish as well as the LDS with copies. In effect, the extant church records of Szentpeterfa, Hungary and St. Kathrein, Austria, other than those available from the LDS (1828-1896), have been captured through the efforts of these two BB members. A magnificent job, which demonstrates what can be done given the desire, perseverance, knowledge, and time. Fellow BB member, Frank Paukovits, having read in previous BB newsletters of these digitized records, has contacted both John and Frank, and has benefited from the data & guidance provided. The data is too voluminous to portray as a website and there still are some questions as to permission to publish but, if your interest is these two parishes (and the villages they served - see our village lists), you may wish to contact Frank or John. Do not overwhelm them and be patient in expecting replies. I wish to point out that capturing one's own family records on-site is a difficult enough job as it is, but to capture all of the records in order to help others is a most praiseworthy and unselfish labor of love. Our hats are off to these two stalwarts. Future generations of Burgenland genealogists will bless them. (Newsletter continues as no. 105C.)
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 105C
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2002
(c) G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved
WE HAVE 797 READERS AND UNKNOWN ARCHIVE VISITORS
This fourth section of our 4-section newsletter contains:
1. Chicago Reunion - Bad Tatzmannsdorf
2. Links & The Internet
3. Unger Trip - 2001 Part I
4. BB Staff
1. BAD TATZMANNSDORF AREA REUNION
A first meeting of descendants of people from Bad Tatzmannsdorf and
surrounding villages is being planned for late summer in the Chicago area.
Full details will be available at a later date. If interested in attending,
please advise. You will be notified when details are completed. Herbert
Rehling, family researcher and his wife from Bad Tatzmannsdorf will be
present. Please contact Wm. R. Hosh - 8030 W. Lincoln Hwy, Frankfort, IL
60423.
2. LINKS & THE INTERNET - THE EDITOR'S LAMENT
(suggested by the syndicated article "Deleting the Messenger", by columnist
Jacquelyn Mitchard, Tribune Media Services, which recently appeared in the
news media.)
I promised myself I wouldn't write this article. I told the BB staff that I
would grow a hard shell and ignore email complaints. The obtuse thinking of
many people; however, never ceases to amaze me.
People hyperlink blissfully from website to website, downloading files,
copying data and visiting our site after many internet transfers. During this
journey they are subjected to a series of advertisements which cause
annoyance. They later begin to receive a lot of Spam, including porno
material, more advertisements and even virus-contaminated email. They then
write to us, implying that we our responsible for these assaults on their
privacy.
Let me state some very simple facts:
The BB cannot be responsible for what happens when you use the net, leave our
site or hyperlink there from some other site. We do link to other sites, and
we will continue to do so, that's what the internet is all about, BUT WE HAVE
NO CONTROL OVER HOW OTHER SITES OPERATE! If you wish to visit the BB and
reduce ads, harvested addresses and future Spam, go to the BB directly - do not
hyperlink from some linked commercial site. You do this by going directly to
our Homepage.
People join the BB and have their data and email address added to our lists.
The prime purpose of listing such data is to advertise the fact world-wide
that the members want to contact anyone who is also researching their family
names or villages. This is a service that the BB freely provides to advance
family history research. Anyone can visit our lists and copy addresses. What
to do? We've had a few members who cancel everything or give up on the net.
This is akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Do we trash our
television or radio because ads pay for our "pleasure?" There is no free
lunch and, while an ad-free, porn-free and Spam-free internet would be nice,
who would pay for it?
As one of our staff mentioned in a previous newsletter, the benefits received
from surfing the net, far out weigh the annoyance of Spam, Porno and Ads. You
can't change it but you can manage it:
* Delete those "temp" files at least weekly. Windows 98 users - go to
Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Cleanup
* Scan your email list and delete any which look suspect
* Bookmark clean sites you visit often (save the direct address)
* Do not reply to, answer or unsubscribe suspect email
* Use your server's Spam screen if available (can be futile with most porn or
other hidden sender addresses)
* Use Email Server tools like AOL's "Tosspam" if AOL is your server, or
Microsoft Outlook "Spam Weasel" or Earthlink's "Spaminator" or PC Program
"Mailwash." Use the tools on your own email program.
* Be selective in surfing the net - if you have only a casual interest, don't
visit.
I will not address this subject again, nor will I answer any email concerning
it. G. Berghold - Editor BB News
UNGER TRIP -2OO1 PART I (from Bob Unger)
(ED. Note - The Ungers are BB charter members and have furnished previous
Burgenland trip reports as well as travel tips and other aticles - see
newsletter archives. This trip is particularly interesting in that it covers
villages in both north and south Burgenland.)
Overview of Alice/Bob Unger trip to Austria - May 29-June 13, 2001
May 29: A five-hour US Airways flight from San Diego to Philadelphia, then 2
hours later, another 8 1/2 hour flight to Munich, Germany.
May 30: Arrived on time at Munich, rented a car, then drove 334 miles (8 1/2
hours) to Gols, Burgenland Austria, arriving at 5 p.m. Gols time, and
checked into our hotel, BirkenHof, a Three-star Inn, 27 clock hours after
our wake-up call the day before (27-9 = 18 actual hours).
Gols is located about 50 km = 30 miles east of the Vienna airport and easily
accessible via the A4 Autobahn. It is east of the Neusiedler See. The cost
of our double room per night was 840 AS = $52.50, which included a sumptuous
buffet breakfast with champagne. I highly recommend this inn, especially for
those desiring a place to stay near the Vienna airport. See their web site @
info@birkenhofgols.at.
This was our third visit to Burgenland. Previous visits were in 1997 and
1998. The prior trips were very exciting but involved a busy schedule. This
visit was planned to be more relaxed, essentially soaking in family history,
interacting with people, observing how people lived, and just experiencing
the culture of the area.
May 31: Up at 6 a.m., breakfast at the hotel at 7 a.m. Drove to the National
park Neusiedler See for a morning of bird watching - a great experience -
many birds in a beautiful setting on "Lange Lacke".
Arrived at cousin Kogelmann's home for a barbeque dinner. Gave the
Kogelmann's a number of gifts that we had brought from the states. Learned
more valuable Unger family history. We were told that the Unger family
enjoyed a higher life style than most in the Rudersdorf area, attested by
the fact that cousins Rosa and Berta went to the higher-class school in
nearby Fürstenfeld. Viewed 1947 letters of correspondence between my
grandfather's brother, Frank Unger, who had emigrated to Cleveland, and
relative Karl Bösenhofer. The letters mostly involved Frank's request to have
Karl send him one of Burgenland's quality scythes and the possibility of
starting an export/import business so Frank could sell scythes in the
Cleveland area.
June 1: Started the day by checking out a grocery store located next to our
inn. A tour through a grocery store provides a good comparison of life
styles between Burgenland and that of San Diego, California. The store was
well stocked and the prices appeared to be a little lower - possibly due to
the current money exchange rate of 16 Austrian Shillings = $1.00. Explored
the main business area of Gols - essentially the one main street going
through the town, which was very clean and attractive.
Had a tour of the new Kogelmann home - which includes an oversized garage to
accommodate an airplane being built by Christian Kogelmann. Christian is
employed by Austrian Airlines and has been interested in flying all his
life. As an employee of Austrian Airline, he frequently travels to Seattle
to inspect and transport new Boeing aircraft back to Austria. He belongs to
several flying groups in the USA. He was intrigued with a set of plans he saw
for a 2 seater airplane - bought the plans and started building his wood and
fiberglass plane. Many of the parts for the plane were purchased in the USA,
including its aircraft certified Volkswagen engine, which he purchased in
Michigan. The plane has detachable wings to facilitate easy ground
transportation. The plane is currently about 90% complete and Christian is
anxiously looking forward to its first test flight.
The Kogelmann home typifies new home construction in Burgenland. The exterior
is thick walled, about 12-14 inches in depth, made of concrete, which provides
excellent insulation. The roofs are at a 45 degree angle to release winter
snow. The house has a heat pump and a heat exchanger that provides efficient
heating and cooling.
My asthma acted up - so it was necessary to see the doctor. No problem.
Simply went to the Kogelmann's family doctor during the afternoon visiting
hours and took my turn in line, waiting about 30 minutes to see the doctor.
The examination and medication (an inhaler, plus Claritin - a commonly used
allergy drug used in the USA) provided immediate relief. The only major
problem at that point was how to bill me. Ultimately received a bill several
days later for the total amount of 700 AS = $43.75. A great bargain and
excellent service.
Joined the Kogelmann family for dinner at one of their local Heurriger (wine
tavern) restaurants. A good time was had by all. All we could eat and drink,
including quality wine for four adults and two children (sodas for the
children), at a total cost of 400 AS = $25.00.
June 2: Visited a museum in Mönchhof, located about 10 km = 6 miles from
Gols. It is a very unique museum established by the Josef Haubenwallner
family, consisting of a variety of local memorabilia and old buildings
containing all the items used by families from about 1700-1960. It is
important to note that these local museums are gems and are not highly
advertised. It is very worthwhile to search for them, because they provide
the unique opportunity to see firsthand how our ancestors lived. The very
low fees to visit this museum were $3.00/adult and $1.25 for children and
seniors.
We visited an old graveyard containing unique concrete vaults for children.
It also contained a "bone building", the repository for old graves' remains.
This graveyard has been in use for possibly 800 years and when, they run out
of space, it is the custom to reuse the graves, depositing the old bones in
the bone building. Many of the gravestones had a skull and cross bones
carved into them.
Toured the grounds of Schloß Halbturn, and listened at the doorway of a
church while the soloist practiced for an afternoon wedding.
June 3: Joined the Kogelmanns for a tour of historical places in the area.
First was a visit to the Haydn Museum, which was the house of his birth, then
the nearby Petronell-Carnuntum or Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, the site of the
largest Roman archaeological region in Austria. It is located on the south
bank of the Danube - 40 km = 24 miles east of Vienna. Between 35 and 40 AD
the 15th Legion - Apollinnaris - erected a permanent military camp there -
the Romans at the gates of Vienna. This is a very large complex encompassing
three major museums, (1) open air museum Petronell, (2) open air museum Amphi-
theater, and (3) Archaeological Museum Carnuntinum. One could easily spend a
day or two soaking in all that is available here. They have English brochures
and English walkman tours, plus English speaking recordings at many featured
locations. For more details see their web site at http://www.carnuntum.co.at
or info@carnuntum.co.at
The Gols area is a leading producer of fine wines in Burgenland. We joined
our cousin for a trip to one of her neighbor's wine cellars for wine tasting
and a tour of the wine making facilities. Ultimately purchased 10 bottles of
wine - two extra bottles added with the complements of the wine makers. The
average cost for a 0.75 liter bottle of this fine Gols wine was $3.88.
June 4: Departed Gols for a leisurely 170 km = 102 mile drive south to
Eltendorf, the Mirth Gasthof, our accommodations for the next 8 nights. My
major regret in leaving the area early was the inability to meet with the
Burgenland Bunch Austrian editor Dr. Albert Schuch - who resides in nearby
Vienna.
On the way we observed strawberries being picked in the field - stopped and
bought a large basket of berries for a gift for our relatives in the
Rudersdorf area. Our first stop in South Burgenland was at the home of
cousins, to greet them and to deliver the strawberries.
During our prior visits to Burgenland (1997 and 1998) we also stayed at the
Mirth Gasthof, family owned and operated, and fell in love with the family.
As a result of my genealogical research, I discovered that there is a Mirth
in my family tree, dating back to about 1797, but to date no direct family
link has been established, but, we still treat each other as family.
Upon our arrival we learned that the owner/operator, Rudy Mirth's wife Heide
recently had knee surgery and was currently undergoing therapy treatment at
the Maria Theresa Clinic located at Bad Radkersburg. Decided to drive to the
clinic to surprise Heidi and to give her a gift - she was really surprised to
see us. Heidi occupied a semi-private room at the clinic, shared by a lady
from Vienna who spoke excellent English. What a lucky break, since Heidi
knows very little English, and our German isn't that great.
(to be continued in newsletter no. 106C)
END OF NEWSLETTER
BURGENLAND BUNCH STAFF (USA unless designated otherwise)
Coordinator & Editor Newsletter: (Gerald J. Berghold)
Burgenland Editor: (Albert Schuch; Austria)
Home Page Editor: (Hap Anderson)
Internet/URL Editor: (Anna Tanczos Kresh)
Contributing Editors:
Austro/Hungarian Research: (Fritz Königshofer)
Burgenland Co-Editor: (Klaus Gerger, Austria)
Burgenland Lake Corner Research: (Dale Knebel)
Chicago Burgenland Enclave: (Tom Glatz)
Croatian Burgenland: (Frank Teklits)
Home Page village lists: (Bill Rudy)
Home Page surname lists: (Tom Steichen)
Home Page membership list: (Hannes Graf, Austria)
Judaic Burgenland: (Maureen Tighe-Brown)
Western US BB Members-Research: (Bob Unger)
WorldGenWeb-Austria, RootsWeb Liason-Burgenland: (Charles Wardell, Austria)
BB ARCHIVES (can be reached via Home Page hyperlinks)
The BB is in contact with the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft, Hauptplatz 7,
A-7540 Güssing, Burgenland, Austria. Burgenl.gem@bnet.at
Burgenland Bunch Newsletter distributed courtesy of (c) 1999 RootsWeb.com,
Inc. P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798
Newsletter and List Rights Reserved. Permission to Copy Granted; Provide
Credit and Mention Source.