THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 127
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 9th Year-20 Pages/4 Email Sections Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2004
(c) 2004 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)
** DON'T MISS THE THIRD ARTICLE IN THE SERIES "FAMILY HISTORY OF BURGENLAND
COMPOSERS" AUTHORED BY BB AUSTRIAN EDITOR FRITZ KÖNIGSHOFER IN SECTIONS A & B!
** LATE NEWS FLASH! BB ASSOC. BURGENLAND EDITOR KLAUS GERGER IN U. S. AGAIN
LAST WEEK. BUSINESS TRIP TO WASHINGTON, DC. ALSO VISITED BB MEMBER ED TANTSITS
IN ALLENTOWN. REPORT NEXT ISSUE. KLAUS WILL AGAIN BE IN DC THE END OF APRIL.
** AOL BLOCKS BB NEWSLETTERS AS SPAM! OVER 200 BB MEMBERS - AOL AND CLONE
SUBSCRIBERS - FAIL TO RECEIVE BB NEWSLETTER NO. 126 - OTHER NEWSLETTERS ALSO
BLOCKED - AOL FAILS TO SATISFACTORILY RESPOND TO QUERIES!
** ALL BB NEWSLETTERS MAY BE READ OR DOWNLOADED FROM ARCHIVES AVAILABLE FROM
BB HOMEPAGE - CLICK ON NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES. SUBSCRIBERS WISHING TO RECEIVE ALL
EMAIL SHOULD TURN OFF AOL SPAM CONTROLS!
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Members please exchange data in a courteous and cooperative manner-not to do so
defeats the purpose of our organization.
This first section of our 4-section newsletter concerns:
1. AOL Blocks BB Newsletters To AOL Subscribers!
2. Lack Of Spam - Bill Rudy
3. Chicago Area Austrian Club Events - Tom Glatz
4. BB Newsletter Archives - Charles Wardell
1. AOL BLOCKS BB NEWSLETTERS TO AOL SUBSCRIBERS!
In their zeal to filter SPAM, AOL instituted a SPAM filter and blocking
device some time ago. At first subscribers could select addresses they wished to
block. Then AOL set up their own filter. They now decide what constitutes
SPAM. In order to give subscribers some choice, AOL does allow subscribers a
series of options. If you go to AOL keyword SPAM you will be taken to a web page
called Spam Controls. Here you may click "accept e-mail from everyone" or
"accept no email" or "only from XXX" etc. You can have blocked mail automatically
deleted or put in something called "your Spam folder" which you can access and
delete or declare "not Spam." If declared "not Spam" it will be sent to your
mail folder where it can be read. These options are available, I understand,
in AOL versions 6 to 9, not in versions 1-5.
Prior to BB newsletter no. 126, we had no recent problems with newsletter
delivery. When I sent our four email sections of newsletter no. 126 to RootsWeb,
I expected to immediately receive my listowner copies. They never appeared. I
then began receiving queries from AOL subscribers asking if I had published a
February newsletter. I asked our Staff members if they had received
newsletter 126 - AOL subscribers hadn't. At this juncture I started an investigation.
* Anna Kresh (internet editor) told me:
I contacted AOL and talked to someone who said they get regular calls on
this, but that regular tech support cannot help us. He seemed pretty knowledgeable
on the subject and said it MUST be handled by the "Postmaster Team". He said
the problem lies with them. Their direct number is 1-888-212-5537 and the call
cannot be made by any of us members. The only person the Postmaster Team will
pay heed to is the originator of the mailing -- that's you, Gerry, not RootsWeb.
* I called the AOL Postmaster Team - I was put on hold for fifteen minutes.
When I finally did speak to someone, they acted surprised, although I later
determined they were well aware of the problems their Spam filter was causing.
They didn't seem concerned that 200 BB members using AOL were affected. The contact
provided no answers but suggested I send a test and get back to them. Having
done so, I contacted them again and was then put on a twenty-minute hold, which
I cancelled. To date, no satisfactory reply to my query has been forthcoming.
* On March 5, I sent all BB members the following BB NEWS - SPECIAL TEST
EDITION (partial):
MAJOR PROBLEM WITH DELIVERY OF BB NEWS NO. 126 DTD FEB. 29, 2004
You are receiving this edition since it has become necessary to test the
Burgenland Bunch newsletter delivery system. Apparently those BB members who use
AOL as their email server did not receive newsletter number 126. This is the
first time that our delivery system has had a problem of this magnitude. ... etc.
Many BB members subsequently responded that they had not received newsletter
126 but had received the test.
* A query to RootsWeb provided the following:
My query: I am the listowner of Burgenland Newsletter-L. February 29
newsletters were not received by AOL subscribers on my list. I did not receive a
default copy of the 4 newsletter sections. AOL has no clue as of yet. Are you aware
of a problem with them? A test that I sent today appears to be working.
RootsWeb response: AOL was blocking list mail from one of our servers last
week again. It looks like it will be an ongoing problem. What seems to be
happening is the list mail is marked as "spam" and put in the user's mailbox. If
the user doesn't remove it as "not spam" but just reads and deletes it, then
AOL's system assumes it was spam. They have a threshold of spam that once
reached, automatically blocks the sender. So we no sooner get unblocked then it
happens again.
* I then notified BB staff (partial):
RootsWeb has identified the problem of non-receipt of BB newsletters by AOL
customers. Now what can I do? I've contacted AOL (no satisfaction or explanation to
date), but all of a sudden our AOL members (213 of them plus server clones) again
start receiving email from RootsWeb - the test I sent. So, possible action?
Within the last month or so, AOL has instituted new Spam Controls:
1. You can select certain words like sex, insurance, mortgage etc. to cause
email filtering - I did this. Sounded like a good idea but if one of you send me
an email that says - "the fair sex are....." - I wouldn't receive it. So I
cancelled the word filter.
2. AOL has had their own anti-Spam filter for some time, it is generated by
them as well as by customers. I've used it - thought it was a good idea. You get
a piece of mail which you feel is Spam and you tell them to add it to their
Spam filter. That can be the end of mail of that type, but for others as well!
I no longer do this. You have a choice to either have future email of that
type deleted or sent to your Spam Folder (something new).
If sent to your Spam folder, you can then decide to read or delete or tell
AOL it is not Spam.
Now this all sounds good except that in practice you will be turning mail on
and off, ad infinitum! My advice:
Go to AOL Spam Control and turn everything off! Check the block that says
"accept mail from everyone" and the one that says "put AOL Filtered Spam in My
Spam Folder." Check that folder every day as you check your mail box. Do not
tell AOL that anything is Spam. Just use your delete button on suspicious looking
email. If you lose some email - so be it.
* I also found the following by searching on-line: subject "AOL Problems"
"We often receive messages from people saying that they did not receive
newsletter or that it was received as an attached file or that they tried to read
it on the Web but found an old version there, not the current version. The
interesting thing is that 99% of these messages come from AOL members or from
members of AOL's two subsidiaries: CompuServe and Netscape."
"Indeed, online life is more difficult for AOL members than for subscribers
to regular Internet services. AOL's software operates in a non-standard manner,
causing many extra difficulties for AOL members."
Some solutions:
Newsletter does not arrive in AOL e-mail
AOL deletes millions of machine-generated e-mail messages every day. That
includes "spam mail" as well as things like Eastman's newsletter, Ancestry Daily
News, virus bulletins, stock market newsletter news alerts, online auctions,
or even the daily weather forecast from weather.com. Further information is
available at http://www.mail-archive.com/list-managers@greatcircle.com/msg05431.html.
One recent survey found that AOL deletes 25% of all electronic newsletters!
AOL also deletes more than newsletters: sales payment confirmations, company
newsletters and HR bulletins, and even college acceptance messages. Anything
sent en masse, by machine - even totally legitimate emails you've asked for or
need or even paid for. AOL is in violation of Internet standards, but they
don't seem to care.
When a 9.0 member uses their "Report as Spam" button, their personal filter
will diagnose the message and "learn" what the member considers junk mail.
These are called training events, and after 20-30 training events, the member's
personal spam filter will be active. This sounds good until you realize that
many AOL members use this as a substitute instead of un-subscribing
from this or other newsletters.
Yes, people can change their default settings to show junk mail folders, but
experience has shown that AOL members rarely do that.
A Solution
AOL has the highest customer turnover rates in the industry; the average AOL
customer cancels his or her account within a few months and moves to a different
Internet provider. With all the shortcomings of AOL's software, one can see
why. Luckily, there are many Internet providers who can provide better
Internet access for $9.95 a month or even less.
However, for those who do wish to keep their AOL accounts, it is easy to
obtain a second e-mail address that is not "censored" by AOL... You'll find that
both of these mail systems are much better than AOL mail: they have more
features, they don't convert large e-mails to attached files, they both have better
anti-spam and anti-virus filters and they don't delete electronic newsletters
the way AOL does. Both are free of charge.
HotMail also offers free e-mail and is very popular. However, HotMail doesn't
filter out junk mail as well as MyWay.com and Yahoo do. HotMail also uses
Microsoft's .NET passport system, which has had several major security holes.
* Anna Kresh then writes: Fritz, I just retrieved your email below from my
Spam Folder. AOL classified it as spam. I have absolutely no idea how many
messages I have missed since I only began checking the folder a few days ago. This
is getting ridiculous.
I called the postmaster team at AOL and they want to talk only to the person
in charge of the mail server. I'm afraid I lost my cool. After chewing them
out royally telling them their new mail filters stink, and that they are going
to lose a lot of customers over this, Lynn on the Postmaster Team said "OK,
that's fine", at which point I hung up. He intimated that someone from
comcast.com has sent out spam so they are on "the list". Arghhhhh!!!
* Your editor is ready and willing to change your BB address. Unfortunately he
must retain his until such time as the world at large and many linked
organizations and publications can be notified of the change.
2. LACK OF SPAM
Bill Rudy, our BB Villages Page Editor sends the following:
You may have noticed in all the mail that goes back and forth about spam that
I don't comment. The reason is I get very little (maybe 2 per week). I used
to get a lot of disgusting spam when I used AOL, and it didn't seem to matter
what I did, filtering or not. A network administrator friend suggested that,
despite what AOL says they try to do about spam, either they are not
serious or they are too big a target and spammers use them.
Anyway, I have had two local (local to Utah) providers and my spam went to
near zero with little or no filtering. I conclude that the BB pages are not the
cause of people receiving much spam since I would get it too since my name
and address are all over the site. Therefore, I recommend that people use local
ISPs and see if that will solve their problem. I also recommend that we
continue to remind people that their other internet activities are at least or more
likely to be the cause of their spam.
ED comment: Internet Editor Anna Kresh has had similar experience with her
extra local ISP.
3. CHICAGO AREA AUSTRIAN CLUB EVENTS (from Tom Glatz)
I just received notice of some events in Chicago. I don't have many details.
As I find out more, I'll let you know for our newsletter.
April 18: Chicago Zither Club St. Luke's Church in Park Ridge, Chicago. Zither
Club Spring Concert 3 PM at St. Luke's Lutheran Church 205 N. Prospect, Park Ridge, Il.
Tickets: $10 in Advance, $15 at the door. For more information & tickets: Janet
Stessl 773-631-2854
May 2: Steirer Damenchor Concert
May 23: Czechoslovak-American Musicians Club Spring Concert & Dance
4. BB NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES (from Charles Wardell)
(ED. Note: The previously mentioned AOL fiasco had BB members scrambling to
download the undelivered newsletters from our archives. There was a little
confusion, so Charles sent the following to Tom Glatz and others:)
The link I sent:
is the Rootsweb mailing list archive. This uses an automatic archiver that's
available for ALL Rootsweb Mailing lists. This is NOT the BB archive.
The main differences are that:
a) the Rootsweb archive is not always available (sometimes it's been offline
for weeks)
b) Rootsweb has one file (dynamic, built from DB) per message; the BB archive
has one file per newsletter.
c) BB has no control over what is in the Rootsweb archive. Deletions/changes
are not possible.
d) BB has full control over the BB archive
e) and, most important: the BB archive is searchable
I manually convert every single newsletter to a static HTML file that can
then be indexed by search engines. This is quite a tedious editing process
...... and if anybody is willing to help I would appreciate your assistance.
Main skills required: good at copy/pasting and editing text and HTML files.
Please contact me. Best wishes, Charles
Newsletter continues as no. 127A.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 127A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2004
(c) 2004 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)
*** THE NEXT TWO SECTIONS CONTAIN THE THIRD ARTICLE IN THE SERIES
"FAMILY HISTORY OF BURGENLAND COMPOSERS"
WRITTEN BY BB AUSTRIAN EDITOR FRITZ KÖNIGSHOFER
(see previous newsletters for Joseph Hayden and Franz Liszt)
The Composer Mihály Mosonyi of Frauenkirchen and his Family Background
By Fritz Königshofer (c) March 2004
Mihály Mosonyi, esteemed by Hungarians as one of their country's most
important composers, was born as Michael Brand into a family of furriers at
Frauenkirchen in the center of the "Heideboden" (heath ground) east of the Lake of
Neusiedl in today's Burgenland, or Boldogasszony as the town was called in
Hungarian when it was still part of old Moson county. Only the date of his baptism -
September 4, 1815 - was recorded in the records of the town's famous
pilgrimage church and parish dedicated to the birth of Virgin Mary. To Mosonyi
belongs the fame of being the first Hungarian composer of a symphony. He was a
staunch defender and musical ally of Franz Liszt when the latter was attacked for
his opinions on the gypsy origins of Hungarian music, long before Liszt became
a Hungarian icon. Interestingly, according to a recent article by Klaus Derx
("Franz Liszt's Beziehungen zum Heideboden," Volk und Heimat, 2000), Liszt's
parents including their then four-year-old and soon to be famous son, may
have lived at the Esterhazy estate in Frauenkirchen for a short while just about
when Michael Brand/Mosonyi was born, providing us with the liberty to imagine
that a creative spark may have been passed on between the two geniuses, just
as may have happened earlier between Joseph Haydn and the Liszt family.
Sources/acknowledgements
The written sources used for this article were the dissertation by János
Káldor, at the University of Leipzig, Germany, 1936, titled "Michael Mosonyi
(1815-1870)," and the entry on the composer in volume 9 of the encyclopedia "Die
Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart," published by Bärenreiter in 1961. Due to my
language limitations, I was not able to review Hungarian sources such as
Mosonyi's biography written, still in the 19th century, by composer colleague
Kornél Ábrányi.
I am grateful for the information received from Dr. Sepp Gmasz, who works for
Austrian Radio/TV but also looks after the archive of Neusiedl am See. Dr.
Gmasz hails from Frauenkirchen, wrote his doctoral thesis about his home town,
and, together with his father, was the author of a book on Frauenkirchen
(published in the early 1980s and titled "Chronik der Stadtgemeinde Frauenkirchen").
My thanks also go to Prof. Dr. Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler, head of the Austrian
Literature Archive at the Austrian National Library, who provided me with
access to Káldor's dissertation. I express my gratitude to Father Pleschberger
of the Franciscan convent in Frauenkirchen who gave me access to the original
matrikels of Frauenkirchen. Last but not least, I am indebted to Austrian BB
editor, Dr. Albert Schuch, who once again proved indispensable with advice and
good tips for sources and contacts (including pointing me to the already
mentioned article by Klaus Derx), and to BB member Robert Paulson who
answered my call for information about Mosonyi's Thell line.
Life and work of the composer
Mihály Mosonyi was born as Michael Brand in Frauenkirchen, likely between
September 2 and 4, 1815. Since only the date of his baptism, September 4, is
recorded in the matrikels, the implication might well be that the birth had
happened on the same day. However, some sources claim the day of birth as
September 2. Michael was the fourth child of his parents, i.e., of master furrier
Michael Brand and his wife Elisabeth nee Thell. Michael jun. received his
initial musical education through self-study, likely encouraged by the local
schoolmaster Anton Jarosch and perhaps the Franciscan brothers of the convent. At
age 14, he already substituted for the schoolmaster/cantor on the church's
organ. He went on to attend high school at Magyaróvár (Ungarisch Altenburg). At
age 19, he moved to the city of Pressburg (today's Bratislava, Hungarian name
Pozsony) where he was able to study under musical director Karl Turányi while
earning his living as a book-printer. From 1835 onwards, Michael spent the
summers at the estate of count Pejáchevich in Rétfalu (probably the place with
this name in old Verőce county of Slavonia, today's Retfala in Croatia),
teaching the count's children in music. He spent the winters in Pressburg and
Vienna. In 1842, he moved to Pest where, after an economically difficult start, he
eventually became a sought-after teacher of piano, music theory, and
composition. His circle of friends included Erkel (composer of the Hungarian national
anthem), Ábrányi, and Liszt with whom he stayed in close letter and personal
contact till his death.
In 1845, Michael Brand married Pauline Weber, whose family likely was local to
Pest. A brother of Pauline was the painter Henrik Weber (1818-66), whose
famous picture of the couple today has a prominent place at the National Gallery
in Budapest's castle. This painting can be viewed on the web, e.g., at address
http://hungart.euroweb.hu/english/w/weber/muvek/mosonyi.html
The next years proved to be a time of crisis for Michael Brand triggered by a
number of external factors. First, he suffered from and took to heart some
negative criticism of his music. Secondly, like many Hungarians, Mosonyi was
likely demoralized by the failed Hungarian uprising of 1848/49 against the
Habsburg monarchy. Thirdly, after only six years of marriage, his beloved wife
Pauline died in 1851. The fact is that, except for his mass in F major, Mosonyi
composed very little, if anything, between 1846 and 1854. However, after
this difficult phase, his creative energy did return and soon went into the
completely new direction of developing a national, genuinely-Hungarian style of
music. The change in style started in 1857 with the piano piece "Pusztai élet"
(Life in the Puszta), and soon became all-encompassing. It may have been
triggered by a visit to Hungary by empress Elizabeth ("Sissy") in the same year,
for which the Hungarians tried to put together, and present to her, an album of
genuine, newly-created Hungarian music. In 1859, the composer changed his
name to Mosonyi Mihály, a name change likely not prepared or formalized by a
legal act. Mosonyi became one of the main contributors to the first Hungarian
music journal, "Zenészeti Lapok" ("Musical Sheets"), founded in 1860 by his friend
Ábrányi. While it is assumed that he drafted his countless articles in
German, he already spoke quite good Hungarian at the time. Mosonyi continued to
promote the works of Liszt, while further developing his own unique Romantic
Hungarian style. In 1870, Liszt invited him to the estate of baron Augusz, a
benefactor and friend of Liszt, in Szekszárd, county Tolna, where Liszt often
used to spend summer vacations. On the way back to Pest from this visit, Mosonyi
and his travel party were hit by a thunderstorm. He caught a severe cold,
from which within two weeks he died on October 31, 1870, in Pest. Mosonyi thus
died just about two years before Buda, Pest and Óbuda were united into the city
of Budapest. Liszt commemorated the death of Mosonyi with a splendid
composition of elegiac music which he added as the final piece to the collection
called "Hungarian Historical Portraits."
Mosonyi's achievements as a composer comprise two symphonies - establishing
him, as already mentioned, as the first Hungarian who worked in this genre,
symphonic poems, three operas, chamber music, pieces for piano, and songs. His
masses no. 1 in C and no. 3 in F continue to be popular today. Mosonyi is also
well known for the chorals and cantatas he wrote. Another of his feats was
the transcription for the piano of Beethoven's 9th symphony. However, most of
the enduring fame of Mosonyi stems, less from his "cosmopolitan" style before
1857, but rather from the national Hungarian Romantic style he created, in fact
invented, afterwards. He is regarded as the composer who ennobled the already
existing entertainment music of the military (the so-called Verbunkos music
played by recruitment teams that wanted to entice young men to sign up for the
military, before the time of the obligatory draft) and the music of the
countryside, by synthesizing these styles with Western symphonic forms to
perfection. Readers can inform themselves of some of Mosonyi's music by, e.g., playing
it from web sites like www.amazon.com. Select Classical Music, then Mosonyi.
If you listen to the sample from "The Little Gypsy" in his Hungarian
Children's World, I bet you will be totally enchanted by the melody. Other
particularly beautiful pieces can be found in the piano works no. 4 (samples of
"Hungarian Music" and "New Year Present"), and in the Adagio of the piano concerto
in E minor. Look especially for the empathetic interpretations of the music
rendered by pianist István Kassai. These and the other pieces of Mosonyi's
music are simply beautiful to listen to.
Direct family lines
My sources do not mention whether the marriage between Mihály Mosonyi and
Pauline nee Weber produced any children, or whether Mosonyi may have had any
other children. Therefore, without claim to certainty, we probably have
to assume that the composer himself left no progeny.
Mosonyi's parents were Michael Brand (senior) and Elisabeth nee Thell, a
furrier family in Frauenkirchen. The spelling of these German last names varied
over time. Other spellings found in the matrikels are Brandt, Prandt, Prand,
and Thöll, Töll, Tell, Till, Theel, Theül, respectively. The couple must have
married around 1810. The marriage record cannot be found in the matrikels of
Frauenkirchen. Therefore, the marriage likely took place in the hometown of
Elisabeth Thell which is yet unknown to me. In my search, I was not able to
find birth records of the two in the matrikels of Frauenkirchen. The name Thell
is frequent in neighboring areas of Frauenkirchen, especially Andau
(Mosontarcsa). Dr. Gmasz gave me the birth date of Elisabeth Thell as November 19,
1783, believed to be in Frauenkirchen, but this birth place would leave open the
question of why her marriage with Michael apparently is not recorded in the
matrikels of the same parish.
Elisabeth Brand nee Thell died at house Frauenkirchen no. 2 on April 1, 1860.
The death entry lists her as the wife of the master furrier Michael Brand,
her age at death as 76, having died from "old age." Thus, the death record is
consistent with the possible birth date indicated above. Her husband Michael
Brand, "Kirschner" (furrier), widowed, is listed as deceased on February 19,
1866, same address, age 83 and a half, also as having died of "old age." The
relatively precise indication of his age at death would allow to place his birth
date around August, 1782.
Mosonyi's paternal grandfather had the name Michael Brand too, and also was
a furrier by profession. According to information I received from Dr. Gmasz,
this grandfather of the composer's Brand family line might originally have
hailed from Neusiedl am See (Nezsider), where Brand families of furriers already
were established at least as far back as the early 18th century. In the 1770s,
the composer's grandfather, Michael Brand, moved from Mönchhof (Barátudvar)
to Frauenkirchen, where, for 550 florins, he and his wife Franziska bought the
so-called "Neuhäusl (new cottage) auf dem alten Schäflerhof" (a "Söllner"
property, i.e., a house with too little land, if any, to be a farm). This house
stood at the place where the glaziery Hafner was located in the 1980s, and where
a commemorative plaque about the birth of the composer can be seen. Since,
according to the research of Dr. Gmasz, the family had acquired the property on
October 23, 1776, one would assume that the birth of son Michael (Mosonyi's
father) or other children of the couple could be found in the matrikels of
Frauenkirchen. However, in my few hours at the Franciscan convent, I did not find the
entries. Perhaps, there is an inconsistency in the dates of the move of the
family to Frauenkirchen, implying that the childbirths for Mosonyi's grandparents
(including the birth of Mosonyi's father) would have to be found in the matrikels
of Mönchhof or even Neusiedl am See. The information that the Brand family of
Frauenkirchen had previously lived in Mönchhof comes from business documents in the
Esterhazy archive which Dr. Gmasz inspected in the course of his research.
While we have no corroborating evidence about the identity of the Brands who
are recorded in the matrikels of Frauenkirchen, it is likely that it were the
composer's grandparents who died there on November 23, 1805 (Michael Brandt,
furrier, age 72, of high fever), and March 4, 1810 (Francisca Prandin,
inquilina, age 66, of a stroke). These dates would place the births of the composer's
paternal grandparents into the approximate years 1733 and 1743, respectively.
Checking the matrikels of Neusiedl am See, Dr. Gmasz found a marriage record,
dated February 25, 1770, of a Michael Brand, furrier, and a Franziska nee
Gartner. This may well be the marriage of the composer's grandparents,
especially since there apparently are no further traces of a Michael and a Franziska
Brand with fitting age and profession in the subsequent records of Neusiedl,
e.g., no death record of a suitable Franziska Brand. It is possible that
grandfather Michael was born in Neusiedl on March 5, 1737 as "Johannes Michael
Prand," the son of the furrier Josef Prand (himself the son of Mathias and Anna
Prand) and wife Eva. However, there is an obvious discrepancy between this birth
date and the age stated at the death of Michael in the year 1805 in Frauenkirchen,
and there was another Michael Brand, inquilinus, who lived in Neusiedl with wife
Eva, and died widowed at age 76 on September 28, 1813 in Neusiedl. Thus, this
Michael might be a better match as a candidate for the Johannes Michael born in
1737 (although he was never listed as a furrier and his wife had the first name Eva).
Perhaps after their marriage, Mosonyi's grandfather Michael and spouse
Franziska first settled in Mönchhof, before they bought the property in
Frauenkirchen and moved there. As further information received from Dr. Gmasz, the
composer's grandfather Michael Brand on January 11, 1795 deeded his house (the
"Neuhäusl") in Frauenkirchen to his son Johannes and wife Elisabeth subject to a
life estate for himself and his wife. Consequently, Johannes Brand took full
possession of the house only after the death of his mother in 1810. There is a
discrepancy in these data, as it was son Michael (the composer's father) and
not Johannes who was married with Elisabeth (nee Thell), while, as we shall see
later, there was a Johannes, the likely older brother of Michael, in Frauenkirchen,
also a furrier, who was married with Magdalena nee Hegyi (and not with an Elisabeth).
Continues in Newsletter Section 127B.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 127B
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2004
(c) 2004 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)
The Composer Mihály Mosonyi of Frauenkirchen and his Family Background
By Fritz Königshofer (c) March 2004 (continued from BB News No. 127A)
From these data and from other data which will be discussed later, we can put
together the following working hypothesis about the descent of the composer.
His paternal grandparents were Michael Brand, master furrier, and Franziska
(possibly, but not with any certainty yet, a nee Gartner) who originally might
have hailed from Neusiedl am See, but moved to Frauenkirchen, in the 1770s or
1780s, coming from Mönchhof. The records of Frauenkirchen point to three
possible children of this couple who lived and/or died in Frauenkirchen: (a)
Johannes Brand, furrier, born about 1771/72 or 1776/77, married with Magdalena nee
Hegyi of Levél in Moson county; (b) Magdalena Brand, born about 1780/81, and
married with Mathias Unger, master blacksmith in Frauenkirchen; and (c) Michael
Brand, born about August 1782, married with Elisabeth nee Thell. The latter
were the composer's parents.
The composer's siblings:
The following children of Mosonyi's parents were recorded in the baptismal
records of Frauenkirchen. Since I have not found the marriage record of
Mosonyi's parents, there remains a question mark, though likely just
a minor one, about possible earlier children born elsewhere.
1. Rosalia, born September 29, 1811. She gave birth, out of wedlock, to an
Elizabeth (born and died in 1844). Rosalia died unmarried at house no. 2 on
March 11, 1864, her age at death recorded to be 51.
2. Peter, born August 5, 1813. No death is recorded, but he likely died as
a baby, as can be deducted from the rather brief interval to the birth of the
next child and the fact that another son was named Peter in 1829.
3. Franziska, born September 12, 1814.
4. Michael, baptized September 4, 1815. This is the composer, the subject
of this article.
5. Elisabeth, born April 18, 1817. She died from fever on September 2, 1818.
6. Magdalena, born April 1, 1819. She died from a catarrh on April 12, 1819.
7. Anna, born May 25, 1820. She married twice and had children. The data
on her will be discussed below. She died as a widow on September 23, 1895 at
age 76 at house no. 81.
8. Barbara, born June 18, 1822.
9. Franz, born October 4, 1824. He died from, likely, feverish convulsions
(called "Fraisen" in German) on December 13, 1824.
10. Eleonora, born February 23, 1826.
11. Peter, born September 10, 1829.
For all these births, Peter Piller, a merchant or grocer, and Rosalia Petra
or Petray, his spouse, served as godparents. The marriage record of that
couple is not found in the matrikels of Frauenkirchen.
The matrikels of Frauenkirchen contain no data on further vital events such
as marriage or death of Franziska, Barbara, Eleonora and Peter Brand. There
are also no recordings about possible siblings that otherwise may be unaccounted
for above.
However, the matrikels document the marriages and death of Anna, born 1820.
Accordingly, Anna, at age 22, first married in Frauenkirchen on July 5, 1842.
Her husband was Stefan Baumann, 21, originally from Magyaróvár, son of Ignaz
Baumann, a ropemaker, and Katharina Angerbauer (or Augenbauer). After Stefan
Baumann apparently died relatively soon, Anna nee Brand remarried on November
6, 1845 in Frauenkirchen. Her second husband was Jakob Zehender, 24, single,
a ropemaker from Bruck an der Leitha, a town in Lower Austria just across the
border from then Hungary (or from today's Burgenland), the son of Josef
Zehender, a burgher of that town, and Theresia nee Novak. Jakob Zehender and Anna
nee Brand lived at house no. 2 (where her parents, i.e., the composer's
parents, also lived till their death). Jakob Zehentner [sic], husband of Anna Brand,
died at house no. 72 on January 31, 1892, at age 73. His widow Anna (nee
Brand) died from stomach cancer on September 23, 1895, at house no. 81 (which
apparently belonged to a Neuberger family).
Sometimes after the death of Mosonyi's father in 1866, the family may have
lost (or sold) house no. 2. From the late 1870s onwards, other families are
documented as living at no. 2, including, in the late 1880s, the town clerk Karl
Heidecker, originally from Steyr in Upper Austria, who died at no. 2, at age
65, on January 1, 1890.
Anna nee Brand likely had two children from her first marriage with Stefan
Baumann. One of these, Magdalena, born 1843, died early in 1846. The other
child, Anna, born about 1845, married on June 11, 1871 in Frauenkirchen. The
groom was Martin Neuberger, 30, a shoemaker, of Frauenkirchen no. 84, the son of
Martin Neuberger, a ropemaker, and Theresia Zwikl. This young family of
Martin and Anna Neuberger mostly lived at house no. 198, and had several children.
Of the children from Anna's second marriage with Jakob Zehender, I found the
following marriages in the records of Frauenkirchen: (1) on February 6, 1877,
Josef Zehentner [sic], 23, single, milliner, of Frauenkirchen no. 42, the son
of Jakob and Anna nee Brandt, married Rosa nee Weisz, 20, of Frauenkirchen
no. 16, the daughter of Franz Weisz, glazier, and Theresia nee Gruber. This
family mostly lived at house no. 40 and had several children; (2) On November
26, 1883, Adolf Szloboda, 23, single, shoemaker, of Alsókorompa in Pozsony
county, the son of Josef Szloboda and Maria nee Schneider, married Eleonore
Zehenntner [sic], 21, of Frauenkirchen no. 78, the daughter of Jakob Zehenntner and
Anna nee Brand. This family recorded one childbirth in December 1883 at house
no. 78, and may have moved away afterwards; and (3), on August 24, 1891, Karl
Dobrovovszky, 32, single, a finance/tax inspector, born in Nagytapolcsány in
Nyitra county and living in Szered in Pozsony county, the son of the burgher
Josef Dobrovovszky and Maria nee Czigling, married Maria Zehentner, 33, single,
of Frauenkirchen no. 78, the daughter of Jakob and Anna nee Brand.
This obviously does not capture any marriages of Zehentner children that took
place outside of Frauenkirchen. Especially, there was a son Jakob Zehentner
jun. who continued the ropemaking business of his father in Frauenkirchen. He
was married with Theresia nee Maurer of Neusiedl am See. They mostly lived
at house no. 78 and had several children. It would appear likely that they
married in Neusiedl.
There is, of course, an intriguing question mark about a possible link
between the glazier family of Weisz and the fact that the plaque commemorating
the birth of Mihály Mosonyi is affixed at the property of the former glaziery
Hafner.
Other likely related lines
As was already mentioned, the records of Frauenkirchen indicate that there
were two likely other children of the original Brand family (Michael and
Franziska) who lived and had families in Frauenkirchen, besides Mosonyi's father
Michael. These likely siblings of Mosonyi's father were Magdalena and Johann
Brand. However, let us keep in mind that without finding the birth records of
these members of the Brand family, we can at this time only conjecture that they
were aunt and uncle of the composer, although I would rate the likelihood of
this being the case as very high.
Magdalena nee Brand, a likely aunt of Mosonyi, was married with Mathias
Unger, a master blacksmith. She died on August 28, 1845 in Frauenkirchen, as a
widow of 64 years of age. Based on the age stated in her death record, Magdalena
would have been born in 1780/81, which suggests that Magdalena had been the
child born in sequence just before Mosonyi's father Michael. Unfortunately,
since in my checking of the matrikels of Frauenkirchen I initially did not focus
on Magdalena Unger nee Brand, I noted only in passing two childbirths for the
couple, namely Mathias in 1824 and Josef in 1826, clearly late children of
this family. It is entirely possible that this "Unger" line branched out
further and that descendents of it live today in Frauenkirchen and elsewhere.
There is much more information I was able to collect on Johann Brand, a
furrier and likely the elder brother of Michael and Magdalena, and thus an uncle of
the composer. His marriage was recorded in the parish records of Levél
(Kaltenstein) in Moson county, the parish records of Hegyeshalom (Strass-Sommerein)
which served as the main parish for Levél, and also in Johann's home parish
of Frauenkirchen. In most aspects these three separate entries are consistent
with each other in that the marriage took place on February 16, 1801 at
Hegyeshalom, with the groom being Johann Brand, (master) furrier, catholic, single,
of Frauenkirchen, while the bride was Magdalena Hegyi, catholic, of noble
descent, single, of Levél. The only discrepancies are the age of the groom which
was recorded as 29 in Frauenkirchen, but as 24 in the Levél and Hegyeshalom
entries, the age of the bride which is stated as 22 in Frauenkirchen and 23 in
the other two entries, and the last name of the groom which is written as
Prandt in the Frauendorf entry. His age at marriage would place the birth of
Johann Brand into 1771/72 or 1776/77, respectively. It could well be that I
misread the age in the Frauenkirchen matrikels, and it indeed rather is written as
24. Best men at the marriage were Mathias Limpp, a blacksmith from Levél, and
Michael Schreyer, an innkeeper.
The matrikels of Levél recorded the birth of bride Magdalena nee Hegyi on
June 16, 1774, to parents Josef and Maria Hegyi. This would suggest that
Magdalena rather was 26, not 22 or 23, when she married, lending additional weight to
an actual age of 24 for the groom. Many marriage records were "beautified"
in those times, toward an "ideal" age for the groom of around 25, and the bride
of around 20. Some other spellings of Magdalena's maiden name were Högyi,
Högy, Hegi and Heggi.
Magdalena Brand nee Hegyi, "wife of master furrier Johann Brand," died on
August 19, 1849, at age 70, from cholera. I have not been able to locate the
death entry of her husband.
The marriage of Johann and Magdalena Brand produced the following childbirths
recorded in the matrikels of Frauenkirchen:
1. Josef, born March 11, 1802. He died from smallpox (variola) on October 9, 1806.
2. Anna, born January 31, 1804. She married on January 17, 1831 in Frauenkirchen.
Her husband was Johann Kaintz, 24,single, a tailor hailing from Halbturn (Féltorony),
son of Georg Kaintz and Dorothea nee Hann (who are listed as house-servants of archduke Karl).
3. Johann, born February 23, 1806. He died from smallpox on December 22,
1806, just a few days later than his older brother.
4. Josef, born September 6, 1807. He became a teacher. On July 15, 1835,
he married at Szentjános (today's Jánossomorja) Katharina nee Hofer, daughter
of Thomas Hofer and Elisabeth nee Smidt/Schmidt of Szentjános. At the time of
the marriage, Josef Brand served as the schoolmaster of Magyarkimle (Ungarisch
Kimling) in Moson county.
5. Anton, born November 16, 1809. He died on November 24, 1809.
6. Magdalena, born October 22, 1810.
7. Johann, born November 22, 1811. He married on April 9, 1837 in Frauenkirchen.
His wife was Elisabeth Gottfrid, 24, single, of Vitnyéd (Letting),
daughter of Leopold Gottfrid, huntsman ("venator"), and Anna nee Enigl. Johann
Brand died of old age on March 20, 1881, at age 71, at Frauenkirchen no. 21,
leaving his wife Elisabeth behind who died nine years later, on June 9, 1890,
also of old age, at house no. 86. House no. 21 may have been owned by either the
Kaintz (see Anna nee Brand above) or the Brand families, but from the early
1880s onwards, families with other names appear to have lived there.
8. Theresia, born January 31, 1814.
9. Michael, born August 17, 1816.
Various couples served as godparents in various combinations for the nine
childbirths listed above, namely, Josef and Anna Türinger/Tiringer, Anton
Schalkhorn and Theresia nee Malek, Josef Mayer, and Eva Ulram.
Notes on the main surnames
The composer adopted the Hungarian surname Mosonyi. This name literally
means "from Moson" (county, or its capital), and was clearly demonstratively
"Magyar," as Moson, alternatively spelled Mosony, was the old Hungarian county the
composer hailed from. This name had the same meaning as "Wieselburger" would
have had in German. The pronunciation of the adopted name would be
"Mo-shon-yi" with - as always with Hungarian words - the stress and highest pitch on
the first syllable, and with the second and third syllable progressively lower
in intonation.
His original surname Brand likely goes back to the German word "Brand" for
burn, which in German and English has the - by now almost forgotten - derived
meaning of "blade" or "dagger" (probably due to the "burning pain" caused when
pierced by this weapon). Since "brand" in this meaning was part of first names
such as Hildebrand, it is possible that Mosonyi's family originally acquired
its name as a short form of one of these first names. Another derivation
would be from the act of burning trees in order to clear a new
settlement from a primeval forest.
The surname of the composer's mother, i.e., Thell, likely has a similar
derivation from a first name. In this case, the original first name had "diet" in
it, like Dietrich or Diethard, as derived from the old meaning "diet" for "our
people" (which is also the likely root of the word "deutsch"). The short or
nickname form of first names like Dietrich was Till, as can be found in the
famous name of fairy tales, Till Eugenspiegel, or the mythical people's hero
William Tell of Switzerland. The same root is contained in the name of the well
known contemporary cartoon series Dilbert. In other words, both surnames of
Mosonyi's parents might have had their origin as German first names.
Concluding remarks
In this series of articles on famous musicians of the Burgenland, Mosonyi
Mihály was perhaps the composer with the most straightforward "Burgenland"
descent of all, as both father and mother and their ancestors likely hailed from
the region between Neusiedl am See and Pamhagen, i.e., the area spanning
Heideboden to Seewinkel (Lake Corner). However, Mosonyi also was the composer making
the clearest declaration of belonging with heart and soul to his home country
Hungary, by not only magyarizing his name, but also dedicating himself to
raising the status of and perfecting genuinely "Hungarian" music. As a consequence,
compared to, e.g., Franz Liszt, Joseph Joachim and Karl Goldmark, Mosonyi
has never been recognized as a "German" composer, not even under his original
name of Michael Brand. There is no entry for him in the "Neue Deutsche
Biographie" encyclopedia. This fact places Mosonyi into quite a unique position
among these other "German, Austrian and Hungarian" composers who have all
simultaneously been claimed by more than one, and sometimes all three, of these
nations.
Since the family names Zehentner, Neuberger, Kaintz and Unger still exist
today in Frauenkirchen as evidenced by the listed entries in the Austrian phone
directory (http://etb.herold.at), it is quite possible that there are people
among them who, via lines descending from Mosonyi's sister Anna, his uncle
Johann or his aunt Magdalena, or others, share some of the blood of this very
special and remarkable musician.
Newsletter continues as no. 127C.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 127C
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2004
(c) 2004 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)
This fourth section of our 4-section newsletter includes:
1. Some Comments from The Heart - Stop Publishing?
2. A Visit To Wolfau & Königsdorf - F. Karner & Tom Glatz
3. Slovenian Burgenland
4. Taste Of The Burgenland - Schmarn (Kaiserschmarren)
5. More On Fastnachts
6. BG 2004 Picnic - Dr. Walter Dujmovits & Bob Strauch
1. SOME COMMENTS FROM THE HEART - STOP PUBLISHING?
I've developed a pretty tough skin after nine years of editing this newspaper
and coordinating the Burgenland Bunch. On occasion, some internet idiots can
still pierce my hide. The recent AOL fiasco was one such. I can understand
stupid corporate decisions - I was part of corporate America once myself.
Nonetheless, 14 years with AOL comes to an expenditure of about $4000 and
you'd think that AOL would be more considerate and helpful to good customers.
It's also hard to understand people who repay free help with inconsiderate
acts. This is a sure way to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. The AOL
problem clearly indicates that some of our members cancelled our newsletter by
reporting it to AOL as SPAM. They probably didn't do this intentionally (I
hope) but because they were too lazy to send me an email saying "remove" - it was
easier to click on "report as SPAM." Given the effort required to provide the BB
website and newsletter, this is a real kick in the nether regions. The down
side is that this newsletter and others like it may eventually become a thing
of the past. If we become too annoyed, our newsletters will eventually be
discontinued or available only through paid subscription. I guess there are
those who don't think or care about that aspect.
That inconsiderate people are in the minority among BB members is attested by
the response the rest of the AOL BB membership gave our test. We not only
received replies from most everyone, we received a lot of thanks and fine
comments. It's this sort of response that keeps us going. Thank you one and all. I
hope you receive this newsletter edition. I won't stop publishing the newsletter
yet, but I'm beginning to think about it.
2. A VISIT TO WOLFAU & KÖNIGSDORF
Member Frank Karner writes: We had an opportunity to visit my ancestral
Heimat of Burgenland in the fall of 2003 and was very impressed with the BB folks
we met there. My grandparents were both born in Wolfau and my father was
born in Königsdorf in 1896. We were able to visit both villages again and we
were delighted to meet Klaus Gerger in Grinzing (Vienna) one evening for a
nice visit. We appreciated his coming to our hotel to meet us and we enjoyed the
evening very much. He provided vintage maps of Wolfau depicting the location
of houses years ago. Special thanks to Klaus! A few days later we had the
good fortune to meet Joe Hirtenfelder, who came to the house of friends in
Königsdorf. We spent a wonderful afternoon visiting and talking about Burgenland,
Königsdorf, family and history. Joe also gave us a booklet depicting the
house-by-house history of Königsdorf. The memory of that afternoon is vivid in my
memory, not to be forgotten! I just wanted to pass on our appreciation to
the Burgenland Bunch, who make these friendships possible as well as to Mr.
Gerger and Mr. Hirtenfelder for their kindness.
In 1985 we visited Wolfau and Königsdorf for the first time, and the Pastor
of the Lutheran Church in Eltendorf climbed up a ladder to a top shelf of
files, and pulled down a book which contained the Baptismal record of my father,
baptized in April 1896. He also provided us a copy of a booklet the Church had
recently made entitled "200 Jahre Evangelische Pfarrgemeinde A.B. Eltendorf",
which we carried home to my aged father. Although we brought him a number
of items from his "Heimat", nothing pleased him as much as this small booklet.
I can still picture him setting at the table with his magnifying glass
studying and reading the booklet. He cherished it until he died in 1990, now I
consider it a nice piece of history, and a cherished keepsake.
Again, thanks to the BB who contribute so much to our research!
Tom Glatz responds with the following: Frank, I read the above with great
interest. I am familiar with 3 of the surnames in Chicago. My father's godfather
was Joseph FLASCH from Wolfau. I know he was Lutheran. His wife was Theresa
Bauer from Raiding. They were my grandparents' best friends. Joseph Flasch had a
couple of brothers that also came to Chicago. I have his wedding picture
since my grandparents were in the picture. I don't know if there is a link with
your Flasch family. His niece Mary Flasch Kappel only died a few years ago. I
saw her frequently at various Austrian club events in the Chicago area. Her
husband is still living. KARNER is also a common Lutheran name in Chicago from
Markt Allhau and surrounding areas. My grandfather was from Loipersdorf which is
not far from Wolfau. The people across the road from where his house once
stood are named RITTER.
3. SOLVENIAN BURGENLAND
In keeping with our practice of researching immediate Burgenland border
villages, we cover a few villages in Slovenia. The following exchange shows I'm not
an expert concerning Slovenia:
In a message dated 2/27/04 Patricia Weaver writes:
I wish to join the Burgenland Bunch. We are researching the surname of
Peterka from the village of Battyanfelva. First came to the states in 1905 to
Bethlehem, PA. Returned to Battyanfelva. Later returned with husband, Jakob
Muller from the Muria region of Austria. Lived in Bethlehem. PA. Latter settled
in Bramwell, West Virginia.
My reply: We are limited to research concerning family history in the Province
of Burgenland, Austria. As such we include the immediate border villages of
the Provinces of Lower Austria and Styria in Austria as well as immediate
border villages in Vas, Moson, Sopron and Gyor Megye (counties) in Hungary. We
also recognize border communities in Slovenia. Communities not within that area
are beyond our expertise.
What you call the village of Battyanfelva (falva?) may now be Battyanmajor,
east of Sarvar (which in turn is east of Szombathely. I'm afraid this is too
far east of our area of research. If you have knowledge to the contrary please
let me know. I suggest you use our site to find websites which cover your area
(suggest you search the Hungarian sites available from our homepage.) I'm
including our Invitation Letter to provide our website address. I do not feel it
would be of value to list with us. If you find you do have family history
within our research area, please get back to me.
*Patricia got back to me and it turns out this is close enough to be
considered a border village. Bob Strauch then writes:
Dear Patricia, I am the Lehigh Valley/PA editor for the Burgenland Bunch. I
just noticed your entry in our membership list. I think I can give you some
information that will help you in your search.
Battyanfalva (also called Rakicsan in Hungarian) is now located in the
northeastern corner of Slovenia, in a region call the "Prekmurje" ("above the
Mura"). Its Slovenian name is Rakican (there should be a small "v" above the c,
pronounced "ch"). Rakičan is just to the southeast of the regional capital of the
Prekmurje, Murska Sobota (Muraszombat in Hungarian). About 8 years ago, Murska
Sobota and Bethlehem officially became sister cities.
Out of curiousity, I had a look in the Ellis Island Database (www.ellisislandrecords.org)
and did find Anna Peterka arriving from Battyanfalva in 1905.
Unfortunately, a photo of the ship's manifest was not available. I searched for
Jakob Müller, but there are quite a few.
I did a search on www.google.com for Rakičan and there are sites containing
pictures of the village. I also "googled" Battyanfalva and came up with only a
few sites, but one (Radix forum) did list surnames found in the village at one
time, and Peterka was among them.
I checked our local phone directory and found one Peterka listed, namely on
the east side of Allentown. Hopefully I've provided you with some new
information.
4. TASTE OF THE BURGENLAND - SCHMARN (KAISERSCHMARREN)
Our article on Sterz caused some comment. In a message dated 3/1/04,
a correspondent writes:
My mother made a sterz from buckwheat flour, my stepmother from Güssing made
it with flour and called it schmarn sterz. My wife makes it from flour and
calls it schmurra. She came from Kreutzstaetten Romania, (the Banat). I like
them all with fruit salad poured over a big bowl of the stuff. Now we have
grandchildren who ask via e-mail, "How do you make Schmurra, Grandma?" Our family
was always blessed with great cooks who, unfortunately, never wrote anything
down!!
To which I reply: Ah - a bit of an ethnic twist, although similar to egg sterz,
Sterz and Schmarn (Kaiserschmarren) are two distinctly different dishes!
Schmarn is known in some English language Austrian cookbooks as Kaiser Pancakes
(although they are chopped up). This was one of Emperor Franz Josef's favorite
dishes, so you are in good company. Often made with raisins, so dumping fruit
salad on it is not a bad idea. His were also served with a Plum puree (you could
use prune butter - Lekvar). Ingredients are 6 eggs, flour (7 oz.), sugar (1.5
oz.), milk (8 oz.), pinch of salt, raisins (optional), butter to cover pan and
powdered sugar. You can halve this recipe if desired.
This is more of a dessert, while Sterz is a breakfast or supper main item with
soup. Of course, you can serve it or sterz either with or following soup if
desired.
Recipe:
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Mix the yolks sugar, milk and flour.
Whisk the whites with salt until stiff. Carefully fold into the egg
yolk mixture. Melt butter in a large pan, pour in the mixture and sprinkle with
raisins (or omit). Let cook on one side for a few minutes, turn over and tear
into pieces with a fork. Let finish cooking. Do not overcook (should lose its
wet look). Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve with plum puree or
fruit. Schmeckts gute! My grandmother (Sorger) too was from Güssing. We ate this
often for lunch or Sunday supper.
5. MORE ON FASTNACHTS
(again proving that ethnic food is an integral part of family history)
BB Lake District Editor Dale Knebel writes: I had never heard of fastnachts
until it surfaced in the newsletters. However, as I was looking through a
cookbook produced for a family reunion in 1999, I came across fashingrophas and
the following note followed the recipe: "My mother always made this recipe the
Sunday before Lent." My grandmother settled in South Dakota while her sisters
moved on to Oregon. The recipe was submitted by her oldest sister from Oregon.
I copied Bop Strauch and asked: Are fashingrophas the same thing as fastnachts?
Bob replies: Faschingskrapfen are made from a yeast dough, cut into rounds
(no holes), and fried. They must have the golden rings running around the edge,
otherwise they're considered no good. Some people fill them with jam (usually
apricot), others keep them plain.
Fastnachts (shortened from Fastnachtskuchen) are (now) at the center of The
Big Fastnacht Debate. Should they be made with potatoes or not? Should they be
made with yeast, baking powder, or no leavening at all? Should they be round
or square? Hole in the center or solid? I personally believe that there is more
than one type of Fastnacht. The pre-Lenten fried cakes made in Germany, Austria,
and Switzerland have many regional variations and names. And since the PA Germans
came from different areas (the southern Rheinland, Switzerland, Alsace, Hessen,
etc.), it stands to reason they would have had different versions of the Fastnacht.
ED. Note: I wonder if "grophas" might be a Scandinavian word for raised cake?
6. BG PICNIC 2004 (from Dr. Walter Dujmovits - translated by Bob Strauch)
This year, in honor of Hungary's joining the European Union, the annual
Burgenländische Gemeinschaft Picnic at the Wine Museum in Moschendorf on Sunday,
July 4, 2004, will have a special theme: "Heimattreffen Pinkaboden" (Pinka
Valley Reunion). Music groups, mayors, and villagers from the communities on the
Hungarian side of the border - Pornóapáti/Pernau, Szentpéterfa/Prostrum - will
also be attending. The mass will be held in 5 languages (German, Hungarian,
Croatian, English, and Latin) and will be read by 2 priests, one from Burgenland
and one from Hungary. The governor of Burgenland and other high-ranking
dignitaries are expected to attend. Special permission has been obtained to allow
American citizens who happen to be visiting in the villages on the Hungarian side
to cross the border at Szentpéterfa/Eberau or Pinkamindszent/Strem to attend
the picnic. Normally, these particular border crossings can only be used by
citizens of the European Union. The BG also plans to invite the border villages
in the Hungarian Raab Valley: Rábafüzes/Raabfidisch, Jakabháza/Jakobshof, and
Felsö- & Alsórönök/Ober- & Unterradling. For more information, please contact
the BG office in Güssing at: burgenl.gem@bnet.at
END OF NEWSLETTER
BURGENLAND BUNCH STAFF (USA residents unless designated otherwise)
Coordinator & Editor Newsletter (Gerald 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)
Lehigh Valley Burgenland Enclave (Robert Strauch)
Szt. Gotthard & Jennersdorf Districts (Margaret Kaiser)
Western US BB Members-Research (Bob Unger)
WorldGenWeb-Austria, RootsWeb Liason-Burgenland (Charles Wardell, Austria)
BB ARCHIVES (can be reached via Home Page hyperlinks)
BURGENLAND HOME PAGE (WEB SITE)
http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org
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.