THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 161
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 12th Year - Issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2007
(c) 2007 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved


~BB BURGENLAND TRIP CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST!
CONTACT KLAUS GERGER FOR FUTURE POSSIBILITIES.~

Current Status Of The BB: Members-1405*Surname Entries- 4731*Query Board
Entries-3698*Newsletter Subscribers 984, Newsletters Archived-161-Number of Staff
Members-14

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This first section of our 2-section newsletter concerns:

1. Correction To "The Swamp Of Germanic Genealogy"
2. Germanic Regions Often Confused With Burgenland
3. Some Thoughts Concerning The Burgenland "Anschluss" Of 1921


1. CORRECTION TO "THE SWAMP OF GERMANIC GENEALOGY"
(see BB News No. 160A)

In a message dated 2/28/07, Michael Gallagher writes: Regarding your wife's
Pennsylvania German ancestry and the article below, I noticed some possible
errors. Most Germans came after the Revolution, but I believe most Palatines came
1737-1800. Coming before 1800 is my understanding of the term "Pennsylvania
German/Dutch/Deutsch," as opposed to "German immigrants" such as my
Burgenländer great-grandfather's in-laws (Bavaria & Tyrol, late 1800s). 1737 is the
earliest year recorded in a book of arrivals of Palatines. My PA German ancestors
(my father's maternal grandmother's family as opposed to my mother's father's
father & his in-laws from Tyrol & Bavaria) came 1700-1745, and some possibly
later (the "about 1700" wife's siblings & in-laws were on the ship of the
"Original 13" families under Daniel Pastorius). Perhaps this can help the Glassmeyer
correspondent.

Reply: Michael, your points are well made. As stated in the article, we are a
Burgenland site and not an expert on genealogical matters Germanic but,
given my wife's ancestry, I have been down that path for a considerable distance
and thought I could help. Even so, I should have had a better memory of the
Palatinate dates.

The main thrust of the article was to point out that merely because one has a
Germanic name, one should not assume that ancestors came from Germany proper
or any of the particular places settled by those speaking German. I was also
making the point that there was much more Germanic immigration following the
Revolution (to which you agree) than before and, given a Germanic name, one
should consider the full migration spectrum lacking definitive clues as to time
frame. I introduced the Palatinate time frame (although I agree my dates were
misleading) as being a good place for Glassmeyer to start.

Mea culpa - I believe the following excerpts from the works mentioned will
correct my article and also support your comments. Thank you for giving me the
opportunity to set the record straight:

From Rupp: "30 Thousand Names"
1682-1776 - Pennsylvania being the central point of emigration from Germany (sic)
1682-1702 - fairly few Germans arrived (but does include the Pastorious group)
1702-1727 - 40-50K German immigrants arrived

Rupp's Ships' Manifests date from 1727-1775 (Baxter "In Search of Your
German Roots" says 70K immigrants arrived in PA between those dates)

From Yoder: "Pennsylvania German (Palatinate) Immigrants 1709-1786"
(dates in the title are significant)

From Angus Baxter: "In Search of Your German Roots"
page 51 -
"Although the major period of German immigration into North America
was the nineteenth century, the first mass entry of German colonists was in
1683 when Germantown, in Pennsylvania, was founded.

"German settlement really commenced with the arrival of the (first)
Palatinates in 1709 and their settlement in New York" (he then goes on to
define Palatinates as being from Rheinland-Pfalz, Baden, Bavaria, etc.)

Page 55 -
"The high points of immigration (from Germany) into the United States
in the nineteenth century were in 1854 when more than a quarter million
Germans arrived, and in the period 1866-1873 (no numbers provided)."

As in all ethnic migrations, one can even find exceptions to the above, both
before and after the dates mentioned. One example will be found in Schuricht
"The German Element In Virginia" (reprinted 1977); page 22 lists some settlers
in Virginia as early as 1620 who have Germanic names. Much more follows, as
the book's title promises. German was spoken and printed in the Shenandoah
Valley as late as the turn of the 20th century. Settlers having migrated south
from the Lancaster area. There were also Germanic immigrants who entered the
United States through the ports of Boston, Baltimore, Galveston, etc.

It is much easier to find Burgenland immigrant links to their places of
origin due to the relatively late arrival of Burgenland immigrants (1880's to the
1950's) and family records and oral traditions as to their villages of origin.
Immigrants arriving much earlier had the opportunity to migrate elsewhere and
their origins are often lost and can thus become an enigma. In my wife's case,
we are still looking for the birth (baptism) record of a Beck ancestor who
settled in Bucks County, PA, but may have migrated there from elsewhere (NC or
Virginia). Among the names mentioned in the above book, there is a Wm. Beck (Wm.
is a common family given name among her Beck ancestors) - tantalizing but
hardly a strong clue.

To our BB members, I apologize for straying from purely Burgenland matters.
This as well as the previous article are a message for those who feel the
Burgenland may be their place of origin merely because they have a Germanic or
Croatian or Hungarian or Hebrew or Gypsy (Rom) or Slovene name.


2. GERMANIC REGIONS OFTEN CONFUSED WITH BURGENLAND
   (Reprinted from BB News No. 91 dated Dec. 31, 2000 - edited)

There have been many changes in European History. It is not easy to locate
areas whose names have changed over the centuries. Historical Geography is not
often addressed by our schools. European historical geography can be an
enigma - even the news media often get confused.

So it is with many who are studying family history in Europe for the first
time. Just where are those places mentioned in cryptic family records? All too
often, they end up getting identified as "Germany," since so many immigrants
came from Germanic areas. Notice, I say Germanic, not German. One can write
books about all of the places to which German-speaking immigrants migrated. Let's
look at some that are often confused with the Burgenland. These are not all
Germanic areas, some have other ethnicity, but many were part of the
Austro/Hungarian Empire and others still exist today (some descriptions have been taken
from Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, which see for further description).
If you feel your ancestors came from any of the non-Burgenland regions, don't
contact us - except in a very few instances, we probably can't help.

Algäu - southern Germany along the Austrian border, Lake Constance to Bavaria

Alsace (Elsass)- eastern France along the sw border of Germany

Banat - Tisza River region of Romania, Swabian migration destination

Batschka - part of Hungary and Croatia, Swabian migration destination

Black Forrest (Schwarzwald) - southwest Germany, west of the Rhine, mostly Bavaria

Bohemia (Böhmen) - western part of Czech Republic

Bukovina - northern Romania

Carinthia (Karinthia, Kärnten) - province of Austria, borders Italy and Slovenia

Carniola (Krain) - region of Slovenia, just north of Croatia

Egerland - part of Czech Republic along the eastern border of Bavaria

Erzgeberge - southeast Saxony, Germany and northwest Bohemia

Franconia - northern Bavaria (north-Unterfranken, middle-Mainfranken, south-Oberfranken)

Galicia - upper part of the Dneister River, Poland and the Ukraine

Gorizia - western Slovenia along the Adriatic

Gottschee - northern Slovenia between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia

Hauerland - south-central Slovakia bordering Hungary

Hegau - southwest Germany near the Danube

Moravia (Mähren) - Czech Republic between Poland, Slovakia and Austria

Nieder-Öestereich - Austrian province of Lower Austria, west and north of Burgenland

Ruthenia - region of the Ukraine

Salzburg - city and province (Land) of Austria

Salzkammergut - region of Austria, east of Salzburg (part of Land Salzburg)

Siebenburgen - Transylvania (now part of Romania)

Slavonia - eastern region of Croatia, south of Hungary, west of the Vojvodina, north of Bosnia

Slovakia - formerly eastern Czechoslovakia, north of Hungary

Styria (Steiermark) - province of Austria, south and west of Burgenland

Tirol (Tyrol) - province of Austria, south of Germany

Transylvania - see Siebenburgen

Upper Austria (Oberösterreich) - province of Austria, mostly north of the Danube

Vienna (Wein) - capital of Austria, one of three "empire" capitals which also
included Prague and Budapest; region around Vienna is also called Land Vienna

Voralberg - province of Austria, south of Germany, north of Italy

Walachia - southern Romania

Wienerwald - Vienna Woods

NAMES THAT DO REFER TO THE BURGENLAND

Translated literally, Burgenland means "castle land" - as such, people may feel
it refers to any place with castles. Not so, the Burgenland is the ninth
province of Austria, created in 1921 from parts of the Hungarian counties or Megye
of Vas, Moson and Sopron. These counties (parts of which still exist in
Hungary today) were the extreme western part of Hungary in the region known as
Transdanubia. The parts comprising today's Burgenland were transferred to Austria
by the Treaty of Trianon, mainly because most (84%) of the inhabitants were of
Germanic origin. While more of the Hungarian counties mentioned were also
slated for transfer, they were allowed (by plebescite) to remain in Hungary if the
villages were mostly inhabited by people of Hungarian origin. This is why the
Austrian-Hungarian border is so convoluted today. The remaining 16% of the
Burgenland population is composed of people of Croatian origin (14%) who
migrated there in the 16th century and a few (2%) of Hungarian, Slovene, Hebrew and
Rom (Gypsy) origin.

Hügelland - literally "hill country", but here defined as the eastern foothills
of the Alps which encompasses much of the Burgenland

Rosalia - northwest Burgenland region of the Rosalian mountains including
Drassburg, Forchtenstein, and Matterburg.

Seewinkel (Lake Corner) - area around the Neusiedler See in northern Burgenland

Transdanubia - the region just west of the Danube bend (imaginary line drawn
from Budapest to Mohacs)


3. SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING THE BURGENLAND "ANSCHLUSS" OF 1921

I recently reread Robert Unger's "Twenty Five Years Of My Life In My
Homeland." Unger immigrated to Chicago in 1922. He had been involved with the
Hungarian military in WW-I and local politics following the war. He had much
opportunity to observe what was happening in western Hungary and the actions that
resulted in the formation of the Burgenland. His book, in German, was translated by
his son and reissued a few years ago through his efforts and the help of BB
staff member Bob Unger (no relation). It contains an excellent account of the
reasons for the inclusion as well as exclusion of various areas and villages in
the region annexed to Austria.

The treaties ending WW-I (St. Germain & Trianon) called for the dismemberment
of the Austro/Hungarian Empire. Both Austria and Hungary lost vast amounts of
territory. The philosophy followed by the allied commissions was US President
Wilson's ideas of "self-determination" - the ethnic establishment of nations.
Thus western Hungary, with its heavy Germanic population, was considered a good
addition to Austria. However, there were many factors at work. It's like trying
to create new cities from New York on the basis of ethnic determination.
Certainly there are Hispanic, African, Italian, German, Jewish, etc. districts in
New York, but these districts have a mix of varying intensity. There would be no
way of satisfying everyone.

In addition to the ethnic, racial and religious differences that existed
throughout western Hungary, there were other factors. Unger's book mentions some
of them.

Plebiscite - while Pan-German and other interests demanded that all of the
Burgenland region be transferred to Austria, Hungarian and other interests
strongly resisted. The allied powers decided that a plebiscite or vote of the
inhabitants in the contested areas should decide.

Monarchial Preferences - in 1921, aristocracy was still a powerful force in
Austria and Hungary. While the end of an Austrian monarchy was in sight, there
was still the possibility of it being re-established in Hungary. Thus, many
aristocrats (Unger specifically mentions the Erdody family and other books
mention the Esterhazy family) were very interested in seeing their lands and
holdings remain in Hungary. They thus exerted much influence to further their ends.
(Hungary did not again become a monarchy and, with the establishment of the
communist regime following WW-II, the aristocrats later lost Hungarian holdings.)

Church Preferences - many church holdings owed their formation to aristocratic
gifts. The church thus often favored aristocratic preferences and influenced
their parish to whatever extent possible. It is fairly obvious that the church
did engage in local politics. At least one priest is known for having lied to
the allied commission relative to the desires of his parishioners.

Merchant & Industrial Preferences - for numerous reasons, those who controlled
the wealth of the region opted for Hungary or Austria depending on what
favored them the most. Some were antagonized by the brief communist regime of Bela
Kun in Hungary following the armistice and feared its return. Their fears
were justified following WW-II! Others saw commercial or competitive advantages
one way or another.

Landowner Preferences - given land holdings split by a new border, owners
wished to be on one side or another, ethnic or political desires not withstanding.

Austrian Political Party Preferences - 400,000 votes were at stake. Given the
birth of a new Austrian republic, existing and newly formed political parties
saw this as a major challenge.

Geographic Preferences - roads, railroads and rivers provide transportation.
The Hungarians were successful in retaining all of the better transportation
networks, mainly because they were able to retain the city of Sopron and
accompanying area. It wasn't until the end of WW-II that Burgenland was able to
re-establish a good transportation network. Had Sopron been included, it would have
been the largest city in Burgenland and probably the provincial capital.

These are factors to consider when we wonder why one village along the border
is in Austria and another in Hungary. The border itself was also later
adjusted to meet some local geographic preferences.

NEWSLETTER CONTINUES AS 161A


THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 161A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 12th Year - Issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold)
March 31, 2007
(c) 2007 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)

~BURGENLAND GOVERNMENT DELEGATION TO VISIT IN APRIL-SEE BELOW.~

~MAJORITY OF BB STAFF TO MEET IN ALLENTOWN AT THE SAME TIME~

This second section of our 2-section newsletter concerns:

1. Burgenland Government Delegation To Be Met By BB Staff
2. Phonebooks Can Aid In Establishing Origin
3. Rechnitzer Surname
4. Italian Ethnic Club Closes In Allentown
5. BB-BG Sponsored Trip To Burgenland Cancelled
6. Taste Of The Burgenland - Kürbis or Pumpkin


1. BURGENLAND GOVERNMENT DELEGATION TO BE MET BY BB STAFF

As mentioned in newsletter number 160A, a Burgenland Government Delegation
(including vice-governor Franz Steindl), accompanied by Dr. Walter Dujmovits,
president of the BG, will visit Burgenland ethnic enclaves in the US and
Canada April 13-24. Below is their itinerary.

April 13-16 New York
April 17-19 Allentown
April 20-21 Chicago
April 22-24 Toronto

A number of the BB Staff will take advantage of this opportunity to meet and
greet the delegation in Allentown. As of this writing it appears that Gerry
Berghold, Tom Steichen, Bob Strauch, Anna Kresh, John Lavendoski, Margaret
Kaiser, Maureen Tighe-Brown and Klaus Gerger (part of the delegation) will attend.
Gerry Berghold will be staying at the Four Points Sheraton (as will the
delegation and some of the BB staff). While a number of affairs are being planned,
please contact Anna Kresh or Bob Strauch if you wish to attend any that will
be open to the public. This is the first meeting of such a large group of the
BB staff and we will use the occasion to also plan future growth and
organization of the BB.


2. PHONE BOOKS CAN AID IN ESTABLISHING ORIGIN

Some time ago a correspondent asked if I could help locate his ancestor's
village of origin. His surname was not listed with us and his time frame of
research slightly pre-dated the start of Burgenland emigration. I suggested he try
the Austrian on-line phone book for a clue. He was offended that I would
suggest such a search and responded that phone books were hardly a place to do
genealogical research. I did such a search for him and supplied two villages with
a number of families with his surname. The connection was obvious,  but to date
I've never had reply or thanks.

We must not lose sight of the fact that only a little over one hundred years
have passed since the great wave of Burgenland emigration started in the late
1800s. This means that family can still probably be found in the villages of
origin. Like America, most families now have telephones and are listed in the
phonebooks. While some movement has undoubtedly taken place in the intervening
years and some families have died out, the probability of finding distant
cousins in the villages of origin or nearby is still very high. Of course this
probability decreases with time - a search for an 18th century family name may
well be fruitless. In my own case, given the earliest family migration date of
1902, I can still find many family names listed in the original villages of
origin.

If you have had no luck using our lists or the Ellis Island data, try the
online phonebooks. You will find their addresses in our Homepage URL listing
maintained by Anna Kresh. I might mention that there are commercial sites who will
offer to find your village of origin - I'm sure some use the available on-line
phone listings to a great extent.


3. RECHNITZER SURNAME

In a message dated 3/4/07, Paul Rechnitzer writes:

I have done the research on my family who are all Danish. The first Rechnitzer
I have found was a Simon who died in Hamburg in 1828. He was a Jew. His son
was orphaned and adopted by his aunt and taken to Denmark, where he was
baptized into the Danish Lutheran Church. I wrote to the mayor of Rechnitz a
number of years ago and he said the name didn't originate there?

I am planning on being in Vienna the latter part of May and thought I would
like to engage a researcher or someone who might know of a family tree that
listed a Simon Rechnitzer. My previous contacts with the Jewish Rechnitzers has
been fruitless and I have inquired of 5 listed in the phone book, with
responses that varied from one extreme to the other.

Since Rechnitz is in Burgenland can you point me in the direction of where I
might find some genealogies of people named Rechnitzer?

Thank you, Paul Rechnitzer

REPLY: your assumption that the name Rechnitzer identifies someone from
Rechnitz may not necessarily be valid. Common surnames were taken (given via fiat
in the case of most Jews) mostly in the early 16th century. Some were taken
from place of origin (Hamburger, Sorger, Unger, etc.) So yes, Rechnitzer could
mean someone from Rechnitz. Of course it could also stem from a literal
translation of Recht (correct) and Nitzer (the nick-name for Nicholas): the "correct
Nicholas." Given what follows, however, I think your assumption is correct, but
I wonder why the German equivalent instead of the Hungarian one? When was the
name given? Was Simon also an orphan? (I notice that, in 1858, the Jewish
community in Rechnitz owned some houses; how were they used - orphanage, hospice,
boarding house?)

Let's look at the Rechnitz village possibility. Rechnitz is the German name
for the Hungarian village (pre-1921) of Rohonc, which was in the county (Megye)
of Vas, Hungary, now in the district of Oberwart in the province of Burgenland,
Austria. It is one of the larger Burgenland villages, with an ancient history
dating in its present form from about 1260 or earlier. Settled by Germans as
early as early as the 9th century, it was one of the villages of Hungary ceded
to Austria by the Treaty of Trianon following WW-I. In 1873, Rechnitz had a
population of 2340 Roman Catholics, 1079 Lutherans and, most importantly for you,
479 Jews. There was a RC and Lutheran church as well as a Jewish synagogue
(dating from 1649). In scanning an 1858 list of householders, I find no one by the
name of Rechnitzer (my source says 850 Jews lived there in 1850, 311 in 1900,
so if there were Rechnitzers there at that time, you would expect them to be
shown in the 1858 house lists). However since Simon died in Hamburg in 1828,
it's evident that he could have lived in Rechnitz only much earlier than 1850.
That leaves many years in which his (potential) remaining family could migrate away!

You may well question why someone would move from western Hungary to northern
Germany, but the Jews were limited in their ability to secure certain jobs
and they did tend to be more mobile than the normal peasantry. The Batthyány
family were the overlords of Rechnitz during the time in question. Many Jews
worked as clerks for the aristocracy. The Esterhazys -- princes of the Empire,
whose domain was the Northern Burgenland -- had many Jewish employees and even
protected them with documents. Since they controlled Frauenkirchen, is there a
possibility there was Rechnitzer migration north from Rechnitz?

I do believe you would do best to continue your search in Jewish records,
given that Simon was Jewish. The Rechnitz synagogue records from 1834-1895 are
available from the LDS (Mormon library in Salt Lake City) at any of their family
history centers. The microfilm number for those records is 0700726. Although
dated after Simon's death, they may well contain some other family records.

I notice that in the BB surname list, there is mention of one Vilmos Rechnitzer
from the village of Frauenkirchen (in the north of Burgenland near the
Neusiedler See). The BB member supplying that data may still be active.

I can well understand the Bürgomeister of Rechnitz in that he may only have
access to later records (1896 forward). Not all Hungarian records were
transferred in 1921. The LDS secured theirs from the Hungarian State Library in
Budapest. There is no one with the Rechnitzer name in either Rechnitz or
Frauenkirchen today.

Your best bet is to continue following the possible origin in Austro/Hungary
and given the time frame involved, I would think that Your search should be in the
Jewish records. I'd certainly start with those LDS Rechnitz records and trace
those possible Frauenkirchen Rechnitzers. You may even find earlier records.
Of course your research is hampered by the loss of records occasioned by WW-II,
but the Jewish organizations are doing an excellent job of accumulating extant
records. Like our own research, it is necessary to try to pinpoint places of
origin. Perhaps a Viennese Jewish organization may be able to help.

You can find a bit more about Rechnitz by scanning some of the material
available from the BB Homepage. Let me know if you have any success.


4. ITALIAN ETHNIC CLUB CLOSES IN ALLENTOWN (courtesy Bob Strauch)

Italian immigrants founded the Allentown Italian Club in 1887. In 1916, the
building association sold about 600 shares to help pay for construction of the
building at 823 Jordan St. At one time the club had over 4000 members, with a
ladies auxiliary and Saturday night dances. On Sundays, after Mass, it was
standing room only at the bar and the cries of the Bocce players, in the field
behind the building, could be heard through the open windows. The club was
recently dissolved and the building sold.

One of the many ethnic clubs in Allentown, it was located in what was then a
predominantly Italian neighborhood (north of Tilghman Street to Cedar (as far
as the bridge over the Jordan Creek leading to Fullerton) and west from Meadow
street to about 6th street.) It bordered a Burgenland ethnic area (south of
Tilghman and west from Meadow to 5th.) Both areas are now mainly Hispanic.
My uncle, William L. Sorger, the only son of my maternal grandfather,
Burgenland immigrant Alois Sorger, was an early member of this club as were a few
other Burgenland immigrant descendants. While their fathers were mostly members
of the German Turner Liederkranz on 2nd street, many of their sons joined other
ethnic clubs where they found former school chums or playmates. Was this one
of the first ethnic assimilations.? In the next generation (mine) there were
as many Italian kids in our "gang" as there were Burgenlanders. We traded
pogatchels and strudel for polenta and cannelloni and were always welcome guests in
either home. The fine hospitality of both Burgenländer and Italian is
legendary.

It appears that the Austrian/Hungarian Veterans' Club (includes a Burgenland
group) on 4th Street may well become the last of the ethnic clubs in
Allentown.


5. BB-BG SPONSORED TRIP TO BURGENLAND CANCELLED

While a number of BB members expressed an interest (planned for July 2007)
only six people signed up for the trip with the tour operator. A minimum of 20
was required. As a result, the tour operator had to cancel the trip. We are
very sorry if the six who applied have been inconvenienced as a result. This was
the third attempt on our part to respond to membership requests for such a
trip. A lot of effort and planning are required. We may again offer such a trip
in 2008, but it could well be our last attempt. It is unfortunate that, out of
over 1400 BB members, we can not muster a minimum group. As previously stated,
the trip as offered is a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the
Burgenland with the help of BB & BG staff and Burgenland members.

* BB Burgenland Editor Klaus Gerger sends the following:
Hello Gerry, the July 2007 Burgenland tour, continues to be problematic. Today I
had a long phone call with Mr. Kirnbauer from Blaguss. He informed me that he has
to cancel the trip because all arrangements (reservation of flight and hotels) are
based on a group of at least 20. Up to today we all tried hard but just 6 persons
booked.

Attached you can find the cancel notice from Blaguss. I feel really sorry
because I invested a lot of time. Mr. Kirnbauer told me that he will support
hotel bookings if any of the group does the trip on an individual basis. So I can
offer to act as a guide either in Eisenstadt or in Southern Burgenland for a
few days. Since some of the potential participants stated that they will go
probably next year, Mr. Kirnbauer offerd to repeat the offer for a tour 2008.
What do you think about this? Sorry Klaus.

* Message to the six parties reserving a spot on the tour:
Dear Sir or Madame, I'm really sorry, but we have to cancel the Burgenland-trip.
The reason is, that there are only 6 (maybe 8) people signed in. The trip
is calculated with 20 people, so the price would increase dramatically. I was
really looking forward to welcome you in our beautiful country. Mr. Gerger
will send you an e-mail, the next few days, because he is planning to do (offer)
the trip in the year 2008.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Michaela Horvath
Resebüromitarbeiterin in Ausbildung
Blaguss Touristik GmbH
7350 Oberpullendorf, Wiener Straße 26


6. TASTE OF THE BURGENLAND - KÜRBIS OR PUMPKIN

Those born in the United States identify pumpkin with Halloween or the Pilgrims
Thanksgiving. However, if you visit the Burgenland in late summer or early
fall you will find heaps of pumpkins stacked in the fields and village courtyards
(Hofs). I'm not sure when the pumpkin came to the Burgenland, but it is now an
integral part of Burgenland cuisine. Made with sour cream it was one of
my grandmother's favorites.

The first thing many Burgenlanders do with pumpkin is remove the seeds and
process them for pumpkin seed oil, a distinctive Burgenland specialty, very
heavy, dark green with a nutty flavor. The flesh can be cooked as a dish with sour
cream or made into a very nice cream bisque soup. We had this last at a great
lunch in Mattersburg. It was one of those wet lunches that last for hours.
There is also a pumpkin strudel, which I've never tasted or encountered. If there
is too much pumpkin left, it is dried and used as an addition to the feed for
farm animals.

Recently Bob Strauch sent me a clipping from the Allentown Morning Call. They
published two pumpkin soup recipes, one from "Culinaria Hungary," the other
from a Whitehall immigrant family.

The only recipe I have is for a cold squash soup. If any of our members have
an original immigrant recipe for pumpkin soup, I'd be pleased to publish it.


END OF NEWSLETTER
The Burgenland Bunch homepage (website) can be found at:
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We can also be reached from: http://go.to/burgenland-bunch (this address
also provides access to Burgenländische Gemeinschaft web site)

Use our website to access our membership, village and surname lists,
archives, internet links, maps, instructions, ethnic song book, frequently asked
questions and other information.

Burgenland Bunch Newsletter (c) 1997 archived courtesy of RootsWeb.com, Inc.
P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. Newsletter published monthly by
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Permission to Copy Granted; You Must Provide Credit and Mention Source.