THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 164
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 12th Year- Issued monthly as email by G, J. Berghold, BB Editor
June 30, 2007
(c) 2007 G. J. Berghold-all rights reserved

~TIME FLIES LIKE AN ARROW-FRUIT FLIES LIKE AN ORANGE~
(Chris Berghold-3rd generation immigrant descendant)

Current Status Of The BB: Members-1429*Surname Entries- 4787*Query Board
Entries-3720*Newsletters Archived-164-Number of Staff Members-15

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newsletters.

This first section of our 3 section newsletter concerns:

1. DNA As Pointer To Family History
2. BB DNA Project?
3. Poppendorf &Latin-Hungarian Dictionaries
4. Burgenland Immigrant Obits-Notify Frank Paukowits
5. Burgenland Railroad Reborn


1. DNA AS POINTER TO FAMILY HISTORY

Continuing the correspondence begun in newsletter 163 (Italian DNA), a correspondent writes:

"Is there no anecdotal evidence of Turkish/Ottoman/Other ancestry persisting
in Pamhagen or that area? Also, I see that you had a head count of Lutherans,
Catholics and Jews in Balf (which I know is not currently in Burgenland but is
in the historical region). Where did you find that count? Are there names
associated with it? Where could I find it?"

Reply: For our purposes we recognize Hungarian villages close to the border
of today's Burgenland. Balf is one of them, less than 5 km from the border.
Without the plebiscite of 1920, all of the Sopron district would have been
included in the portion ceded to Austria in 1921. The head count I supplied is taken
from 1873 Gazetteer of Hungary available from the LDS as microfiche no.
6000840. Megye Sopron, Commitat Sopron. Names are not given.

I have only found one Burgenland anecdotal evidence of Turkish ancestry. In
the records (1689-1692) of Stadt Güssing, we find baptism of some Turkish
orphans and followers with even the Batthyány serving as godparents. One record
translates:

"On 19 March 1689, was baptized Georg, whose father (was) a Turk, the mother
Rasciana (A Serb?) Margarethe, the godparents Matthias Delichicz and Johannes
Grohicz, residence Szt Nicholas." Obviously a rape or mistress case which
included a refugee from Croatia as Szt. Nicholas was a village settled by Croat
refugees.

There are 8 more. Multiply this by the other six district towns and we can
have at least 54 possibilities. Multiply by 300 parishes and we can have almost
3000!

The best anecdotal evidence for Pamhagen that I've found is in Kirrsner &
Peternell "Der Bezirk Neusiedel am See im Wandel der Zeit", pub 1999 by
Feldkirchen Druck.

It briefly summarizes Pamhagen's history from 1268 (mentioned in an early
"urkund" as Pomag) to the present. Through 1451 it was in the hands of the owners
of Domain of Forchtenstein-Duke Albert and then Kaiser Friredrich III. In
1554 it was acquired by Palatin Thomas Nadasdy. Following 1675 it was acquired by
the Esterhazys who controlled it until the Empire was abolished in 1920.
There was much Turkish destruction in 1683 (as well as during the first siege of
Vienna.) In 1683, a bell tower was erected with a Turkish flag and the motto
"Mosco Pascha 1683" as a remembrance of the last Turkish incursion.

I feel you should give more credence to the effect of Turkish invasion of the
Burgenland area. You speak of 150 years (the time when the Turks controlled
eastern Hungary) following the battle of Mohacs in 1527. In reality I feel we
must recognize the effects of Turkish incursions from as early as 1354 to 1804
(i.e. "Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804, Peter F. Sugar,
Univ. of Wash. Press-1993.) The Turks weren't completely removed from the Balkans
until the early 1900's, granted that it took some time from 1354 for events to
reach western Hungary. As far as the Burgenland area was concerned, it lasted
well into the late 1700's (capture of Belgrade in 1789.) There was Croatian
movement into Burgenland in the early 1500's by refugees fleeing the Turks. In
1525 they were settled in the district of Güssing by the then Ban of Croatia,
Franz Batthyány, who was given the Herrschaft of Güssing for his efforts in
resisting the Turks. Did those Croatian refugees bring Turkish DNA with them?
Likewise, the first siege of Vienna had the Turks taking the northern route
which did place them in the Pamhagen area. During the second siege, they came
through both the northern and middle Burgenland (Kozseg-Sopron) areas. During
their retreat they retired through the middle and southern portions. Over 8000
Turks were in residence in the district of Güssing during the second siege. The
Batthyány were able to retain their villages intact by agreeing to furnish the
Turkish forces with food and supplies. After their defeat, the Batthyány
forces massacred the 8000 Turks in order to gain Imperial forgiveness for
supplying the Turks. You will find this in the two books concerning the sieges of
Vienna mentioned earlier as well as Suger's history.

In addition their were Turkish incursions as far west as St. Gotthard (see
1664 battle of) and even Graz, Styria well into the early 1700's. There is also
the Bocsky (Transylvanian) Rebellion of 1600 and other Kuruzen raids which
devastated much of southern Burgenland. In other words, the two sieges were not
short isolated instances of Turkish incursion, and they had plenty of time to
rape and pillage.

Now-whence comes DNA mutation? There is only one answer-intercourse or rape.
The resultant issue was generally raised by the inhabitants. As mentioned
previously, the records of Stadt Güssing, show baptism of some Turkish orphans and
followers with even the Batthyány serving as godparents. Some of these must
have survived and had descendants, hence DNA possibilities. In reading of the
Turkish Wars I'm amazed at the size of their army train-many-many camp
followers. Not all could or did return. The incidence of Turkish blood in the
Burgenland could be fairly high as a result.

My question however is, how long does it take DNA to mutate? How many
mutating experiences are necessary? I doubt if we have definite answers. My DNA has
little mutation although my family had two Croatian marriages in the early
1700's, no Croatian DNA.

I view the Burgenland period 1524 to 1848 as very unsettled. War, famine and
pestilence devastated the population-we know much migration took place as a
result. I feel through my studies that the majority of today's population stems
from the migrations which followed the second siege of Vienna. As such,
carriers of pre 1690 DNA must be relatively low except for limited westward
migration following the 1848 (Hungarian Revolution) period.

Question: "Another interesting thing about the test was that it pinpointed
Kurdish ancestry, and from what I have read, some Kurds came along on the
Ottoman campaigns. My family is otherwise extremely North Western European, so it
seems likely that this has come from that region also."

Reply: Suger goes into great detail concerning the makeup of the Turkish
invading armies. All areas under their control provided combatants. I'm sure it
included Kurds.

Question: There are a couple of words on the LDS film that I cannot decipher.
One seems to be "Weor." It is listed, it seems, as a surname for a woman
named Eva. But I am not sure that I am reading it correctly, as the penmanship is
not fully legible. Are you familiar with this as a surname?

Reply: I do not recognize this as a family name. It is undoubtedly a Latin or
Hungarian abbreviation of a surname adjective like widow or loyal, etc. In
my use of the LDS records, I find that the baptism and death records rarely
provided the maiden names of the mothers or wives. Only in the marriage records
do I find those names.

It's interesting to speculate on your DNA mix-all sorts of interesting
probabilities exist. Sephardic Hebrew from Spain via Thessalonika, a rape or
marriage with a Kurdish Moslem during the early Ottoman period, a subsequent marriage
with a Magyar or Transylvanian (the Italian connection), the possibility of
involvement with the Hungarian-Austrian wars, finally some issue which settled
in northern Burgenland and subsequent local intermarriage with migrants from
western Europe. If we could only find the records-but alas the early ones
helped kindle fires! The romance of family history.


2. BB DNA PROJECT?

A correspondent writes: We were talking about the DNA test and
we wondered if the Burgenland Bunch Web site would ever consider a DNA
section.). It seems that DNA ancestry is useful and helpful with given contexts.
That said, it would be more useful to have a broader scope of results to peruse
from a given demographic of people. Do you think the Web site might ever be
able to host a searchable database of voluntarily submitted Burgenland-related
DNA results? It seems something like this might entail interested people who
have done the DNA tests, submitting their results along with certain relevant
factors like towns in their family history, family names related to the results,
number of family members from the Burgenland area or the particular towns (to
give an idea of proximity to the actual DNA of the area, because obviously for
immigrant families not everything on the test would be relevant for
Burgenland families).

Also it seems that privacy is an issue, because sometimes people are upset by
the diversity of DNA results and don't want to share all the data. However,
an option to have contact info could be included for those who don't mind.
Even the DNA testing center's name could be used to limit the search. It would
also be interesting to see where many mutated DNA and paternal line DNA from
Burgenland originate, and people with certain common ancestors could thus
cross-reference tests and other data.

So an example I guess could be our own family. It would be great to be able
to pull up the DNA results of other families with Fleischhackers in Pamhagen.
It would really be something interesting to be able to type in, for example,
"Fleischhacker" "Pamhagen" and to see what other results came up and then also
to see what other family names were associated with the other results related
to Fleischhacker. Would Fleischhacker in combination with certain family
names have certain DNA results? Would there be less of some results consistently
when certain families were not included?

On the Web site now, there are lists of what families are connected with
certain towns. It would be so wonderful to get to get a more detailed of those
demographics with DNA.

The implications could be up to the reader/researcher to interpret, but the
information would provide a great way to collaborate fairly detailed
information that otherwise might not be able to be even hypothesized. It might take a
while to get many submissions, but it would seem like a worthy pursuit. Anyway,
if you ever decide to do something like this it could probably be very useful
and a great way to expand on Burgenland family research already accomplished.

BB President Tom Steichen replies:

There has been some discussion among BB Staff about DNA data but we have yet
to consider it as a formal BB project. Nonetheless, I have blind-copied the
staff on this reply to see if anyone has interest in pursuing this as a
potential project. I have not explored DNA data myself so I have no idea of how much
data this might entail, how difficult it would be to build a usable database,
nor what the legal and ethical issues might be.

[To the BB Staff: if anyone can enlighten me (and/or other staff) on these or
other pertinent issues, please reply with whatever you know.]

As you see, I have asked the BB Staff to respond. I will make no promises on
what we might do but I thank you for raising the issue.


3. POPPENDORF & LATIN DICTIONARIES

Ronald A. Madle writes: I'm so glad to hear that you will be able to continue
as Newsletter Editor for the Burgenland Bunch. The newsletter has been a
tremendous resource in my attempt to explore my Poppendorf ancestry (e.g., Medl,
Jusits, Deuts, Drauch).

I wanted to submit an item for the newsletter if you are interested (and if
it already hasn't been included). When I started working on the LDS microfilm
records for Poppendorf I knew I would need some way to
understand the records that were in Hungarian and Latin. In searching for
resources I ran across an outstanding resource that was published by the
Genealogy RO Group--a combined Latin-English and Latin-Hungarian Genealogical
Dictionary. It covers virtually all the words I needed to decipher the church
records, including various causes of death. Hopefully this resource can be announced
to other members. The web address is http://www.genealogy.ro/dictionary/.

(ED. Note: The newsletter archives also contain articles that provide help in
reading those LDS church records. See index republished in newsletter 164A.)


4. BURGENLAND OBITS-NOTIFY FRANK PAUKOWITS

As reported in previous newsletters, Frank has joined the BB staff. He is the
founder of the web pages called "Burgenlanders Honored & Remembered" (click
on BB Homepage title). These are cemetery records showing immigrant names, age,
residence at time of death, where buried, village of origin, parents if
known, etc. Space is also available for pictures. Along with other BB data, this
can provide a fairly complete family history, but only if you provide the data.
Contact Frank via email Paukowits(a)aol.com.


5. BURGENLAND RAILROAD REBORN

One of the major problems following the creation of the Burgenland was the
lack of north-south transportation facilities. It is only since the late 1950's
that this has been rectified. There were railroads and major roads, but the
hub was at Sopron, which remained in Hungary, and branch lines withered and
died.
BB membership editor Hannes Graf is a man of many talents. He has spent a
lot of time helping resurrect a former branch line. He says " The railway goes
from Oberwart to Oberschützen, 8 km long with stations Unterschützen and Bad
Tatzmannsdorf. There is a "Bunch" of people, who want to clear the mud, rebuild
some stationhouses, buy some engines and wagons and resurrect them. We've been
working for the last 3 years. A little picture-gallery from last year:
http://www.scholemandfriends.com/Frowos/Frowos.htm
Some of the wagons and engines are the last to be found in Austria (Europe).
I'm a member of the group. We will try to get a permission to operate this
summer. I hope it works and becomes a nice tourist attraction. The only historic
railroad in Burgenland.

Newsletter continues as number 164A.



THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 164A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 12th Year- Issued monthly as email by Gerald Berghold)
June 30, 2007
(c) 2007 G. J. Berghold-all rights reserved)


The second section of this 3 section newsletter features an Index to the
first two years of the Burgenland Bunch Newsletter. During this period we covered
a lot of territory of interest to new members. If you've joined since then,
print it and hold for reference.

ALPHABETIC INDEX TO BURGENLAND BUNCH (BB) NEWSLETTERS
(December 31, 1998)

Listed are the major subjects appearing in the 1997 and 1998 issues of the
Burgenland Bunch newsletter. The subjects are in alphabetical order followed by
the volume numbers of the newsletters in which they will be found. Village
names denote extracts from the Pater (Father) Gratian Leser series of southern
Burgenland village histories, first published in the 1930's and partially
extracted and translated by Albert Schuch, or village data researched by the BB
staff. Use volume number to copy subject newsletter from the archives by clicking
on Burgenland Bunch (BB Archives) topic from Homepage.

NEWSLETTER TOPIC -VOLUME NUMBER

Abbreviation ING. DOM.-31
Abbreviations-see Terms and 37B
Allentown & Northampton, PA-38A, 40
Allentown, PA-Immigrant Changes, 51A
Alter Sprach (dialect)-44B, also see Hianzisch, dialects
Amtlicher Ausweis-33
Andau Emigrants-30
Antwerp Ship Source-31
Apetlon -10
Apetlon & Thell Family-38
Archives, downloading-30A
Austrian American Newsletter-29
Austrian Cookbook From Chicago-39B
Austrian Flag-41
Austrian Links-21
Auswanderer Museum, Güssing-47B
Auswandererschicksal, emigrant stories, see family name
Bakony Region in Hungary-35, 38
Bankerlsitzer (news)-30, 46
Baptism & Conversion Records, availability-37
BB Coverage on ORF (Austrian Radio)-31
BB Members, Contacting-44B
BB Picnic-39, 42B
BB Procedures-21, 45B
Berghold, Alexander- "Land und Leute"-41B
Berghold Auswandererschicksal-39A
Berghold Name-distribution-56B
Berghold Name, Volksfreund -47B
Bergen Villages-37B
Bergwerk, village inhabitants of-32A,
Bezirks, see Burgenland Districts
Bildein (Ober & Unter, BB)-10
Blaufrankisch Wine-24
Blochziehen-49
Bocksdorf -38
Bocskay Rebellion-20
Books, Burgenland-1, 11, 25A, 30, 39, 42B
Book, German Migration-41
Borderland, (book)-1
Bremen Port of Departure-41B
Bubendorf-54
Burgauberg -44
Burgenland Books-1, 25A, 30, 39, 42B
Burgenland Bunch, formation of-43A
Burgenland Castles & Genealogy-13A
Burgenland Data Sources-26A
Burgenland Depopulation-14
Burgenland Districts (Bezirk)-44
Burgenland Dwellings-26, 30
Burgenland Emigration (from Königshofer, Der Volksfreund)-37A
Burgenland Featured on TV-26, 30
Burgenland Flag-1
Burgenland Folk Customs and Tales-26
Burgenland Food at Turn of the Century-14A, 15, 16, 17, 47A
Burgenland Glimpses From The Past-53B
Burgenlandische Gemeinschaft-6, 48A
Burgenländische Gemeinschaft (link with)-23
Burgenländische Gemeinschaft Recipes-39B
Burgenland Genealogy URL List-33A, 37B
Burgenland Gypsies-28
Burgenland Jewish Names-40
Burgenland Jewish Population-35
Burgenland Kitchen Food-34, 47A
Burgenland Music-13, 17, 27A, 38B, 53
Burgenland Organization, Another-36
Burgenland Political Subdivisions-29
Burgenland Records (location of)-18
Burgenland Schools-53
Burgenland Settlers Origns-25A
Burgenland Taxes-26A
Burgenland Village Fires-53A
Burgenland War Year Memories-44B
Burgenland Wine-24, 27A, 28
Burgenland Word Picture (poem)-20
Cabbage Strudel-47A
Canonical Visitations-16
Catasauqua, PA History-40A
CatholicRecords, LDS Copies of -41A
Census-2
Chicago, enclave-37A, 41A
Chicago Fasching-33
Church Names-51A
Church Records-39, 41A, 42B
Civil Records-41A 54A
Copyright-21
Croatian Dictionaries-21
Croatian History-35, 52, 55, 56A
Croatian Movement-42, 42B
Croatian Origins-48A
Croatian Translations-51B
Cseke (Eisenberg)-52
Deutsch Beiling-29
Deutsch Gerisdorf-54
Deutsch Jahrndorf -10
Deutsch Kaltenbrunn -45
Deutschkreuz and Oberwart Jewish Records-28
Deutsch Schützen & Eberau-47B
Deutsch Tschantschendorf-31
Deutsch Tschantschendorf Research-40A
Diacritical Marks (the Umlaut)-29
Dialect, Defense of -45, 48A
Dialect Geography-41B
Dica tax-29
Dictionaries-1, 21
Diocesan Archives in Eisenstadt-21
Districts-see Bezirks
Dobersdorf -10, 51
Donations, 1924 Immigrants, Szt. Kathrein-37
Donau Schwabians-17
Donors' Names-32
Eden, SD, enclave-13
Editor's Newsletter Method-22
Edlitz -10
Eisenhüttl (Leser)-48
Elder Hostel Trip to Austria (Unger)-16
Eltendorf -10, 53
Eltendorf-45A
Eltendorf Church Records-53A
Eltendorf War Memorial Names-40B
Elizabeth, St.-41
Emigration Papers-41B
Emigration Reasons-32
Emigration, Articles (A. Königshofer-Volksfreund)-46, 47A, 48, 49, 51
Emperor Franz Joseph-21
Empress Elizabeth-43
Ethnic Mix-43B
Family Immigrant Story-23
Farmer-Terms For-55
Felso Ronok, Hung. -10
Felso Ronok-St. Emmerich Church-51B
Feudal tenancy, data on-27
First Emigrants to US-25A
Folklore-48A
Food-see Burgenland Food
Gamischdorf -38
Genealogy Aids-45A
Gerersdorf -10
Gerersdorf -46
German Newspapers in the US-16
German Newspapers in Western Hungary-28A
German Terms-see Terms
German Translator (software)-15
Getting Started-40
Gilly Cousin-43
Glassing -23
Glatz Emigration-Loipersdorf (Auswandererschicksal)-27
Gols -10
Gourmet Magazine-39B
Grieselstein, village-16
Grossmürbisch (BB)-10, 22
Gschorrholz-44
Güssing -10
Güssing's Auswanderer Museum-47B
Guttenbach -38
Gypsies-28
Hackerberg -43
Hagensdorf -27
Halbturn -11
Hamburg Ship List-41B
Hamilton, OH, Burgenländers in -24
Hannersdorf - Burg Castle Ruins-45A, 46
Hannersdorf War Memorial-42B
Hannersdorf War Memorial Donors-40B
Harmisch -11
Hasendorf -22
Health & Southern Burgenland-42A
Hebraic Research (Tighe Brown)-37
Heiligenbrunn -28
Heiligenkreuz -11, 53
Heiligenkreuz, church record availability-16
Heiligenkreuz Question-38B
Heiligenkreuz War Year Memories-44B
Henderson, MN (Austro/Hungarian Roots in)-18
Heraldry-14
Heugraben -39
Hianzisch Dialect-31, 45
Historical Village Series (Leser)-see 21-50 inclusive
"Hold", definition of -32
Home of a Burgenland Schoolteacher-26
House Names-35
House Numbers-51B, 52
Hungarian Census-54
Hungarian Death Terms-47B
Hungarian Records, reading-18A, 43
Hungarian Villages, German Names of -47A
Hungary, Taste of-39B
Illmitz, Food & Wine-46
Immigrant Busy Work-45A
Immigrant Itinerary-7, 13
Immigrant Ship Photos-36
Immigration-naturalization records-30
Index, to BB News-49A, 49B
Inzenhof -25
Itinerary, strange-36
Jennersdorf -11
Judaic Links and Names-40
Judaic Research-37
Kappeller Name-37B
Kleinmürbisch -11, 22
Kleinpetersdorf, House Owners of -33
Klemens Name-35A
Klemens Name-Oslip & Passaic-37A
Kogl -11, 56
Kohfidisch-11
Königsdorf -11, 52
Köszeg, Hungary, Obit from-38B
Kroatisch Tschantschendorf, (Leser)-32
Krottendorf -22
Kukmirn -11, 48, 53A
Lackenbach -11
Lackendorf -11
Landholding Terminology-53
Langasch, Emil, Poppendorf teacher, death of-45A
Language, Clue to origin-44
Language Disputes-32
Latin Terms-44, 54
LDS records-37B
Lebenbrunn -11, 56
Lehigh Valley (PA) Clippings-40A
Limbach -49
Loipersdorf, Glatz Emigration from-27
Loisdorf -11
Luising -28
Lutheran Migration-19
Mannersdorf -11
Maps-4, 5, 15, 27A, 30A
Mariasdorf & Grodnau, Inhabitants of-31A
Markt St. Martin (BB)-11
Marriage Records, Hungarian-15
Marriage Records, Multiple-45A
McKees Rocks, PA, enclave-37A
Mei Hoamat, poem-33
Membership Procedure-20
Memories-One Immigrant's-31
Metric Conversions-39B
Miedlingsdorf Immigrants-37A
Migration to Burgenland-8, 56
Migration Reasons-41
Military Records-Muster Rolls-47A
Military Service-38B, 54B
Mini-Hof Liebau, naming-29
Money-sending to Europe-15
Months & Dates, (German, Hungarian, Latin)-5
Moschendorf -11, 25A
Moson Villages-19, 23
Mühl Family-Schoolteaching-40A
Multiple Marriages-45A
Museum of Remembrances-34
Nagykanizsa, Hungary-46B, 47B
Names, Meaning of surnames-35
Naming Conventions-38B
Naturalization Question-34, 37A
Nazareth, PA-17, 19, 54B
Nazareth, PA Cement Mills-14
Nazareth Cement Museum-19, 23
Nemet Csenc (Deutsch Tschantschendorf) Research-40A
Neuberg -38
Neudauberg -44
Neusiedl -49
Neustift bei Güssing, baptisms, 1600's-16
Neustift bei Güssing -11, 25
Neustift bei Schlaining, inhabitants of-32A
Neustift Records-26
Neutal -11
Northampton, PA & Allentown-38A
Northampton, PA Catholic Church-36
Northampton, PA Census-34
Northampton Immigrant Days, Memories -40A
Northampton, PA - Stegersbach-32, 40A
Northampton Tombstone Names, Our Lady of Hungary Cem.-40A
Oberwart -11
Oberwart Jewish Records-28
Oberwart News Articles, 1920's-14, 15, 19
Octavalista-37B
Olbendorf -39
Older German words and terms-18, 27A
Ollersdorf -41
Omaha, NE Burgenland enclave-27A
Orphan's Book-33, 58B
Oslip, Village of -35A
Our Brother Vitus (song)-18
Pamhagen -11
Pamhagen, Early Emigrant-33
Pamhagen Immigration Story-47
Pamhagen, village-26A, 55B
Pamhagen War Memorial-46A
Paprika-39B, 46
Passenger Lists-24
Peasant Land Transfers-17
Phoenix, PA, History of -23
Photographs, 48, 49
Pilgersdorf -12, 25A, 54
Pinka Mindszent, Hung. -12
Podersdorf -12
Political Subdivisions-29
Poppendorf -12, 39A
Poppendorf Edition-39A
Poppendorf Emigration-42
Poppendorf History (A. Königshofer)-39A
Poppendorf Immigrants-29
Poppendorf Obituary-30
Poppendorf School Teacher-27, 45A
Poppendorf School Teacher, mysterious death-27A
Poppendorf Thumb Nail Sketch-39A
Poppendorf Vignettes-32A
Primer of Diacritical Marks (the Umlaut)-29
Property Records, Location of -41
Publishing a Genealogy Book-46A
Punitz -22
Rabafüzes, Hung. (BB)-12
Rauchwart -38
Reader Poll-41A, 42A, 43, 44B
Reading Hungarian Records-18A
Redschlag-55
Rehgraben -12, 47
Reinersdorf (Leser)-29
Riedlingsdorf -15A
Riedlingsdorf War Memorial Donors-40B
Robert Unger's Genealogical Experiences-26A
Rohr -39
Rohrbrunn -45
Rosenberg (Güssing. BB)-12
Rosenberg (Güssing), village-23, 45A
Rotenturm-54
Rudersdorf -12, 25A
Rudersdorf News-20, 30, 45A
St. Andra (village)-21
Szt. Gotthard Muster Rolls-37B
St. Kathrein -12
St. Michael im Burgenland -37
St. Nikolaus (Güssing)-12, 21
Szt. Peterfa, Hung.-12, 51
Szt. Peterfa, Hung. , emigration-49
Salmansdorf -12, 55
Schallendorf-38
Schatz Family Research-27
Schilling Exchange-42B
Schlaining, Domain of -46B
Schwabian Migration-34
Sister Cities, Northampton, PA - Stegersbach-32
Social Sec. Applications, Data From -43B
Sopron, Early Emigrants-34
Sorger, family auswandererschicksal-23
Sources of Family Pedigree-24
South American Immigration-46
South Dakota, enclave-13
Staatsangehörigkeit-36
Starting a Burgenland Search-47, 48, 51A, 54A
Stegersbach -40
Stegersbach, sister city to Northampton-32, 40A
Steinbach-56
Steingraben -46
Stinatz -42
Strem -12, 29
Styrian and Swabian Migration (to Burgenland)-41
Sulz -47
Sulz Bottling Plant-41
Summetendorf -29
Szécsény (Hungary)-38
Szentpeterfa-Northampton, PA-46B
Tauka-56B
Tauchen, village inhabitants of -32A
Taxes (the "dica")-29
Terms, hist. & gen..-18, 24, 27A, 30A, 37A, 39, 40B, 41A, 44
Thirty Years War-9
Tobaj -24
Tobaj, village-38
Translation Software-15, 17, 29, 56
Transylvanian Question-28
Travel Guides-36
Trip-Gols (Portsche)-45
Trip-Grossmürbisch Sulz (Klucharich)-40
Trip Report (Griesbacher)-44A
Trip Report (Lavendoski)-12,14
Trip Report (Tighe-Brown)-34A
Trip to the Seewinkel (Weinzatl)-25
Trip to Vienna (Bob Unger)-17A, 20A, 34A, 35A
Trip-Burgenland (Unger)-36A
Trip-Czech, Austrian, German, Hungarian, includes Seewinkel (Rabbe)-42A
Trips, Finding Ancestors-53A
Trips, Story of Two WWII (Loeffler)-28
Tschanigraben-26
Tudersdorf-32
Umlaut-5, 29
Unter Bildein-19
Urbars-16
Urbersdorf -23
Urbersdorf Research-26
Veszprem County, Book on -43
Vienna Districts-52
Views of America & Burgenland-35
Village Data-16, 47B
Village Names-38
Village photos-18
Village Source, bibliography-12
Villages-3,
Villages (early BB members')-10, 11, 12
Villages, clues-38
Visit, 1955 Reverse-21,24
Visit Over the Hungarian Border (Hianzen Dialect)-31
Volksfreund names -47A, 47B
Volksfreund News Clips (A. Königshofer-also see Emigration & P'dorf)-44B, 46,
47A
Waldburga, given name-45
Wallern (BB)-12
Wallern (village)-30, 45
Wedding-Hapsburg Heir-22
Wends & Slovenes-34
Wolf Family-39B
Wolfau (BB)-12
Wörtherberg -43
Zahling-52, 53A
Zahling Book-42B
Zip Codes-8
Zuständigkeit-36

Newsletter Continues as number 164B.




THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 164B
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 12th Year- Issued monthly as email by Gerald Berghold)
June 30, 2007
(c) 2007 G. J. Berghold-all rights reserved)


This third section of our 3-section newsletter concerns:

1. Year 2497-Burgenland Bunch Survives Retirement Of Founder
2. The Best From The BB News-Burgenland Dwellings
3. Holy Trinity Church-Passaic, NJ


1. YEAR 2497-BURGENLAND BUNCH SURVIVES RETIREMENT OF FOUNDER

Membership Editor Hannes Graf writes: I am sitting at my desk, listening to
some Indian music and thinking to myself: "This is the same music, I heard when
I first read the Homepage of the Burgenland-Bunch!" So I take a look to the
future, because I'm in a mood to dream.

In the year 2497, a couple will be sitting at a computer listening to music.
They will search for some small forgotten place called "the Burgenland" and so
try to get some answers to family history questions. The woman tells her
husband "I know some stories, my grandma tells me about this place, where our
ancestors came from. Let us look at the archives, maybe we can find something
about this land."

They go to the Mega-Google and find a page called:

The Burgenland Bunch Genealogy Group 500th Anniversary!

Very interested, they read:

"500 Years ago, Gerry Berghold, a small man from Virginia had a good idea and
he tried to make it become reality. He found a group of people with the same
interests concerning this small province in Europe. He began to send
Newsletters to them and today Newsletter number 8000 was published. From 50 members
at the beginning, the group grew to 1500 in the first 10 years and today there
are 15 million!"

Dear Gerry, it was really a good idea and good work, and I am proud to be a
part of it for as long as I am able to help. liebe Grüße, hannes

(2497 Editor's comment: Following the retirement of Gerry Berghold in 2007, a
wonderful staff of selected and talented volunteers continued the group,
expanding and improving it far beyond its earlier status. With their retirement,
they in turn were replaced with even more talented volunteers, ad infinitum, to
the point where today the Burgenland Bunch is the oldest and best of all of
the Family History Sites found on the new Solar System Internet of Shared
Interplanetary Data. The Burgenland Auswanderung continues with interplanetary
migration but the haunting melody "The Amerika Lied", heard when the site is
opened, continues to be their theme song.)


2. THE BEST FROM THE BB NEWS-BURGENLAND DWELLINGS

QUESTION CONCERNING DWELLINGS (From BB No. 26, Dec. 32, 1997 edited)
Margaret Kaiser writes: "I also note that in most cases, brides and grooms
resided in the groom's parents household. Does anyone know if each house number
is really for a particular building or does it represent something else? At
times, it seems to me that the house must have been truly filled to the walls
with residents."

Reply- Margaret, this question has been posed by others as well, so you have
the benefit of getting an answer which I'll later use for an article in the
newsletter. The data stems from various books and microfilms I've seen as well
my memory and pictures of 23 family villages we've visited.

The houses were filled to the walls. A roof and a place for a bed was all
that was necessary for sleeping, but infant mortality was appalling. There were
large families, but many children did not reach adulthood. Also primogeniture
forced younger children to go elsewhere early (about age 12-14 for
apprenticeship or servant jobs). The average house (dwelling) consisted of 3 rooms
(Maria-Theresianische Kolonistenhaus)-sometimes four (Josefinische Kolonistenhaus),
(1) a bedroom(father-mother-baby-younger children)-one main bed, crib,
truckle (trundle) bed(s), chests, table, chair, wardrobe, lamp;
(2) a kitchen- was often main room (warmest), (grandparents slept
here-truckle bed(s) plus more young children or just the girls), wall benches, table,
wood stove, dry sink, chairs, chests, cabinets;
(3) (a pantry or workroom (don't know if anyone slept there, but why not?) and
(4) (on occasion, another chamber. In German, "Stube", "Küche", "Kammer".

Of course there were variations on these themes. There were other buildings
often attached to the main house-a barn (even in the village), for hay &
animals-which could contain a bedroom for adolescent boys. (My grandfather Sorger
spoke of sleeping in a room in their barn in Rosenberg with his brothers and two
uncles). A covered front porch often ran the length of the main house
(sleeping place for boys in summer) connecting kitchen entrance with barn. Peppers
and onions would be strung and braided and hung up to dry there. There were
outer sheds (wagon shed, work shop, outhouse, etc.)-some possible sleeping places
for servants, if any. Often a wine and root cellar-probably too cold for
sleeping. Even in the middle of a village, the houses were often more of a
"farmstead" than just a house as we know it. They faced the main road

House numbers (introduced in the 1840's) were assigned to individual
farmsteads (house plus barn plus outbuildings, there may also be a wall and a large
carriage gate as stated above.) Buildings often enclosed a small court yard or
Hof, (many paved today, but dirt years ago), the wagon was brought in at night
and the gate locked. Wood would be bundled and stacked against an inner wall
near the kitchen or under a roof overhang. These bundles contained branches
from nearby woods which fell to the ground and were tied into bundles. Cllecting
downed wood from the Count's woods was one of the "hold" rights.

The house number will often be found affixed to the upper right of the wall
near the gate or on the upper right hand of the wall of the most prominent
building facing the street). It is often stenciled white on blue or green. Many
numbers remain the same today (150 years later) in the smaller places. Larger
villages have changed numbers somewhat. When looking for a particular older
house number, try the center of the village (near the old village well or pre WWII
water source-water is now piped). During the time of governmental
solicitation of settlers (reign of Maria Theresa and son Josef II), the government drew
up house and village plans to be used for new construction. These plans show
basically what I've just described. The LDS has a microfiche of them (LDS
6001514, German Settlement in Transdanubia, "Die Siedlungen des 18. Jahrhunderts im
mittleren Donautal- Siedlungsgeschichtlichte Grundlagen", Prof. T. Miller,
Weimar, 1947).

There are a number of period "museum" homes open to tourists in the
Burgenland for a small fee. One that is especially nice is in Mörbisch on the
Neuseidler See. Others are at the Frielichtsmusem near Güssing. Many of these former
"peasant" dwellings are being modernized, some into weekend or vacation homes.
I was told they can be bought for around $30-50K if derelict and modernized
for about $100-150K! The main beams in one home I visited in Poppendorf were
blackened and 14 inches square. Wood of this size is scarce today, indicating
great age although most villages in that region were burned in 1605 during the
Bocskay Rebellion.

Some dwelling statistics: (from History of Vas County, 1898; Magyarorszag
Varmegye'i e's Városai Vasvarmegye, Sziklay e's Borovszky -LDS1045430)

Poppendorf-108 dwellings; 805 German inhabitants (average 7.5/dwelling);
Muhlgraben-91; 632 German inhabitants (7); Königsdorf-204; 1373 German
inhabitants (6.7); Eltendorf-136; 934; German inhabitants (6.9); Szt. Miklos-45; 310
Germans (6.9).

(Editor's Current Additions: Since this was written, I have been a guest in
many of the older Burgenland homes. All have been modernized with running
water, electricity, baths, modern appliances, additional rooms, etc. I
particularly remember the homes of Albert Schuch's aunt near Stegersbach and his parent's
home in Klein Pertersdorf. Both of these homes have been expanded
considerably since Albert's father is a retired contractor. His home looks small from the
road but a series of rooms leads back to a large modern carpentry shop full
of modern wood working machinery. There is now a garage and an apple orchard
fills the rear of the property. A modern home in every repesct. The Stegersbach
home is different in that the Hof no longer exists. It has been replaced by a
garden. There are two new bedrooms for visiting children. The home of Klaus
Gerger's mother-in-law (Neustift bei Güssing) contains a modern bath room just
off of the entrance to the home as well as other modern additions. This is a
stand alone farmhouse on about 80-100 acres. Often improvements required gutting
the entire house. My grandfather's home in Rosenberg still stands empty
(partially renovated) and the structure's early days are still evident. One feature
that has not been changed in any of these dwellings is an "inglenook" near
the kitchen with table and benches that serves as a dining area and a place to
welcome guests for some of that traditional Burgenland hospitality. Wine
bottles and food appear on the table at all times during visits.)

Old peasant homes can still be found in the border villages-few in Hungary
have been modernized. Many still have wells in front of the homes.

In contrast, the modern home of Dr. Walter Dujmovits in Stegersbach is laid
out like a typical US stand alone suburban home except that the lower level
contains a large garage, the entrance hall and storage and work areas. A living
room (with fireplace), dining room, library-den, kitchen and bed rooms are
featured on the next level. Modern in every respect, the woodwork is superb and
the design is typical modern Austrian. Hardware is distinctly European and
very artistic. A garden and numerous plantings surround the dwelling. A monument
in one garden shows the direction and mileage to Chicago!


3. HOLY TRINITY CHURCH-PASSAIC, NJ (From Frank Paukowits)

Burgenlaenders started migrating to the Clifton-Passaic area in New Jersey
around the turn of the century. Most were from southern Burgenland and the
Güssing area. Many of the immigrants worked in the wool and textile mills and
small factories that were concentrated in the area.

Religion was a very important aspect in their lives. When they arrived in
America, most continued to worship and attend services in their new homeland. The
church became a place where the newly arrived Burgenlaenders could gather
with friends and family to continue the religious traditions of the
"Heimatland". It was not uncommon then to establish national churches to
accommodate the new immigrant population groups. On June 17, 1900 (Holy Trinity
Sunday), several men from Passaic met with the Bishop of Newark to request that
a national church be built for the German-speaking people in the area, and
the request was granted. Appropriately, the name chosen for the new parish was
Holy Trinity.
A temporary church was used for religious services until a permanent church
could be built. In the spring of 1903 the cornerstone for the church was laid,
and the church opened up for services in September of that year. Its first
pastor was Fr. Joseph Hasel from Newark, and there were about 400 parishioners.

Shortly thereafter in 1906 a school was established in temporary quarters in
the back of a barbershop near the church. It was very popular and attendance
grew rapidly. To accommodate all the students, additional land was purchased
adjacent to the church where a permanent school building was constructed.

Having a church where masses were said in their native tongue made the
transition to their new homeland that much easier for the Burgenlaenders. Many of
the Burgenlaenders who came to this area as young adults ended up being married
at the church, baptizing their children there, and celebrating the most
important events of their lives in that church.

While I lived in New York, I had many relatives who lived in Clifton and
Passaic. As a result, I attended many religious functions at Holy Trinity Church,
and even served as an altar boy at my cousin's wedding there more than 50
years ago. Also, since my mom lived in Clifton before getting married, my parents'
wedding service was held at that church. Thus, my bond to the church is extra
special.

The church is in excellent physical condition. It was renovated for its
centennial celebration in the year 2000. The church basement is still used for the
annual Weinfest that is held in early November. Walt Groeller from Whitehall,
Pa. has been entertaining crowds at this function for the last 30 years. It's
a tradition that people are not willing to give up.

More than 100 years have past since those first Burgenland immigrants
attended services at Holy Trinity Church. While the neighborhood has changed and most
of the old time Burgenlaenders have moved from the area, many still travel to
the Church for Sunday services. The 10:00 AM mass is still said in German.
The Church's pastor, Fr. Antonio Rodriguez, who is Spanish, speaks fluent German
and is supportive of the needs of the old parishioners. The Burgenlaenders
show their appreciation with continuing support of the church, in the tradition
of the early Burgenlaenders who worshipped there many years ago.


END OF NEWSLETTER

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Burgenland Bunch Newsletter (c) 1997 archived courtesy of RootsWeb.com, Inc.
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Permission to Copy Granted; You Must Provide Credit and Mention Source.