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Newsletter
Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 183
January 31, 2009, (c) 2009 by The Burgenland Bunch
All rights reserved. Permission to copy excerpts granted if credit is provided.
Our 13th Year, Editor: Johannes Graf and Copy Editor Maureen Tighe-Brown
The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter, founded by Gerry Berghold, retired, is issued monthly as
email and is available online at http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org
Current Status Of The BB:
* Members: 1686 * Surname Entries: 5497 * Query Board Entries: 4019
* Newsletters Archived: 182 * Number of Staff Members: 14
This first section of our 2-section newsletter concerns:
1. Editors notes
2. BH&R Connecticut Enclave (by Frank Paukowits)
3. Help in Allentown (by Roxann Suppi)
4. 2008 Statistics for www.the-burgenland-bunch.org
5. 202 days in Southern Burgenland
6. Austria - Australia, What's the Difference?
7. WI Ancestry (by Heidi M. Raab Antoni)
8. Croatian Mass Makes a Reappearance in St. Kathrein (by Steve Geosits and Bob Strauch)
1. Editor's notes:
a) Please do not use the address office(at)burgenland-bunch.org for responding. This address
is only for sending the Newsletter and I don't look at the mailbox for emails. Please write to
the normal burgenland.bunch(at)chello.at for sending articles and other stuff.
b) I get so many emails; it has grown about 2000 percent since I am Editor. So if I am in a
hurry, I don't have the time to answer all of them quickly. But after some delay, I do try to
answer them all.
c) The monthly online newsletter will include pictures from now.
2. BH&R Connecticut Enclave (by Frank Paukowits)
Before Gerry passed away he was pushing some of us to do additional research on the
Connecticut Burgenland enclave. I believe it would be a personal tribute to him if we took
steps to develop a module on the BH&R site dedicated to Connecticut Burgenländers. While not
as large as the Burgenland immigrant population that went to places like Chicago,
Lehigh-Valley, etc., there was a sizable group, mainly from the Jennersdorf Bezirk, that
settled in the New Britain area of Connecticut in the early 1900's through 1950. I think such
a project is very doable. It would make a wonderful activity for the Spring when the weather
is pleasant and visits to cemeteries would likely be needed to collect relevant information.
I'll outline an approach shortly that I believe will achieve the stated objective. Hopefully,
I'll get some help from BB staff and membership to make this a reality. a parting tribute to
Gerry.
3. Help in Allentown (by Roxann Suppi)
I have been a subscriber to your Burgenland e-newsletter for many years, as my grandparents,
Rose and Louis Szita, having come from Lovaszpatona, Veszprem, Hungary, which is near but not
directly in the Burgenland area. From time to time I have read many interesting newsletters
that have added insight to their homeland and to the Allentown area where my grandparents
settled. I myself lived in that area with them until my parents and I moved away when I was 6
or 7. My letter to you is a unique request which you may or may not be able to assist with. I
thought that perhaps since you have so many readers from the Allentown area, someone there
might be able to remember information that I am seeking.
My mother, Virginia Szita met my father, Robert Rosch, at the old Boyd Theatre on 9th Street,
where he was an usher. My mother was an artist, who painted a large landscape oil painting
that my father persuaded her to sell to the Boyd Theatre. I understand that the painting hung
in the sitting room of the ladies' room until the theatre closed. Living in New Jersey I had
never seen the painting, and was unaware that the theatre closed. After my mother's death, I
decided I wanted to see the painting but then discovered the theatre had been torn down to
make room for the P P & L. I have tried unsuccessfully to find out what happened to the
articles that were in the building. I am hoping that perhaps one of your readers may have
knowledge of who might have acquired the contents of the theatre, specifically my mother's
painting.
I am also looking for a yearbook picture of my mother for my genealogy records. I believe she
graduated from Allentown High School in either 1946 or 1948. I already have a 1947 yearbook
that does not have her picture in it. If anyone would be so kind to be able to provide
information for these requests I would be so grateful. Thank you for taking the time to read
this request.
Sincerely, Roxann Suppi, Vineland, New Jersey
4. 2008 Statistics for www.the-burgenland-bunch.org
Proud, but uncommented upon.
5. 202 days in Southern Burgenland
In 2008, I spent 202 days working in Burgenland on several projects. At first, I was working
at the historical railway between Oberwart and Oberschützen from January to May, a minimum of
4 days every week. In 2007 we had connected Oberschützen with Bad Tatzmannsdorf, and we have
had our first driving season at the 1,2 mile long track. In 2008, we wanted to connect the
whole distance (5 miles) and we did it. In about a thousand hours, we changed 180 railway
ties, built 3 new stations, rebuilt 7 crossings, and cut the trees and bushes at the track.
Sometimes two people, sometimes 25 people were working together; the average was 7 workers.
After all the hard work, we got the permission to drive the whole length, carrying passengers.
There have been 2800 passengers so far, and we are proud about it, because the capacity of the
"Trolleytrain" is only 25 passengers at one time.
When I was home in Vienna to rest for a few days, I created the Home page for this gang of
railroaders.
see: www.frowos.com
Also, I was working at the Kunstpark Süd (Sculpture Park) in Olbendorf from July to December,
planning an expansion to an art center. For 2009, we are planning to create sculptures in
steel.
Beside these projects, I have been trying to connect also some Burgenland-Bunch projects with
my traveling. I drove around the hidden villages and places and made thousands of photos to
include on the Burgenland-Impressions page. Most of the projects were to find relatives and
places from photos that some BB-members had. I met many people who talked about several
questions. In Redlschlag, I met an old lady who gave me information about the Böhm connections
for Matthew Boisen; in Neumarkt I found, with a little help from my friend Robert Bauer, the
house of the grandmother of Jack Fritz; in Lackenbach an old man who remembered about people
in a photo of Yohanan Loeffler's of Australia....and many such discoveries. Also, I met some
politicians, artists and important people to talk about BB-connections. I did an interview for
the Burgenland radio of the ORF about the touristic and cultural highlights in southern
Burgenland and the Burgenland-Bunch.
All together, I drove more than 20.000 miles with my shortcut-car and had about 160 bed and
breakfast nights at the Gästehaus Adelmann
So everybody can imagine, that I was not very often at home.
After I got the NL-editorship from Gerry, I realized that it is impossible to handle 2009 in
the same way as last year. But I try to drive around for sample material and photos for
articles and additional Webpages.
My plans for 2009 are only BB-works and Kunstpark Süd, when it is warmer to work outside.
6. Austria - Australia What's the Difference?
In the second week of December 2008, I was on the way from Vienna to Olbendorf, when I hear
the tick of an incoming SMS at my cellphone. At the next smoking-break at the rest point in
Kobersdorf, I read it:
Be careful about the Kangaroos! Elfie.
Yes, Madam, this is what I need now, I am on the way to Burgenland, not to Queensland, I think
to myself. One hour later, I was driving on the B50 beside Bad Tatzmannsdorf; I looked right
at the "Outback" between Jormannsdorf and Mariasdorf and there jumped Skippy on its way. At
this moment, I think to myself:
Austria - Australia all the same
Background: A kangaroo escaped the night before from a private zoo in Bad Tatzmannsdorf. Now
Skippy, the kangaroo, is back in the zoo.
7. WI Ancestry (by Heidi M. Raab Antoni)
Hello! I just received the BB Newsletter No. 180. In it, I read that you are collecting
information regarding Burgenland immigrants who settled in Wisconsin in the mid to late 1800s.
My ancestors, Ladislaus Raab and his wife Maria Huber, came to America in 1857. They settled,
according to family tradition and records, in Menasha, along with some of her family members.
Menasha had an Austria-Hungary immigrant population at the time, as I have some research which
states another immigrant from Menasha who was not happy in the States and wished to return, in
which he wrote to an official "back home: "I and my countrymen..." I am unsure how big that
group was who came so early. I'd love to find out!
Ladislaus Raab was born, we believe, in 1824, in Neckenmarkt (Nyek), Austria-Hungary. His
parents were Mihaly (Michael) and Klara Ecker Raab. I believe they pronounced their last name
as /rabb/. Listed as his occupation, according to National Archives (USA) records, was that he
was a bricklayer/mason. Family history states that Ladislaus was involved in the Revolutions
of 1848 in Austria-Hungary. My grandfather, Frank Raab, lived with his grandmother for a time
in the Auburndale, WI, and Marshfield, WI, areas and stated that she said Ladislaus "got on
the wrong side" of someone. He said it was Bismarck but that was not correct. I believe the
man in charge at the time was Count Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky (1830-1920) and somehow
Ladislaus needed to get out of the country. This has been undocumented to this point but
obviously Ladislaus did not approve of what direction the country was going. We heard he was
in the military during the 1848 Revolutions but have found no verification that he was an
officer, as was remembered in family conversations.
Maria Huber was born in Kroisbach (now Ferto-Rakos) Hungary in 1836. Her parents were Lipot
(Leopold) Huber and Terez Pfeiffer. Maria married her husband in the Catholic Church in
Kroisbach on January 30, 1853. We have a copy of the Reisepass for Ladislaus and Maria. I
believe they came over on the ship Antarctic. He was obviously not a wanted man at the time
they left or he would not have been issued a pass to leave!
Ladislaus and Maria settled in Menasha and began their family there. Joseph was born May 10,
1858, in Menasha; Peter was born June 3, 1860, in Menasha; John (my great-grandfather) was
born October 17, 1862.
Ladislaus joined the Union in fighting during the Civil War. I believe he needed the money to
support his growing family, and perhaps the war satisfied his sense of justice which he never
had in his homeland. He enlisted in October, 1861, and was mustered into service January 30,
1862. He belonged to 14th WI Infantry, Co. G, otherwise known as the "Calumet and Manitowoc
Invincibles." At some point between 1860 and 1861, the family moved to Rantoul Township,
Calumet County, WI. At that time, he said he was a farmer. We have found no record of them
there except for the military documents. Ladislaus registered under the name Ladislaus Raab.
He fought in the battles of Shiloh, Pittsburgh Landing, Iuka and both battles of Corinth, all
in Mississippi and Tennessee. Their smaller unit was attached to various others during the
battles and most notably would have fought with the WI troops whose mascot was Old Abe, the
battle eagle.
Ladislaus was killed in the 2nd Battle of Corinth, Miss., on October 3, 1862, during the hours
of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. His company was defending Battery Robinette. His son John was born two
weeks after his father was killed in action. Cause of death was listed as a bullet to the
head. Ladislaus is buried in an unmarked grave in the National Cemetery at Corinth. It appears
that after the battle, the dead soldiers' clothes were removed and they were buried in a mass
grave. After the war, about 1867, those bodies were exhumed and buried in individual graves.
However, there was no way to distinguish one from the other. There is a marker at Corinth
bearing Ladislaus' name but that's not where his body is.
Maria Huber went on to raise her three boys and have more children with her second husband,
Joseph Gairinger. She married him in Chilton, WI, on July 14, 1863. The little boys were wards
of the court because, we believe, Maria had no legal rights to raise the boys as a woman
(perhaps according to the military). She did file for a widows-orphans pension in 1871 and
undoubtedly received some financial help from that. Her son John became permanently disabled
due to a hernia in 1890 and also filed for a pension from the widows-orphans fund. We're not
sure if he received any settlement.
Maria and husband Joseph Gairinger moved to Auburndale, WI, some time after 1863 but before
1871. They farmed there and had a number of children but only three girls survived past
adulthood. I believe their names were Mae, Frances and Elizabeth. A son Philip lived to
adulthood but died about age 21. Gairinger died in 1889 and Maria moved in with my
great-grandfather's family in Auburndale and later Marshfield, WI. She did also live with her
daughters in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and later in Torrence, California. She died about
1927 in Torrence, CA.
My great-grandfather, John Raab, was trained as a shoemaker. He was also a fisherman off the
coast of Seattle in the 1880s. He married Magdalena Mader in 1890. She had ties back to the
Neenah-Menasha, WI, area. He ran a boarding house in Auburndale, where my grandfather and
several siblings were born. Later, John ran a saloon but he didn't do so well financially. He
died in 1926.
John's brother Joseph was a farmer all his life in Auburndale, WI. He married Barbara
Schreiner and they had many children.
Peter Raab was a farmer and married three times. Family oral tradition states that his first
wife died with several of their children during the diphtheria epidemics which swept through
the state. He married overall three times. I believe he was killed in a truck/railroad train
accident.
I wish I knew more about the extended family which supposedly came over with them. Hope this
helps with the site. I really enjoy the BB newsletters and try to keep on top of the latest
information there.
Thank you for putting this together.
Sincerely,
Heidi M. Raab Antoni
8. Croatian Mass Makes a Reappearance in St. Kathrein (by Steve Geosits and Bob
Strauch)
Bob Strauch always seems to be finding new and interesting articles for me to read. He
recently sent me one which was posted in Croatian on the "Volksgruppen" website. The article
has some historical interest in relation to current Croatian customs in Austria, so we decided
that it would be worthwhile to translate it for our English readers.
Note that there is a reference to "Putujaca celjanska Maria" (the Mary from Mariazell).
Every year, according to tradition, a Croatian or Austrian village receives the statue of
"Celjanske Marije", and Marije remains in that particular village for one year. Some years ago
this statue even made its home in Szentpéterfa, Vas, Hungary. So, as you can see, Marije knows
no borders.
Original URL:
http://volksgruppen.orf.at/hrvati/visti/stories/93083/
29 Nov 2008
In St. Kathrein, which was once a Croatian village located in South Gradisce, a Croatian mass
was served yesterday evening. With the support of the Croatian Culture Club the mass was held
by the priest of Pinkovac and Nova Gora, namely Stefan Raimann. The mass with Putujuca
celjanska Marija was attended by the Croatian speaking parishioners from Katalene (St.
Kathrein), Vardes (Harmisch) and Harvatski Hasas (Kroatisch Ehrensdorf). People also attended
from Nova Gora, Pinkovac, Vincjet, Cajta and Cemba to pray and sing together in the spirit of
Croatia.
The priest Josef Kroiss invited Raimann to serve a Croatian mass more than 10 years ago in St.
Kathrein. Now, he (Raimann) wants to make a new effort to do this, even though he realizes
that many Croatian men and women have since died in this half-Croatian village. The hope is
that the Croatian mass might be an impetus for people to remember their Croatian heritage, and
to learn the Croatian language either through a course or in school.
Raimann would like to serve Croatian mass at least once a year in St. Kathrein in order to
preserve its Croatian heritage, so that it is not forgotten completely. St. Kathrein, which
celebrated its patron St. Catherine last Tuesday, has at about 100 residents. According to the
last census that was taken in 2001, 6 of 138 residents spoke Croatian as their
conversational language.
(Special thanks is given to Viktória Merotei for her assistance with this project)
Newsletter continues as number 183A.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 183A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
January 31, 2009
(c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved
The second section of this 2-section newsletter includes:
1. HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
1.a. CHANGES TO MAJOR BURGENLAND IMMIGRANT ENCLAVE ALLENTOWN, PA
1.b. JEWISH PRESENCE IN EISENSTADT
2. Trip to Burgenland (by Kim Di Roberts)
3. Ethnic Events Feb. 2009 (courtesy of Bob Strauch)
4. BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch)
1. HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
Editor: This is part of our monthly series designed to recycle interesting articles from the
BB Newsletters of 10 years ago. This month we offer you one that is pure nostalgia, another
that is mostly educational:
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS No.51A
January 15, 1999
1.a. CHANGES TO MAJOR BURGENLAND IMMIGRANT ENCLAVE ALLENTOWN, PA
Burgenland Bunch charter member Sue Straw contacted me (Gerry Berghold) recently and her
questions set off a train of thought which ended up in this article.
Sue writes:
Hi, Gerry! I was amazed at the length of the Burgenland Bunch membership list in the latest
newsletters. You've really created a wonderful research network for those of us who are
researching our Burgenland ancestors. Are you finding that you're related to all the other
Berghold researchers with ties to Allentown?
I had the chance recently to visit Allentown and Bethlehem when my son went up to interview at
Lehigh University. We drove past the enormous (and now closed) Bethlehem steel mills. It must
have really been something to see when the steel mills were open and running. As we approached
Bethlehem from the south at night, we could see light spilling up from the valley. The valley
must have been ablaze with light at night when the steel mills were all operating. (And the
air must have been very polluted!) Large segments of Bethlehem -- many neighborhoods -- seem
to have built around the same time (turn of the century, I'm guessing) to accommodate the
newly arrived immigrant families. Certain streets, judging from their width and location,
appear to have had streetcar lines to get workers to their jobs in the valley. It must have
been a bustling and energetic place at one time. I found myself wondering what happened to all
the people who lost their jobs when the mills closed. Did Bethlehem and Allentown lose a lot
of population, or did people just turn to other occupations? Do the two towns still have a
strong German flavor or has that been lost as the immigrant generation has died off? I did
notice the Moravian influence (and schools) in downtown Bethlehem, but the downtown area was
clearly struggling to find a new economic foothold.
Ed. (Gerry) Reply:
Yes the BB has grown and I hope we can keep it up. Fortunately we're getting a staff put
together to share the burden. I have connected to all of the Bergholds as well as some other
formerly unknown distant cousins and have also been fortunate in having some of the staff do
some research for my lines....
Is your son thinking of going to Lehigh? I'm a member of the class of 1957. The wife and I
were married in Packer Chapel. Except for the Coke Works the Beth. Steel is gone. They're
thinking of making a mall out of the plant and leaving all of the structure intact as a
museum. Eat a hot dog and see where your immigrant grandfather wrestled with the output of the
rolling mills! Not a bad idea. In 1947, on an AHS school trip I was allowed to tap a blast
furnace (pushed a button which sounded a warning klaxon and detonated the explosive furnace
plug, causing a roar, a shower of sparks and rivers of steel) . I've never forgotten the
sight!
Allentown-Bethlehem is now becoming a new immigrant enclave, although the small towns to the
north (Northampton, Catasauqua, Egypt, Coplay, etc.) are still some what Burgenlaendisch.
People are relocating to the Lehigh Valley from the NYC and northern NJ ethnic regions like
they did years ago, mostly Hispanic this time although there are sprinklings of other ethnic
groups including Asian. Not too bad a commute to NY-NJ jobs with the new highways. The Eastern
European descendants of immigrants who replaced the Penna. Dutch who replaced the English who
replaced the Indians (3 or 4 tribes in turn) are in turn being replaced by a new wave of
immigrants. Different cultures-different customs, no strudel or paprika, but Hispanics and
Asians have their good food specialties too! The Burgenland section of Allentown (6th 10th,
11th wards) is almost gone. Most of the Burgenland clubs and taverns have closed.
The city centers are also changing, like so many others, but late coming to this region.
Hamilton Street, (main street Allentown) is now pretty derelict where once it was the place to
see and be seen. I met my wife on the escalator in Hess's Department Store at Ninth & Hamilton
Sts. We both worked there in the early 1950's. The finest clothing, with many helpful sales
people, well groomed shoppers, the latest in all department store goods, afterwards a choice
of fine restaurants, ornate movie palaces, ice cream parlors or old style snack shops and
taverns. A trolley or bus ride home to a quiet tree lined neighborhood. How nice it was!
Now my old neighborhood (the North end) has many properties boarded up, although someone just
fixed up my family's old homestead (sold in 1982 after 78 years of the same family). St.
Peters Lutheran, home church of many Burgenländers for 100 years has moved to the western
suburbs and the old church is now a mission church which has become a focal point of the new
neighborhood just as it was for the old, Spanish language church service instead of a German
one. Don't know if the RC Sacred Heart Church at Fourth & Gordon Sts. has replaced their
German mass with a Spanish one. When the new immigrants become integrated it will all come
around again. We relocate for a better life style (perhaps we should re-think that) and it can
still be found in the Lehigh Valley. Some assimilation already. Lots of changes though.
As I remember it, no one seemed to mind steel works pollution, that smell was the smell of
money although when the wind was just right, the Coke Works could be pretty pungent and the
smoke would turn the snow and a clean white shirt black. Mostly restricted to South Bethlehem.
Mass transit service was wonderful. A trolley or bus every 7 or 15 minutes, although I had to
run to catch the last midnight trolley from Fountain Hill to Allentown (15 cents) when the
wife and I were courting. Otherwise it cost $1.50 for a taxi. Cabbie often said, "cheaper to
get married".
The reduction in the Steel Works occurred over a period of time following WWII, so the end
didn't appear to be that shattering. Very few of the younger descendants went to work at the
Steel. Most found something better. My immigrant Sorger grandfather was a brick laying foreman
in the Open Hearth Section, commuting by trolley from Allentown. It eventually killed him
(heat stroke); my father worked for the railroad. I went into the Air Force and then college,
worked for Dupont in Wilmington. Retired to Winchester. Relocation story of many descendants
of older immigrants. Look at the addresses of our members. Many have relocated. The first
generation immigrant pays the dues, the second lays the groundwork, the third reaps the
rewards, the fourth continues upward mobility or takes it all for granted and the fifth, who
knows? One of my granddaughters (BA, Columbia 1998) is working for a publishing house in NYC
and living in Greenwich Village. From NYC Ellis Island immigrant back to NYC in five
generations, but what a difference in life styles! Some immigrant families have achieved it in
less.
We had a good life in the Lehigh Valley. Those ethnic neighborhoods were little village
enclaves. Shame it had to change, but change is the only permanent thing and the new
immigrants need their chance. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
1.b. JEWISH PRESENCE IN EISENSTADT
I (Gerry Berghold) was copied on an answer to new member Aliza Sharon and was intrigued by the
historical connotations.
Member Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein writes:
(Aliza) I saw your posting about interest in the Burgenland Bunch. You mention in your posting
that you are descended from Austerlitz, and Spitzer. As you may know, one of the founders of
the Jewish community of Eisenstadt was Abraham Spitz (my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-gf) whose wife was an
Austerlitz. Some of the Spitz descendants became Spitzer.
If you have done some research on the subject, you are probably aware of the book by Bernhard
Wachstein on the old Jewish cemetery of Eisenstadt, and his two volumes on the old cemeteries
of Vienna, in which there is a considerable amount of information about both these families.
(I believe also quite a bit about Gompertz, some of whom married into the Spitz descendants).
The Austerlitz family is also mentioned in Hock's book about the old Jewish families of
Prague.
Editor's (Gerry) Reply:
Rabbi Marmorstein, Thank you for copying me on the above reply. Could you perhaps comment on
the establishment of the Jewish community in Eisenstadt? Particularly with reference to the
earlier periods....Spitzer is also a name common to German Catholics in the south of
Burgenland. I assume this is due to naming conventions or the source of the name (a dweller
near the peak-of a mountain). One of our staff members points out the Austerlitz name as being
the name of Fred Astaire, one of Burgenland's few emigrant claims to fame. I associate it with
the village site of the Napoleonic battle. I believe it was also the name of a noble
family.... Best regards, Gerry Berghold
Rabbi Marmorstein's Reply:
As in much of central Europe, Jewish residence was restricted in the Burgenland until the end
of the 18th century, but those towns which were privately owned such as Eisenstadt which was
the property of the Esterhazy princes, could make their own rules. When the Jews of Vienna
were expelled in 1675, gggggggf Abraham Spitz and his wealthier business associate Samson
Wertheimer arranged for them to resettle in Eisenstadt. This enabled the Esterhazy's, who were
a cultured and tolerant bunch, to enlarge their tax base, and the displaced Jews to continue
running businesses in the Vienna area. The early transactions of the Eisenstadt Jewish
community are preserved in a published book "Urkunden und Akten das Judische Gemeindes
Eisenstadt." Around the same time negotiations were successfully concluded allowing Jews to
settle in Lackenbach, Deutschkreutz, Mattersdorf (Mattersburg), Kobersdorf, Sopron and
Frauenkirchen -these communities became known as the "Sheva Kehillos" (-Hebrew word for Seven
Communities). They were extremely large and prominent throughout the 18th century and early
19th. Later, because of the greater number of places where Jews could settle legally, they
declined in size and significance.
2. Trip to Burgenland (by Kim Di Roberts)
In September 2008, my husband and I made a trip to Austria and Germany. We were able to make a
very short overnight side trip into Burgenland. My mother and family were born in
Tschanigraben, which is a very small village directly on the Austrian/Hungarian border. I am
researching the names of HUTTER/ARTINGER/SOMMER/GIBISER. To date, I have, essentially, only
found information on the HUTTER side of the family. My grandfather, Herman Hutter and his
brothers and sisters all immigrated to the USA....all except the youngest brother, Adolf
Hutter b. 1907. I believe, as was the custom, usually the youngest was "left behind" to care
for the land. Adolf married Juliana Drauch Jost and they had 6 children before Adolf Hutter
went into the German Army during WW II and died in Italy in 1944. It was the family of one of
these children, Adolf Hutter II, that is still in the HUTTER house in Tschanigraben. After my
grandmother died in NY, my grandfather, Herman Hutter, went back to live at the family home in
Tschanigraben and he lived the rest of his days with his dead brother's wife and family and is
buried at the cemetery in Tschanigraben. I had known that there was still family in
Tschanigraben and through the "miracle of the internet" I was able to find the address and
telephone number and a translation site to write a letter, informing them of my wishes to
visit them and visit the area of my ancestors. Through the Burgenland Bunch members page, I
began a friendship with a fellow member, Lygia Maria Pilz Simetzberger (Gia) who lives in the
surrounding area. Gia, very graciously, offered to place a call for me to the Hutter home
since I do not speak any German. Gia also offered her time on the day of my arrival to come
with me and translate between me and my Austrian family. Gia is a very busy women and I can't
thank her enough for giving me a visit with my family that I will remember for a lifetime! She
has also become my new Austrian friend and I will look forward to seeing her on a future
trip....a little longer this time :)
We stayed overnight at the Gasthof Gibiser, in Heiligenkreuz im Lafnitztal, a larger (although
still small and quaint) surrounding town. I can recommend staying here. The rooms are clean,
the restaurant was busy with local guests (we didn't have time to eat at the restaurant). They
had a friendly bar area and a large outside patio to relax and drink and eat in good weather.
The Austrian people I met during my all too short time, were wonderfully friendly and a
pleasure to meet. (And being an X-New Yorker, I speak with everyone :) The area of Burgenland
is charming and beautiful. There are green rolling hills, many corn fields, livestock grazing,
charming small towns or villages, and beautiful colorful flowers everywhere with flower boxes
on all homes. The people were warm and friendly and being in the land of my ancestors and
meeting previously unknown family was very heartwarming for me. If any of the Burgenland Bunch
members are contemplating a trip to Burgenland, I can fully recommend it. I think they will
experience a way of life that we really don't have here in America. However, that being said,
I'm sure it was and still is, a tough life in parts. The younger generation seems to be
leaving the area since there are limited opportunities for them. And the older generation is
dying and with that some of the old traditions are also in jeopardy of being lost.
My trip was wonderful....too short....and I look forward anxiously to my next visit into
Burgenland.
While there, I visited the cemetery in Inzenhof and Tschanigraben. I will attach 44 photos
from the cemetery at Inzenhof in case someone in the Burgenland Bunch will find them of
interest. Some of the surnames found on the graves in Inzenhof are the same as from BB
members.
Thank you.
Kim Di Roberts
3. Ethnic Events Feb. 2009 (courtesy of Bob Strauch)
Sat., Feb 7, 2009 - Faschingsball #1 @ Reading Liederkranz in Reading, 6 PM.
Music by the Josef Kroboth Band from 8-11 PM.
Info: www.readingliederkranz.com
Fri., Feb 13, 2009 - Lehigh Sängerbund Fasching Celebration @ Allentown Brew Works in
Allentown, 6 PM.
Music by the Shoreliners from 7-10 PM and a DJ from 10 PM-12 AM.
Info:
http://lehighsaengerbund.org/Events/Fasching/tabid/112/Default.aspx
Sat., Feb. 14, 2009 - Valentine's Dance @ Coplay Sängerbund in Coplay, 5-10 PM.
Music by the Johnny Dee Orchestra.
Sat., Feb. 14, 2009 - Faschingsball #2 @ Reading Liederkranz in Reading, 6 PM.
Music by the Joe Weber Band from 8-11 PM.
Info: www.readingliederkranz.com |
