THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 24
(issued as required by Gerald Berghold)
November 30, 1997
(all rights reserved)
This edition of the newsletter contains articles on villages (continuation of
the Father Leser series), Questions from a member, Other Sources of Family
Pedigree, Experience With Passenger Lists, More on the Reverse Visit,
Burgenländers in Hamilton, OH; and some Little Known Terms.
BURGENLAND VILLAGE DATA FROM THE PATER GRATIAN ANTON LESER, O. F. M.
(1873-1949) VILLAGE EXCERPTS (continued from newsletters nos. 21, 22 & 23)
(NOTE: These records are some of the oldest available which mention local
family names. They often contain archaic spelling -both German or Hungarian.
For instance Michl is Michael, Greller can be Gröller, Pfaifer-Pfeiffer,
Kheppl-Kepple, Rozner-Rossner, etc. If your records indicate that you may
have family in these villages, look for similar spellings.)
9) TOBAJ:....inhabitants in 1693: farmers: KELEMEN Hans, JAUZ Hans, FANDL
Michl, MATYAS Michl, JAUZ Mert, HARRER Michl, FANDL Michel, DIENER Michl,
SVAICZER Andre, SVAICZER Jerg (Richter), FANDL Mattes, SVAICZER Franz, UNGER
Jerg, JAUZ Jerg, MEDEVICZ Motez, BABICZ Jerg, BASTL Christian, HARRER Hans,
KEPPL Mert, STIMPFL Jerg, TUNSZT Jerg, MATYAS Hans, TIBAJ Ferencz, wife of
TIBAJ Ferencz (free), DIENNER Mathes, wife of MOLNAR Ferencz (free), MUR
Jerg, TUNSZT Mert, CANNEPES Gregor, RABOLD Jerg, RABOLD Mert, SIMONCSICS
Istvan (free), GERGOVICSICS György (free, owner of 2 farms), TUNSZT Hans;
Söllner: BABIS Jerg, FABICS Janos, CSERENCSICS Michl and Janos, KOVACS Pal.
Fires: 1897 (houses nr. 26-34 burned down), 1901 (houses 17-25), 1903 (houses
36-41).....18 men from Tobaj lost their lives in WW I. To build them a
memorial, and to acquire two bells and a clock for the church tower, Franz
LEITGEB (nr. 39) collected 1114 Dollars in America (More than 200 people from
Tobaj are living there (in 1928!).
Church: From 1668 onwards, all baptised children from Tobaj, Deutsch and
Kroatisch Tchantschendorf and Tudersdorf are to be found in the Güssing
church records. 1789-1874 T. was a parish of its own together with Deutsch
Tschantschendorf. Since 19 May 1874 Tobaj is again part of the Güssing
parish.
School: Initially, the Tobaj children attended school in Deutsch
Tschantschendorf (teacher there in 1757: Johann BERKOVICS). First known
teacher in Tobaj: Franz WESSELY (1829). His successors: Franz PETZ (1834-59),
Alois FREY and son Josef (1860-70), Johann PERNITZ (1871-74); Karl EIGL
(1874-91); his son Innozenz EIGL (1891-92), Emerich ZUPPONITS
(1892-97), Eduard HAFNER (1898-1908), Adolf HALLWACHS (1909-11), Nikolaus
LEITTICH (1911-12), WONDRICSICS (SARDI in Hungarian) Willibald (1912-19),
Josef FABIANKOVITS (1919-). (source: V+H Nr. 21-22/1956)
OTHER SOURCES OF FAMILY PEDIGREE
After we've exhausted church and civil records, the sources become more
abstract. Even after we find descendants of our ancestors, they may know
little about family history beyond their immediate generations. There are
three additional Burgenland documents; however, which are worth the search.
Every family in servitude to the aristocracy (before 1848) had to provide
serf labor (Robot). Records were kept and some families would have retained
copies. Even after 1848, robot could have been performed in lieu of rent.
Another document is the "marriage contract", the equivalent of a post nuptial
agreement today. It could specify many things. The third document was
prevalent during the period of the Third Reich (1938-45). This was the "Aryan
Ausweiss" or proof of Aryan pedigree. It's main purpose was the insidious one
of identifying those with Jewish blood. It in effect was nothing more than a
genealogical pedigree. Since the "Ausweiss" carried a Swastika stamp
(Hakenkreuz), many were destroyed or hidden during the Russian occupation.
The Russians tended to erroneously view any Swastika marked documents as
being indicative of Nazi Party support. It may be difficult to get a distant
cousin to provide genealogical data from these documents, but it's something
to attempt. I've only seen them mentioned in various publications. Albert
Schuch writes the following after translating a letter from the 1950's:
"Michael Ruck (ancestor of one of our members) mentions that due to the
Russian occupation some knowledge (probably out of documents) was lost. He
somehow seems to connect these documents to Hitler and the Nazis. Therefore I
think that he is refering to what used to be called the "Arischer Ausweis".
They may have gotten rid of it because they didn't want the Russians to find
it. The "Arischer Ausweis" (Aryan legitimation) was a document where data
about a person's ancestors (taken from the church records) was written, going
back several generations. So it is of great genealogical value, saves a lot
of work if it is still kept in a family. Of course the Nazis didn't really
care about genealogy, the main purpose of this document was - due to the
infamous racial laws of the Nazi regime - to prove that one had no Jewish
ancestors.
BURGENLÄNDERS IN SOUTH AMERICA
Dale Knebel asks about tracing familiy to South America. My answer follows:
Thanks for the "American Immigrant Cultures" extracts. You
ask about Burgenland emigration to South America (SA). I haven't had the
experience of tracing anyone there but Walter Dujmovits in "Die Amerika
Wanderung" has a short section. He says most SA emigration was from northern
and middle Burgenland and took place in the 1920's. He estimates several
hundred went to Brazil and 5,200 went to Argentina.
The Brazilians settled on the coast and the Argentinians in the area of La
Plata (a short distance south east of Buenos Aires (BA). He says most are
(were) farmers. I'd check the LDS file for Argentina-La Plata-Immigration or
Civil or Church Records. He lists in 1923, Katherina Grasl from Schattendorf
to BA and 6 persons from Wiesen to Argentina; in 1924, Kopp, Langer and
Pointer to Brazil; in 1928, 11 men from Lackendorf to BA. That's about it.
I'll include your query in the newsletter. Have any of our members researched
this area?
EXPERIENCE WITH SOUNDEX & PASSENGER LISTS (Anna Tanzos)
While in DC visiting my brother, we took the Metro in to the National
Archives and I found 2 ship's passenger lists.
- My father Ignacz Tanczos left Kroatisch Tschantschendorf at age 16 via
Antwerp on the steamer Finland of the Red Star Line on Feb 17, 1906, arriving
in NY on Feb 27, 1906. He had only $6 in his pocket. He was headed for his
brother Alois (Lewis, Sr) at 1394 Newport Ave., Northampton.
- My oldest brother Ignatz (Jr., who had returned to Kroatisch Tschantschendorf
in Vas Megye as a child) came back to the US via Hamburg on the SS Bayern l
eaving Nov 24 1921, arriving NY Dec 10. He was 8 when he left and 9 when he
arrived (had a birthday on board ship). He was accompanied by our Aunt Marie
(Mary) Tanczos and her sons Alois (Lewis Jr - age 10) and Franz (Frank - age 1)
Tanczos (who later changed their name to Tanzos).
My brother and Father were on the same Soundex index film. It was so exciting to
find them, but we didn't have time to check my mother's ship. I also checked on
one of the census records that I had previously found at the Carnegie Library
in Pittsburgh for comparison, and the Natl. Archives film is of much better
quality. They must lose some quality in duplication.
REVERSE VISIT - SECOND PART (continued from Newsletter No. 22;
as excerpted from Volk u. Heimat 10/1956):
As already mentioned, Dr. RIEDL had been invited to join the emigrants at the
"Grand Mai-Fest' of the Brotherhood of the Burgenlander Sick and Death
Benefit Society in New York". Here is his (shortened & translated) account:
"Since the festival was to begin in the afternoon, I didn't expect many
people to be there. I was surprised to meet 400-500 emigrants from nearly all
villages of Southern Burgenland. The festival was held in ZACH's Casino in
the Bronx (I think that the owner comes from Gerersdorf). For me, this place
wasn't easy to find, for I had to cross almost the whole city by bus and
underground, so it took me one and a half hours to get there. I was welcomed
by Josef TANCSICS from Güssing, president of the Brotherhood. As I initially
had expected, only a few people were there. But Mr. TANCSICS told me to just
wait and see. He said that usually it wasn't even possible for the waiter to
get through to every single guest. But then people would lay their money
together and buy the beer in barrels (pitchers?), which they would place on
their tables. So the American Burgenlanders seem to be just as thirsty as
those at home. Soon "Leo und Willis Burgenländer Band" began to play, and
more and more people (whole families) arrived. They spoke German and English
and a mixture of both, depending very much on the age (the old ones usually
would speak German, the young ones English). Mr. BAUMANN from Deutsch
Schützen shook hands with Mr. SCHNALZER from Deutsch Schützen, Ms.
JANDRASITS from Eisenhüttl exchanged the latest gossip with Ms. KEMETER from
Rehgraben, and Mr. MILISITS from Unterbildein had a drink with Mr. SINKOVITS
from Steingraben. I also saw two sailors, sons of emigrants serving in the
army..."
"BURGENLÄNDERS IN HAMILTON, OHIO" (from Jim Reumann)
Hamilton, Ohio is a community about 23 miles north of Cincinnati, therefore,
one is reminded of the German presence in Greater Cincinnati. In the early
1900s, many immigrants from Burgenland settlled in Hamilton. These
immigrants were in large part from the area known today as Deutschkreutz. My
grandfather, John Reumann, was one of those immigrants. He and others from
the Deutschkreutz area settled in the East Hamilton area where most of the
Germanic speaking peoples had settled. Hamilton was an industrial community;
industries were metalworking such as foundries and safeworks; also, several
paper mills. My grandfather worked in an iron foundry as a molder, as did
several of the Burgenlanders. These foundries made iron castings for the
machine tool industry in Cincinnati as well as for the stove works and for
paper machinery. At the end of the days heat, the men would meet at a local
gathering spot and discuss the jobs they ran for that day; as well as to
discuss the life they now had in America.
These people from Burgenland were a very tight knit group. However, as they
died, contact with Deutschkreutz and the Burgenland generally came to a halt.
When I first visited Deutschkreutz, I was taken to the cemetery by my
father`s cousin. I could have been back home in Hamilton. The tombstones
told the story; all familiar names. This was also true across the border in
Hungary.
As we drove through the streets of Sopron, in Hungary, many of the names on
the mailboxes were all so familiar to family names that I know in Hamilton.
Many of the people that I have met in Deutschreutz have asked me in
subsequent visits, why it is that their relatives in America seem to have
forgotten that they have relatives in Austria. This is a good question. We,
in Hamilton, and those of us who have moved from Hamilton, who have roots in
the Burgenland, need to rediscover our roots. (ed. note: exactly why the BB
was formed). Some family names of Hamilton settlers from Burgenland are
ARTNER; JUST; GROSS; WEBER; FUCHS; RINGEL; KALLINGER; John REUMANN; George
REUMANN; Elizabeth REITINGER; Mary NEMETH; GROHOL. I probably could come up
with more if I would just sit back and start thinking. John Reumann and Mary
Nemeth are my paternal grandparents; George Reumann, my grandfather`s younger
brother and his wife Elizabeth Reitinger.
SOME LITTLE-KNOWN BURGENLAND HISTORICAL TERMS
One of the benefits in translating foreign documents is the exposure to terms
and names not normally encountered. As Frank Teklits struggles through his
Croatian history he has encountered some which Albert Schuch has kindly
defined. You may also have an interest.
NADASDY - assuming this to refer to an individual, the NADASDY were one of the
important noble families of Hungary; in Burgenland they owned the domain of
Lockenhaus; Count Franz (Ferencz) Nadasdy took part in a conspiracy against
the Hapsburg king; the conspiracy failed and Count Franz was executed
(beheaded) in 1671; the family was less important afterwards (Lockenhaus, for
example, was bought by the ESTERHAZY in 1676)
Fronbauern - "Fron" is another word for "Robot"; I'd just translate
"Fronbauern" with "farmers", since most farmers had to do the "Robot" (only
the "liberi", the "free men" didn't have to).
Graner = "of Gran" - Gran is the German name of a Hungarian city (Esztergom in
Hungarian; on the Danube, north of Budapest)
Flurname - is this also a slang term being used? - a "Flurname" (or
"Riedname") is a name for a certain part of the land belonging to a village
(once I mentioned that the fields near the cemetery in Kleinpetersdorf are
called "Friedhofäcker", that is fields in the vicinity of the cemetery; in
this case, "Friedhofäcker" would be a "Flurname") (ed. note - perhaps the
equivalent of British "commons"?)
Krobatischberg-Croatianberg, this is the name of a hill (or the area around
it) in the village Kroboteck, so it is a "Flurname"; if you want to translate
it, you should make it "Croation hill" (I would leave the original word and
put the English translation in parenthesis)
Horwathengreuth - slang name for Horvath? - also a "Flurname" in Kroboteck; you
will find an area named "Greuth" in almost every Burgenland village; these
are areas that have been turned into fields from forests (the German verb for
this is "roden", so a "Greuth" is a "Rodungsgebiet" in modern German); as you
will know, "Horvath" is Hungarian for "Croat(ian)", so the meaning is obvious.
Konskription - from the Latin "conscriptio" (literally "writing together of");
while an "Urbar" shows what the people have to give to the domain
owner, the "conscriptio" records the tax owed to the king.
Zehentverzeichnisse - 10th list/register? - "Verzeichnisse" indeed are
lists/registers of something, and the "Zehent" is the tenth part of the
harvest (a kind of tax too).
Begs - "Beg" is the title of a Turkish nobleman, something similar to a
"Count"; so this will be a Turkish word ("Begs" being plural).
Baumkircher - is a surname; Andreas Baumkircher was a mighty nobleman, owner
of large parts of southern Burgenland and parts of Croatia; the Hapsburg
emperor saw a danger in him (which he indeed was) and got rid of him by
having his head separated from his body in the Styrian capital Graz, where
Baumkircher had been lured by the means of false promises ... (the
"Baumkircher-Erben" are the heirs of Baumkircher).
END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD