THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 25
(issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold)
December 15, 1997
(all rights reserved)

FRÖHLICHES WEINACHTEN!

This edition of the newsletter contains A Trip to the Seewinkel, Articles on
Villages (continuation of the Father Leser series).


REPORT OF A TRIP TO THE "SEEWINKEL" - from member James Weinzatl

(ed. comments - Nothing can take the place of that first visit to the home of
your ancestors. If it includes that unique area in the northeast of the
Burgenland called the "Seewinkel" or "lake corner", it can be doubly
rewarding as Jim's report shows.)

He writes: Notes From My Trip to the Seewinkel of Northern Burgenland, Nov.
13-17 1997.

1. PURPOSE: The purpose of my visit was to see and experience the area of
the birthplaces of my grandparents and great-grandparents. I started in
Hesse, Germany, then went to Bavaria, then Bohemia in the Czech Republic, and
finally to the country of my paternal grandparents in the Burgenland of
Austria.

2. THE SEEWINKEL AND THE NEUSIEDLER SEE: My cousin picked me up at the west
Bahnhoff (RR station) in Vienna and we drove on the new autobahn which now
connects the old dual monarchy cities of Wien and Budapest. Turning off at
Neusiedl we drove though the town and I caught my first glimpse of the
Neusiedler See. We were at a higher elevation and immediately dropped to a
lower level at the end of town and this was the beginning of the Seewinkel
area. The land is flat, and you can see other towns in the distance. It is
a marshy area dotted with small lakes. We passed through the towns of Weiden
and Podersdorf and began to notice the endless vineyards along the route.
Arriving at Illmitz, we ate a home-cooked supper. We were joined by my
cousin's parents Johann and Hedwig Weinzetl, who then drove me to Pamhagen.
We passed through Apetlon and we knew that we were in wine country.

3. PAMHAGEN is a town of about 2,000, founded in 1795, and is located 80 km
southeast of Vienna and only 1 km from the the Hungarian border. It is a
Catholic German community, with a unique dialect, which the young people call
Pamhagenese.

In the center of the old town is a Turkenturm (Turkish Tower) which is a
constant reminder of the Turkish invasions in the 1500-1600's. Many young
people commute by car or have moved to Vienna for better paying jobs. Cousin
Johann at (age) 75 runs the Shell gas station in Pamhagen and will retire at
the end of the year and close the station as both of his sons have good jobs
in Vienna.

3. ESTERHAZY PALACE: A trip across the border to Fertod, Hungary to visit
the Esterhazy palace is a must for anyone visiting the area. Although
run-down and not kept up, it remains an impressive U-shaped palace built in
1766 on several acres. It was patterned after the French palace of
Versailles. There are 126 rooms in the Baroque-Rococo palace. The walls of
every apartment are covered with 18-20 carat gold leaf. Each room was heated
by large ceramic wood stoves. Guided tours are given, however, they are in
Hungarian, but handouts are provided in English, German, and other languages,
which allow you to follow along. After paying a small fee for parking and
for the tour, we began by putting on felt-like shoe covers, and then went
through the palace, which also includes an exhibit on Joseph Haydn's days as
Kappelmeister at the palace. A museum and souvenir shops are also available.
We then drove to other small towns around the area and I was impressed with
all the new construction and renovation going on. It is an agricultural area
with sugar beets being harvested by the train carload and taken to a local
sugar refining plant nearby.

4. NATIONAL PARK: A visit to the National Park near Illmitz on the
Neuseidler See lake is also a must. At the visitor center one can watch a
film on wildlife of the area. At the lake's narrowest point you can look
across to the town of Mörbish. Ferries take people and bikes across. (ed.
note - my wife and I made this trip in 1993 and it is a pleasant way to see the
lake. An excursion is featured, which involves a horse and wagon ride to the
beginning of the "puzta" or Hungarian plain, where a Magyar barbecue is
featured). It is a big watersports area for tourist in summer, although the
lake is shallow (only one or two meters) it can become dangerous with strong
winds that create large waves. Many varieties of birds nest there or stop on
migrations from the Arctic Circle to Africa.

5. THE BASILICA AT FRAUENKIRCHEN is one of the most beautiful churches in
the world, with much gold, side altars and frescoes on the ceilings and walls
(including a genealogy made of coats of arms). Returning we passed through
the towns of St. Andrä and Wallern and I was surprised to see hunters of
deer, rabbit and pheasant.

6. PANNONIA: This is a new Holiday village between the towns of Apetlon and
Wallern and almost as big. Built by German investors it has a hotel,
restaurant, indoor pool, tennis hall, stable, zoo, bathing lake, mini-golf,
football fields, and hundreds of cottages. German and other tourists spend
their holidays or vacations here. The complex is still expanding to keep up
with the demand.

7. WAR MEMORIALS: The cemetery was a bit of a disappointment since the
graves were recycled and only 20th century tombstones were in the graveyard.
However a War memorial listed the names of WW-I and WW-II men that had died
from the town of Pamhagen. I never thought of this as a genealogical source.
43 names were listed for WW-I, which showed the year they died. Over 150
Pamhagen men died in WW-II and this memorial gave the year of birth and death.
I copied down all of the names for my family connections, including 3
Weinzetls who died in WW-II. I latter regretted not copying down all of the
43 WW-I names for the BB.

8. WINE FESTIVAL: My final day in Pamhagen coincided with the annual Feast
of St. Martin, the patron saint of the area. On this day the priest blesses
the new wine at the wine Co-op; the entire town comes. You get a wine glass
etched with "Weinbaugemeinde Pamhagen" with a picture of the town church.
Then you eat sausages and bread at long tables with pitchers of wine from
other years. Then everyone goes to the wine cellars, where there are several
large tanks each holding 60,000 liters of red and white new wines of the
current year. Everyone samples the various tanks and argues as to which is
the best. My choices were #23 for white and #13 for red. Every family owns
several or even a part of a hectare (2.47 acres) of vineyards. It is a part
of the town's culture. 1997 is supposed to be a great year for the wine in
Burgenland due to the weather and growing conditions, and is being called a
"century" wine. So invest in 1997 Burgenland wine. I received 5 bottles as
gifts to bring back, and will be enjoying them this Thanksgiving.

9. This was a trip of a lifetime for me. It was my first time to Europe. I
was most impressed on my last day and fell in love with the city of Vienna
("Wein, Wein, nur du allein!" - from the song "Vienna, City of my Dreams").
It is a clean, friendly, and historic city. I will return someday. A couple
of tips, bring a suit coat and tie and brush up on your German in order to
better communicate with real Burgenländers. - Jim Weinzatl


BURGENLAND VILLAGE DATA FROM THE PATER GRATIAN ANTON LESER, O. F. M.
(1873-1949) VILLAGE EXCERPTS (cont. from newsletters nos. 21, 22, 23 & 24)

(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.)

10) Neustift bei Güssing - In 1604 Count Franz Batthyány took a loan from two
(free) inhabitants of N., from the wife (or widow) of Hans GRÖLLER and from
RAYMIS aka Stefan KULCSAR. A document signed by Count Christoph Batthyány in
1669 tells us that Stefan KULCSAR received one "sessio" of the village land,
on which he built himself a house; his (tax-)free status was to last until
the Batthyány paid back the debt; neighbor to this "sessio" was (in 1669 ?) a
person named Nikli ILLIG. This 1669 document was handed out to Jakob RAYMIS,
grandson of Stefan KULCSAR and his wife Frondl (= Veronika) CZIGNER and their
children. N. was burned down in 1605 by the BOCSKAY-rebels. Baptism records
from 1669-1699 give the following names for people born in Neustift: BAUER,
PAL, NIKLES, SVALLES, DRAXLER, INGESICS, FERSINGER, WILLISCH, POSCH, NIKICS
(NIKITSCHER), NÖR, GIBISINGER, HANNS, KNOR, NICHAL, WEBER, HAFNER,
SCHWEITZER, JÖRG, MINZEG, PUM, PHILESMERTY, MICHEL, GRÖLLER, PEINGURL,
GREGER, MAYR, ILING, JAGADICS, RADIS, STIMPERGER, TAPLER, PETANOVICS, FUX,
FIDLER, HIGECS, HOFER, PREINER, PRENNER, RÄMITZ, MOR, FISCHL, BERTL,
WECHSLER, REMISCH, PEIDEL, JANESPACHER, NISTOZ, HOSENPURGER, STUMPER,
RADANOVICZ, JANOS, NOCHLOCH, KNAUS, WÄLIZ, RABATH, GABER, KEMETER, KOCHER
(KUCHER), JANI, BOGNER, NICHAS, JÖRG, GITTERSDORFF, KAMERLE (HAMMERLE?), HAS,
GROGEL, LEDERER, WALSINGER, PUNCH, KOBER, RATZ, PHILES, VIERHÖSL, JAKADICZ,
JÄVISPACHER, SCHUSJ, SARGER, PEK, SCHMERDL, STADINGER, POSCH, BOTNÄCZ
(BODISCH?), LESSL, WELFINGER, SCHERMANN, REISINGER, DONOVICZ, FISCHER,
GRIEBBAUER, HEISLER, GILI, JAGODICZ, HANCZEL, SIMONSICZ, BUSLINGER,
HASENPAUER, KURTZ, BELACZ, SCHNEIDER, REICHER, STUBENVOLL, ADAM, SIMECZ,
SCHMIED, HEILIMANN, PEITL, MENDICZ.

1580-1634; a part of the inhabitants were Lutherans, belonging to the Kukmirn
parish; the Catholics belonged to Güssing parish, were also buried there
until around 1800. N. already had a chapel with a bell in 1757, later they
acquired a second bell. Both were taken away during WW-I. In 1922, 3 bells were
bought, 2 by Catholics, 1 by Lutherans, with help of American emigrants.

The Catholic school can be traced back to 1799, when "Ludirektor" (teacher)
Franz STRASSER died, aged 40. On 10 Apr 1828, Anna KOCHER, daughter of "the
former teacher," died.

We know more about the third "Ludimagister" Michael MÜLL: (ed. note - this is
the g-g-grandfather of your editor) He wrote a "Rechenbuch" (mathematics
book) in Neustift on 9 July 1824; from 1824-1829, three of his children were
born here; in 1832 he was teacher in Inzenhof, then in Urbersdorf, where from
1837-1843 four of his children were born.

In 1843 Johann RUISZ was teacher in N., he had 8 children from 1844-1857.
Other teachers: 1893-1900 Paul WESZELOVITS, 1900-1923 Emerich PRENNER; 1923-?
Stefan SCHMAL. The Lutheran school started in 1824. Known teachers: 1861-79
Johann Georg OCHSENHOFER; 1879-82 Theophil LUIPERSBECK; 1882-1923 Alexander
KURZ; 1923-? Tobias BRUCKNER. Names of Gypsy families are (in 1929) SARKÖZI,
BARANYAI and HORVATH. They can be traced back to the 18th century. (source:
V+H Nr. 22/1956-1/1957)

11) Inzenhof
Inhabitants went to school in Oberradling, until they built their own school.
First teacher in I. was Johann OBERLOHR, who died 7 Jan 1812 aged 57. The
second teacher Franz TITZ died 16 Oct in the same year. On 2 March 1832 Anna,
daughter of the teacher Michael MÜLL was born here, and on 9 Dec 1835 the
wife of teacher Paul BUCZOLITS died. From 1838-45 three children of teacher
Franz VINDISCH were born. Later teachers (data from church records): 1846
Franz KRENCZER; 1850-57 Georg JAKSITS; 1858-62 Michael NEUBAUER; 1867-71 Emil
LANGASCH (ed. note: g-grandfather of your editor); 1886 Johann STEINKO;1891
Anton SCHLAMADINGER; 1895-1900 Franz HOLPER. "Second teachers" were Franz
KÖNIG, Jakob PLONOVITS, Franz MAYER, MARAKOVITS, Michael TAPFER, Franz MAYER
again, in 1901 Paul WESZELOVITS (assisted by his 2 daughters), 1909-11 Georg
LANYI and his wife Frieda KARPATHI, 1911-20 Adolf HALWACHS and his wife
Emilie BERGER, from 1920 onwards Karl LANTOS and his wife Helene
DINGHA.(source: V+H Nr. 1+3/1957).


NEW MEMBERS' COMMENTS

We've been favored with a large influx of new members recently. Many have
included items of interest in their initial contact. A selected
international mix (edited) follows:

(from Bob Schatz)
I was very excited last week when I was browsing through the Internet and
came upon the site for the Burgenland Bunch. My father's ancestor's all
lived in villages in the vicinity of Güssing, and I have done research on
all of those lines back to the late 18th century. I'm not currently working
on my genealogical research, but I'd like to join the Bunch if that's at all
possible.

In doing a quick scan through your Names index I found very few of my
surnames listed, and no one doing research in the village of Urbersdorf. I'm
a native of Allentown , and I enjoyed reading your article about your trip
there. Most of my extended family is still there (on my mother's side we go
back to the mid-18th century in the Lehigh Valley). My Burgenland roots were
a mystery to us when I was growing up. My paternal grandparents died while
my father was very young, and none of my uncles or aunts (all being young
when they came here) could ever provide me with a clear sense of where they
had come from. It was only through diligent sleuthing while I was in high
school that I discovered our origins in Urbersdorf. In the many years since,
I have uncovered much historical and genealogical information and discovered
distant relatives in Graz. I travelled to Austria in 1984 and visited
Güssing, Urbersdorf, and other villages, and saw the house my grandparents
and great-grandparents had lived in.

My relatives took me to the Burg and the Kloster in Güssing, and I remember
that we even went down into the Batthyány crypt! I slept in the Schatz house
in Strem and visited the vineyards of Strem and Urbersdorf, and attended a
huge gathering in a farmhouse in Glasing, where I met other distant
relatives. It has been a few years since I've worked on my paternal lines. I
had much initial success while in college with a genealogist in Vienna, and
then continued my own research via the LDS archives (parish and tax records).
Because I knew Latin and German and learned key words in Hungarian and was
also able to read the old script, my own work was very successful. I have
been unable to proceed earlier than the late 18th century, however. The LDS
microfilms do not go back that far (the Catholic Church will not, apparently,
allow the LDS to microfilm their records, and anything the LDS has is from
copies deposited in the Hungarian National Archives). I haven't been able to
return to Burgenland to do on site research. There is a Batthyány urbarium
(feudal tenancy record) for Urbersdorf from 1763 which lists a Johann Schatz,
but I have not been very diligent about pursuing feudal or tax records in
Hungary or Austria to ascertain when the family arrived there. My Graz
relatives claim that we originated in Jenbach in Tirol, and at some point I
will attempt to pick up the trail again! I'm presuming that my ancestors
moved to Urbersdorf in the early- to mid-18th century because the Tirol was
very overpopulated at that time, and the Habsburgs were encouraging
immigration to Hungary (as you know) with promises of reduced taxation and
reduced feudal obligations. I did uncover a contemporary writer complaining:
"why should we as freemen move to Hungary to become peasants?" (Hungary,
after all, didn't abolish feudal tenancy until 1848). Other families
researched: Stranzl of Urbersdorf, Keppl of Strem and Urbersdorf, Fürst of
Glasing, Unger of Tobaj, Schatz of Strem, Neubauer of Sumetendorf. I hope to
hear from you!

(from Heinz Koller) (1) I got your e-mail address
from "Burgenlaendische Gemeinschaft". You are looking for ancestral
information. I am ready to help you, and ask for further information by
e-mail. If you would like to look at our homepage << www.bnet.co.at/guessing/
>>, in a few days we are doing update regarding "Burgspiele" (Castle Play)
and a new page about "Hianzisch gridt im internet" ("hianzisch spoken at
internet").

(2) Thank you for your message and the added member list of Burgenland Bunch.
It is true, I'm living and working in Güssing. I was born in Langzeil in
1944, my wife in Rosenberg. Her family name was Sammer. You can see, the
given names i. e. Sammer(l), Sorger, Pltl, Artinger, Gerger etc. are well
known because they are names of (neighbors) near home! In the early fifties
my family was living in the house of Johann Sorger, whose parents descended
from Rosenberg! There are also some relatives living in the USA and in
Canada. More in the next mail. I'm sure we'll have pleasure finding out some
relations to your ancestors. Please add my name to the list and let me know
latest news. Greetings, Heinz Koller. (Heinz accompanied his email with a
fine picture of Castle Güssing which I'll be glad to share.)

(from Klaus Gerger) It is very nice to hear from you
again. It's just Fall in Wien and Güssing, but 2 weeks ago we spent a weekend
in Styria where the girls had the opportunity to play in 10 cm (4") of snow.
They enjoyed it very much. In Güssing and Vienna we finished the harvest
season. My father owns an orchard with about 100 trees in Rosenberg (and
nobody is able to keep him from climbing up the apple trees - getting the
best apples from the top). All the vegetables are in the cellar, deep freeze
or preserved ("Rex Glser", jam). All of the grapes are off of the vines,
made into sweet grape juice and to "UHUDLER" ( (c), TM, for
"SdBurgenländischen Direkttrger Wein"), 30 l each. The mashed, fermenting
Plums are waiting for the winter to be distilled into "SLIVOVITS" at the
"Schnapsbrenner (distillery) Gerger" (no relative) in St. Nikolaus. The
book-store mentioned in your letter is named DESCH-DREXLER. A little story
about the owner: He is from Pinkafeld and married a few years ago. He
organized a POLTERABEND ("eve-of-the-wedding party)in a "Burgenland
Gasthaus" - in the BRONX, New York. A bunch of 25 to 30 friends, my brother
among them made a 3 day trip to NY to party there! With one of my next
letters I'll send a list of interesting (book) titles. Also I asked a friend
(Brigitte Gerger, no relative as far as I know) for Rosenberg "Kataster" Maps
from 18xx including house numbers, they are hidden some where but she is
searching for them. Another friend wrote a "bachelors thesis" with the title
"Die Österreichische Auswanderung von 1848 bis zur Gegenwart" - in German,
covering background information, statistical data and a lot of literature
links. If you are interested in this paper let me know.

Did I say "thank you" for your last letter, for the family tree? NO?? I'll do
so now and also ask you a favor: can you send a GEDCOM file from your family
tree to me? Referring to your last BB letter, I translated your BG article to
German (with the funny help of Langenscheit T1 V3.0, English-German
translating software) because my father is very interested in it. He knew
some of the old Sorgers in Rosenberg. With your family tree (printed) it
would be easier to regain all the relationships. (Holiday season
coming)...There are a lot of preparations to be done...Advent (calendar for
the kids), Nikolaus (little gifts/sweets for the kids) and Weihnachten (big
presents for the kids and all around) So like every year Advent is no quiet
night but a busy time for us.

(from: Viktor Fischer)
My name is Viktor Fischer in Melbourne Australia, and I am making some
preliminary investigations into my mother's family. My parents migrated to
Australia in 1949 from Austria having fled the Russian occupations of Romania
(my father's home, Sachsen Germans in Transylvania) and Hungary. My mother's
people were from Koszeg in Hungary, her father Frigyes Gratzl (died there
around 1936/37) and mother Maria nee Tanczos (died there also, in 1957); they
were Hungarian speaking and Catholic, although I believe my mother's paternal
grandmother was a native German speaker.

My Gratzl grandfather's family owned the flour mill in Koszeg (Güns),
possibly more than one, and some apparently considerable land and orchards,
much of which was deeded to the Catholic Church by that same paternal
grandmother mentioned above, perhaps in the nineteen teens or twenties, maybe
earlier. My Gratzl grandfather was apparently one of a large family -family
legend says he was one of nineteen children, and he was a military man, a
teacher of cadets so presumably attached to a military school in the area; he
was also quite a good amateur artist, we have a very few pieces saved from
the wrack and ruin of war. Of my Tanczos grandmother, I know little more than
what I have written here already.


END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 25A
(issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold)
December 25, 1997
(all rights reserved)

In purging my email files I found a number of pre-1997 transmissions to
fellow Burgenland researchers. Since this was before the birth of the
newsletter, not many have seen them. They are reproduced here (updated).


BURGENLAND BOOKS

Attached is a list of books and sources which will help in persuing
Burgenland Genealogy. Many are in German or Hungarian. I don't own all of
them. Some are hard to find. If you know of any not on this list, please send
me the data. I'm particularly interested in any references to the Bocksy
(Hungarian) Rebellion (1601-5) and the aftermath of the seige of Vienna
(1683) when our villages were burned and population carried off. Hungarian
publications (H) which are printed in Hungarian have had their titles
translated to English. German (G) sources are shown as printed (umlaut
omitted in some cases), followed by English translations.

o Part I History
-BEGEGNUNG MIT DEM BURGENLAND, Das Grenzland in der Literatur, Belvedere
 Verlag, Wien 1971 (G); "Meeting the Burgenland, The Border Lands in Literature".
-DAS BUCH VOM BURGENLAND, Fritsch & Zachs, Belvedere Verlag, Wien, 1983 (G)
-DIE GUSSINGER, Josef Naray, Druckzentrum Sud, Güssing, 1993 (G)
-HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE FORTRESS GUSSING, Steven Vasy, Privately Printed,
 1959 (G - Private English Translation)
-HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE, Freeman & Bury, Ares. Reprint, 1974
-HISTORY OF THE HABSBURG EMPIRE 1526-1918, Kann, Campus, 1980
-HUNGARY, Hastings House, Budapest 1965
-NORICUM, Geza Alfoldy, Routledge and Keegan Paul, London 1974
-PENGUIN ATLASES OF ANCIENT-MEDIEVAL-MODERN HISTORY, McEvedy, Penquin Books 1974
-STADTERHEBUNG GUSSING 1973, Festschrift, Leykam AG, Graz(G); "Gussing Surveyed".
-THE BOOK OF AUSTRIA, Ernst Marboe, Osterreichische Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1948, 1958
-THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG, Crankshaw, Penguin Books, 1983
-THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ROMAN PANNONIA, Lengyel & Radan, U.P. of KY, 1980
-THE SPIRIT OF HUNGARY, Stephen Sisa, Rakoczi Foudation, P.O. Box 110025,
 Cleveland, Ohio 44111. EXCELLENT HUNGARIAN HISTORY (very slanted).
-GESCHICHTE DES BURGENLANDES, Lehrbuch für die Oberstufe, Floiger, Gruber,
 Huber; 1996, Druck Ed. Hlzel, Ges.m.b.h., Wien (G).
 Upper school "History of the Burgenland" textbook. A fine, inclusive text.

o Part II Family Towns & Villages
-BAEDEKER'S AUSTRIA, 1900 & SOUTHERN GERMANY & AUSTRIA, 1883
-BURGENLAND CASTLES, A Brief Description With Genealogical Emphasis, edited
 by G. Berghold. Available through downloading from BB archives as Newsletter 13A.
-BILDER-CHRONIK DER STADT GUSSING, Hajszanyi, Doncsecs, Druck, Pinkafeld,
 1990 (G); "Picture History of the City of Güssing"
-BURGENLAND IN ALTEN ANSICHTEN, Guglia & Schlag, Oesterreichischer
 Bundesverlag, Wien 1986( G); "Old Views of the Burgenland".
-BURGENLAND, GESCHICHTE, KULTUR UND WIRTSCHAFT IN BIOGRAPHIEN, Otto Maier,
 Ed. Roetzer, Eisenstadt 1993 (G); "History, Culture, Industry in Biography".
-BURGENLAND, Zeitreise In Einem Ungewönlichen Land, G. Unger, Edition Tusch,
 1994 (G). "A journey in time in an unusal land." Many fine pictures.
-BURGENLAND VILLAGE GAZETEER, (A four-part email series, 27 pages, over 317
 villages, extracted from various sources and edited by Albert Schuch.
 Contains village names (German, Hungarian and Croatian, in alphabetic order
 north to south, showing districts, locations of churches and civil offices.
 Available free of charge to BB members as email.
-BURGENLAND VILLAGE INFORMATION, a continuing series of extracts from various
 sources including early Urbars, church "Matriken", "Visitations", and modern
 sources. Various authors. Edited and translated by Albert Schuch and Gerry
 Berghold. See BB Archives catalog.
-HISTORY OF VAS COUNTY, Sziklay & Borovszky, Budapest, 1898 (H). LDS film.
-ORTS LEXICON VON UNGARN (VAS MEGYE), J. Dvorzsak, Budapest 1877 (H);
 "Locality Encyclopedia of Hungary". LDS has microfiche.
-TOPOGRAPHICAL LEXICON OF THE COMMUNITIES OF HUNGARY COMPILED IN 1773,
 Delegation of the Peace of Hungary, Budapest, 1920 (H). LDS microfiche.

o Part III Germanic Names
-A DICTIONARY OF SURNAMES, Hanks & Hodges, Oxford Press, 1992.
-DIE DEUTSCHEN FAMILIENNAMEN, Heintze-Cascordi, 1925 (G). G. Family Names.
-GERMAN AMERICAN NAMES, G. F. Jones, Genealogical Pub. Co., Baltimore, 1990
-GERMAN-ENGLISH GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY, Ernest Thode, Genealogical Publishing
 Co., Baltimore 1992
-REGISTER NEUHOCHDEUTSCHER FAMILIENNAMEN (Altdeutschen Namenbuch), Ernst
 Forstemann. (G) (Index of Modern High German Surnames).

o Part IV The "Auswanderung" (Migration to the United States)
-COMING TO AMERICA, R. Daniels, Harper Perennial, New York
-CROSSINGS - The Great Transatlantic Migrations 1870-1914, Nugent, Ind. U.P. 1992
-DIE AMERIKA-WANDERUNG DER BURGENLANDER, Dr. Walter Dujmovits, Desch Drexler,
 Pinkafeld, 1992 (G); "The American Migration of the Burgenlanders". Order from
 Burgenlandisches Gemeinschaft (address elsewhere)
-ELLIS ISLAND - A PICTORIAL HISTORY, Benton, Facts on File, 1985
-FORGOTTEN DOORS - Other Ports of Entry-Stolarik, Balch Institute Press, 1988
-HARVARD ENCYCL. OF AMERICAN ETHNIC GROUPS, Ternstrom, Harvard Univ. P.
-NACH AMERIKA, Burgenlandische Landesausstellung Burg Gussing, Roetzer Druck,
 Eisenstadt, 1992 (G); "To America". VERY GOOOD. ORDER FROM BG.
-NEW YORK PORT OF ENTRY PASSENGER LISTS, American Genealogical Lending
 Library, Bountiful, Utah, 1990
-THE HABSBURG MONARCHY AS A CUSTOMS UNION, Kommos, Princeton, 1985

o Part V Berghold-Neubauer Genealogy (Substitute your own family data)
-ARCHIVES OF THE EVANGELISCHE PFARRGEMEINDE A. B. ELTENDORF, MARTIN LUTHER
 KIRCHE 1770-1993 (G); "Lutheran Congregation - Eltendorf". Source, not book.
-CHRONIK-ARCHIVES OF THE GEMEINDE AMT, ELTENDORF, BURGENLAND (G); "Historical
 Archives - Civil Office, Eltendorf". Source, not book.
-CHRONIK-ARCHIVES OF THE GEMEINDE AMT, HEILIGENKREUZ, BURGENLAND (G) Source, not book.
-HUNGARIAN CENSUS OF 1828, Ungarisches Staatsarchiv, Archivum Palatinale
 Landeskonskription 1828, Hungaria Comitatus Castriferrei(Vas County) (H) -LDS Film.
-SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX (1988 EDITION)-CD ROM
-U. S. CENSUS OF 1910 & 1920, Lehigh & Northampton Counties. LDS Microfilm.
-REGIONAL MICROFILM FROM THE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY, Church of Jesus Christ
 of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Salt Lake City, Utah: The film was made in the
 early 1960's from copies of church records in the Hungarian State archives
 in Budapest. Most church records cover the period 1825-1895. The civil records
 cover the period 1896-1921.

Three new books recently published are excellent in that they include a brief
history of villages, family names, pictures of old and new businesses,
churches, etc. They are the first three of a series which will cover the
entire Burgenland. They are in German, glossy paper, hardbound, forward by
Dr. Walter Dujmovits, and expensive at about $40 plus postage (about $5).
They can be ordered from the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft, Hauptplatz 7,
A-7540 Güssing, Austria. You can write in English. I'd suggest sending them
a check for $60, ordering the book(s) and a membership ($15/yr) and asking
them to bill you the difference. Membership entitles you to six issues of
their newsletter which is full of local news and information (in German). The
Austrian schilling is now worth about 10 cents. You can also order the books
direct.

"Der Bezirk Jennersdorf im Wandel der Zeit" (The District of Jennersdorf
Through the Ages). Kirsner & Peternell, Eigenverlag, Kapellenweg 14, A-8502
Lannach, Austria. Includes Deutsch Kaltenbrunn, Eltendorf, Heiligenkreuz,
Mogersdorf, Rudersdorf, etc.

"Der Bezirk Güssing im Wandel der Zeit" (same as above) Includes Bildein,
Eberau, Grossmürbisch, Kukmirn, Stegersbach, Moschendorf, etc.

"Der Bezirk Oberwart im Wandel der Zeit" (same as above) Includes Oberwart,
Tatzmannsdorf, Grosspetersdorf, Neustift, Riedlingsdorf, etc.


PRE-BURGENLAND ORIGINS

Having scanned numerous south Burgenland, Austro-Hungarian church records,
there's no doubt in my mind that our Burgenland families all originally came
from somewhere else. The German ones came from somewhere in pre-1861 Germanic
Regions (Holy Roman Empire) and the Croatians from Croatia. Since the Germans
started migrating to the Burgenland as early as the 9th Century, they're the
tough ones - they came anytime over a 1000 year period. The Croatians; however,
came with the aristocratic Batthyánys when Franz Batthyány received the south
Burgenland from Hungarian King (Lajos) Ludwig II in 1524 for his help against
the Turks. The Batthyánys were Bans (Dukes) of Croatia. Just recently, in a
short historical description of the village of Stinatz (Gemeinde Stegersbach),
I find that the Batthyánys were from "Stenicnjak" in Croatia just south of
Zagreb (Karlovac). Any of you with Burgenland Croatian names in your trees
(endings "its", "ich", "itz") or the names "Horvath(z)" or Wukitz (Vukits),
Wukitovits, may want to see if there are any records in the LDS files for this
place in Croatia (former Yugoslavia). It may also be in the new Slovenia (not Slovakia).

Some other useful information. Balthasar Batthyány became a Lutheran in 1569,
but reverted to Catholicism in 1630. Under canon law of the period, "he who
rules decides religion". This may help in the "what church?" question for our
families.

Some other aristocratic family names in the south Burgenland were Zrinyi,
Strattmann, von Ellerbach, Erddy, and Draskovitch. Some have genealogies and
looking at some of them may help our search. They sold land to their peasants
and freemen ("jobbagy") following the Revolution of 1848. This is confirmed
by the LDS microfilm of Burgenland tax records.

In reviewing the history of south Burgenland villages, I can't help but
notice how many were burned (including Güssing) around 1605 during the Bocsky
(Stephan) rebellion. This was one of the early Hungarian-Hapsburg conflicts
about which not much has been written in English. A number of villages were
also burned during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). Thus the
scarcity of material pre-1828.

Much of the above comes from the recently published "Der Bezirk Güssing im
Wandel der Zeit" (The District of Güssing Through the Ages), 1995, Kirsner &
Peternell. It's in German, village by village, glossy paper, with color
illustrations (see book listings).


END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD