THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 35
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY
(issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold)
May 15, 1998
(all rights reserved)

DON'T FORGET TO POST TO THE NEW WORLD GEN WEB QUERY BOARD CHANGED TO:
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/Austria/Burgenland

This edition of the newsletter contains articles on:
- Status of Croatian History
- House Names
- Meaning of Names
- Burgenland Jewish Population
- Views of America & Burgenland
- More on the Bakony Region of Hungary


CROATIAN HISTORY TRANSLATION (from Frank Teklits)

Ed. Charter member Frank Teklits has devoted over a year to the translation
of a text on the Great Migration of the Croats, written by Johann Dobrovich.
It deals with reasons for the migrations, villages settled by the Croats, and
their origins. The text starts with the history of Croatia and the Turkish
invasions. Then it covers particular districts of Burgenland and history of
the villages. There is also a chapter on the three major dialects of the
Croatian language and where used. This is one technique to determine the
origin of the original settlers. About 500 villages, so most BB members will
find something about their village.

Frank is being helped by Albert Schuch (historical terms translated by Albert
have been the subject of previous newsletters) and has supplied the
following status:
"I thought I'd provide you with a progress update on the translation of
Prof. Dobrovich's text, 'Burgenland Research'. There are a total of 31
chapters, and as of tomorrow (a month ago), I should be starting the last
one. However, the last chapter has a length of 43 pages, versus an average
length of 3.5 pages for the previous 30..... Credit for this effort in a
major way goes to Albert, for his consistent, patient explanations. I would
have terminated this effort months ago without his assistance. I estimate
(editing) to take a few more months, barring any long vacations that my
better half wants to take.


HOUSE NAMES

I am Lori Ifkovits the wife of Eddie Ifkovits who just joined the
Burgenlander Bunch from Connecticut. My sister-in-law Terry Blank just joined
the Bunch also. We were discussing house names as another avenue to find
relatives. There are so many people in Burgenland with the same last name
that it helps if you knew their relatives' house name. For example, my
husband's father's name is Edward Ifkovits from Kr. Tschantschendorf and his
house name is Farkus. His mother's name is Stephanie Serencsics and her
house name is Darish. When we visited Burgenland for the first time about
15 years ago, it was much easier to find the relatives' houses because we
knew their house names. If you asked someone walking down the street "do you
know where Frank Serencsics lives, they ask you which Serencsics." Then you say-
"Darisher Frank" and they know right away where he lives. We went to the
local pub owned by Klutsarits, but they dont call it Klutsarits, they call
it Checkish which is the house name for those Klutsaritss. Everybody in
the area says I'll meet you at Checkish because they all know that as the
house name. My husband's cousin's name is Pani and his house name is
Schwarzbardel. There are other Panis in town, but we know that the
Schwartzbardel were the ones that we were looking for, and anyone that we
asked knew the Schwartzbardel house. There were a lot of other house
names, but I dont remember them because they were not related. I am not
sure of the spelling of these house names either, but it made it much easier
to see which Ifkovits or Serencsics were related. Even when a female
marries, she still retains her house name. For example if a Ifkovits marries
a Jandrisovits she is still a Farkus, so you know if she is a relative or
not. Most of the older generation went by the house names. We found this
very interesting and it was easy to find cousins if you know the house names.


MEANING OF NAMES (GJB, Albert Schuch & Fritz Königshofer)

I'm always interested in the meaning of family names since they can be a clue
to origin. Some are easy to translate, if from places or occupations, others
can be obscure. I have many definitions of the name Berghold, but have yet to
find a definitive one. The first place to look is one of the books on the
subject. I have mentioned a few in previous newsletters. Some Burgenland
names seem to defy any kind of translation until you consider the dialects in
use. One that I have is "Poeltl" (Pöltl). I recently asked Albert what he
thought. His reply: "I can only guess: You will have heard about the town
Sankt Pölten, which is now the capital of Lower Austria. The name is derived
from Saint Hyp(p)olytus. So this may be a possible source. Another
possibility might be the name Leopold: In the "Hianzn" dialect, it was often
shortened to "Pultl".

Another was "Schabhüttl" - this was easier, meaning "someone from (inhabitant
of) a small cottage (hüttl) with a thatch (Schab) roof". While this one was
difficult for me, it was easy for a Burgenländer. We need a primer of
Burgenland names. A good subject for someone's dissertation!

Another is "Kornheisel". I asked Albert. "Could you comment on the
diminutive(?) "-heisel" (husel). Emil Langasch married Ersebet Kornheisel in
Heiligenkreuz in 1858 (she was from Rabafüzes - father Janos, mother Anna
Knaus). I have seen other names with that ending. Does it signify a
particular region in Austria, etc."

Answer: I'd say this is very similiar to "Schabhüttl": A "Kornhusl"
originally was a small house ("Husl") used for the storage of corn. Ed. so I
guess, Janos, the one with the new corn crib, becomes Kornheisel, Janos.

Closer to home is the use of "berghold" as a name for status. Fritz
Königshofer writes:
"By the way, while in Graz I checked the meaning of Berghold with the head
of the diocesan archives (Dr. Mueller). My reason for asking him was that I
found an ancestor with the name Schwab in south Styria (the hills between
Leibnitz and the Carinthian border) whose profession ("Stand" -- civil
status) was listed as a "berghold." According to the archivist, "berghold"
described the tenant of a hut in the mountains, and as such was lower in the
rank established by ownership of one's abode than a Söllner or Keuschler.
In this interpretation of the meaning of "Berghold," therefore, the name
derives from the housing condition.

Another member asks: >> I have found a Kapeller and wonder if that could have
been a variation of Presseller. The Presseller name I found to be spelled
different ways...  <<

Answers: Spellings vary a lot, but I doubt if Kapeller is a variation of
Presseller. The German word Kapele means "chapel" - so a Kapeller means "one of
(from) the chapel", in music it also means "bandsman". I can't find a similar
definition for Presseller, but a Presse is a "squeezer" (probably has to do
with wine-making). We tried this out on Albert Schuch, who writes: "Gerry, I
agree. Kapeller is too different from Presseller to be a variation. It may
also be derived from "Press-Söllner". The "Presse" indeed has to do with
wine-making, one still can find an old "Presshaus" (house for the wine-press,
where the grapes are brought for squeezing/pressing) in a few villages. Now a
"Press-Söllner" could have been a "Söllner" (= landless village inhabitant),
a person with no farming land living in and maybe owning the "Presshaus".


JEWS IN THE BURGENLAND (from Fritz Königshofer)

Please see attached note I wrote to Maureen Tighe-Brown and Gert Tschögl,
which was triggered by the material printed in today's (Jan. 31, 1998)
newsletter.

Subject: About Jews in Rechnitz (Rohoncz). Maureen, When I read the
interesting message about your research on family culture in Christian and
Jewish life of old Western Hungary (now Burgenland), I was reminded of
Rechnitz (Rohoncz), the village of a major branch of my forebears. While my
ancestors were all Roman Catholic, my interest in Rechnitz obviously brought
me in contact with this market town's remarkable multi-ethnic and
multi-religious history. This afternoon, I again read a booklet titled
"Beiträge zur Geschichte der Großgemeinde Rechnitz" which has no publishing
date, but must have come out relatively recently. The contents are based on
notes written by the long-time r.c. teacher of Rechnitz, Karl Klein, and also
uses material from Loipersbeck's "Rechnitz und die beiden Hodisse."

I did not know about the "Sieben [Jewish] Gemeinden" but was somewhat
surprised to find Rechnitz in the follow-on (not the original seven) list of
villages with strong Jewish communities. Karl Klein (p. 103) refers to a
book from 1833 by Thiele "Das Königreich Ungarn" according to which
Rechnitz's population consisted of 2,022 Catholics, 1,818 Protestants, and a
remarkable 789 Jews. He also mentions the church schematism of 1841 which
lists the numbers as 2,330 Catholics, 1103 (only!) Protestants and 916 Jews.
Klein's booklet contains a whole chapter on the "Juden in Rechnitz." This
chapter (pp. 79-86) starts with the fact that by the year 1676 there were
already 37 Jewish families in Rechnitz, and that a synagogue (he writes "a
temple with an Ark of the Covenant") had existed since 1649. From the numbers
alone, I would assume that the Jewish community of Rechnitz must have been
one of the most significant Jewish presences in Austria. When performing a
search of the catalog of the Library of Congress some years ago on the name
Rechnitz, I noted that the library's holdings include some apparently
important religious texts saved from the Rechnitz synagogue. Another item
worth mentioning is that Hedwig Weiler, the first love of Franz Kafka, was
born 1888 in Vienna to Jewish parents who had come from Rechnitz. (Hedwig,
later married a Herzka, who played a key role in the Zionist youth movement,
at the left end of the political spectrum.) The bibliography of the Rechnitz
booklet lists another article by Karl Klein, namely "Zur Geschichte der Juden
in Rechnitz." It states that this article was published as part of the book
by Hugo Gold: "Gedenkbuch der Untergegangenen Judengemeinden des
Burgenlandes," 1970, Alamenu, Tel Aviv. In my view, Rechnitz was not only
remarkable for having three very strong religious congregations, but it was
also an incredible ethnical mix. There was a German, a Croatian, and a
Magyar "market." I am sure, there were also some Slovenes. Over the first
two thirds of the 19th century, one could perhaps see the town as the
example of a tolerant community. Unfortunately, this tolerance all came to
naught as nationalism ascended, politics became extreme and divisive, and
religions also tightened the screws on their own flock. I am really happy
about the project you (and Gert) have chosen to pursue and wish you the best.

Ed. Note: In looking for villages containing minority groups, see "ORTS
LEXICON VON UNGARN", Joh. Dvorzsak, published 1877. It can be found in the
permanent microfiche file of each LDS Family History Center as fiche number
6000840. The Lexicon is arranged by Megye (county), Bezirk (district) and
Hungarian village name. A German-Hungarian name locator is in the front of
the lexicon to enable you to find the Hungarian name. Each village is then
found with German name, code indicating if a local church is present (capital
RK for Catholic, AG for Lutheran, REF for Reformed, IZR for Jewish), or the
village where the inhabitants went to church. IT ALSO SHOWS THE NUMBER OF
RESIDENTS by religion. Example:
Patafalva (Poppendorf), rk 645 Raba Keresztur (Heiligenkreuz), ag 108
Kortvelyes (Eltendorf), izr 2--(no village shown-nearest Jewish
congregation would be Güssing).


VIEWS OF AMERICA & BURGENLAND
Erich Kumbusch (Vienna) sent the following interesting letter:

<< Yesterday we saw on TV a movie about the Burgenländer in USA. This was a
nice report and I got the opportunity to see the landscape of Pennsylvania.
It is very nice and nearly Austria. I was very surprised. Our inside picture
of USA is of very big cities and skylines, or deserts, canyons or
California. The soap operas and TV series are building this wrong image. They
showed a video from the little Burgenland. Some people were introduced:
Walter Kröller is a musician and leader for journeys to Austria. We saw also
his mother Hedwig Kröller. The next was Al Zach born in Gerersdorf and his
wife Rosalia from Güssing, both living in New York. He has a baker's shop.
Then we saw a report from a harvest festival from the Bruderschaft der
Burgenländer (a NY Burgenland association). In the Bronx is a
Burgenländisches Restaurant and the Edelwei Baum (musical group) supplied
Music. Miss Burgenland was Stefanie Deutsch (her story is featured in a
recent Gemeinschaft newsletter). Then they introduced Stefan Deutsch - he is
the owner of an Burgenländischem Restaurant in New York. He showed his house
and his family. Then Josef Zenta from Deutsch Schützen was interviewed. The
camera team also followed some USA Burgenländer during a visit to
Güssing. They were looking for relatives and villages. >>

(Editor's Comments) In the same way that Erich and many Austrians view the
United States, so do most Americans think of Austria as being the oft-
mentioned cities of Vienna, Salzburg or Innsbruck. Graz, the second largest
city is almost unknown. Some think of the movie "Sound of Music", the Danube,
Alpine ski slopes or Strauss music as being Austria. Very few can picture
the Burgenland.

The July/August 1997 Burgenländische Gemeinschaft newsletter has two front
page pictures. One is captioned "Amerika" and shows the New York skyline. The
other is called "Burgenland" and shows a small hamlet in a pastoral valley.
Both of these pictures are correct, but are two extreme views. My home in
America (the Shenandoah Valley) is more like the Burgenland scene and the
Burgenland shown in the picture is now only seen in rural areas reached by
"Guterweg" (farm roads) or "Rad Fahren" (bicycle). While lacking skyscapers,
the Burgenland too has its developed areas and congestion (i.e. - parking in
Güssing, the border crossing at Heiligenkreuz, Oberwart on Saturday,
Eisenstadt most days, auto traffic, etc.)

The real difference between life in Burgenland and life in mainstream America
are their villages versus our cities. Villages of less than 2500 people,
related or acquainted by ties of blood, religion or ethnic similarity, with
roots that reach far into the past, they are Burgenland. Most have one church
or chapel, a scattering of shops, services and Gasthausen, a volunteer fire
company, one or more historic sites, a sports club, a Gemeindeamt (district
office), a war memorial, a Volkschule, a post office, a cemetery, often a
park and a few hundred well-maintained houses, neat and tidy with lots of
flowers. On the fringes today you'll find a gas station, an auto dealer,
perhaps some small industrial sites and often a modern bypass road. A place
for peaceful, pleasant living. You can still find their equivalent in America;
the small farm communities far from megalopolis, almost an anachronism. They
are often featured in travel magazines and "best places to live" books. In
Virginia we have some, along Route 11, the "Valley Road" of the Shenandoah
Valley. Unfortunately, you'll also hear the roaring traffic of parallel
Interstate 81 - our valley "Autobahn". Too few Europeans see this America, as
it is rarely featured by Hollywood or television. When they visit, first
impressions must be pretty dismal. They see the areas surrounding the air
terminals of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. Yech! One
gentleman in Eltendorf stopped me and said "I've been to America (New York)
and I don't like it. Es ist nicht schon." How far you must drive to escape
the agonies of megalopolis. As our urban cities struggle to prevent further
decay, our remaining "rural villages" struggle with the down-side of
development. Rural Clarke County to the east of Winchester, noted "horse
country" of rolling farm land, constantly battles the encroaching growth of
bedroom communities from metropolitan Washington. Only distance (65 miles)
and the Blue Ridge Mountains have spared my own Winchester, VA. Urban
development is a main difference between us. The Burgenland has just begun
this growth, we've had it for some time. I hope they do better than we have.

The "village" is the Burgenländer's "Heimat" (home). He's had too many
"rulers" over the centuries to think of "Heimat" in nationalistic or
political terms. When he migrates, he takes this "village" allegiance with
him and tries to recreate it. Thus we have small communities of Burgenland
immigrants like Coplay, Egypt, Nazareth, Northampton, PA, etc. and the ethnic
neighborhoods in larger cities like Allentown, Chicago, Cleveland, New York,
Passaic, and St. Louis. The immigrants tried to settle in an area that
reminded them of home. The similarity between the Lehigh Valley of
Pennsylvania and the Burgenland is striking. As descendants migrate in turn,
some of these new American "villages" disappear, but they remain part of
historic memory. Some acquire "new ethnicity". Allentown for instance is
changing from a Pennsylvania German-Eastern European city to a haven for
Hispanic immigrants.

When Austrians visit the United States, they of course want to see the sights
featured on television (and some they may not like), but they should also
visit some of our "villages". When Americans visit Austria, in addition to
looking for "The Sound of Music", they should also spend a few days in a
Burgenland village. If you look closely you'll find the "old" village and the
"old country" in both places.


MORE ON THE BAKONY DIALECTS (Ernest Chrisbacher and Fritz Königshofer)

In BB News No. 31 you (Fritz Königshofer) told a little story about your trip
through the Bakony Forest of Veszprem County, Hungary on your way to
Bakonybel. The village that you stopped at, Németbánya/Deitschhütten, was
the birthplace of my grandmother, Maria Fodi. The village where you saw the
bilingual street sign is Bakonyjákó, the birthplace of my grandfather,
Jozsef Griesbacher. The beautiful old dialect that you heard from the three
older women is indeed similar to the Heanzen dialect, but it tends more to
the "Baierisch ui-Mundart". This area of Veszprém County contained 30 or 40
almost pure Germanic villages at the turn of the century and 50-60 others
with minority German populations. I believe it was the second largest
contributor, following Burgenland, during the early years of this century, of
Germanic emigrants to the USA from Austria-Hungary. The Bakony Forest area
was settled during the beginning and the middle of the 18th century, to a
great extent by Germanic people from Lower Austria, Steiermark, the Danube
basin of Austria, The Burgenland area and the Heideboden area. Germans also
came from The Black Forest area, Bavaria and from southwest Germany. The
Heanzen area was settled earlier by people from the same areas in the German
Empire. My 5th great grandfather, Johannes Carolus Griesbacher came to
Bakonyjákó from Felsöör (Oberwart) and he probably spoke the Heanzen
dialect. Incidentally, the three women that you spoke to in Deitschhütten
probably said to you: "You can't get there (Bakonybel) from here" unless you
hike over the mountain or go back through Bakonjákó and go around. (Ernest
Chrisbacher)

Fritz replies: How nice to hear from you and that you had forebears coming
from Deutschhütten! In fact, I felt a bit nervous when I wrote the women
spoke Heanzisch, because, hailing from Graz, Steiermark, I am nowhere near
being able to identify Heanzisch. Also my dialog there was extremely brief.
However, I had often been in the Southern Burgenland in my youth, and my
impression was I could have heard just about the same thing (words, color)
there.

It was definitely not any dialect you could hear in today's Germany proper.
In fact, I was able to continue from the end of the village. There was a
forest road leading up to Bakonybél. I was told something like "foans do
eini und dann aufi" (Fahren Sie da hinein und dann hinauf... drive further
along and then up). I still regret I did not talk with them a little more.

(Ed. Note: I believe the above as well as the origins of some Burgenland
region inhabitants is explained in the following). In the series "The Making
of Europe", a recent volume "The Peasantry of Europe", Werner Rosener, 1995,
Blackwell Press, says the following (p131) - "the struggle to expel the Turks
(1686)....had left large sections of the Pannonian basin depopulated. At
first German (read Austrian as well) peasants began to occupy marginal
districts in a disorderly fashion; however, owners of large estates thereupon
assumed control of resettlement efforts. Thus German ethnic enclaves were
established in the Bakony Forest, in the hilly country near Buda and in the
Baranya....after the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718)....a major wave of
colonization (began); it reached its peak under Empress Maria Theresa....it
was not just the Germans who arrived ....immigrants came from Swabia, the
Palatinate and even as far away as Lorraine. They were personally free and
given their farms on a hereditary basis."


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


THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 35A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY
(issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold)
May 15, 1998
(all rights reserved)

This special edition of the newsletter contains:
- the second half of Part 4 of the Unger Trip Report
- a History of Oslip
- Comments on the Name Klemens


(SECOND HALF OF UNGER TRIP REPORT PART 4)

Wednesday, May 21, 1997: Our first lecture was "European and American
Values", by Jennifer Fratianni. It is said that German people think of
Austrians as more laid back and fun-loving than they. Austria is not densely
populated - the total population in 1997 was 7 3/4 million people, less than
the population of New York City. Tourism is Austria's number one industry.
Generally Austrians are conservative in their life style - they don't exploit
their resources. For example, they promote composting as a means of dealing
with trash disposal. Austrians take care of their elderly - they live with
their families rather than in retirement homes or nursing facilities. Food
shopping is still considered a social event. Punctuality is sacred in
Austria. If you are invited for dinner you had best be on time. They serve
on time. Dinner usually starts with a drink of schnapps. It is customary
not to re-fill a glass until it is empty, rather than fill a glass when it is
still partially full, as is rather commonly done in America.

The second lecture of the morning was entitled "Folklore and Folk Music".
Folklore is centered around the customs of the land. Christmas is not as
commercialized as it is in the USA. The song "Silent Night" was primarily
written for voice and the guitar, because often the church organ was broken
and they needed a song parishioners could sing. Unofficially the national
anthem of Austria is the "Blue Danube Waltz". Austrians are always looking
for a reason to party. Children usually live at home until they marry.

After lunch we had time to explore Salzburg on our own. Most of our
Elderhostel group were scheduled to return to the USA on Sunday, but as my
wife and I were staying, I went for a walk to check-out the train station in
preparation for our Burgenland departure early Sunday morning.

The evening event was a concert at the "Fortress". It is located high atop a
hill, and we elected to take the cable car to get to the top. Once there we
discovered there was still a journey ahead of us, walking through several old
stone corridors, and up many well used stairs until we reached the upper
level. The view from the top of the Fortress is breath-taking. Our Mozart
concert took place in a large old room with a seating capacity of only 150
persons. The performance was great, but to achieve the desired acoustics, it
was necessary to keep all doors and windows closed, and it got very warm.
During intermission they opened all doors and windows.

Thursday, May 22, 1997: Our first lecture was entitled "Paracelsus - a
Medieval Doctor". In medieval times barbers performed surgery and healers
focused on preventing illness. Medical practices were often linked to the
teachings of the church. Latin was the language of learning. Herbs were
used to treat the body and the soul. Subsequently Philip Theophrastus von
Hohenheim, who later called himself Paracelsus, was born in Eisiedeln,
Switzerland in 1493, the son of a physician. He was a rebellious individual
who traveled extensively throughout Europe, studying art and medicine, and
wrote many books about his medical beliefs. He was known as a
"hands-on-doctor". He claimed he had learned to see nature with his own eye,
undiluted by the teaching of books and schools. His study of nature
convinced him of the true merits of herbs, and he consequently developed the
first concept of medicine and pharmacy. He became famous for finding the
healing power of herbs and the merits of mineral water. He taught his
students that books provided limited learning, and that one also needed
practical experience. Paracelsus believed that he had a special relationship
with God. He proclaimed that health involved a critical balance, and illness
was caused by an imbalance with God. He taught that drugs can cure, when
used properly, but could cause death if used in excess. He died in Salzburg
in 1541. Our second lecture was "Austria Today - a Discussion of Austria".
At one time Austria was largely agrarian - today agriculture occupies only
about 5% of the population. After WW2 many of Austria's industries were
confiscated and shipped off to Russia - those that remained were
nationalized. The Marshall Plan was of significant help to Austria - but
Burgenland, under Russian control, suffered much. Later the nationalized
industries were shifted to privatization - but some thought this only meant
money going out of one pocket into another. Most of Austria's industry is
now located along the Danube River basins. (The completion of the
Rhine-Main-Danube Canal in Germany in 1992, which connects the Rhine and Main
Rivers with the Danube, now makes it possible for barges to travel from the
North Sea to the Black Sea using this inland waterway.) Austria is turning
away from its early socialistic views, Austrians now primarily believe they
are paying for too many benefits for foreigners - a major factor when they
have four hundred thousand migrant workers with a total Austrian population
of less than eight million. They jokingly say their politics now involve the
"Watermelon Party" - red on the inside and green on the outside, i.e.
liberals versus conservatives. As a consequence, their government is now
focusing more on economic factors. They laughingly consider their old
socialistic approach as "Eating the decorated cake they haven't baked yet".
American companies are showing interest in Austria, for example, Chrysler's
Plymouth Voyager Minivans are now being assembled in Austria. Anyone working
for the government is considered a privileged person. Austria is also
experiencing political stresses from outside. During our stay in Salzburg,
"skin heads" scheduled a large demonstration in Salzburg. Before any major
problems could evolve, Austrian authorities arrested 200 demonstrators - 80%
were from Germany. The Austrian government only recognizes specific churches
- established by prior treaty. Priesthood for women is being considered -
and there are currently women who are Lutheran Pastors. Greek Orthodox
Priests are allowed to marry - even though they are Catholic.

Individuals consider the money they make as disposable income, because,
through taxation, heath care and retirement pensions are provided by the
government. Universities were once considered a place to "park" young
unemployed people, but now that is changing for economic reasons. Since
tourism is a top economic factor, there was once consideration for "milking
the tourist", but that idea was soon dropped because it also milks the
natives. Price of a three course meal varies significantly in, from about 210
Austrian Shillings in Vienna, to about 70 AS in Burgenland.

Our afternoon event was a field trip to the Hellbrunn Palace, located about
6km south of Salzburg. Hellbrunn is famous far and wide because of its
Wasserspiele, or "water games". There are trick water fountains, i.e. water
spurts from strange places at unexpected times. The garden has a large table
surrounded with fixed chairs. The host would invite guests for dinner, sit
at the head of the table in his special chair, while his guests sat in chairs
with hidden water spouts in the seats. During the meal, the host would
periodically turn on the water, laughing at his guests reactions. Since
guests could not rise while their host remained seated, they were given a
considerable soaking. The palace is also famous for its magnificent gardens,
museum, zoo, etc.

On Thursday evening I met with a cousin touring Europe. He had just traveled
through the area of Burgenland where our ancestors once lived. We exchanged
information, which helped me to make refinements for my first trip to the
place the following week.

Friday, May 23, 1997: The first lecture was the "Salzburg Festival", by
Gisela Prossnitz. Festival season for 1997 ran from July 26th to August
30th. The Salzburg Music Festival hall association was founded in 1917. The
festival has been an annual event since 1920 - except for the war years. In
1922 consideration was given to building a festival hall in the garden of
Hellbrunn (field trip to Hellbrunn mentioned above), but this never
materialized. To attend this world famous event now, music lovers head for
the Hofstallgasse, the street where the three main festival theaters are
located. One of the theaters uses part of the old "Small Winter Riding
School", called the "Felsenreitschule" which translates to rock horse-riding
school, because it was built into the side of a rocky mountain. This was
used in the making the movie "The Sound of Music". There the von Trapps were
portrayed as singing "Edelweis" in their last Austrian concert. Tickets for
the festival range in price from $320 to $400, and some buy tickets years in
advance. Two sponsors for the 1997 festival, Nestles and Audi, reportedly
paid 122 million Austrian Shillings for the privilege.

The second lecture was entitled "Max Reinhardt - A Magician of Theatre".
Max Reinhardt was the oldest of seven children born to Wilhelm and Rosa
Goldmann. He took acting lessons and started his acting career in Vienna in
1890 under the name of Reinhardt. Later his entire family assumed the
Reinhardt surname. In 1903 his name appeared for the first time as a
director. His acting brought him fame and he gave guest performances all
over Europe. The first performance of Reinhardt's ensemble in the USA was
in New York City in 1912. When Reinhardt first played in the USA it was in
pantomime. That was a good idea because using that technique it was not
necessary to know the language. In 1935 he made the film "A Midsummer
Night's Dream" with Mickey Rooney, Olivia de Haviland, and James Cagney ...
It was said that Reinhardt was a quiet person - a good listener. He was not
an intellectual, but he projected plays from the heart. He died in New York
in 1943. Our afternoon event was a guided tour of Salzburg's Museum Carolino
Augusteum, and our evening event was a Mozart concert at the Mirabell Palace.

Saturday, May 24, 1997: There was nothing scheduled for this morning, so my
wife and I took a "Gray Line" tour to a salt mine located south of Salzburg
across the border in Germany at Anif. Yes, the same Gray Line company that
operates in the USA. Their driver/guide picked us up at the hotel. We then
picked up a supreme court justice from Paris and his wife and three young
people from Australia. Our driver was very friendly, personable, and
knowledgeable. He was born in Salzburg and spoke English with a British
accent. During our four hour journey the driver told us among a number of
interesting things - that Salzburg had a population of 145,000 people and had
4 McDonald's restaurants. He pointed out mountains where red and white
marble is obtained. There were many dairy farms along our mountain country
ride. Most dairy farms are small, having only 15 to 20 cows each. Before we
reached the salt mines, we dropped off our three young folks for their
special trip to Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgarden. They had to board a
special bus for the trip, because the road leading to the Eagle's Nest has a
22 to 26 percent grade. Upon our arrival at the 450 year old salt mine we
put on traditional miners' clothing over what we were wearing. We then
boarded the mines' miniature rail cars for a journey through long narrow
tunnels which brought us to large underground chambers. A fascinating part
of the tour was sliding down a 100 foot long wooden slide to the grottos - as
hundreds of miners had done before us for many, many years. Only then did we
realize why they had us wear the traditional miners' clothes. I had the
impression that salt was mined much like coal, i.e. digging the salt in
chunks from large deposits. However, the salt here is obtained from brine.
In one of the underground brine lakes, we took a barge across the lake to the
mines' museum which displayed historical items. This was a most educational
and fascinating experience. Later we had the opportunity to do some shopping
in Berchtesgarden. We stopped on the sidewalk, looking for a speciality
shop, but did not know where to inquire. While standing there, a couple
walked by speaking English and they gave us the information we needed. Ah!
English speaking people are found everywhere.

The Freilicht Museum (open air museum) is located southwest of Salzburg at
the city of Grossgmain, at the Austrian/German border. Gathered and
displayed there are over 50 original farm buildings from the province of
Salzburg, some dating back five hundred years, as well as farm houses,
craftsmen's cottages, a village school, blacksmith shops, mills, saw mills,
alpine pastures, chapels, old tractors, steam engines, equipment, etc. This
was truly a most educational and fascinating field tour. I was much
impressed with the wooden buildings, especially one very large barn, built
entirely without nails or metals fasteners. I asked our guide how these
buildings could endure. Didn't they have natural enemies like termites? I
was told that their cold winters eliminate termites from their area. I also
found the fence specialty shop most interesting. It had samples of the many
types of fencing used. One could spend a complete day there, engrossed in
the history of the Salzburg area. I hope to re-visit.

Saturday evening we had a farewell dinner at the Kasererhof Hotel. We paid
tribute to our lovely, charming coordinator Johanna Czihak. She went well
beyond the call of duty to assure our week in Salzburg was one that we will
never forget. This concludes the report about our two week Elderhostel
program. We learned much from our lecturers and from our fellow students. It
was an experience that I would not mind repeating. Elderhostel has made
learning fun.

The final chapter of my Austrian trip report, "Our Wonderful time in
Burgenland" will follow in a later Burgenland Bunch Newsletter. Comments
and/or suggestions are appreciated.


THE STORY OF THE VILLAGE OF OSLIP, BURGENLAND, AUSTRIA
(From original material by Anna Odorfer, Translation by new member Bruce Klemens)

In the year 1300, the sons of Nikolaus Gutkeled (Ladislaus and Johann)
divided the land that they jointly owned. Ladislaus received Mayad (St.
Margarethen), Scentgurg (St. Georgen), and Zazlup (now called Oslip) and
Midies (Mürbisch). After the property assessment registry of 1515, the place
came under the dominion of the City of Eisenstadt. The deaths and destruction
caused by the invading Ottoman Turks in 1529 and 1532 made new colonization
by settlers from Croatia necessary in order to re-populate the area.
(Certainly, though, migrant Croatians had already been settling in the area
since 1527.) The local princes and counts sought Croatians from Dalmatia to
farm the land and run the estates of the nobility. Naturally, these Croatians
did not own anything, but were subjects (Untertanen) of the princes. They
didn't own any land until land reforms centuries later. These Croatians
settled entire villages in Burgenland, in which even into modern times, they
kept their language, customs and old ways. Oslip is one of these villages.
Of the 36 vassal families in 1527, exactly 13 had Croatian names. In 1569,
the colonization was terminated: of 67 vassal families, 61 now had Croatian
names. The Protestant teachings of Martin Luther were rejected by these
Catholic Croatian families, as well as by the other Catholic Croatian
communities. In the early 17th century, the settlers in the dominions of
Eisenstadt suffered greatly in both the Bocskay (1605) and Bethlen (1622)
rebellions. The area was plundered and burned. In 1683 the Turks once again
destroyed the place. The church was burned down and countless inhabitants
either died or were kidnapped. There was yet more destruction and hardships
during the Kuruzzen War (1704-1709). Many inhabitants also died from the
Plague in 1713.

History of the Village Name - 1300 possessio Zazlup, 1367 Zazlop, 1392 zu
Oslupp, 1409 castrum Zazlop, 1410 Uslupp, 1569 zu Oszlop, 1675 Oszlip, 1773
Oszlop/Oslop/Uslop. The official Hungarian name until 1921 was Oszlop. The
Croatian name since the 16th century was Uslop.

The Oldest Family Names (1569), Clemenschitsch, Bághhowitsch, Barlitsch,
Bläschkhowitsch, Bropitsch, Waschitz, Matasowitsch, Médwenitsch, etc. The
"itsch" means the name is Croatian. It means "son of" so Clemenschitsch
means "Son of Clemens."

Population Statistics:
Year Households Inhabitants
1515      19        ?
1569      67        ?
1589      71        ?
1715      61        ?
1785     121      906
1828     139     1002
1900     247     1298
1920     255     1335
1934     290     1253
1951     313     1204
1961     325     1245
1971     356     1245
1981     405     1177

The new increase in settlers who emigrated from Croatia as a result of the
Turkish Wars can be seen as follows:

Year German     Croatian
     Households Households
1515   19          0
1527   23         13
1569    6         61
1589    6         91
1675   20         91

The Klemens Name
The name Klemensich is an authentic Croatian name. It is correctly written in
Croatian as "Klemensic." Over the course of many years, the name was
Germanized and one sees it spelled as Klemenschitz, Klemensich, Klemensitz,
Klemensits. The most common version was Klemensich. BRUCE KLEMENS


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