BB News No. 36 dtd 30 May 1998

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 36 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) May 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) This edition of the newsletter contains articles on: - A Source of Immigrant Ship Photos - Definition of "Staatsangehörigkeit" and "Zustandigkeit" - A Critque of Travel Guides - Another Burgenland Organization - More Transylvanian Material & A Strange Itinerary - Reasons For Emigration & the Northampton, PA Catholic Church IMMIGRANT SHIP PHOTOS (Anna Kresh) I recently found the following web site and reported it as a new URL: http://home.att.net/~paul.petersen/ships.htm - provides photos and data on our ancestors' passenger ships; fee: approx. $8.25 U.S.; site contains 100 print pages of passenger ship listings (see also Paul's home site at http://home.att.net/~paul.petersen/index.htm for other links. On 3/30/98 I sent $8.25 to Paul Petersen at the "Ship of our Ancestors" web site requesting a photo of the ship my father sailed on when he emigrated to the U.S. Nine days later I received two glossy photos of the ship on which my father emigrated from Kroatisch Tschantschendorf via Antwerp in 1906. They are captioned "S.S. FINLAND, 1902 Red Star Line; Courtesy The Peabody Museum of Salem". Also film negatives for 3 photos, a money-back guarantee, a copy of an advertising flyer (circa 1890) for the North German Lloyd Line, with an accompanying short story about the shipping line "boys" hanging around the docks reporting the latest news on the incoming ships, a photocopy of 2 pages from "Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean" with info on the FINLAND and a 7-page reprint from "The New York Times Marine Intelligence Column", December 23, 1866, entitled CASTLE GARDEN, with sub-headings: Experiences of an English Emigrant; Description of the Emigrant Depot at Castle Garden; The First Night There; Despondent Emigrants; Difficulty of Obtaining Situations; Wreck of the Scotland. He also listed for me all the Mxxx book codes, titles, and authors from which he receives his material and stated that all of the books are held in collection at Mary Cheney Public Library, Main St., Manchester, CT 06040 and are available for inter-library loan. He also provided a list of the abbreviations used in the web site. You will be amazed at the number of ships listed. I am very pleased with the info I received from Mr. Peterson. Be sure to see this special treat. "BIRTHPLACE & BELONGING TO" - TWO IMPORTANT AND POSSIBLY CONTRADICTORY TERMS FOR GENEALOGICAL RESEARCHERS (Fritz Konigshofer) Friends, the story (from Anna Tanczos Kresh et al.) in the last issue of the newsletter (actually, NL #33, 15 Apr 1998, article "Amtlicher Ausweis") about the passports and certificates touches upon the terms Staatsangehörigkeit and Zuständigkeit. From my experience, there is more to these concepts than the article suggests. I would even propose that we combine our knowledge and do some research into the matter, as it would be useful for genealogical research if we could gather the best possible clarification of these terms. Let me start with the mostly anecdotical knowledge I have. The term "zuständig nach" (belonging to) extended nationality or citizenship "Staatsangehörigkeit" down to the level of a specific parish, market-community, or town. It was an important operational term since it established the place that was obliged to take care of a person that had become a public charge, e.g., a pauper without close relatives to take care of the destitute person. In many cases, belonging to a village indeed defined the village where one was born or where one usually lived, but I believe the latter two characteristics were incidental, not causal for the definition. As you will see below, you could belong to a village where you never lived (and possibly neither had been born). When my greatgrandfather Adolf Königshofer, an Austrian citizen born in and belonging to the Neudau parish, sought to obtain his first teacher job in then Hungary (now Burgenland), he not only needed to apply for and obtain Hungarian citizenship ("Staatsangehörigkeit"), but also had to find a parish that would accept him, not just as a teacher but for his new "Zuständigkeit" (place of belonging). The new nationality was granted by the authorities of Hungary (I believe the government of Vas county), while the "belonging-to" was granted to him specifically by Olbendorf (Óbér), the village that also gave him his first job. The agreement by the village council of Olbendorf to "accept" my great-grandfather into the village was needed to support his application for Hungarian citizenship. It is an interesting aspect that within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy the Austrian and Hungarian citizenships were so clearly separate and mutually un-exchangeable at that time (1880s) except with an application supported by reasons. However, I do not know whether the concepts of "belonging" differed in meaning between the two halves of the empire. In fact, I believe the concept of Zuständigkeit might have been very similar in the whole empire. [One aspect I do not know about at all is whether it was possible to have Austrian nationality while belonging to a parish or town in Hungary, and vice versa.... probably not.] It clearly appears to have been possible to obtain the "belonging" by making an application and hoping it would be granted. On the other hand, the much more normal way to obtain one's "belonging-to" was by birth, and as I believe, specifically through the place of belonging of the legal parent (normally the father). My other paternal great-grandfather Alois Koller, a teacher, was born in Rechnitz and belonged to that market-town. As a teacher, however, he never returned to his native place. While his many children were born in the five villages he served in his career as a teacher, none of them Rechnitz, the children all remained "zuständig nach" (officially belonging to) Rechnitz (Rohonc). One of his daughters (and obviously a sister of my grandmother) had a harsh existence in Güssing, living single and giving birth, over time, to three illegitimate children. At the end, she became unable to support herself and transferred to Rechnitz, which had to accept her in the poorhouse as a public charge thanks to her rights to such support stemming from her "belonging to" the village. The concept of Zuständigkeit was still in force between the two World Wars, but in the period after WW-II (my time) it had lost its original meaning as national level social security was taking its operational place. I was able to establish a similar situation in another branch of my ancestors from Rechnitz, namely the Tivalts, who originally had run a carpenter master business there. In the late 19th century, all descendents of my g-g-g-grandfather had left Rechnitz with their families, but the mentally deranged daughter of one of the branches (of the baker master Josef Tivalt) had to be taken back by Rechnitz after the death of her parents, to provide her a living in the poorhouse as a public charge (although she had been born in Nagy Kanizsa, Zala county, far away from Rechnitz). By the way, the death of this destitute and deranged woman was somewhat of a sensational story, as she escaped the confined part of the poorhouse and jumped into the village well. Her faint cries for help were heard after some hours, and she was recovered alive, but died from her injuries soon afterwards. The story was reported in Der Volksfreund. When a village did not have a public poorhouse to take care of people who were not able to fend for themselves (or be sustained by close family), the pauper was allocated to a village family for a time, and then to the next family, and so on, in rotation. The point was to give such poor fellow-citizens a place to sleep and food, and they became a temporary part of the household, as long as this was the village they belonged to and which was, therefore, obliged to look after its poor. The German term used in Austria was "Einlieger" (a "sleeper," somebody "laid by the public into the household of a citizen"). One can occasionally find this term as the status of, say, a deceased person in old church records. I do not know, however, the Latin and Hungarian equivalent of the term, the corresponding words used in Hungarian church or civil records. For the genealogical researcher, the concept of "belonging-to" can sow some confusion because the recordings sometimes did not distinguish between birthplace and place of belonging. A further complication is, in my opinion, created by the concept "gebürtig von." A dictionary will translate this term as "born in" and this is indeed the usual meaning of the term. However, in my experience, the term "gebürtig von" includes, at least in Austrian parlance, the possibility of alternatively meaning the place one belonged to at birth or soon thereafter, i.e., the place of original belonging-to in the sense of the concept of Zuständigkeit. The semantics of "gebürtig (von)" suggests a translation by "at birth, from..." In contrast, there would be no ambiguity about the meaning of "geboren in," (born at) or "Geburtsort" (place of birth), which both can only refer to the physical place of birth. In the registration records of Graz (by which the police recorded the places of living) I have found examples of relatives who were recorded as born in Neudau, when they in fact had been born in Graz but were still "belonging to" Neudau due to the father's belonging-to. The marriage entry of Gerry Berghold's great-grandfather Emil Langasch in Heiligenkreuz lists Vienna as Emil's place of origin, but since this was likely not factually true (in the sense of his birthplace), it might have been a mix-up with Emil's "place of belonging at birth" -- which could have been Vienna, thanks to Emil's father's origin and still "belonging-to" at the time of Emil's birth. If one pays attention to the meaning of birthplace versus place of belonging, and considers any dubious single data item as potentially meaning one or the other, the concept of belonging-to can convey additional information, e.g., on the origin of the father, or about a successful attempt by the ancestor to establish "Zuständigkeit" in a particular village. The latter might indicate that the ancestor, or his parents, had at least temporarily lived in that village and established a close relationship with the local community. In the search for the origins of a parallel Königshofer line (no close relation), the living descendents were sure that their great-grandfather had been born in Stübing, a village northwest of Graz, and this is also what his known later records purported. His children had inherited the "belonging to" of the parish of Stübing, though they were born and lived around Voitsberg. Closer search revealed that this man had, in fact, been born in another parish, fortunately for the search, a neighbor parish of Stübing. This result clarified the birthplace, and at the same time opened the interesting new question of how and why he had obtained his belonging to Stübing with its relatively long-lasting effect on at least two generations. TRAVEL GUIDES & GENEALOGY (Gerry Berghold) I collect European travel guides. I never pass up a used Baedecker and I often buy discounted outdated guides which can serve as a snapshot of a point in time. The reason I like them is the encapsulated information they contain. Often history and geography are presented in some detail. Each guide; however, approaches the subject in a different way. Some are better for our puposes than others. Recently American Express "Sign & Travel" included a small "Guide to Guidebooks". A synopsis of that article follows to which I've added comments and a few favorites of my own (note that some may no longer be published): Baedecker - 150 year old classic-culture, history, architecture (both old and new will often pinpoint elusive places-good modern city guides) - the GJB "best" choice Berlitz - good city and regional guides, detailed with language helps Blue Guide - (old called Muirheads's) - encyclopedic guidebook-history, culture, architecture, the arts, itineraries-often found for specific cities and regions Collins - "Traveller" - good larger city guides Corvina - "Complete Guides" - Hungary, Lake Balaton & Budapest-lots of local detail Fieldings - general guide-rough it in luxury, upscale Fodor's - "Gold Guides" - in depth itineraries, hotels and restaurants Fodor's - "Modern Guide Series" - older editions are classics-lots of everything-heavy on accomodations & eating Fodor's - "Up Close" - top sights in depth Frommer's - Complete Guide - traditional-off the beaten path, hotels, eating, maps Frommer's - $-A-Day - economy version, B&B's, pensiones, ethnic eating Let's Go - budget, student, quick tips-Harvard student publication Lonely Planet - budget, politics, climate, general sights, history Michelin - lots of information, history , culture, architecture-city & country guides Phaidon - Cultural Guides-superb coverage, photos, maps and ethnic treasures The Rough Guide - budget, highlights what to avoid Travel & Leisure - upscale, culture maven, the finer things World Budget Guide - maps, tips, some history and geography If you need a quick and ready introduction to Austria and Hungary, read a few travel guides. If you see an old Austrian Baedecker, (particularly pre 1921) buy it. ANOTHER BURGENLAND ORGANIZATION (Tom Glatz) Two years ago when the Edelserpentin group from Bernstein came to America, I became friendly with some of the entourage. I learned that a new organization had been founded in Bernstein called the Burgenlaendische Hianzische Gesellschaft. I wrote to one of the group several months later asking for more information about the society. Yesterday in the mail I received their Hianzen-Kalender 1998 along with a letter and a fact sheet about the organization. I will send you a copy. The cost of joining the organization is 50 schillings. Maybe it would be good to send them more since postage is so expensive for them. I haven't been able to read everything easily, since it is all naturally in German. There is lots of nice culture in the book. The pictures are black/white. It's very interesting. I see explanations of the Hianzisch dialect as well as Lieder & prose & poetry. I am going to join. The book reminds me of the "Deutscher Kalender 1996 Jahrbuch der Ungarndeutscher" that I have. That book comes from Budapest and is hard to get. Address: Burgenlaendisch-Hianzisch Gesellschaft (Hianzenverein) A-7431 Bad Tatzmannsdorf, Postfach 24 (From Albert Schuch)-about the Hianzen-Verein (Burgenländisch-Hianzische Gesellschaft): I am also a member. Membership is indeed 50 Schillings per year, but the Kalender costs an extra 80 Schillings. I bought it in Vienna. MORE TRANSYLVANIAN MATERIAL & A STRANGE ITINERARY (Giles Gerken) Thanks for the help in finding Salzburg (Romania). My Geographical Dictionary lists Aiud as being also known as Strassburg. Book on Transylvania states Vienna sent people there after Revolution to take charge.Völligrand (has my ancestor's) birth record Nov 1849. In 1867 Dual Monarchy Authorties in Budapest came down hard on all minorities to Magyarize, I think they (my people) got tired of it by 1875 & left without permission. One paper shows single word Riga, so I think they went straight north to Ukraine (then) on to Riga, where I'm told people caught small ship to HULL England, train across England to Liverpool. There large ships sailed to N.Y, Philadelphia or Quebec City. I put Query in Transylvania Website (Wilkommen bei Siebenburgen) but no answer yet. Thanks again for your help. Im gong to explore asking National Archives if there is any current plan to index Ship Records from the Battery (NY) which are stored at Ft. Dix, NJ. If they say no funds I'll write to Congressman & complain, Surely we could spare a little Foreign Aid to help a lot of Americans who are looking for ther roots. What do you think? Could we shake anything loose? EMIGRATION ARTICLE (REASONS FOR EMIGRATION) AND NORTHAMPTON (Frank Teklits, John Lavendoki, Fritz Königshofer} Ed. Note: As expected Fritz's translation of his great grandfather's article {March 31, 1998} concerning emigration to America inspired some comment. A brief email interchange follows: REASONS FOR EMIGRATION ARTICLE-(Teklits-4/1/98) Read your article with interest... I thought that I had to comment on the last paragraph, adding just a bit more elaboration concerning the reference to Northampton, PA - my birthplace. It states: >> and aren't there lots of emigrants who bid their old home country goodbye forever, and make America their permanent residence? Just in this very moment, there is an effort underway in Northampton, PA, to build a Catholic Church. The congregation there consists completely of emigrated workers from Hungary and meanwhile counts 3,000 souls. Most of them are from our county [Vas], namely from the villages: Szentpeterfa [Postrum], Pornó [Pernau], Nemethazas [Nemethasos]... Deutsch Ehrensdorf?], Lipocz [Steinfurt], Tobaj, and other places." (end) << The referenced Northampton church happens to be called "Our Lady of Hungary" and it was consecrated on May 13, 1907. The parish is flourishing today, and retains its name. The statement that the congregation consists of all emigrated Hungarians is not the case. Had it read "The congregation there consists completely of emigrated workers from Burgenland..." would have been a totally accurate statement. I hesitate to mention the names of the Burgenland villages represented by the early parishioners as I do not wish to leave one of them unmentioned. The number 3000 also seems a bit high, but I'd prefer to leave it as said rather than challenge it, as Northampton today has approximately 12,000 inhabitants. The 1st classes in the parish school started in September 1914, and were held in the church basement. An adjoining parish school was ready for occupancy in September 1917. I am fortunate enough to have a copy of the 50th Jubilee booklet (1907-957) that commemorated the occasion from which I am referring. The initial paragraph in the section titled "A Short History" from the booklet perhaps says it the best. "Father Charles Zrinyi, assistant pastor of the Hungarian Catholic Church of Bethlehem (PA), came in 1906 to Northampton to visit some of the members of his former flock from Szentpéterfa, where he had been stationed. Along "Bank Row" (ed. comment - This is an entire story in itself) on Main Street, he found his fellow countrymen in many of the homes, and he was amazed to learn that so many Croatians, Hungarians and Austrians were in Northampton. He suggested that a parish be organized to provide for the religious life of the people..." The church was completely torn down & rebuilt within the past 10-12 years. It was a parish that for years had priests who were conversant in both Hungarian & German languages. Serving as an altar boy, I can recall as a youth when there was only a single Mass said in English on a Sunday, while in all the others the homilies were said in either of the two languages. The 1st Mass was generally said in German, while the Hungarian Mass was the 8:00 service. Of course this is no longer the case with English being the language used for today's services. My thanks for including the article. My comments are not intended to be critical in the least, but rather indicate the relevance of the statement written in 1907 to my home parish. Perhaps John Lavendoski, the only organist (that I'm aware of) from Our Lady of Hungary parish who has had the pleasure of playing the organ in the Church of his ancestors (St. Peter & Paul in Szentpeterfa) as well as Our Lady of Hungary can provide additional comments. (John Lavendoski) Frank's comments are right on the money. The interesting thing to me is that the practice of a German Mass at OLH continued until at least until 1979 when I was an Altar Boy, and Hungarian language handouts were still plentiful at that time. The current pastor has done away with all that, but the most elderly members of the Parish no doubt remember all these things. I have often thought that what we should have do at OLH for the 75th anniversary is to make a sort of video scrapbook by interviewing elderly people from the parish on videotape and collecting their reminisces of the "old days" of OLH and Northampton. (Fritz replies:) Frank, John, Thanks for the feedback. As you are aware, in this case I was only the (hopefully) faithful translator of an old article. I wonder whether it was not indeed correct to call the congregation as completely consisting of Hungarians. There was no Burgenland yet at that time. The common bond of the members of the congregation was perhaps the Hungarian nationality, though there were ones with Hungarian, and ones with German, as their mother tongue. Of the villages listed in the article, Szent Péterfa and Pornó actually remained in Hungary after the separation of the Burgenland. When I translated the article, I was also (like you) surprised by the large size of the congregation (3,000) compared to the smallness of even today's Northampton, PA. My note in parentheses ("today's Allentown") was made a bit as a challenge for our editor who hails from the area, and who, I hoped, would correct me. Gerry rose to the challenge in his unimitable, authoritative yet equally gentle, way. I must add that my old encyclopedia reported that Allentown's "incorporated" name had been Northampton (ed.- this is correct, called Northampton Town; name changed to Allentown ca 1811, today's borough of Northampton was formed later, north of the Allentown City limits), and it listed Northampton only as a borough, therefore I had indeed thought the church might have been built within today's city limits of Allentown. END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 36A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) May 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) This edition contains: - the last section of Bob Unger's Austrian Trip Report AUSTRIA - A TRIP REPORT TO THE HOME OF MY UNGER ANCESTORS Part #5 - Our Wonderful time in Burgenland (By Robert F. Unger) Brief recap: Part #1, Burgenland Bunch (BB) News No. 16, provided general information about the Elderhostel program. Part #2, BB News No 17A, focused on European history and Elderhostel Vienna events. Part #3, BB News No. 20A, continued with European history and Elderhostel events in Vienna. Part #4 told of the trip from Vienna to Salzburg and Elderhostel activities in Salzburg, see BB Newsletters #34A and #35A. Following is the 5th and last section of my May-June 1997 Austrian trip report. May 25, 1997 - Sunday: This was our last day with the Elderhostel group. Most would be flying back to the USA, while others, including my wife and I would be starting off on personalized journeys. At 06:30 a.m., a Mercedes taxi took us from our Hotel to the train station. (I mention the Mercedes taxi because in the USA one hardly ever sees a Mercedes taxi, but in Austria they are very common. Our Elderhostel coordinator had made arrangements to have a porter meet us at the train station to help with our luggage. (This was our first experience using a train in Europe - so we felt more comfortable with some pre-planning and help.) The porter met us as scheduled, but he did not speak any English and our taxi driver spoke very little. Collectively we tried to convey our wishes, while the porter went off on a motorized cart with our luggage, waving us off in the opposite direction. My wife then remarked, "I hope that's not the last we see of it." But much to our relief, shortly after we settled ourselves into the compartment, the porter arrived with our luggage and helped us settle in. We were assigned a compartment which normally accommodates 6 passengers, but we were the only occupants. The train left at 07:10 a.m., on schedule, and maintained an exact schedule throughout the 317 km, 3 hour and 25 minute trip (Salzburg to Vienna), with seven two to three minute station stops along the way. Arrivals and departures were so exact that one could set one's watch by the timetable. The train ride was extremely comfortable and very quiet - with no clickity clack sound one normally associates with train travel. Later I learned that the rails did not have gaps where joined. We arrived on schedule in Vienna at 10:35 a.m. and found the airport bus to meet our son, Bob, who was joining us for our travels in Burgenland. After Bob arrived with his baggage, we rented a mid-size Mitsubishi Turbo Diesel car and drove to Eisenstadt (about 30 miles South of Vienna), where we checked in at Gasthof Kutsenits. We drove around the area a bit, then had a veal cutlet (schnitzel) dinner at the Gasthof. After dinner we walked around the neighboring area, observing the different types of houses, yards, vegetation, etc. One interesting observation, the cork-screw like steel tomato stakes in many of the backyard gardens. May 26, 1997 - Monday: Drove to the central area of Eisenstadt, bought goodies in their super market - poppy seed cake (mohn strudel), coke, and bananas for our lunch later in the day. (I was raised on poppy seed cake as a kid, love it, but can't find it in USA stores anymore. However it was plentiful in the stores of Burgenland, so I ate my fill.) We next checked out possible sources for records about the Esterhazys, but it was difficult with our language problems to explain the difference between music records and genealogical records. I had learned that my grandfather's brother's family had lived and worked on the Esterhazy estate for many years around 1890, so I was trying to find some record of their stay, but was unsuccessful. Had a guided group tour of Schloss Esterhazy. We were the only English speaking persons in the group. The guide fortunately was bilingual, first speaking in German, then in English. The gift shop had an English edition guide booklet which we bought which provided much additional information. Next we drove further South and visited Burg Forchtenstein, a formidable fortress built in the early 14th century. When we arrived, we were hoping to go on a tour of the fortress, but were told that tours were not given for less than ten persons. So we decided to have an early lunch and take in all the beauty of the area on foot. A short time later several cars arrived and the occupants of those cars with the three of us made up the required ten persons for the tour. It took about one hour and it was extremely interesting, even though the guide spoke virtually no English. Picture taking, both video and stills were permitted. We again purchased an English edition guide booklet. (I would highly recommend buying English guide books because they provide much more detail than is offered by the tour guide, plus they contain excellent photographs, including aerial views. We drove further South to Bernstein, in search of the Burg Bernstein. I learned about Burg Bernstein during my research in preparation for this trip. Construction on the Bernstein fortress started about 860 A.D. In 1953 a small part of the castle was made into a hotel, and one can rent a room. As we approached the village of Bernstein we could see the fortress high atop one of the hills. But somehow we drove completely through this small village without finding it. (Burgenland is not cluttered with commercial signs, as in most places in the USA, so one needs to know locations or ask directions.) We backtracked to the village and asked directions. We found the castle located off a side street, adjacent to the village serpentine (a type of jade for which the region is known) museum. We drove up a long beautiful driveway and were met by a charming lady, who spoke some English. We were awe struck by the beauty of the grounds and the intriguing rambling castle. The thought of staying and sleeping in a castle/fortress for the first time was a chance of a life time! So we checked into Burg Bernstein and were shown to a large sleeping room filled with antiques and an adjacent large bathroom with modern facilities. The bathroom was so large that it also contained a single bed which offered the option of having our son sleep on the bed in the bathroom or request a separate sleeping room. He decided that the bed in the bathroom would be great - then he could tell his friends that not only did he sleep in a castle for the first time, but also, as a first, slept in a bathroom. We were their only guests for the night, so we toured the grounds extensively -what a thrilling experience. Dinner was served in their spacious private dining hall with its antique furnishings. At dinner we met the owner of the castle, Andrea Berger, who spoke English very well. In the course of our conversation we learned that Herr Berger had had the title of Count prior to Austria's becoming a federal republic. So, this added to our "first" experiences - we were served dinner by a Count. We also learned that the Count's wife was a renowned chef of Europe, but stayed at the castle raising their family and cooking only for her family and guests. Needless to say we enjoyed a most excellent meal - one most could only dream about. There was no menu, so we were served the chef's gourmet full course meal. May 27, 1997 - Tuesday: My wife, Alice, got up early for bird watching. Later we had the opportunity to further explore the castle-hotel - using much film. Had breakfast in the private dining hall. Walked around the village of Bernstein. Self guided tour of the local serpentine mine. Drove further South to the village of Bad Tatzmannsdorf, home of the South Burgenland Open-Air Museum, displaying a variety of many old buildings from the surrounding area which had been moved to that site for tourist's convenience. We ultimately arrived at Rudersdorf - the village where my Unger ancestors lived from the 1700s. Rudersdorf is located about 120 km south of Vienna, and about 50 km east of Graz. Burgenland Bunch newsletter #12 provides: "RUDERSDORF; (Radafalva); 0 33 82; 7571-District of Jennersdorf. S, on the E66 at the border with Fnrstenfeld, Styria. Includes Dobersdorf. Pop. 2,002, houses 631. Municipal office, police, post office, high school, special school. Bnrgermeister names from 1921, Karner, Braun, Weiland, König, Winter, Schabhüttl, Brunner, Hirmann, Fröhlich, Katzbeck. Mentioned in records as early as AD1336. Aristocratic family, Batthyány. Shelled and evacuated in 1945 (WWII). RC went to church in Kaltenbrunn, AG to Eltendorf. Early emigrant, Josef Braun, 1892. Civil, LDS 0700489-498." We drove slowly through the main street of Rudersdorf, then continued on to Eltendorf where we had reservations at the "Gasthaus zum Kirchenwirt." At the Gasthaus we were met by Matthias, a young man of 19, the son of the inn's owner, Rudolf Mirth, who is the Eltendorf Bürgermeister. Gerry Berghold had suggested that we consider staying at the Gasthaus zum Kirchenwirt because of its good food and lodging and convenient location, just across the street from the Lutheran Church where the original records of my Unger ancestors are located. We decided to make the Gasthaus our home base, traveling each day to and from the places we wanted to see. This arrangement worked very well and we would highly recommend it to others. In preparation for our trip to Burgenland I had made arrangements, via a contact I found on the www, for hiring a guide/translator. Unfortunately he never showed, so we had to quickly make alternate plans. Matthias, who speaks quite good English, appeared at first to be our answer, but he had to decline because of his many Gasthaus duties and responsibilities. However, Matthias found the time to be our primary German/English translator, plus helping us in many ways, such as assisting us in arranging appointments, learning local customs, etc. The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter #10 provides: "ELTENDORF; (Körtvelyés, Okörtvélyes); 0 33 84; 7562-District of Jennersdorf. S, on Route E66, halfway between Szentgotthard, Hungary and Fürstenfeld, Styria. N of Jennersdorf. Pop. 993, houses 353. Includes Zahling and Königsdorf (this may soon change). Post office, school, municipal office. Martin Luther Kirche ( Lutheran church). WWII artillery damage (1945). Bürgermeister names from 1921, Tapler, Gaal, Hallemann, Leitgeb, Gamler, Flamisch, Peischl, Mirth. About 200 emigrants from 1890 period to Allentown, PA. First emigrants in 1890 Johann and Mathias Duld. Mentioned in records as early as AD1428 as "Elekfalva". Burned during the Bocskay Rebellion (1608). Aristocratic family, Batthyány. LDS 0700737-9 (Lutheran; Catholics attended church in Heiligenkreuz); 0700435-9." After checking in at the Gasthaus, we asked Matthias if there were any old cemeteries in the area, hoping to find graves of my Unger ancestors. Matthias pointed out the nearby cemetery, so we went in search of information for our genealogical files. We located many Unger graves, but none matched my family tree or the reference data that I had previously gathered. I soon learned that over time there were many, many Ungers that lived in the area - my task was to find a link between my known Unger ancestors and the other Ungers. (Analogous to a Smith family in the USA trying to find Smith relatives in another major city.) I soon learned that there are really no old cemeteries in Burgenland, because cemeteries require maintenance and care and, after a few generations pass, graves and even cemeteries are abandoned. Thus current cemeteries have few if any really old graves. We then drove to Rudersdorf searching for house numbers 58 and 177, known residences of my Unger ancestors which I had obtained from the church records. We learned that many houses in Rudersdorf have two address plaques, one for the old house number and the other for the current number. Initially houses of the village were assigned a house number in order or sequence of construction. Thus house #58 could be at one end of the village while the next number 59 could well be at the other end of the village. We quickly located old house number 58, finding it on the main street of the village, but could not locate #177. As evening approached, we returned to the Gasthaus for a delicious veal cutlet dinner - another dish that I had often as a kid and still like very much, but good veal cutlet is hard to find in the USA. May 28, 1997 - Wednesday: Up early to start the day. The Church bells across the street rang and rang at 6 a.m., awaking the village for a day of activity. We learned that church bells are used extensively in Burgenland to let people working in the fields know the time of day. We had breakfast at the Gasthaus, which is included in the cost of the room. Matthias had his Father call an official at the Rudersdorf Gemeinde Amt, and arranged for us to meet with one of the village officials, Herr Tauss, at 09:30. (There is nothing like having the Bürgermeister calling in your behalf to arrange for an appointment - the response is immediate.) Herr Tauss fortunately spoke English, so he quickly checked the village records and provided us with official stamped copies of the death records for both my Great-grandfather and Great-grandmother. Great-grandfather died 5 August 1920 at the age of 83 and Great-grandmother died 13 May 1924 at the age of 80. Herr Tauss also gave us a copy of a book, providing the 600 year history of Rudersdorf - in German. We inquired about records for Rudersdorf house numbers 58 and 177. He gave us a copy of the records relating to house #58 and told us that we would need to contact Herr Frank Stiener about the status of house #177 - giving us Herr Stiener's telephone number in Eisenstadt. Learned that the local farms are not one large plot, but consist of small strips scattered over a wide area. Drove to Güssing, but found a parking problem - all the cars parked used a clock card on the dash board, and we had no card. (Later Matthias gave us a parking clock card.) Stopped at a large super market at the edge of Güssing for another poppy seed cake, banana and coke lunch. At 3 p.m. we had an appointment with the Eltendorf Lutheran Pastor to look at the old church records. We spent most of the remainder of the day searching through the records, gathered much info, and copied records using a computer scanner - also made back-up copies by photographing records using high contrast film. May 29, 1997 - Thursday: Up early again - church bells rang as usual at 6 a.m. Breakfast at the Gasthaus. We then drove to Graz, the second largest city in Austria. Prior to leaving for Graz we made arrangements to meet with Ingrid Unger at 7 p.m. that evening. (In preparation for our trip I obtained the names and addresses of every Unger in Rudersdorf and wrote to the 6 Ungers listed. Ingrid was the only person who responded.) In Graz we took an English/German guided walking tour of the city - most interesting and informative. Visited the Graz armory and had the good fortune to talk with one of their English speaking officials. After some discussion he asked if we would mind if he assisted us with our tour. Thus we had our own personal guide who showed us and explained, in English, the many, many items of armor located on 4 floors of the building. Normally one is not permitted to touch any of the items, but, he being one of the key officials, he picked up some of the items to show us some of the fine detail. (He used white gloves while handling the items so as not to cause any finger marks or damage.) He also allowed us to use both our video and still cameras. This guided tour proved to be one of the high points of our Austrian trip. We also purchased an English version guide book, which provided additional information and many, many excellent pictures. Got back from Graz too late for dinner - so went straight to Ingrid's house, she was waiting for us in front of her house at the appointed time. Unfortunately Ingrid spoke very, very little English. Alice did her best using our English/German dictionary as we struggled through our conversations. We were served cake and wine. Met her 98 year old Aunt. Ingrid drove us to house #58, met her son and 2 grandchildren, then had a tour of the property. Since my ancestors also lived there, there is a high probability that Ingrid and I are related. (The house and property were typical for those built in the 1800s - structured in the form of a large courtyard with buildings on all four sides. One side faced the main street of the village, having a large entry door. Other buildings served as living quarters for the family. Adjacent to the living quarters were the structures for the farm animals. The large farming areas were located in other areas of the village. Apparently the village consisted of a cluster of these courtyards, formed in a manner which provided a means of protection during the years of troubled times in the area.) Ingrid then drove us around Rudersdorf, pointing out places of interest, including a stop at the cemetery. Many Ungers were buried there but no positive link to our family tree. May 30, 1997 - Friday: Trip to Güssing. There is a tourist information office located in the center of the town, with an attendant who spoke English. Visited the adjacent Burgenlandische Gemeinschaft headquarters (an organization devoted to the history of those who left Burgenland and went to the USA). Made arrangements for a Saturday meeting with Dr. Dujmovits, the head of the organization, and the head of the Güssing school system. Visited the local Catholic Church. While looking for the church office, I asked a lady for directions, to my surprise she spoke English very well, telling me that she once lived in New York. She immediately took me to the church office and introduced me to the Priest. He was most friendly and helpful - quickly finding the birth record for Mary Unger, the Mother-in-law of my Grandfather's brother, Frank Unger. (I learned that Mary Unger was not a blood relative of her husband Frank Unger - but their marriage was a joining of two separate Unger clans.) We walked up the hill to the Güssing Castle - unfortunately there were no English speaking tours available. Drove around the area, visited a wine museum and bought 2 bottles of wine. Drove to Fürstenfeld, located about 2 miles West of Rudersdorf to explore the city and to check out the Hitzl family - my Great-grandmother's maiden name was Hitzl. There we located a large Hitzl hotel and talked with the owners (most friendly and cooperative), but could not establish a direct link to our family tree. Dinner at our Gasthaus, and later joined by Ingrid for drinks and dessert. With the assistance of Matthias, our translator, we had a friendly and interesting conversation. May 31, 1997 - Saturday: Matthias made arrangements for us to meet with Herr Sattler, a historian of Rudersdorf and the publisher of the Rudersdorf newspaper. He lived near Ingrid, so when we arrived at Herr Sattler's house, Ingrid was looking out her front window, so she joined us for our visit with Herr Sattler. Herr Sattler spoke English very well. During our conversation he told us that he had an index relating old Rudersdorf house numbers to new house and street numbers. His list showed that old Rudersdorf #177 was now Blumengasse 7. He also pointed out in the Rudersdorf 600 year history book, it lists that Judge Augustin Unger owned one barnyard in the year 1576. (I now have a copy of that book - written in German.) He also told us that in the olden days it was very easy to become a baker since it required getting up very early in the morning and not many people wanted to get up that early. At 1:30 pm we met Herr Erwin Weinhofer, who was Dr. Dujmovits assistant. (One thing I quickly learned in Burgenland is that one must be prompt for appointments - so we always made sure that we were on time.) Herr Weinhofer spoke English very well and answered many of our questions. Later we were joined by Dr. Dujmovits who spoke little English - but fortunately Herr Weinhofer could translate. During our conversation I told Dr. Dujmovits about the newly formed Burgenland Bunch and its activity on the Internet. That really triggered his interest - so we spend the next hour plus discussing Internet features. Dr. Dujmovits was also very interested in learning that Grandfather Unger came to the USA in 1891, because that could possibly make him the earliest person from Rudersdorf to come to the USA. Later Herr Weinhofer took us to the Burgenlandische Gemeinschaft Museum, a very impressive place. The museum is filled with pictures and documents about those who emigrated from Burgenland. Returned to the Eltendorf Lutheran church for further research of the records. Ingrid was already at the church, trying to find a positive link between our Unger families. The purpose of this second look at the records was to find the siblings for Johann Unger, born 1836. Because all the records are in Hungarian script, it was an extremely difficult task. We found only one positive sibling, Theresa Unger, born 25 March 1835. Ingrid next took us to Blumengasse 7, the old Rudersdorf #177. Luckily there was a couple in the side yard doing gardening. Ingrid talked with this couple and found that they were the current owners of the property, the same person (Frank Stiener) that we were told to contact in by Herr Tauss at the Rudersdorf village records office. In deed, Herr Stiener does live in Eisenstadt, but he and his wife often come to Rudersdorf to work on the property, fixing it up for future rental. Herr Stiener is 83 years old and his wife is 48, and he has traveled the world extensively and spoke some English. During our conversation Herr Stiener told us much about the history of the house. Finding Herr Stiener at old Rudersdorf #177 made this our lucky day. We returned to the Gasthaus for dinner with Ingrid as our guest. During the meal we had a new salad dressing made from the oil extracted from pumpkin seeds. It was very good. Ingrid noticed how much we liked it, so off she went, came back with a bottle of the salad oil, called "Kürbis kernöl", our parting gift from Ingrid. That evening we said our goodbyes to Ingrid, since we had travel plans for the next day, Sunday, and were leaving for Vienna on Monday. June 1, 1997 - Sunday: Got up about 15 minutes before the church bell started clanging at 6 am. Looking out our room window I awaited for the front doors of the church to open, because I wanted to take my camera and video recorder to take pictures inside the church. Church started at 10 am, and there were only about 25 in attendance. It was a communion service and we participated. This was a very emotional experience, attending church services and taking communion as my ancestors did over 100 years ago. Drove to Jennersdorf, the district headquarters for Rudersdorf and surrounding areas. Walked around the village and took some pictures. We next drove to the Güssing Castle in hopes of finding an English speaking tour, They had none, so we elected to go with a German speaking tour. After having had many great tours in a variety of castles and fortresses in Austria, we found the Güssing Castle tour considerably different - they tried to give the tour a modern flavor through the use of mirrors, modern lighting and musical effects, etc. and in so doing lost much of the charm associated with old castles. But after some thought one can understand the finances involved for the upkeep of large castles and fortresses. So in all probability the management is exploring methods whereby they can use their facilities to attract more attendance. We next drove to Fürstenfeld for a walking tour about the city. While there we paid particular attention to the railroad station, possibly the station where Great-grandfather Unger left Rudersdorf for his trip to Vienna as a lad only 14 years old. We made a last visit to Rudersdorf, taking more pictures and buying more pumpkin seed oil at the processing facility, located near an old mill. June 2, 1997 - Monday: Got up early and, after breakfast left on the 1 plus hours drive on the autobahn from Rudersdorf to Vienna. Our goal was to find the hotel where we stayed initially for the first week of the Elderhostel program. We got lost in Vienna, primarily because our map lacked the details for driving. Stopped at a gas station for directions, plus a better map. Found the hotel and checked in. Walked about 1/4 mile to the Schloss Schönbrunn and took the English speaking 40 room extended tour through the castle. We then walked back to the hotel andfound that there was another Elderhostel program in session. Met the Elderhostel coordinator and bought senior subway passes from her for our journey to the center of Vienna. Introduced son Bob to the Vienna subway system. We walked all around Vienna, showing Bob all the sites we had discovered during our previous Elderhostel tour. We eventually stopped at the music museum and took that tour. An interesting feature of that tour was that head phones were provided, enabling one to hear music played on specific old instruments being displayed - very interesting. We next walked to the restaurant/hotel where Grandfather Unger received his apprenticeshiptraining and had dinner there. After dinner we continued our walk around Vienna and eventually took the subway back to our hotel. June 3, 1997 - Tuesday: Up at 6 am, breakfast at 7 am, and then off for the airport. Having gotten lost on the way to the hotel, we did not know how long it would take us to get to the airport. But, with directions from the hotel desk clerk, and our new detailed map, it was no problem to find the airport. We arrived about 9 am, two hours before our 11 am departure. Check-in and security was much easier than expected. The flight from Vienna to Atlanta was only 60% full, so we had 5 of the 7 seats in row #40 all to ourselves. The movies were good and the food was better than average. Conclusions: We found Burgenland to be a very beautiful and friendly place. It retains the charm of what I imagine old Austria was like. One quickly senses and appreciates the calm, unhurried, friendly mode of life. There is no evidence of commercialism, yet commercial needs are readily available. The rolling hills and flat lands are picture perfect in their grandeur - with no evidence of trash or graffiti. The people are friendly and caring. Ah, Burgenland is truly an unspoiled wonderland - a place that should be visited time and again. Traveling in Burgenland was a joy, especially when I had my son do all the driving. All roads are well maintained and well marked. Our rental car provided a very comfortable ride. Diesel fuel was readily available at every service station, and was considerably cheaper than gasoline. A "must" for traveling in Austria is a good map. While still in the USA we purchased a detailed map published by Michelin and found it most useful. It was the only map we found that includes most villages. Austrian currency is most economically obtained via ATMs using bank debit cards. We found their use more convenient than travelers' checks and their exchange rate is much better. If at all possible, use one location or inn as a home base. It is much more convenient than unpacking and repacking each day. A home base also enables one to get a true feeling of Burgenland. Do your homework well before getting on the plane. Develop an itinerary, one that allows for flexibility in the event you find planned events are no longer available or that new more interesting events materialize. Lodging: Early in our travel planning stage we obtained a copy of the current Burgenland hotels, Ferienwohnungen (Vacation-apartments), and pension booklet. It lists hotels, apartments, etc. in alphabetical order of city or village, with their associated zip codes, i.e. A-7562 Eltendorf, and prices. That booklet was most helpful and is highly recommended. Slow down, and truly enjoy Burgenland. Try it, you'll like it. Comments and/or suggestions are appreciated. END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD