BB News No. 38 dtd 30 Jun 1998

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 38 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) June 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) "People can change their clothes, politics, spouses, religions, and philosophies, but they cannot change their grandfathers." Horace Kallen, American philosopher This section of newsletter 38 (which is in three sections) deals with - Villages Gamischdorf, Schallendorf, Neuberg, Guttenbach, Rauchwart, Bocksdorf - Village Names - A Clue to Finding Villages - Szécheny (Hungary) - the Bakony Hills - Tobaj - Village of Apetlon & Thell Family ED. - Note for new members. The numbered village series appearing in BB newsletters were researched and written by Father Gratian Leser of the Franciscan Cloister in Güssing (for the Güssinger Zeitung in the 1920's and early 1930's). In the 1950's they were shortened and edited by Josef Karl Homma (then the director of the Landesarchiv) for the bi-weekly "Volk und Heimat" (now a quarterly- some articles of the current edition available at http://www.bukeb.at:81/vbw/vbw.htm). Those we're publishing in the BB newsletters are shortened & translated (by Albert Schuch) extracts taken from the "Volk und Heimat" articles. Scan these lists for your family names. You will probably never find any reference to records which are older than these. Look for similar spellings of your names. A good clue as to how long your families may have been in the Burgenland. We plan to cover all Burgenland villages. 24) Gamischdorf (continuation of the father leser Village Series by Albert Schuch). Old variations of the Gamischdorf village name (1428-1599): Kemenfalva, Kemenfalwa, Kemynfalva (in German = Hartdorf), in 1608 "Kemenfalva anders [otherwise] Gamersdorf", in the 17th and 18th century mostly Gamersdorf or Gamischdorf, since ca. 1850 the Hungarian name was Ganócs. Batthyány property since 1524. Ancient settlement of the area was proved in 1890, when teacher Adolf KÖNIGSDORFER [translator's note: correct would be KÖNIGSHOFER, this is the great-grandfather of BBunch member Fritz KÖNIGSHOFER] unearthed two stone axes. In 1662, noble inhabitants were Peter, Franz and Stefan RADOSTICS. The Radostics also had possessions in Rauchwart and a house in Güssing. In 1730 Adam RADOSTICS donated the money for the first chapel of Gamischdorf. In 1742 Count Ludwig Batthyány bought the belongings of the RADOSTICS family for 6600 fl. Village council in 1745: Matthias PAUER (Richter), Matthias JANDRISICH, Michael HEBER, Hans, Georg, Michael and Matthias EBERHARD. Families in 1745: 8 JANDRICHICH; 6 EBERHARD, PAUER; 5 HOANTZL; 4 KRAMER; 1 DLUES (?), GAMILLISCH, SCHRANTZL, BRUNNER, HEBER; 2 HAMMER, ÖRSEGH, NEUSIEDL. In 1846 all rabbits and birds were killed in a hailstorm. In 1876 seven houses burned down. Inhabitants: 1812 - 117; 1832 - 265; 1929 - 289. Church built in 1846, renovated in 1865. In the old times the dead were buried in St. Michael, in 1812 Gamischdorf already had a cemetery of its own. Elementary School probably built in 1833. Teachers: Anton MARX (1833-37), Michael PAUER (1839-48), Anton MARX (1849-79), Josef FREY (1880-84), Johann MAYER (1884-86), Adolf KÖNIGSHOFER (1886-1901), Johann Nepomuk BEIDL (1901-07), Franz SIMON (1907-16), Karl BEIDL (1917-24), Josef MÜKLER (1924-). (source: V+H Nr. 16-17/1957) 25) Schallendorf First mentioned in 1698 as "Soledorff", was purely Croatian up to at least 1832. Inhabitants: 1814 - 117; 1929 - 184 (32 houses.) Father Gratian Leser writes that the community denied him access to the Gemeindearchiv, hence was not able to write more about this village. (source: V+H Nr. 17-18/1957) 26) Neuberg Probably founded by Croatian immigrants in the 16th century; 1750: Paul CZVITKOVICH (Richter), Ive BOHETICH, Jure KOLLOVICH, Ive TARICH, Christian KOVACS (Geschworene); surnames in 1750: RADOSTICH (7), KOLLOVICH (7), CZVITKOVICH (5), KOVACS (5), NOVASEL (5), BOHETICH (4), IFKOVICH (3), GERGICS (2), MARCSANICH (2), TARICH, TOBSICH, HANSICH, GROFF; 1854-59 Neuberg belonged to the Bezirkskommissariat Großpetersdorf, 1854 - ca. 1859 to the Stuhlrichteramt Güssing, 1863-67 to the Stuhlrichteramt Mischendorf, in 1879 again to Güssing; 480 inhabitants in 1812, 1126 in 1929; ca. 200 emigrants to America (until 1929); 23 casualties in WW I; Neuberg belonged to St. Michael parish 1605-1847; a wooden chapel built in 1742, donated by Georg JANDRESICS, renovated in 1771; 1818 Prince Philipp Batthyány built a vicarage, later a church was built with his support; first parish priest (1847) Mark KOVATSITS; the church as it exists today was built in 1888, renovated in 1924; priests: Mark KOVATSITS (1847-64), Stefan DORNER (1864-76), Franz BARKOVITS (1876-94), Dr. Ludwig FISCHER (1894-95), Matthias BALOG (1895-97), Josef STRASZNER (1897-1905), Josef OSTOVITS (1909-11), Josef KUNTAR (1911-18), Ludwig MERSICH (1918-25), Franz MAGYAR (1925), Ignaz HORVATH (1925-). In 1832 Franz SVETICS from Stegersbach (aged 32) was teacher, his son is said to have been a high ranking army officer; later teachers: Vitus GRADNER (1857-67), Franz KAPS, Franz EISINGERITS, Karl BENCSITS, Philipp LINSER, Josef KRAXNER, Geza KISS, Oskar MIKULA, Stefan PUSZTAY, in 1929 Julius KUZMITS with Anton RAFFEINER and Anna RAFFEINER nee BIRICZ. (source: V+H Nr. 18-19/1957) 27) Güttenbach Old name "Ujfalu" (1428); surnames in 1750: RADAKOVITS (15), HAJZSAN (7), KNAR (4), JANDRISITS (4), STUBITS (3), MUHR (2), BENSEKOVITS (1), HERTZEGOVITS (1). Georg, Johann and Matthias RADAKOVITS were members of the lesser nobility, their ancestor Johann RADAKOVITS had been ennobled in 1599 by Emperor Rudolph, together with his siblings Nikolaus, Georg, Gregor, Thomas and Agatha. Inhabitants: 1812: 425; 1832: 420; 1929: 935; 33 casualties in WW I; ca. 200 emigrants to America (until 1929). Part of St. Michael parish until 1847, later on of Neuberg parish. Chapel (St. Patrick) built in 1763, enlarged in 1837-8; torn down in 1929, new church built at the same place. Known teachers: Franz KLUDOVATZ (1853-63), Georg VEIKOVITS (1864-66), Johann ILLETITS (1867-70); in 1929 Rosa GORGOSILICH and Franz BUBICH. (source: V+H Nr. 19/1957) 28) Rauchwart One of the oldest settlements of the Güssing district, probably founded by Hungarian border guards. Inhabitants in 1756 [note: probably should read 1750]: Georg MARINKOVITS (Richter), Michael PAUER, Martin MARX, Matthias KREUTZER, Matthias HOANDL, Matthias KANAPES, Michael BOJESICS, Michael ERKINGER (Geschworene); surnames: PAUER, KAPETZKY, MURLASITS, PEISCHEL, POMPER, KREUTZER, ERKINGER, BOJCICS, KASSANICS, HOADL, GASSIAN, HOANTZL, KRAMMER, MARX, WAGNER, KHARBERGER, NOVAKOVITS, KANAPES, EBERHARDT, WEBER, GRAFF, BADTER, STEINER, FRIEMANN, KOLLERICH, NIKISCHER, RICHTER, MARINKOVICH, TSCHANDL, SLOKLIKLOVITS, HUSNER, DROBICS, LAGLER, TROPFEL, STÖBER, HOBELITSCH, SISSINGER, PUFF, SALLAMON, RADOSTICS, GROSZBAUER, KRANTZ, HOCHHOFFER, KLEMENDT, HADL, MARAKOVITS, HIRSCHBÖCK, KOBERICS. In 1848 Anton HANZ was drafted; instead of him, his brother Johann went into the army against the payment of 80 florins; Anton also vowed to support Johann, in case he would return physically handicapped from his military service. In 1900 36 houses burned down. Comtess Theodora KOTTULINSKY bought the local Batthyány estate in 1892, sold it to a Budapest Bank. In 1917 Anton HIRSCH bought most of it. Inhabitants: 500 in 1812; 490 in 1832, plus 140 "in den Bergen" (in the (surrounding) hills) = 630; 887 in 1929 (in 135 houses); Part of St. Michael parish, church built in 1853. Teacher Josef HEIM married the widow Theresia SAURING on 11 Apr 1812. Other teachers and notaries: Johann SZAKATSY (notary 1829-42), THOMEDITS (notary 1842), Johann WEBER (notary 1846), G. TITZ (notary 1848-50), Josef KORSCHINEK (teacher and notary 1851-53), HANDLER (teacher and notary 1881), Theodor MERKL (1881-84), Johann TRINKL (1884-86), Anton HORVATH (1886-93), Karl BEIDL (1893-1913), (1913-) Koloman KÖNIGSHOFER. Teachers of the second class: Franziska GARAUS (1908-12), Anna KÖNIGSHOFER nee KOLLER (1912-). [note: Anna & Koloman KÖNIGSHOFER were the grandparents of BB-member Fritz KÖNIGSHOFER.] (source: V+H Nr. 19-20/1957) 29) Bocksdorf In 1668 Count Christoph Batthyány gave a sessio to Peter MISICS, sessios to Mert PELZMANN, Adam KRIBER, Michael LAISZ, Philipp HANS and Mert TIMSEL, for faithul services. Data from the 1750 Urbarium: Georg POTZMANN (Richter), Matthias ERNST, Matthias WAPPEL, Michael WEBER, Paul STROBEL. Surnames: PELZMANN (11), POTZMANN (7), ISOVICH (4), POMPER (5), ROSENKRANZ (4), STETTNER (4), LAMMINGER (3), WEINGRÜLL (2), KNAR (2), FLECK (2), STROBEL (2), POSCH (2), TREIBER (2), PUBER (2), ERKINGER (2), SCHABHÜTL (2), ROHRBECKER, DECKER, STABER, SAUERZOPF, FUIK, OSWALD, KOBER, OFFNER, SCHRETTNER, GARTLER, ROSNER, WEINBERGER, ERNST, KRAMMER, HAMMER, WAGNER, EBERHARD, LAGLER, HOBIZAN, FISCHL, WAPPEL, STR, BAUMGARTNER, CSAR, HASELBACHAR, NEUBAUER, WEBER. The mill rented by Matthias WAPPEL. The mill still existed in 1930, newly built by Julius TECHET. 64 casualties in WW I. 695 inhabitants in 1812, 767 in 1832, 1490 in 1930 (in 200 houses). Bocksdorf is an old parish, was Lutheran in the 17th century. In 1698 the villages Olbendorf, Rohr and Heugraben belonged to Bocksdorf parish, of which Heugraben was Croatian, the others were German. Today's church built 1777-79. Priests: Georg SCHAGER (1698), Matthias MARINICS (1738-44), Matthias BEHOVCHICH (1744-71), Jakob KOVACSICS (1771-78), Georg LEGATH (1778), Johann SZOKOLY (1778-83), Matthias HUTTER (1783-1808), Josef SCHAFFER (1808-45), Georg SCHAFFER (1845-74), Josef EBERHARD (1874), Josef STERR (1874-84), Vinzenz PEHAM (1884), Franz HATZL (1884-1904), Josef BENCSICS (1904-14), Ludwig KISS (1914-27), Anton HAWRANEK (1927-28), Karl HOLZERMANN (1928-29), Gregor Wilhelm NAUEN (1929), Father Karl BAYER (1929-). Teachers: Martin GRASINGER (1751), Georg DERGOSICS (1757), Josef GRASINGER (1780), Andreas DORR (1804 - at least 1812), Franz SCHREINER (1832), Anton KUBICK (1838-59), Johann PAVALEK (died 1864 at the age 34), Johann ILLETITS (1876), Josef FELDHOFER, Karl SCHULLER (1884-99), Heinrich CZADILEK (1899-1926), today (1930): Hans GILL, Franz STROBL, Fritz DWORSCHAK and Mizzi WILFING (180 pupils) (source: V+H Nr. 20/1957-1/1958) VILLAGE NAMES - POSTING FROM WGW QUERY BOARD (query re Hungarian village posted by Viktor Fischer - answer from Janos Bogardi) The place name Szécheny has alternative spellings Szecseny, Szecheny, Szechen, Szécsény etc. Up to the second half of the 19th century grammar was not that established as it is today. Different people wrote down the same words differently. There were places in Hungary that had identical names up to 1873. In 1873 a commission was set up to give unique names to every settlement. In the case of Szécheny it means that there were Szecseny's in Nograd County (it is called Szécsény even today), in Vas County (Vasszécsény), in Somogy County (Szõcsény, eventually Szecseny) and maybe some others, too. (I do not have a gazetteer here, there might be others, too.) Before 1873 these settlements were alluded to like Szecseny in Nograd County or Szecseny in Vas County. Still, there could be cases when two settlements were in the same county, like the Doroszlo ones, both in Vas County (now called Kõszegdoroszló and Csákánydoroszló). The reason I gave Vasszécsény for you is because it is in Vas County, close to Szombathely and even Kõszeg. Vasszécsény has had a Roman Catholic parish, its church registers are available from the end of the 18th century. VILLAGE CLUE - INTERESTING QUESTION LEADS TO ANCESTORS' VILLAGE (from Joe Amant, Gerry Berghold, Joe Jarfass & Ernest Chrisbacher) << I found your home page by typing the word "GYIROT" in the search engine. Your home page was the first to appear. I do not know what that means. I found the word in one of the postcards I mentioned. It looked like a proper name (perhaps a town) so I used it. >> ED. Well hello and thanks for your interesting question. We have a few things in common. I was born and raised in Allentown. All four grandparents emigrated there around 1900 from the Burgenland. German was the main language followed by Hungarian (the further east you went, the more Hungarian) and Serbo-Croatian. Györ is a city about 60 miles east of the Austrian border not far from the Neusiedler See. There are many towns and villages nearby that have "Györ" as part of their spelling. With that said, let me say that one of the interesting things about this business is the puzzle solving that goes with it. You were very lucky to have a search engine find "Gyirot" which is the Hungarian name for the village of "Kroatisch Geresdorf" - a village in the central part of today's Austrian Burgenland. The name appears in our list of members (one of our university people is studying Croatian villages in the Burgenland). As you can imagine, as names change from one language to another, they can easily get lost. One of the things we do is help match them up. Kroatisch Geresdorf (KG) is just east of Oberpullendorf (which is south of Eisenstadt - the capitol of the Burgenland) and is today part of Nikitsch along with Kroatisch Minihof - about 1750 inhabitants. Very near the Hungarian border. Having found a post card with the name doesn't necessarily mean your people came from there but, since it's from your grandparent's brother, it's a good possibility. Send me the rest of what is written - particularly the addresses and names. Don't let the "Kroatisch" bother you, I feel your names are German. "Kroatisch" means the village was originally established by Croatians (early 1500's). Of course many Croatians still live there. (ED. - although it later transpired that the ancestral village in his case was not KG, but Bakony Szentlaszlo, a Hungarian village in the Bakony Hills, the postcard pointed the way after some further sleuthing by BB members Joe Jarfas and Ernest Chrisbacher). You also say << My grandfather's name was Amant (I know that does not sound German or Hungarian) and my grandmother's name was Bauerhuber. >> Neither of these names is familiar to me, but they could have been changed upon immigration. I'd like the names shown on the correspondence you have. "Huber" is quite common and "Bauerhuber" means "Farmer Huber". Neither name appears in the KG phone book or in nearby villages. Over 40M people emigrated from the region to the US around 1900, so you don't always find descendants still living there. (E. Chrisbacher subsequently found Bauerhubers in his files). KG has a Catholic church and the records 1827-1895 are available from the LDS (Mormon Church) at Salt Lake City. So you could find your grandparents' baptisms and parents names if they came from there. The film number is 0700784 and an LDS Family History Center is located near the 15th street exit of the Allentown bypass (RT 22?). Look in the phone book. THE BAKONY HILLS OF HUNGARY (southeast of Györ) ED. This region has figured prominently in recent BB articles (Königshofer travels, German dialect, etc.) and now the above article. A Germanic enclave within today's Hungary near Burgenland. The following is pertinent. The Bakony region was settled by German colonists. 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." While not part of the Burgenland, the Bakony region is close enough to merit our attention. TOBAJ (from Bob Schatz) If I may add a little more information on the name of Tobaj, Arnold Magyar, O.F.M., in his 340 Jahre Franziskaner in Güssing [340 Years of the Franciscans in Güssing] (p. 197) states that the village name was originally Thobayd (1428) and had evolved to Thobaj by 1538. He also states that the German name for the village was Tubersdorf. (ED. - well I sort of thought the "mercy" definition was sort of tongue in cheek - made too good a story!) VILLAGE OF APETLON & THELL FAMILY (ED: A very early BB query which generated a lot of interest and which shows the possibilities which exist for someone just starting this fascinating research. Repeated because it sets the stage for basic Burgenland research and may not have been seen by many current members). << I am writing to you to see if there is any basic info re our family, which is not a real common name. My grandparents were Frank THELL and Mary (Pitzl) THELL from Apetlon, Austria, and they immigrated about 1912-1914. They were Roman Catholic and went from Apetlon to (ultimately) Saint Paul, MN, USA. My great uncle, for whom my father and I were named, was Rudolph Thell also. He attempted to emigrate but was refused entry after getting to Ellis Island when he could not conceal a health problem. He returned to Apetlon where I believe he died. >> Reply: I'm a 2nd generation US Burgenländer and although I've made two extensive trips to the Burgenland, most of my knowledge has come from extensive research here in the US using LDS microfilm. My 4 grandparents were all from the Güssing-Jennersdorf area (southern), so I have limited information re the northern part, although I've visited the "Seewinkel". A description of Apetlon in a Burgenland Bunch newsletter follows. One of the bürgermeisters was named Thell. APETLON; (Bánfalu, Moson Megye); 0 21 75; 7143 - District of Neusiedl. N, in the "Seewinkel" ( lake corner). Located E of the southern part of the Neusiedler See, 4 km from the Hungarian border. SE of Illmitz. Market community. Pop. 1937, houses 794. Post office, school, police station, municipal office. First mentioned in written records in AD 1410. Settled by emigrants from Schwabia, region of the Bodensee. Early settlers Trinkl and Winkler. Often destroyed by war. Aristocratic family, Nadasdy, then Esterhazy. Bürgermeister names from 1919, Kögl, Göltl, Weiss, Gangl, Winkler, Thell*, Preiner, Loos, Munzenrieder, Reinprecht, Opitz, Koppi. 244 emigrants to the US between 1888 and 1930. First emigrant name, Michael Adrian, 1880. LDS 0700878-9; 0700376-7. *Stefan Thell, b1892; d1968. Served 1939-1945. A Herbert Thell is (was?) municipal office notary (Amtmänner) from 1980-fwd. (1993) Bánfalu is the Hungarian name of Apetlon, which was in Moson county (most of Burgenland was in Vas Megye). Numbers are area code and zip. LDS numbers are the library call numbers of microfilm of Apetlon church and civil records from the LDS (Mormon) library in Salt Lake City. You can order (nominal charge) and read them (German and Hungarian - not difficult) at any LDS Family History Center. You should be able to trace at least 3 or 4 generations of Thells and Pitzl's this way. A 1983 history of Apetlon exists. It's in German and I have a copy (courtesy of Dale Knebel). First Pitzls and Thells are briefly mentioned in a 1675 "Urbarium" (listing of inhabitants). Not mentioned in 1589 so it looks like they migrated sometime between those dates. Apetlon inhabitants were Catholic from about 1410, Lutheran from the late 1500's (under the Nadasdy's who converted) until about 1658 when they reverted again to Catholicism under the Esterhazys. There are no Lutheran records extant, having been destroyed during the Turkish wars. The Seewinkel (as well as a lot of the Burgenland) was devastated and depopulated before, during and after the 2nd siege of Vienna (1683). Inhabitants took refuge in the walled city of Bruck. Many peasants who weren't killed by the Turks were carried off as slaves. As a result, German speaking immigrants were encouraged to colonize the depopulated land (to resume food production as well as to provide a buffer against Hungarian aspirations and further Turkish incursions). Most German speaking colonists came from German Bavaria or Styria (Austria). This is not to say that there might not have been Thells prior to that date. Germans have been coming to this area since the 9th Century. My German speaking ancestors' names are listed in many early records and somehow survived the terrible time of the Turk. Finding their link to elsewhere is now my pet project. Yours appear to link to the region of the Bodensee (Lake Constance - borders Austria, Germany Switzerland). The earliest US emigration from the Apetlon area was in the 1880's, so yours was rather late for that region, but was in the period of greatest Burgenland emigration. Your people probably left from Bremen or Hamburg. Most of these north Burgenlanders settled in the midwest. There are 24 Pitzl's and 13 Thells in the 1993/94 Burgenland phone book. (From the Apetlon History, as is the migration data) For the period 1790-1826, there are 133 Thell and 118 Pitzl baptisms listed in the church records. For 1827-1851, 102 & 52 (my source only shows summary numbers, not the records themselves). If you visit Apetlon or use LDS microfilm, you have your work cut out for you! The LDS microfilm only covers Catholic church records from 1826-1896 and civil from 1896-1921. Some Thell marriages shown in the history: 1 July 1827 - Christianus Thell-Elysabetha Reinprecht; 19 July 1830 - Gregorious Thell-Maria Trummer; 18 Feb. 1840 - Michael Jandl-Maria Thell, 3 Feb. 1857 - Georgious Tell (sic), colonus (farmer) son of Gregorii Tell and Mariae Denk - and Maria Graisy, daughter of Stephani Graisy, farmer and Evae Michlits; 6 Feb.1888 - the widower Christian Thell, born and living at number 276, Apetlon and the widow Maria Grundter, born Haider in Unterillmitz (Under Illmitz), living in Apetlon No. 243. (end of first section - continued as newsletter no. 38A) END OF NEWSLETTER - EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 38A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) June 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) This 2nd section of newsletter 38 contains articles about: - Allentown & Northampton, PA ALLENTOWN - LARGE BURGENLAND EMIGRANT ENCLAVE (by Gerry Berghold) One of the larger Burgenland emigrant enclaves was the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. The largest city in the valley, Allentown was home to many of these immigrants and their descendants. The following is a chapter from my 1995 genealogy "Berghold-Neubauer Descendants, 1873-1994." * THE "AUSWANDERUNG" * - ALLENTOWN, PA 1910-1950 As the birthplace of the largest number of Berghold descendants, Allentown is a special place. The county seat of Lehigh County, it was the Mecca and city of dreams for most family immigrants. Laid out in 1762, incorporated as a borough in 1811 and as a city in 1867, it grew to substantial size by the late 1800's and was a booming industrial site offering work in construction, breweries, textiles, tobacco products, quarries, metal fabrication, and service industries. Nearby were cement, coke and steel mills also offering employment. For farmers, the surrounding area provided land at attractive prices and the demand for farm products was high. It had an indigenous Pennsylvania-German population, which while not overly friendly to immigrants, had similar culture and tradition. At an elevation of 304 feet, surrounded by rolling hills and with a temperate climate it duplicated the Burgenland. Best of all, it had ethnic neighborhoods and Austro-Hungarian religious, cultural and social institutions. These neighborhoods were a substitute for the close knit villages the immigrants left behind. It has been said that the Burgenlander's home is not his country (which changed too often over the years) but his village. On page 267, of "ALLENTOWN 1762-1987 - A 225-YEAR HISTORY" Hellerich editor, published by the Lehigh County Historical Society, 1987, we find: "Without a doubt German (speaking) immigrants found Allentown to be a most hospitable community. In this period they developed a network of organizations which supported them financially, morally and spiritually - St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, the several singing societies and the German Association. They were active in several of the building and loan associations. They could choose from among three local German newspapers, and from four other churches in which services were held in German. Their children could attend German Sunday schools and received some instruction in the German language in the public schools. Several cultural leaders of Allentown of Pennsylvania German background sought their cooperation in programs of mutual interest and benefit. There was no opposition to their efforts to preserve their language, music and literature. They were at home in Allentown." It was in one of these ethnic neighborhoods or "villages" that most of the third generation (today's grandparents) came of age. Whether it was in the 1st, 6th, 10th, or 11th Wards, or in South Allentown, Catasauqua or the Whitehall area, they were basically the same. The area from the Lehigh River west to the Jordan Creek and from Hamilton Street north to Fullerton (Whitehall) included most of the Burgenland neighborhoods, with spillover to Jordan, 4th and 5th Streets. The areas in the vicinity of the churches and clubs were particularly desirable and the local taverns were almost social clubs. Some neighborhoods were better or worse than others as immigrants improved their lifestyle and moved on, but the following memories have remained with me over the years: Church Bells -Every church had bells. The joyous, sometimes sad pealing and tolling of the neighborhood bells remains vivid. They not only called to worship, but also struck the hours and tolled for weddings and deaths. Some would strike a code telling where a fire was in progress. Some churches had chimes which played daily. Some struck at odd hours and made one wonder if the bell ringer hadn't stayed too long at his club. A vestigial remnant of old Europe, the cacophony of sound on a pleasant Sunday morning, as it reverberated across the Jordan Creek valley was a joyous thing indeed. I most vividly remember the bells of Sacred Heart Catholic Church tolling the deaths of immigrant grandfather Alois Sorger (1879-1940), who emigrated from Rosenberg , Güssing in 1901 and grandmother Hedwig Mühl (1885-1978), who emigrated with twin sister and mother from Güssing in 1905. The Gang -Every neighborhood had its gang of kids. Oh where are the friends of yesteryear? Mostly third generation, some second, who but parents cared! Kids had to grow up to acquire intolerance. Often a mixture of Italians, Austrians, Hungarians, Irish even Syrians, they would all join for forays, games, adventures and infrequent misadventures. At least five college graduates from a well loved 600 block Jordan Street gang of immigrant kids -now gone, scattered by time, absorbed by America. Bakeries -my childhood in Allentown was a wondrous world of yeasty, crusty warm baked goods. Home baked fastnachts and nut (Nssen) and poppy seed (Mhn) strudels and Guglhupf and Kipfels and potato biscuits, the Hungarian "pogacsa". Also non-yeast goods like apple, cherry, cheese, cabbage and potato strudel. The local bakeries were a thing of wonder. Oberecker's for rye and crunchy Kaiser rolls, Berringer's raised Krapfen, the Egypt Star for cinnamon rolls, strudels and egg bread. The Syrian bakery in the 6th Ward for flat bread. Maybe best of all, the Italian bakeries, Roma's-the one in the 900 block of north Jordan St. that produced a magnificent star loaf-all crunchy outside and like fluff inside. (Roma bread with spaghetti, imported cheese, garden salad with olive oil and a thimble of home made wine as a frequent guest of our friendly Italian next door neighbors was this child's first introduction to ethnicity.) There was also the Ukranian bakery that had heavy soul satisfying pumpernickle and sour Russian rye. Tschopp's on 6th St. for fancy Swiss goods and the Town Bakery on Gordan St. for pies and cottage loaves. Two small bakeries, one off 3rd St. near Harrison-Morton Jr. High and one at 5th & Penn St. made yesterday's (sometimes fresh ones) donuts available to kids for a penny. Pretzels -The pretzel was supposedly invented by a German monk of the middle ages who developed them from bits of bread dough as a treat for children. There were a lot of pretzel eating children in Allentown. There were tavern pretzels, heavily salted so one would drink more. Two kinds, one heavy and twisted, hard as a rock, the other a thin stick for hurried consumption. A frequent treat to children from non busy tavern owners for a little help, or just for nice! The gift of a large bag from tavern owner grand uncle (Charles Holzer, 1879-1940, from Fürstenfeld) in West Coplay whenever I visited (to soak up all his draft birch beer). Later visits to Allentown required buying a large can of pretzels from Miller's on Tilghman Street. We still use an old can for flour. Fast Food -Today the hamburger is king of fast food sandwiches. In Allentown, it was and may still be the hot dog. Many small eateries vied to produce the best. Yocco's at the 600 block on Liberty St., started by an uncle of Lee Iaocca and mentioned in his autobiography, developed their own sauce-still a secret-had Medford's in Chester produce franks to their specifications, ordered a special blend of mustard in 50 gallon drums and steamed their special rolls-heaven! They're still in business today with five outlets. Also worthy of note were Ralph's at 4th & Tilghman, Marco's on Gordon St., the luncheonette at 7th & Liberty, Willie & Joe's at 15th & Liberty, the Ritz Bar BQ at the Fair Grounds and the 5 Points Shop in South Bethlehem. Many, many others whose names haven't survived. Saturday night meant taking home hot dogs in a brown paper sack along with the Sunday papers and maybe a freshly scooped quart of ice cream and "A Treat" soft drinks! Vignettes There are many other memories of what can be termed the "migration years". The period, between 1920 and 1950 when the new country was no longer strange to immigrant families and the third generation was coming of age. The Depression years brought hardship but there was still a family closeness and a good life. We'll never see their like again and just to prove they are not all related to my stomach, I recall some more memories of growing up in immigrant Allentown: o Porch sitting under an awning on warm days with neighbors stopping to chat. o Women going to the local stores wearing aprons, head scarves, carrying baskets. o Immigrant grandfathers in vests, with watch chains, cigars and canes. Smiling grandmothers with aprons, flour on their noses and faces red from the stove. o Catholic and Lutheran services in German. Incense and candle smoke. Everyone in Sunday best. o Family gatherings with a small glass of something, coffee and cakes and everyone fussing over the children. Sometimes cards and music. Lots of cigar smoke. o A wonderful visit to the adult world of the local tavern or club where everyone knew you and your parents. Secure feeling of belonging. German language, the odor of beer schnapps and tobacco. o The egg man (farmer) coming with eggs and seasonal produce. o The Freeman's Dairy man with milk in glass bottles, sweet and sour cream and butter. A visit to his home on 4th Street when we needed extra sour cream. o The magic of an old world Xmas with blown glass ornaments, silver and gold wrapped candy and nuts for the tree, a miniature village or "putz" made by grandfather. More cookies and goodies than you could ever imagine and all the relatives visiting. Adults greeting each other in German. o Santa Claus at the Liederkranz Social Club and the required recitation. Ethnic music and song, polkas and waltzes. o Mill workers walking to work in the morning, back and forth at lunch time and home at day end, stopping to exchange a greeting. o The foreign smell of the Jute Mill, yeasty odor of Horlachers' and Neuweilers' Breweries, pungent smell of hot metal and pounding of trip hammers at Bonney Forge. The odor of cloth and the rhythmic beat of the looms in the textile mills. Coal yards and feed stores, a few horses and wagons. o The wail of the evening Lehigh New England RR "Black Diamond" train on its way north. The Ringling Bros.circus train parked on the brewery siding yard. o Picking produce in the "back yard" or at the "lots".Bagging grapes on the grape arbor and pruning the vines. Homemade wine and vinegar barrels. o Saturday movie matinee at the Franklin, Towne, State or Earl theatres, with candy, a raffle, and a pass for Tuesday's show. Cheer the hero, boo the villain. o That first family automobile and getting car sick! Visits to relatives "on the farm". o The Great Allentown Fair with strips of tickets supplied by local merchants and a school holiday. o Early Saturday morning junior high school football games with band and cheerleaders. The rowdy walk home singing school songs. Student newspapers, plays, and successes at school. o A trolley car every 15 minutes and a ride to adventure. Swimming at Jordan Park or Cedar Beach. Canoeing the Lehigh at River Front, church picnics, Dorney Park. o Evening football games and basketball at the Little Palestra. o The end of the old world migration years, the inevitable passing of the immigrant generations and relocation. Burgenland ancestors provided a good life in Allentown. OUR LADY OF HUNGARY PARISH (NORTHAMPTON) & SACRED HEART PARISH (ALLENTOWN) (Bob Schatz & Frank Teklits) Bob Schatz Writes: "Gentlemen: I read with great interest the discussion about Our Lady of Hungary parish in Northampton in the current newsletter (May 30). My paternal grandparents from Urbersdorf were parishioners there during their second and final stays in the U.S. They lived in Northampton and across the Lehigh River in Dewey Heights, and are buried in the the church graveyard (their obits in The Morning Call, 1931 and 1935, refer to it as "the German Catholic Cemetery in Northampton"). My father was baptized at OLH and was a parishioner until his marriage in 1957. The church was named for the fact that the Virgin Mary was considered to be the special patroness of the Kingdom of Hungary. I am curious to find out if the parish was very specifically a "West Hungarian" parish. One of my maternal great-grandfathers, Johann Pavel, a German Hungarian from the Zips (in Northern Hungary, now Slovakia), worshipped at "St. Mary's" (Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin) in Catasauqua. He and his family lived in Coplay, and Northampton may have been a little further to travel than Catasauqua, but I also seem to recall my grandfather (his son) once telling me that they wouldn't have considered going to OLH for the simple reason that these weren't their people. My grandfather also told me that they had a name in their dialect for the Germans living along the border with Austria, but unfortunately I no longer recall what it was. I am also curious to know if the first "Burgenlanders" in Allentown would have worshipped at Sacred Heart, the second-oldest Catholic parish there and known as "the German Catholic church" (to distinguish it from "the Irish Catholic church" - Immaculate Conception, the first Catholic parish in Allentown, founded I believe around 1847). Knowing from my parents' Saengerbund days that the "Austrians" and other Germans made every attempt to distinguish themselves from each other, I wonder if the "Burgenlanders" would have worshipped at "the German Catholic church". The Magyars had their own parish in Allentown, St. Stephen's, but I don't know when this was established and I believe it was specifically a Hungarian church. Sacred Heart was my parents' parish after their marriage, and I was baptized there. My parents' house is actually near the church cemetery (about 3 miles from the church), and the early tombstones from the mid-19th century frequently indicate "Prussia" as place of origin - most likely the Catholic Rhineland provinces ruled by Prussia in the 19th century. My parents eventually switched to St Elizabeth of Hungary parish in Fullerton because it was closer and my mother's girlhood parish. It was originally a mission of Sacred Heart and early on was referred to as "St Elizabeth German Catholic Church". (St Elizabeth was an early Christian German princess and Queen of Hungary, married to a pagan Arpad king of Hungary. The story goes that he ordered her to desist from giving alms to the poor, but she thereupon conducted her almsgiving secretly. Caught by her husband, she was told to open her cloak and reveal what she was concealing. She did so, but the food she had been carrying to the poor had miraculously been turned into roses.) As an aside, since there was some understandable confusion about the names of Allentown and Northampton, please allow me to share some of the history of Allentown, seat of Lehigh County since 1812 (the current town of Northampton is about 10 miles north of the city on the East bank of the Lehigh River and is in Northampton County). The site of Allentown was part of a 5,000 acre estate purchased in 1735 by William Allen (1704-1780), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and a former mayor of Philadelphia. Justice Allen maintained a hunting lodge there where he entertained members of the provincial government and the proprietary family. The lodge was called "Trout Hall" and was located near the confluence of the Jordan and Little Lehigh Creeks with the Lehigh River, at that time known as "the West Fork of the Delaware" (in Lenapi "Lechauwekki", in Pennsylvania German "Lechaa"). (The judge's son James built a summer house on the site of the lodge in 1770, also called Trout Hall, which still stands and is maintained by the County Historical Society.) In 1762, as a business venture Justice Allen laid out a town near his lodge, creating a market town for the surrounding area which he also hoped would displace Easton as the seat of Northmapton County. For these reasons, Allen named his town Northampton Towne. (Northampton County was established in 1752 by Thomas Penn from the northern part of Bucks County and named in honor of his father-in-law who lived in Northamptonshire, England). Northampton Towne prospered but never became the county seat. During the Revolution it handled the overflow of casualties from the Continental Army's General Hospital in Bethlehem and housed a POW camp (ED.-located at Jordan & Gordon Streets-site of a jute mill) for the Hessian soldiers captured during the Battle of Trenton. The town was also the hiding place for the State House Bell (now called the Liberty Bell), brought north from Philadelphia in 1777 while the British occupied the city, and hidden under the floor boards of Zion Church. (One of my mother's ancestors, John Mickley, brought the Bell north.) In 1811, the town was incorporated as a Borough. In 1812 Lehigh County was established from the western part of Northampton County and Northampton Towne was chosen as the seat of the new county. The name "Allentown" came into popular usage however, and the town was officially renamed in 1838. It was incorporated as a city in 1867. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the history of the current Northampton except that it was incorporated as a borough in 1901. It doesn't seem to be a colonial-era town. I have a research request in to the Northampton County Historical Society in Easton to get a little more of the history." Bob Schatz. Frank Teklits Responds With: Bob, As usual, your emails are both interesting and factual. At this time, I can give you a preliminary input on but one aspect of your note, and request additional time to address the others that I feel qualified to answer. Reference your question is OLH a specific "West Hungarian" parish, my response to that would be a yes. Some time ago, Gerry requested a listing of Burgenlanders living in the US, when they arrived into the US, from what village they immigrated, among other information. I responded to that listing with approximately 30 names and can forward the list to you as an attachment if you desire. I gathered another 100 some names but never took the time to structure the list as per Gerry's request, nor have I done the research to determine the village of origin for these individuals. Based on both lists however, I'd say that the Our Lady of Hungary parish was predominately West Hungarian. Without question, my home area, all parishioners of OLH, and given the loving name "Hicktown" by native Nothamptonians was a Burgenland enclave. By coincidence, we have friends coming tomorrow to stay for a few days & I'd like to share this request of yours with him & then respond. My friend, Ed Ifkovits, was born in Northampton, and was a parishioner of OLH in his youth as I was, and his roots are in Kroatische Tschantschendorf. He has an excellent knowledge of OLH, & I'm sure would be delighted to contribute his input through me. I recommend we add another very qualified individual to any question concerning Northampton, our new BB URL Editor Anna Kresh, who was also born there. I'd welcome her views and inputs concerning the home of the "Koncrete Kids". My wife was a parishioner of the Sacred Heart Church in Allentown, and occasionally sang in her youth at the same Saengerbund that you referenced. Both my wife & I are graduates on Allentown Central Catholic High School, which you know was, founded by Msgr. Masson, at that time the rector of the Sacred Heart parish. My offhanded comment would be to say that Sacred Heart has more Burgenlanders than Immaculate Conception, but my wife suggested we visit her 82 year old Aunt, who may give us more facts. So, please give me some time & I'll try to answer as many of your items as I can. Frank Teklits ED. NOTE: The German Catholic church in Allentown is the "Sacred Heart of Jesus" (4th & Chew Sts.) which also had (has?) a German language service. This parish includes grade schools, a high school, and a hospital. It was attended by most of the German speaking Catholic Burgenlanders (albeit Hungarians pre 1921) in Allentown. My grandfather Alois Sorger was one of the first Güssing emigrants (1901) and this was his family's church. The cemetery is located north east of the city (on Fullerton Ave.) near Catasauqua and has a wealth of Burgenland immigrant graves including my grandparents. Three other ethnic cemeteries (Italian, Ukrainian and Jewish) are nearby. The German speaking Lutheran Burgenlanders (there were many) attended St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Chew St. and Ridge Ave., Allentown which still has a German service. I was baptized in this church, have searched the records and found hundreds of Burgenland names with references to their Burgenland villages. Burgenlanders attending these two churches would have been those residing in the enclave between the Lehigh River and about 5th Street (east- west) and Hamilton Street and Fullerton (the 4th Street bridge-north -south). ALBERT SCHUCH HAS AN ALLENTOWN QUESTION! DO YOU HAVE THE ANSWER? Gerry, I am sending various short articles for possible newsletter usage. Please have a special look at the first one. I'd like it to be posted in a future newsletter along with a query if one of our members knows more about it. I'd be very interested. Albert --- Burgenland Operetta in Allentown 1930 --- Quoting from Oberwarther Sonntags-Zeitung 24 Aug 1930: "In Allentown, wo etwa 25.000 Burgenländer leben, wird derzeit eine Burgenländische Operette zur Auffhrung gebracht. Das Stck heit 'Der Postdiener' und der Ort der Handlung ist das Lafnitztal im Burgenland. Das Libretto schrieb der Prses des Vereins der Burgenländer in Amerika und die Musik stammt von Adolf KURZ, der gleichfalls aus dem Burgenland stammt und als Komponist sich bereits einen Namen in Amerika geschaffen hat." Translation: "Currently (1930) a Burgenland operetta is performed in Allentown, home of approx. 25000 Burgenlanders. The title is "The Postal Servant" and the location is the Lafnitz river valley in Burgenland. The text was written by the president of the Society of the Burgenlanders in America, and the music has been composed by Adolf KURZ, who is also a Burgenland native and already a well known composer in America." [Note: A few years ago an operetta was performed in Burgenland, I think the title was "Lafnitz" or included the word "Lafnitz". It was newly written and I think to remember that the author claimed it to be "the first ever Burgenland operetta"!] (end of second section-continued as newsletter no. 38B) END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 38B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) June 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) This 3rd section of newsletter 38 contains articles on: - Security - Naming Conventions - Military Service - More Burgenland Music - Obit from Koszeg - A Heiligenkreuz Question SECURITY MATTERS Some members have told of problems with respect to passwords and credit card scams. One was infected with a virus. One member signed on to AOL and was told they were already logged on! Passwords Passwords can be broken. They should never be derived from screen names or data available from homepages or web sites. They should be alpha numeric and changed frequently. Don't use birth dates. No one but you should know them. Never use common things like your parents' names or place of birth. Something like XB73A9LQ is just the thing. GBERGHOL would be trouble! Credit Cards There is concern that credit card scams can be furthered by data available from published genealogies or genealogies available on web sites. Many people use parents' names or other data as code references on credit card applications. Don't do it if you're into genealogy! Further, be super wary of trading genealogical data concerning relatives still living. Be sure of your contact. Most general genealogical data is a matter of public record available to anyone at any time, but it requires direct action to get at it. Most criminals are lazy, can't be bothered and seek easier prey. Data available from the net via computer is another matter. It's very easy. Like all aspects of criminal security, the more difficult you make it, the less exposure to crime. You'll notice that BB files do not show your address or other personal data. Sure it's available via phone banks, etc. but that requires extra effort on the part of someone intent on crime. Following is an excerpt from a recent article from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, title - Genealogy Home Pages Invite Rip-Offs? "A recent issue of U.S. News and World report had an article written by Margaret Mannix that makes for provocative reading. Ms. Mannix writes: Does your family have a home page on the Internet? If so, you might want to reconsider how much personal information you post online. Con artists who steal others' identities, get credit in their names, then leave innocent people with a mountain of debt to fight and ruined credit to clean up are discovering the charms of the Net." She also writes "thousands of netizens are unknowingly making it easier for thieves to steal their identities by posting individual home pages, family genealogies, and resumes." One item that she mentions is the fact that many credit card companies protect the privacy of their customers by using the mother's maiden name as a password. You can quickly see how posting one's genealogy on the Web helps a con artist bypass that security. If you have an interest in this topic, you may want to read the full article. It is available online at: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980511/11mone.htm To be blunt, I think Ms. Mannix' article overstates the "danger" and is a bit of a sensationalist article written for the popular press. However, the "dangers" she describes should not be dismissed too quickly. Credit card thieves and other rip-off artists were successfully obtaining the personal information of unsuspecting victims long before the invention of the World Wide Web. But why make it even easier for them? Posting personal information about yourself or your living relatives invites problems." (end of extract) Computer Virus That old problem "computer virus". Again, you won't get one from email. You can be infected by attached files! That's why, I rarely use them. I'd much sooner use multiple email. I always check the source of files before downloading. If I don't know the source, I don't download. I also download to a drive ("A" with floppy) other than my hard disk. Limits downloading to 1.44Meg but it's safe. Run virus detector before copying to hard disk. I also run virus scan after every net session just in case. Downloading from servers like AOL is also fairly safe as they use anti-virus scans. Eternal vigilance and awareness is the price of computer security. NAMING CONVENTIONS (Bradford, Berghold, Schuch) >> ... 300 people all with the same name, "Josephus Bauer!" ...What I have is: Josephus, Josephi, Joseph Bauer and many others just like that. I believe I'm looking at Latin, Hungarian and Austrian spellings! But I wonder if there is some sort of naming convention that differentiates between the father and the son when the first names are the same? << Rosemary (Bradford), I'm sure you're looking at different language versions of the same name. There may be a senior-junior naming convention that I'm not familar with. I'm copying Albert. maybe he knows of one. Good question. Gerry Hello Gerry and Rosemary, while "cleaning up" my e-mail-inbox I just discovered this unanswered question. Please accept my apologies for the delay in answering: Sorry to say so, but I can spot no "naming convention" here. "Josephus" is the Latin form of "Joseph", and "Josephi" is Latin for "of Joseph". In fact, both "Joseph" and "Bauer" are VERY common (sur)names! (There also was a "Josef Bauer" in my native village Kleinpetersdorf in Southern Burgenland. Only reason we lost the Bauer surname in our village is that both of his sons were casualties of WW-I.) Re: naming conventions in German: Apart from senior-junior (shortend to "sen." - "jun." or "sr." - "jr.", we also use the the German abbreviations "d.." (der ltere - the elder) and "d.J." (der Jüngere - the younger). Albert BURGENLAND MILITARY GENEALOGY (Joe Gilly, Gerry Berghold - copy of a pre-BB-newsletter email exchange) << My great grandfather Michael Feiertag's marriage record (3 Feb 1876) lists his occupation as "Honved-Soldat, 76 Reg. aus Neustift." I can't find a translation for Honved in the Hungarian dictionary. Do you know the meaning? Joe.>> Answer: "Honvéd" is Hungarian and translates Hungarian soldier. With various endings it can be "honvédelem" (home defense) or "honvédezred" (regiment of Hungarian soldiers) or "honvédhuszár" (Hungarian cavalry) or "honvédseg" (Hungarian territorial army). The "e" would have a diacritical mark ' over it. Your g-grandfather would thus be a "soldier of the Hungarian Army - 76th Regiment - Headquartered at Neustift. During WW I, most southern Burgenlanders served in either KuK Infanterie - Regiment Nr 83 (Steinamanger-Szombathely) or Honved Huszar Regt. Nr 18 (Odenburg-Sopron). This would translate Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment 83 headquartered at Szombathely and Hungarian Light Cavalry Regiment Number 18 - Sopron. When either of these two regiments saw combat, the resultant casualties could be devastating to any particular village as the men from a village tended to be together in the same platoon or company. During WW-II, I understand that most draftees would have served in a Styrian regiment since the Burgenland was attached to Styria by the Nazis. I imagine, however, that many volunteers were in the German Luftwaffe, Wafen SS or even the Viennese Hoch und Deutschmeister Regiment. Two of my Gilly cousins (Helena Gilly's father and uncle) died in WW-II, one in Finland and one in Russia. I don't know their unit alhough another Gilly served 5 years in the German Signal Corps. The military organizations changed over the years of course, hence your 76th Regt. During the Napoleonic Wars (period 1790-1814) the men living in our area could have served in any one of dozens of regiments named after the aristocrat who raised or led them or the place where they were raised like: Line Infantry Graf Sam. Gyuli - 1802 Esterhazy, Line Infantry Furst Anton Esterhazy, Eisenburger Hussars, etc. My source (Austrian-Hungarian Army of the Napoleonic Wars - Osprey, London 1986) lists 64 Line Infantry Regiments of which at least 15 were Hungarian. There were at least that many cavalry regiments (Cuirassiers, Dragoons, Light & Heavy, Hussars, Uhlans). There were also "Grenz (border) Regiments" of irregular infantry and horse. Prior to that time military history gets pretty fuzzy as to organizations with many mercenary groups from everywhere plus local defense settlers of which Croatian colonists were prominent. << Why would the Swedes, who were Protestants, join forces with the R.C. Hapsburgs and their allies to fight the Turks (at the battle of Szt, Gotthard) and how large were their company units? >> Probably mercenaries. I doubt if all the 30 Years War mercenaries went home. They probably didn't have the money! Then again, for a Protestant, although Moslems were only a shade lower than Catholics in those days - heh, heh, they were Moslems, none the less. Like the Irish, who would enlist in the English army, but would have preferred to fight against them! I found a Berghold (pre 1664) who was a "reiter" (cavalryman?) in the Army of the Prince of Weimar (Saxony). The Bergholds were Lutherans, but I'm not sure of the Prince. The strength of a Company in the older Austro/Hungarian armies was not as large as our WW-II units. Geoffrey Parker in "The Thirty Years' War", Military Heritage Press, 1987, mentions a uniform order for only 600 uniforms to outfit a newly formed Bavarian regiment (normally 12 or more companies - 4 to 6 to a battalion, 2 battalions to a regiment plus various headquarters, artillery and support organizations). So a company, then, wouldn't be much larger than 50 men, size of our modern platoon. He also mentions by the way, on page 192, "in 1644 a Bavarian regiment, for which detailed records have survived, could boast men from ...sixteen national groups, of which the largest were Germans (534 soldiers) and Italians (217), with a smaller number of Poles, Slovenes, Croats, etc... and IRISH! There were even 14 Turks." This book unfortunately is mostly concerned with national politics and doesn't have much detail. The "Osprey" Men-At-Arms book of the Napoleonic Wars (136 years later) shows a grenadier company as being 112 strong (140 in wartime). This included a Captain (Hauptmann), First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant), Sub-Lieutenant (Unterlieutnant), Ensign (Fähnrich), Sgt. Major (Feldwebel), four Corporals (our 3 stripe sergeant), a quartermaster (Fourierschützen), 3 musicians, 8 Gefrieters (corporals), and a Zimmermann (pioneer). This varies somewhat throughout the various branches of the Army (Artillery, Cavalry, etc.) and also varied over the years. In 1767 for instance, an Austrian company had 116 men. I doubt if a Swedish company at the time of the Szt. Gotthard (Mogersdorf) battle comprised more than 50-60 men. These non Austrian (non Hapsburg) "companies" were generally led by a professional "captain" (condottierei) who raised and led a band of mercenaries of varying strength, contracting services to anyone who could pay. Believe the "company" idea came from the "organization of ten" of earlier armies. A leader of ten, a leader of 100, a leader of 1000, a leader of ten thousand. Ten men would be called a section, led by a -decurion-equiv. sgt.). 100 a company -eqiuv. captain, Roman centurion. Mongol -one horsetail leader of 100). Today of course, with ancillary groups, we generally speak in terms of 160 (heavy weapons)-200 (rifle) men as strength of a Company. What is important to genealogy is that if you know your ancestor's regiment, the LDS has microfilm records of births, marriages and deaths which may have taken place under military service, recorded by the regiment's chaplains. I've never looked at any of these (there are a lot listed in the catalog). Also Military Muster Rolls. Some of the larger military establishments (headquarters and military schools) would have been at Eisenstadt (Kismarton), Neusiedl am See and Rust (and have records which include deaths at various field hospitals). (If any of the Burgenland Bunch know the organizations in which their ancestors served, I'd appreciate getting the data.) MORE ON BURGENLAND MUSIC (from Tom Glatz) Here is a good address (for music): Burgenlaendisches Volksliedwerk, Freiheitsplatz 1, A-7000, Eisenstadt. The Spielmusik Schoenfeldinger CD that Albert Schuch mentioned was advertised in the above publication. Bob Strauch gets it & often and sends me copies. Rudi Pietsch & Sepp Gmasz are connected with this organization. I think you should write & ask to get on the mailing list to recieve their small newsletter. Then you will learn about everything. I don't know how cooperative Rudi Pietsch will be in answering any inquiries about his music for sale. You or anyone else would probably be just better off sending any questions to the above address. It might be nice to send a copy of a BB newsletter mentioning Austrian & Burgenland music. Other cd's mentioned in this newsletter: There is a series called Musik Der Regionen. As of June 18th, there were 9 of them. I think the last one was Heideboden & Seewinkel. There are notices of events: August 18-23 there was held the 16 Burgenlaendische Musikantenwoche in Lockenhaus in the castle. Bob Strauch also sent me a letter from the retailer who sells the cds. (There are actually 10 now.) I am thinking about getting them. The price was 2000 shillings for everything (Im steirischen Ennstal, Wienermusik, Mei Schatz is mei Schicksal, aba lustig san d'Leit, Wann i von Puachberg auf Meisenbach geh, Im Herzen von Oesterreich, is a Landl a kloans, Zwischen Nockbergen und Niedern Tauern, Heideboden und Seewinkel, walserisch und waelderisch, are all of the titles). They are sold separately for 250 schillings. Albert Schuch also writes: Gerry, Tom, some more info on Burgenland music follows below. I also looked into an old issue of the Burgenlaendische Gemeinschaft newsletter (3/4-1995). It has some good information on Walt Gröller, the musician from Allentown who was recently featured on Austrian TV. It says there that he has made more than 20 records. The "Heideboden und Seewinkel" CD is part 9 of the 10 "Musik der Regionen" CDs. It is subtitled "Dorfmusik und Volksgesang aus dem noerdlichen Burgenland", includes 23 pieces amounting to 55 minutes. Most songs are German, some Croatian. I like the CD, and am sure the other nine are also very good. The musicians are mainly from Weiden, Apetlon, Frauenkirchen and Podersdorf. Quoting from the (English!) liner notes of the CD: Regional Folk Music From Austria: ... The various regions of Austria boast a fascinating diversity of music today, although it is seldom perfomed at high profile events or before large audiences. ... The people who sing and play on these CDs were recorded with a mobile sound studio in their own familiar surroundings, that is at home, in local pubs and restaurants, in mountain farms. ...I bought the CD from one of the musicians for 200 Schillings. In Viennese record shops it costs 220 - 270 Schillings. The CDs of the "Musik der Regionen" series (or more information about them) can be ordered from: Daniela Schwarz, Anton Baumgartnerstrae 44/A2/213, A-1230 Wien, Austria. Internet: http://members.magnet.at/dschwarz INTERESTING EMAIL RE OBIT (Fritz Königshofer to Viktor Fischer) In my visit to the library here in Budapest, I called up the film of the "Günser Zeitung" of 1924, and pursued an obit of your great-grandfather Johann Gratzl based on the date of death which we already had thanks to Albert's (Schuch) find in the OSZ. There it was, and it contains very good new information for you. I am translating the full obit and copying Gerry as well, as you two might consider it for possible publication in our newsletter. Günser Zeitung of May 4, 1924, page 2 Johann Gratzl +. A fellow citizen [of Koszeg] respected by everybody and everywhere, the flour mill owner Johann Gratzl, departed on last Tuesday, at age 80, into a better other world. Until the very last days, he conducted his daily work with the usual industriousness. Coming from Bozsok a few decades ago, he made his residence in our town and took over the Kranz flour mill, which he then spurred to increased operational performance. Not only did Gratzl by his hard work set an example in his business and the local economy, he also took a lively interest in the life of the community, where he conducted the function and duty of town council member ("Stadtreprsentant") dynamically and with sensibility. His funeral, which took place last Thursday starting from the cemetery chapel, provided an opportunity for the citizenship to demonstrate by the extraordinary numbers showing up, the adoration which the deceased had enjoyed among his compatriots. The fire brigade and other organizations gave him last company. His widow, two sons and four daughters, the families Gratzl, Techet and Dr. Hechinger, were left behind by his death in sorrow.-----end of obit ------- Bozsok (Poschendorf) is on the way from Rechnitz to Koszeg. This is where I now suspect would likely be recorded the births of at least some of the Gratzl/Hfler children. As for the son-in-law Dr. Hechinger, in Austro-Hungary the doctor-title would not be reserved only for denoting medical doctors (like on the US East Coast), i.e., the Dr. Hechinger could alternatively have been a high school teacher, an advocate, etc. The same issue of the newspaper also included a death notice published by his family (page 4), but this notice provides no extra information except that it makes clear (not at all surprisingly) that Johann Gratzl was a grandfather. Viktor, your Gratzl ancestors were truly a solid family, getting stronger in each generation. In my relatively modest search of Der Volksfreund (only one year of issues today, 1914/15), the news were dominated by the outbreak of WW I, and that also refers to the only two items (perhaps really only one item) which directly relate to your family. The issue of November 21, 1914 reports on page 5 that Felix Techet of Fels Beled underwrote newly issued war bonds in the amount of 50,000 crowns, while a report on December 5, 1914, page 3, lists the same feat for Techet Bdog, also from Fels Beled. Perhaps Bdog is Felix in Hungarian! In any case, this was a huge sum. The Techets must have been one of the wealthiest families of Western Hungary. Since this was a war bond, I wonder whether all of this money was not eventually lost. THANKS FROM A MEMBER Many thanks to Gerry, Joseph, and Fritz for helping solve the octavalista riddle. An Email to the Burgenland Bunch and I got an answer to a question that had puzzled me for years. Bob Schmidt HEILIGENKREUZ CONFUSION (from A. Dax) << Am I mistaken? Are Heiligenkreuz in the Burgenland and Heiligenkreuz im Wienerwald two different towns? I was reading some information on the web and came across the difference in listing, so I was confused and had hoped, as you are so well informed about the Burgenland, you might be able to help. Thank you in advance for your attention to this query. >> ANSWER: Oh my yes. Don't get them confused. The "official" name of the Burgenland Heiligenkreuz is "Heiligenkreuz im Lafnitzal" (in the valley of the Lafnitz river). The other is "Heiligenkreuz bei Baden". (by Baden - a spa in the Wienerwald). It's known for its ancient (1133) Cistercian monastery. Both it and Baden (a wonderful old empire resort town) are worth a visit. The one in Burgenland is right on the Hungarian border. There is a customs crossing there. It is the main southern border crossing. It is in Bezirk Jennersdorf and includes the village of Poppendorf about which I'll be doing a whole issue soon. There is also a Heiligenkreuz am Wassen in southern Styria and probably some in Germany. END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD