BB News No. 40 dtd 30 Jul 1998

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 40 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) July 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) This section of a 3 section newsletter features the village of Stegersbach and contains: - Father Leser article on Stegersbach - Judaic Links and Names - Some Burgenland Jewish Names - Where To Start When You Have No Data - Response to Allentown Article - Steve Klucharich's Trip to Grossmürbich and Sulz BURGENLAND BUNCH AUSTRIAN EDITOR LEAVING FOR MILITARY SERVICE! Albert Schuch, doctoral candidate at the University of Vienna, translator and contributor of many newsletter articles and a special mentor to many, will be leaving in the Fall for an eight month stint of Austrian military service. (Austria is a neutral nation, but they do have a defense force. Austrian males are required to serve a short period of military indoctrination after which there can be an annual military obligation depending on length of initial service.) As a result, Albert will not be available via email for a short period, after which his BB activities will of necessity be limited until he returns to civilian life. Since joining the BB, his research, contributions and historical knowledge have added immeasurably to our activity. We will miss his precise and professional expertise in matters Burgenländische. On a happier note, he has completed the Father Leser village series for us as well as a few other feature articles which we will be publishing while he is in the military. Our profound thanks for his untiring work on our behalf and our best wishes for a rewarding and pleasant "military sabbatical"! Albert sends the following message: "ADVANCE NOTICE: I will not be able to read or write e-mail in OCTOBER, due to military service. Maybe also for the first two weeks of November. If I survive this 4 or 6 weeks, which I intend to do, I'll be back on-line. Best regards, Albert Schuch" CONTINUATION OF THE FATHER LESER SERIES (from Albert Schuch) 33 Stegersbach (H: Szentelek)-Sister City to Northampton, PA. Largest community of the Güssing district (in 1930!), consisting of the core village plus areas called Steinriegel, Schoada, Vorstadt, Hhnerzipf, Steinbach, Bergler-Huser, Schinderische Huser, Graben and Zigeunerlager. Village name first mentioned in 1289 ("Stegraifebach"). Stegersbach had a "Dreiigstamt" (customs office; the "Dreissigst" was the 30th part of the value of the goods). From the time of the Croatian settlement (16th century) until 1861 Stegersbach consisted of two separate communities, each with a "Richter" of its own. In 1650, Michael WENSITS was Richter of Croatian Stegersbach, while Thomas RATH was Richter of German Stegersbach. Population of German Stegersbach in 1693: Richter: Hans SAUERZOPF; Geschworene: Hans KRAMMER, Hans PITTERMANN, Mert ROTTN; families: ROTTN (4), FENDL (3) [note: probably should read: PENDL], KRAMMER (2), FASCHING (2), JANOS (2), SAUERZOPF, IVANCSICS, PIERHERR, LADNHOFFER, SCHUSTER, EKKNHAUER, PITTERMANN, FRELIG, LASINGER, REIHLING, WAGNER, MERER; Söllner in the vineyards: KRASSL, FRONDL; Söllner in the German vineyards ("Burgauer Bergen"): FAIGL, POSCH, BAUMGARTNER, MILLHAUSER, RUSS, HIRSCHNECK, SEEDL, HERBST, TAUHER, KHOH, GASMUK, HESSL, HIRSCHPECK; Söllner in "Neudauer Bergen": TRAGNIN, RUSS, HOANDL, SPANNER, CSAR; Söllner in the "Bersi" or "Berti-Bergen": SUMMER, SCHALK (3), WOLFART, TRAGNER, KAUFMANN, CERFUSS, HOFFNER, REICHHARDT, GASZNER (2), PIKKL, RING, GAJTER, KAPPLER (2), ROART, GOGER, SCHWARTZ, NEUBAUER. Croatian Stegersbach in 1693: Richter: Paul KRATICS; Geschworene: Vida BARSICS, Mikola POPOFCSICS, Jure JAKOVICS; families: VUKOVITS (7), NOVAKOVICS (3), BARSICS (2), CSENCZ (2), KATICS (2), MURLASICS (2), IFKOVITS (2), DERKITS (2), KRENCZ, FABICS, POPOFCSICS, JAKSICS, BERKOVICS, RADMOVICS, ZIDARICS. German Stegersbach in 1750: Richter: Hans WAGNER; Geschworene: Michael GRAF, Lorenz WAGNER, Michael RATHEN, Matthias KERN; families: WAGNER (3), KRAMMER (3), PITTERMANN (3), RATHEN (2), RATTEN (1), RATH (1), PRÖCKLER (2), PRÖKKER (1), MARISICS (2), PEISCHL, MAINDLER, JANOS, KOLLOCS, FURCH, PAULL, KERNHUSL, ZVITKOVICH; Söllner without farms: TRUIBER, CHRISTIANICS, DORN, WEINGRLL, SCHABHÜTTL; Croatian Stegersbach in 1750: Richter: Michael DERKITS; Geschworene: Miko ZWITKOVICH, Miko IFFKOVICH, Ive MARISICS, Ive PIPLICS; families: IFFKOVICH (6), VUKOVICH (6), MURLASICH (6), DERKSIC (4), NOVAKOVICH (3), PIPLICH (2), RADAKOVICH, BARSICH, MUSSICH, KATICS, FRIENICS, FABSICS, POPOFCSICS, ZVITKOVICH, SIFERICH [note: probably should read SIDERICH], WAGENHOFFER, ZWICKL; Söllner without farms: PAINB (?), MAINDLER, DERKICS, PAULL, NOVAKOVICH, SCHINDL, FABSICS. The 1750 records only list the subjects of Count Batthyány. At the same time, a part of German Stegersbach belonged to Count SZECHENY, according to an Urbarium of 1756 namely the following families: RATHEN (4), SAUERZOPF (2), KRAMMER (2), KATHFFER (2), PEISCHL (3), TSCHAR (2), HOBEL (2), KERN (2), FUIK, GRAFF, KUNST, BAUMGARTNER, TRETTNER, TUNST, JANOS; also a part of Croatian Stegersbach, with the following families: NOVASEL (8), MURLASICS (7), DERKICS (6), GRAFF (5), CZVITKOVICS (2), JUSICS (3), GANGL (2), IVANCSICS (2), SIDERICS (2), IFFKOVICS (2), KAPESKY (2), MOLNAR, SCHREINER, KATICS, PRUDL, PENDL, GRAFFICS, POPOFCSICS, MARINICS, RADAKOVICS. The Croats especially owned many horses and worked as carters, they travelled as far as Trieste and Fiume. Cholera (epidemic disease) in 1832. Amongst other casualties, a whole family died out (Eva JUSITS died 9 Sep 1832, 68 y; Anna JUSITS died 10 Sep 1832, 16 y; Theresia JUSITS died 12 Sep 1832, 18 y; Florian JUSITS died 12 Sep 1832, 46 y). In 1849 80 inhabitants died of Cholera from 8 July to 24 August. Stuhlrichter (szolgabiro) of Stegersbach were Johann PHLPP (1862-68) and Franz LAKY (1869-71). Afterwards Stegersbach was again part of the Stuhlrichteramt Güssing. Notaries: 1858-90 Matthias HOBEL, followed by Anton KOJTAR, Ernst KOTNICSKY, BORIK, and Adolf RACZ. Post office since 1868, directed by Heinrich LEDERER, later by Anna KAISER, then by Viktor KARDOS. Leopold STRCK appears to have been the first physician in Stegersbach. Births of his children can be found in the birth records 1852-56. Later physicians: 1858 Dr. WALTER, ca. 1866 Andreas PFEIFFER, 1888 Dr. Alexander GRUBER, later Dr. Stefan HALASZ, Dr. Sigmund SCHÖNBERGER, Dr. Koloman SZENTPETERY, Dr. Bernard NEUMANN, in 1930 Dr. Josef STOPPER and Dr. Franz FUCHS. First pharmacist of Stegersbach (since 1882) was Josef GANGL, followed by Julius DOBO and Alois KOTTAS, in 1930 Eugenie KOTTAS, Alois' widow. In 1874 the whole "German part" of Stegersbach (52 houses and the St. Antonius chapel) burned down. The mill currently (1930) owned by Julius TECHET. The gypsies' camp (lager) consists of 27 huts, inhabited by 37 families with 117 persons. Their surnames: SARKZI, HORVATH, GUSSAK can be found in the church records of Stegersbach since 1770. Some of them always were musicians. They are totally ignorant of religious education. [translator's note: one night during WW II the gypsies' camp was surrounded by police and/or military, the inhabitants brought into concentration camps. Very few returned.] The local Batthyány estate was - like in Rauchwart - sold to Comtess Theodora KOTTULINSKY in 1892 (from Prince Alfred de MONTENUOVO, son of Prince Wilhelm de MONTENUOVO and Comtess Juliane Batthyány). The Stegersbach estate was also subsequently sold to the same Budapest bank. The bank sold the land to local farmers in small pieces. Inhabitants: 1503 (1499 Catholics + 4 Lutherans) in 1812, 1849 (1844 C + 5 L) in 1832, 2573 (2542 of them Catholics) in 1930 (in 476 houses). Ca. 600 Stegersbach natives living in America in 1930. Ca. 100 casualties in WW I. In 1624 Stegersbach had had a Lutheran pastor (Georg WERNER). Catholic priests: Peter SZENTELEKY (1698), KUSELI (1753), Peter GROSZ (1757), Paul PUNTZ (1758-63), Georg BUKLETICS (1763-88), Josef KLEMENT (1788-1813, born in St. Michael), Georg TEKLITS (1813-46), Josef VARGA (1846-70), Franz SCHWARZ (1870-99), Stefan OSZTOVITS (1899-1906), Karl BRAUN (1906-). Teachers: Michael CVITKOVICS (1698), Stefan KLUPAITZ (1757), Johann GROFF (GRAF; died 1771), Karl NEMLOVIL (died 1790), Georg RIEDL (1796), Johann ENGER (1801-08, from Gerersdorf), Mathias SVETICS (1809-12, from Rehgraben, helped by son Johann), Matthias MAYERHOFFER (1812-17), Kaspar MAYERHOFFER (1817-23), Josef BUTKOVITS (1832), Johann WEHOFSITS (1837-85), Johann KNOR (1885-1908), Rudolf FUMITS (1908-17), Alexander LUIF (1917-). The teachers als served as notaries until 1858. In 1930 Alexander LUIF was head teacher, the 2nd to 5th teachers were Andreas MEDEK, Josef SCHARNAGL, Stefan STIPSITS, Karl SCHNEIDER and Margarete HOCHLEITNER MOSER. Known earlier 2nd (etc.) teachers: Johann JANISCH (1862), Karl KAISER sr. (1864-74), Karl KAISER jr. (1884-1906). A secondary school was established in 1918, teachers in 1930: Josef BLOHMANN, Josef HOCHLEITNER, Hans LEIERER, Elisabeth SCHARNAGEL (nee SCHUMMEL). (source: V+H Nr. 4-8/1958) POSSIBLE JEWISH LINKS AND JEWISH NAMES (from Maureen Tighe-Brown) (Ed. One of our contacts has no information concerning his grandfather other than that he emigrated from Austria and had the name of a Burgenland village - Hornstein. There is also a possibility that the name stems from the family who had the "Herrschaft". Another had a grandfather who changed his name upon entering the US and left no trace of his former name. Although in both cases there is no actual proof as to Jewish ancestors, this possibility also exists as indicated by some other facts. We know of cases where some individuals, unhappy with assigned Germanic names, may have changed them upon emigrating. I asked our expert on Judaic matters to comment.) 'Jewish' names: As you may know, until about 1781 in the Habsburg Empire, Jews took the name of their father with 'bar' for male children and 'ben' for female children to denote the relationship, e.g., David bar Saloman, Esther ben Saloman. Around 1780-1, Joseph II stipulated that Habsburg Jews must adopt a family name that would continue from generation to generation. I believe the name was required to be Germanic. This requirement for Jews to take a surname followed later for other parts of East Central and Eastern Europe, although Germanic surnames were not required. Therefore, I would guess that a Germanic surname suggests origins in the Habsburg Empire, at least that a Habsburg Empire male entered into the family lineage. However, as I am finding in my Deutschkreutz records, there was always (i.e., from 1683 for Roman Catholics, from 1833 for Jews, according to the records I have available) a significant amount of intermarriage, and surnames that are Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak, and Polish enter the records in that way. In addition, it is clear from the marriage and burial records that people born in Deutschkreutz frequently leave for other places, often in the vicinity, since their remains are later buried in Deutschkreutz. I think Hornstein's best bet is to get hold of the Kis-Marton (Eisenstadt) records and identify his family members; in that way, he can look for their relocation to or from other places. Unfortunately, the pre-1830s' records had to be sent to Berlin during WWII, and apparently were destroyed there. Feel free to suggest that your contact e-mail me if he needs further assistance or ideas, since it takes some time for me to input a new address, and it would help if I heard directly from him. Also, Rabbi Marmorstein, as well as Peter Gieler and Martin Perl (BB members), will be excellent references for him. I would also suggest he join the Jewishgen H-Sig, since the Jewish records have their own unique problems, apart from the Christian materials. The H-Siggers would be immensely helpful to him. Maureen. SOME SOUTHERN BURGENLAND JEWISH NAMES (from Albert Schuch) In BB newsletter # 28, Gert Tschögl published a list of Jewish families once living in Oberwart (as a reminder, the surnames were: "FISCHER; GLASER; FRISCHMANN; GRÜNWALD; KOHN (KÖVES or KOEVES); KORNFEIN; LÖWY (LOEWY); SCHLENGER; WEIGL; ANGELUS; WÜRZBURGER (WUERZBURGER); FIEGLER; FROMMER; HEINRICH; KONSTANTIN; WEISS (WEISZ).") In addition to this list, here are some (not all!) names of Jewish families who lived, had families or owned businesses in Southern Burgenland communities between 1920-1938: Oberwart (in addition to the above): EBENSPANGER, MEDOWY, NADAI, BLAU, ROSENBERGER, HOCHFELDER, probably also SCHEIN, SCHWARZ and ULLMANN; Bernstein: ANGELUS, AWIN; Stadt-Schlaining: LÖWY, EBENSPANGER, WOLF, WÜRZBURGER, LÖWENSOHN, EISENSTÄDTER, HEINRICH, STERN, DEUTSCH; Rechnitz: WEISZ, GÜNSBERGER, GRANER, SCHÖNWALD, HOLZER, MAYER, HIRSCHL, SPIEGEL, SPIEGLER, STERN, ENGEL, AWIN, BLAU, FRANKL, SCHREINER, SPIELMANN, GRÜNBERGER, SPITZER, MARGARETHEN, STEINER; GRÜNFELD, KERTESZ, BLUMSCHEIN, EISENSTÄDTER, WÜRZBURGER, GLÜCK, HEUBERGER; Großpetersdorf: MANDL, FLEISCHNER, LÖWY, HEINRICH, SCHEY, MAYER, WALLSTEIN, STERN, HEINISCH, KOPFSTEIN, HALAUNBRENNER; Pinkafeld: BSCHITZ, BARUCH, HOLZER, RUBINSTEIN, ANDAUER; Bad Tatzmannsdorf: HEINRICH, STERN; Schachendorf: UNGER; Neuberg: ZUCKERMANN; Kukmirn: WURMFELD; Eberau: LÖWY; Güssing: ALEXANDER, ENDRENYI-ENGEL, FALUDY (FEIGELSTOCK), FARKAS, FREUND, FERT,GRÜNFELD, HEUBERGER, KLEIN, LATZER, LÄNDLER, MAYER, MOSKOVITS, PINTER, POLLAK, RECHNITZER, ROTHBERG, ROTHSTEIN, STEINER, WEILER, ROSENZWEIG; St. Michael: SCHLESINGER, WÜRZBURGER; Stegersbach: WÜRZBURGER; Lockenhaus: SZÄSZ; Punitz: HOLZER; Hodis: HOLZER, SPITZER; Rauchwart: HIRSCH. Source is the Oberwarther Sonntags-Zeitung (1923-38), for Güssing the book "Der 'Bla von Güssing' aus dem Burgenland (Österreich) erzählt seine 70jährige Lebensgeschichte (1918-1988)", an autobiography of Berth (Adalbert) Berth ROTHSTEIN, published in 1988 by Verlag Hans-Alfred HERCHEN & Co., Fichardstr. 30, D-6000 Frankfurt am Main 1 (Germany), ISBN 3-89184-052-7, 255 pages. (Berth ROTHSTEIN, born 1918 in Güssing, managed to escape to Italy in 1938, from there to Sweden in 1939, his 6 brothers and sisters also survived the Holocaust, whereas their parents died in Litzmannstadt (Lodz) or Auschwitz.) ANOTHER TOUGH PROBLEM AND WHERE DO YOU START? Kenneth E Boner writes: << I would like to join. Continue to trace my Grandfather, John Boner entered this country at the age of 14 alone, from Austria born in Austria 1874, first known place he resided was Ford City, Pa. >> ANSWER: Nice to hear from you. Your message was also forwarded by one of our members. You do have a genealogical problem, maybe we can help. We're involved with the Burgenland of Austria and is there any clue that leads you to believe your grandfather emigrated from there? The Austro/Hungarian Empire was vast stretching from northern Italy to Russia and from Poland to Greece. Your ancestor could have come from anywhere and still have come from Austria. What religion was he, what language(s) did he speak at home (not what languages he knew). Did he ever mention any Austrian town, village, river, etc. Without any of this data you haven't a chance of finding his origins. You can try the New York ship listings for 1888 (assuming he came through the port of New York - at age 14 he may not even have been listed if he was with someone else), but it means a lot of searching. There may an index but again what name would he be listed under? Do you know the port of embarkation (Hamburg, Bremen, Antwerp, Trieste)? Again there are indices for some of these ports for certain years. The name Boner is not a Burgenland name known to me and I even doubt if it is Germanic, although it could be a phonetic spelling of something like Böhmer, Boehmer (Bohemian) or Bohner (bean dealer - don't laugh, a very common name), or Bonner (an inhabitant of the city of Bonn) or even a corruption of Behm (a Burgenland name). Have you checked for a naturalization record which would give the country of origin and maybe the town or village? It would be in the courthouse of the county in which he resided when he applied for citizenship. THIS MAY BE YOUR BEST BET! As you can see, we must find the end of a genealogical piece of string before you can even hope to trace origins. Be glad to help in any way I can and maybe get you started or unstuck in your research. It wouldn't help to join our group if your grandfather was not from the Burgenland, because you'd never get a contact. People here are looking for Burgenland names or families from Burgenland villages (over 400). We have to establish some point of origin first. Regards, Gerry Berghold {Ed: note: Per 1900 and 1930 censuses, John Boner came from "Poland Austria" and "Poland", respectively. The 1910 and 1920 censuses claim merely "Austria".] RESPONSE TO ALLENTOWN ARTICLE (Newsletter 38) AND A REPORT OF A RECENT TRIP TO THE VILLAGES OF GROSSMÜRBISCH & SULZ (from member Steve Klucharich) Hi Gerry, The long article about Allentown was great. it brought back a lot of memories. My grandparents owned a store on 4th and Gordon Sts. (my grandfather and uncles also owned a bakery on Union Blvd.), my mother was born and raised there and I lived on Gordon St. until I left for college in the early 70's. I was baptized in Sacred Heart Church and attended both Sacred Heart School and Central Catholic HS. We used to play behind both schools as kids. Sacred Heart Church in the late 50's and early 60's was still very much a "German" church. I don't remember any services in German, but I do remember, as an altar boy (!), hearing a lot of German prayers and conversations in German by the older parishoners after the Mass. I was told stories about rivalries, fights and raids of churches between Sared Heart parishoners and Immaculate Conception parishoners in the despised 2nd Ward (even though the Sangerbund Society was only a block and half from the Immaculate Conception church). When I was growing up, the last of the original Burgenländ immigrants in the neighborhood were in the later years of their lives. I can remember talking to and barely understanding the responses of a lot of the older men and women in the neighborhood. My grandmother came to the US in 1902 or 1903, died at 90 in 1975 and she spoke a very broken and heavily accented English! The Burgenland dialect was pretty much a main language in the neighborhood for that generation. Burgenland Trip I'm also just back from Burgenland. I presently live in the area of Wiesbaden, Germany. Wiesbaden is in the western part of Germany, in the state of Hesse ( this is the State where the German mercenaries during the Revolutionary War were from. Perhaps the descendents of my neighbors were held prisoner at Jordan and Gordon Sts!). The drive to Graz lasted about 7 hrs, and is approximately 750km. It's about another 45 minutes and 90 KM to Güssing. I went not so much with a geneological fervor, but more of a curiousity to find what kind of place my grandparents came from. My father's parents emmigrated from Grossmürbish (father) and Deutsch Ehrensdorf (mother). My mother's parents were from Steingraben (father) and Sulz (mother). I have a tourist map of Burgenland. From this map, it looks like Steingraben and Sulz are about 2 km apart. In reality, one can walk from one to the other in about 10 minutes. Steingraben sits on a small hill, with a great view of the Burg in Güssing. It's a collection of houses and small farm Hofs, surrounded by fields. It has a small Gasthaus. I went into the Gasthaus, ordered a beer (it was a very warm day, 28 C). I asked the young man pouring the beer for directions to the Friedhof and told him that my grandfather had come from this Dorf. I told him that his name was Billovits (although he spelled it Billowitch). He said that there were a lot of Billovits here and asked if I knew the house number. I didn't know the house number. He said that the former owner of the Gasthaus was a Billovits and that she lived next door. He telephoned her and I went next door. We met and talked for a little while before determining that we are from different families (Verwandschaft). Frau Kanapes was determined to find someone related to me. After calling most of the Billovits' in Steingraben, she got a lead. We went to Number 34, the home of Franz Billovits, his wife Margeret and her sister-in-law, Teresia Kolsitch. Franz turns out to by my 3rd cousin. His grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers. My great- grandfather had 3 sons, Andreas, Johann and Franz. All three came to America. Andreas returned to Burgenland and is buried in Steingraben. Johann (John, my mother's uncle) lived in New York, where he owned a restaurant. Franz (Frank, my grandfather) settled in Allentown. Franz is a farmer (Bauer) and a jovial and friendly man in his 60's. His wife Margeret was born in Nazareth, PA, and returned with her parents when she was six months old. I jokingly asked her why she didn't remember how to speak English. Teresia was the historian, knowing who married whom, when they died, where they went in the States. Her sister went to and is still living in Nazareth; Teresia had visited her there 3 times. It turns out that her sister and her sister's husband were good friends with one of my aunts and her husband. We had a nice visit. The conversation was a little strained at times, though. The Burgenland dialect is quite a challange to understand. But everyone was tolerant of my "hoch Deutsch" and we managed to communicate with each other. The next day, I went to Grossmürbish. Again, I thought the drive would be longer than it turned out to be. Grossmürbish is about 11 km from the center of Güssing. This would put it about 15 km from Sulz & Steingraben. I had a house number for our Klucsatits Verwandshaft. My cousin Kathy had done research at the LDS and had found a house number from about 4 generations back. I stopped a man on the street and inquired about the house number. He told me that Frau Eberhard lives there and that her mother is a Klucsarits. He took me into the Gasthaus Wukovits and introduced me to her. It turns out that her mother and my father are cousins. Frau Eberhard was at a table with 8 other women, all of whom had a relative who at one time or another lived in Coplay or Northampton. It was a fun and very animated conversation. Frau Eberhard took me to meet her mother, a woman in her 80's. She was happy to meet family. I unfortunately had to return to Germany that day. We exchanged addresses and Frau Eberhard invited me back to look at old photos. It was quite the enjoyable adventure. I was taken by the similarity in landscape of Burgenland to the Lehigh Valley. The area around Güssing could be Egypt, Whitehall, Limeport or East Milford Township in the Lehigh Valley (minus the Burg, of course). Also, after 25 years of living away from Allentown, it was refreshing to have people not regard my family name(s) as strange. I spent a night in Heiligenkreuz, at the Gasthof Gibiser (a very nice place, by the way). When I checked in, Frau Gibiser asked my name. When I responded with Klucharich, she responded, "That's a good Burgenlandish name!". I regret not having enough time to find out about my mother's mother's family, Muik, in Sulz. There was nobody on the streets in Sulz and the young lady tending the store wasn't very interested in helping me (it was a very warm day and I think she just wanted to be somewhere else). And I have a question to pose. Do you or anyone else know what the large building is across from the water bottling plant in Sulz. Was it some sort of Bad? It appeared abandoned. I unfortunately didn't have the time to find out. Perhaps next time. I'd like to thank all of you for your efforts and hard work for putting the BB newsletters out. In the last 6 months, I don't get on the internet as often as I used to. We haven't found a provider here yet with a local number. Und Deutsche Telekom ist sehr teuer!!! So I don't get to the web site much. Keep up the good work!! (newsletter continued as no. 40A) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 40A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) July 30, 1998 This second section of newsletter 40 features Stegerbach's twin city Northampton, PA and contains: - Some Old Lehigh Valley Clippings - A Catasauqua, PA History - Northampton, PA - Sister City to Stegersbach, Burgenland - The Coal Chute - Mühl Family - Schoolteaching Tradition(?) - Memories From Northampton Immigrant Days - Nemet Csenc (Deutsch Tschantschendorf) and Research - Tombstone Names from Our Lady of Hungary Cemetery in Northampton This is almost an Anna Kresh edition. Anna sends us much material as well as serving as Internet Editor. SOME OLD LEHIGH VALLEY NEWS CLIPPINGS (from Anna Kresh) I have a couple of columns from an old German newspaper which also contains my brother and sister-in-law's wedding notice. I tried my hand at translating the other items on the same page and wonder if anyone in the BB can use any of it. The paper was probably from Bath, Nazareth or Northampton, (my sister-in-law and our church was in Bath) and judging from my brother's anniversary it was probably from an unknown Lehigh Valley newspaper dated approx. 9/22/1927: o Rudolf Gmoser of Los Angeles, Calif., is here visiting with his ill brother Julius, who got sick some months ago with typhoid fever. This illness has been at epidemic stage for some time and many humans here are contaminated. It is reported how Mr. Gmoser wants to bring his brother to California, since he is of the opinion that the mild climate is more beneficial for ailments and causes a more rapid convalescence. The Gmosers originate from Zahling, Burgenland. o John Feichtl of Front Street in Coplay, Pa, is steaming to a happier region, on the 25th of September, i.e. to the old homeland. He will pay more (than) a weekly visit to Burgenland and then return again. We wish him a joyful arrival celebration over there. A HISTORY OF CATASAUQUA, PA (Ed.) Just north of Allentown, PA, and contiguous with it is the borough of Catasauqua. At its nothern limit it joins Northampton. This area was also heavily populated by Burgenlanders and is still home to many descendants. Recently I became aware that a History of Catasauqua written by Lambert and Reinhard exists. There is also a book with Catasauqua history commemorating "Old Home Week 1914". The books are out of print but available in the local library. I understand you can read a little about Catasauqua at www.HCPA.org. If any member has access to either of these publications, I'd be interested if there are any references to Burgenland immigrants. NORTHAMPTON, PA - STEGERSBACH, BURGENLAND; SISTER CITIES (Ed. The following article is from The Morning Call Newspaper, extracted and shortened: Date: Thursday, July 19, 1990, Page: N20, Edition: Z3 Section: NEIGHBORS, courtesy Anna Kresh) NORTHAMPTON UNVEILS SISTER CITY MONUMENT -- AUSTRIAN HERITAGE IS EMPHASIZED - by SONIA CSENCSITS, The Morning Call "Two communities came closer together Sunday and opened what both hope will be the door to friendships. Northampton unveiled a black granite monument in a new minipark dedicated to its sister city, Stegersbach, Austria. Mayor Walter Fabics of Stegersbach brought with him the names and addresses of 107 young people from the Stegersbach area who are seeking American pen friends. Fabics gave the letters to Northampton Mayor Paul Kutzler, who has already begun to work to establish a pen friend program through German classes at Northampton High School. More than 120 people gathered at the park, on Laubach Avenue. Tessie Teklits of the Burgenlaendische Gemeinschaft spoke of the July 15 ceremony 15 years ago in the Austrian town when the sister city program was born. She said the two came together because many of the immigrants from there came to this area. The late Mayor Anthony Pany, who initiated the program, was from Burgenland, the town's area in Austria. Fabics said this year marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Austrian emigration to this country. Teklits noted the dedication of a similar park in Stegersbach in July 1975. Last year the Austrian town of 2,500 celebrated its 700th anniversary. The papers formalizing the sister city agreement were signed in the Northampton library in 1974, Teklits said. Northampton Borough Council President Thomas Reenock in his official welcome said, "Today we are dedicating a stone, and a more fitting place could not be found. This symbolizes Northampton's roots. This symbolizes the roots of Stegersbach and the unity of the two." Edward Pany, son of the late mayor, recalled the migration that brought 25 million to America from Europe from 1890 to the 1930s. "They embarked on the arduous journey and didn't sail the Carnival line. There was no buffet, no sauna. Many rode steerage. Not all Americans welcomed foreigners. Henry Cabot Lodge said, `I fear the tradition of America will be altered because of new people, new beliefs.' They came and had to prove themselves, and the way to prove themselves was with hard work," Pany said. The immigrants worked in cigar, apparel and cement factories, and they proved themselves and made life better for their children. The monument "is more than a stone; it is a feeling, an emotion, a memory of the people who came here and worked hard," he continued. Fabics presented officials with silver medallions and a proclamation declaring Sunday Northampton Day in his home town. He received a framed photograph from Councilman Joseph Leitgeb. About the emigration, Fabics noted, "America took people in when work was hard to find. They came to make a better living for their families." He said his wish is for "all of you to pray for peace, so there are no wars and only friendship." He said he did not want children here to ever go through a war like those in Europe. Wilhelme Kiernbichler, a councilman in Stegersbach, read a letter from the children about the bonds that tie the two. He thanked everyone for the hospitality his group has been shown and invited everyone to visit Austria. Ernst Friedl, Stegersbach secretary, presented photographs of the Austrian park to officials. It was the first visit to this country for the three officials. They laid a wreath at Pany's grave yesterday and expressed their gratitude for the friendship they have been shown. Lisa Yany of Bath, Miss Burgenland 1990, spoke in German and English. She welcomed the visitors and said the park is very special because of the many people who hold family ties to Austria. "Even though an ocean separates us, there is a very special link that binds the people of Northampton and Austria," she said. Taking part in the program were Julius Dragovits, Anthony Spitzer, Frank Spitzer and Augie Maurek, all of the local Gemeinschaft chapter; Joe Baumann, vice president of the organization;the Rev. Francis Straka of Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church, Northampton, and Northampton Borough Manager Gene Zarayko. Several councilman attended the ceremony. Musicians who regularly appear at the Edelweis Haus, Northampton, performed." -end of extract. THE OLD COAL CHUTE (Ed.) Many members enliven my day by forwarding bits of humor. I'm always tempted to use them in the newsletter but never seem to have the space. Here is one that I've been saving because it ties in with my childhood. I'm sorry I've lost the name of the member who sent it to me, My apologies for not being able to give recognition. COAL - Here is that little joke I promised to send you, that my mother told me when I was about 8 or 9. As you know, coal was delivered to people's houses by chute through a small window that usually opened up into the coal bin in the basement. There were two neighbors whose houses were fairly close to each other. One neighbor had just ordered coal but was not home when the coal delivery man came. Problem was that the coal man went to the wrong house. He knocked on the door of the house next door, but nobody was home at this house either. However there was a parrot in this house, so when the coal man shouted: "Hello - the coal is here. Shall I dump the coal", the parrot, being well-versed in the language shouted out: "Dump the coal! Dump the coal!" The coal man took this as his OK to deliver the coal, so he opened the little basement window and dumped the coal. That night when the people came home, the husband went to the basement for something, and saw the coal piled all over his benches and tools. He rushed upstairs and asked his wife if she had ordered the coal. She said no but the parrot, hearing that, shouted out: "Dump the coal! Dump the coal!" The husband said: "Ah ha! Your stupid parrot ordered the coal." At that, he grabbed the parrot and slung it across the floor and under the bed. The wife got mad and said: "You can't do that to my parrot," so she grabbed his cat by the neck and slung it across the floor too. As the cat went sliding past the parrot, the parrot said: "Did you order coal too?" (Ed.) In Allentown, PA on Jordan Street in the early 1900's, the Sorger family had a house with a coal window, with a fancy iron gate, under the front porch. My grandmother even put a lace curtain on it! It opened to a small coal storage room in the front of the cellar. The coal truck had an elevating mechanism that raised the body of the truck. In the back was a gate to which telescoping metal chutes were attached. They were extended from the street, across the sidewalk and small lawn and into the open window; the truck gate was raised and a ton or more of coal went sliding into the bin. It was all very exciting. My coal-dealer 2nd cousin (John Berghold, now 91, last head of "Berghold & Eder Coal Co.") is still living in a nursing home in A'town. He still smokes big cigars and is a first generation fount of immigrant information. He told me that Burgenland immigrants always paid cash on delivery. He never lost any money on them even during the Depression when he staked some who were broke and needed coal. He says the PA-Dutch (Germans) were just the opposite. They would always try to get away without paying and were always on his bad debt list. He is also famous for saying "Oil and gas will never replace coal for home heating". He had a franchise with "Old Company-Lehigh", a large coal yard on Sumner Avenue with a coal car railroad siding and a business office in Allentown. Berghold & Eder were the coal dealers of choice among Allentown Burgenland immigrant families. MÜHL FAMILY - BURGENLAND SCHOOL TEACHER TRADITION? (Ed. One thing I can't help noticing is how occupations tend to repeat among Burgenland families. I sometimes use this to try and link families. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the teaching profession. They were (are) an honored and respected group, particularly in the early days when schooling was rudimentary. Next to the village pastor and "Richter" they filled the slot between the general inhabitants and the aristocracy. I have at least two among my ancestors, one from each side of the family. Previous newsletters have portrayed the death of great-grandfather, Emil Langasch, teacher in Poppendorf, and another contained a letter by great-great-grandfather Mihaly Mühl asking to have the Urbersdorf school house refurbished (indications are that his brother also may have been a teacher). I know of at least two other Mühl families who had several teachers and I've tried to link them with no succcess. Not that uncommon a name, but not that prevalent in southern Burgenland, although the village of Kemeten (where I have no links) is full of Mühls. The following email exchange mentions others. Karen Barnard writes: "The only other information I have on Johann Mühl was that he was a school teacher in Grodnau." Reply: There is indication that many Mühls were school teachers. My 2g-grandfather Mihaly (1797-1873) was a teacher for many years. In addition the Gottlieb Mühl clan (from Königsdorf) had at least 3 generations of teachers. I feel because of this association that they all could be related as well as Johann, but I've not been able to link them. If there is a link it's probably the generation pre 1797. Karen: I just noticed in the section on Grodnau that Otto Mühl was the son of the Grodnau "wirkenden" teacher Gottlieb Mühl and his second wife and came in 1922 to Grodnau. I don't know if they are related to my Johann Mühl or not. Oh, I just found another paragraph on Gottlieb Mühl. He was the son of a farmer in Oberschützen. Three of his sons from his first marriage were teachers. The above Otto's brother was Reinhold. Reinhold was a teacher in Graz. Are these your Mühls? Reply: No, not that I'm aware. They are part of the Königsdorf clan. These people are Lutherans (could have changed). Were your Mühls Lutherans? Mine were Catholics. Karen: I believe my Mühls were Lutherans. Our Austrian relatives got the records from the church in Schlaining. Otto and Reinhold Mühl were the sons of Gottlieb's second marriage. He had four sons and two daughters by his first marriage, it doesn't give their names. The only dates here are for Reinhold, a teacher in Graz around 1955; Otto taught in Grodnau 1922-1929. MEMORIES FROM NORTHAMPTON IMMIGRANT DAYS (from Anna Kresh) After receiving mail from Frank Teklits (mentioning I should comment re Northampton as a former "Konkrete Kid"), I realized you may be interested in part of the mail I sent to several of my family members who are tracking my research into the Tanczos family history. "Actually, I did not live in Northampton, though I might as well have. My parent's first five children were born there, but I was born in Danielsville (a little further north) after my parents moved from Northampton (where they met and married - in Our Lady of Hungary Church - OLH) to the farm, but our lives always centered around Northampton. Most of our relatives live/lived there, as my sister Emma Farkas still does, and we spent much time visiting or having visitors from there. We always had so much company on the farm from Northampton on a Sunday afternoon that we ate in shifts -- our kitchen (and china supply) couldn't accommodate everyone at one time. My father made wine from grapes, dandelion, elderberries, and I don't know what else. Our neighbor would bring and play his accordion and the men would play pinochle. Dandelion wine was particularly potent. My father stopped making it after one of the happy card players actually proposed marriage -- to my mother! Pinochle is still a tradition in the family and prospective spouses of our children amost have to pass the pinochle test before the marriage can proceed. And, of course, all those weddings at the Hunky Hall, St. Joe's, and the Liederkranz. My life's unfulfilled dream was to play the accordion. Three of my siblings, who died in and around the 1918 flu epidemic, are buried in the OLH cemetery at the end of lower Main Street in Northampton and we spent each Nov. 1st Holy Day there all day, especially the evening ceremonies when lighted candles on all the graves and monuments lit up lower Northampton as everyone joined in prayers and rosaries for the dead. My Mom's summers, just like all the other Burgenländer mothers', were spent trying to raise the biggest and best yellow and white chrysanthemums she could for her childrens' graves on All Saints' Day. My mother's sister, Katharine (Schuch) Sipics of 1370 Newport Ave., just died in 1995, 3 days shy of her 96th birthday, just a few doors up from OLH. In Danielsville our first 8 years of schooling were in a one-room country school with one teacher for all subjects in all 8 grades. It was actually a rather good education, because of the constant review of what we had learned before, and the preview of things to come, as the upper and lower grades recited their lessons. And it couldn't have been too bad, because it spawned my older brother, Frank, who was graduated from 8th grade at age 10 (you could skip grades then), and Moravian College at 18 and is a retired nuclear physicist who worked with Admiral Hyman Rickover and knew Werner von Braun. Northampton High School days were somewhat bittersweet for me. I had a very long commute, with the nearest bus stop being in Klecknersville, where I caught the Bethlehem Steel workers' bus to Bath. There I met the NHS school bus. My children claim I told them I had to walk 5 miles to school -- uphill - both ways. I actually prayed for rain so my father couldn't work in the fields and would be able to come pick me up. But our childhood in the country was very Burgenland-like, with the wine barrel setting in the cool spring in the cellar of our farmhouse where the salami hung from the rafter; the hams and bacon smoking in the smoke house; the accordion music under my father's grape arbor in our front yard every weekend; my Mom making three kinds of meat for the Sunday dinner when it seemed (at least to us who washed the dishes) like all of Northampton came to visit; butchering-day when all my brothers came home to help and were sent home with most of the pork or beef; cutting up the fat into cubes to make lard; the big black iron pot of scrapple cooking over the fire in the wash-house; the intestines my Mom cleaned and scraped for the fresh sausage because the rest of us always cut holes into the casings; the best scrapple in the world (into which my father used to sneak last year's wine - my brother Robert still occasionally makes some); homemade noodles in the chicken soup (the thinnest, finest noodles any mother ever made); crisp, golden roast goose instead of turkey at holiday time; the apfel and kraut strudels stretched out until it hung down over the sides of the white tablecloth; my father's bees swarming as the hives divided; the new honey dripping out of the honeycomb; the praying of the family Rosary -- and the greeting of each new visitor with "Gelobt sei Jesus Christus". And my father's profound sadness (and tears) as he took my brothers off to the train station to fight in a war where they might face their own cousins across the battlefield. What sad and wonderful memories! How could we feel so Austrian and still feel so American? The old farmhouse is now gone, but my brother Ed has built a new home in the same spot on my parents' farm and everyone comes 'home' for a summer reunion with as many Burgenländer relatives as he can gather -- and we all remember our loved ones who took that long, awful journey....Now all we need is that button-box accordion..." Anna Tanczos Kresh. NEMETCSENCS CHURCH RECORDS (also from Anna Kresh) Hi All, Don't know to whom I've told what, so here's the update so far on my study of the microfilm of Hungarian church records for Kroatisch and Deutsch Tschantschendorf (the Tanczos, Pani, Ifkovits, Jandrisevits branches). If I'm repeating myself, forgive me, it's either senility or fatigue from looking at Hungarian and Latin microfilm. The Latter Day Saints microfilm (0700693) covers the Nemet Csencs (Deutsch Tschantschendorf) church records from 1828 to 1895 for the St. Nikolaus (Szt. Miklos) R.C. Church where Kroatisch Tschantschendorf residents attended. I am starting with 1895 and working my way back in time so that I can pick up relationships better. Also the later records are on Hungarian/Latin forms (some pre-printed) with Latin hand-written entries. Earlier years change to Hungarian only with the earliest in a Hung. script that is going to be really difficult. Since KT is in the district of Tobaj, along with Tudersdorf, Punitz, and Hasendorf, we should pick up some of those folks also. The local LDS Family History Center is keeping the film for me until 6/24, but with renewals I may be able to keep it here for about a year. I have been told that LDS will not sell me a copy because of their commitment at the time of filming in Budapest on July 25,1966. Our FHC charges me 25 cents per page to print the microfilm records and I've spent over $40 so far, so that method may soon come to a screeching halt. It takes a lot to decipher some of them, so it's helpful to study them at home when I have more time. I discovered that my father had 10 brothers and sisters instead of the 4 or 5 we knew about - they were John, Joseph, Francis, Theresa, Aloysius (Louis), Agnes, Magdalena, Maria, Gustav, Ignatius (our father), and Eleanor, in that order (spanning 1871 through 1893. Gustav and Magdalena each lived only one month. I haven't had a chance to get death dates on any of the others yet. Discovered something else very interesting, though. My grandmother Anna Pani (now the Panny branch) married John Tanczos (my grandfather) in 1870 at the age of 21, but at that time she was listed as the widow Anna Jandrisevits. Then I found an earlier marriage in 1865 at age 17 to Paul Jandrisevits. We never knew about that first marriage, but it now explains the Jandrisevits link with our family. Now I need to check for children born to the first marriage. It may be that the Anna Tanczos, who we believe married Ignatz Malits, was really Anna Jandrisevits, not a sister to my father, but a half-sister. I have not yet found her baptismal record. Also, I need to double check the above marriages to make sure I am transcribing correctly. Another interesting note -- Joannes Tanczos was from Rehgraben, not KT as we've always believed, and Anna Pani was from Tobajbergen. It was Paul Jandrisevits who lived at Nr. 14 in Kroatisch Tschantschendorf (Horvat Csencs), where Anna Pani Jandrisevits Tanczos continued to live after Paul's death, and where the current resident Eduard Tanczos lives today. The 1992 Burgenland telephone book that I have lists 14 Tanczos in Rehgraben and only 2 in KT, and Tanzoschberg (the mountain) is closer to Rehgraben than to KT, so it may be that future family searches will be in Rehgraben. This is all very intriguing, to say the least. Gerry Berghold gave me a copy of a Burgenländische Gemeinschaft newsletter dated May/June 1995, written by Frank J. Frey, Nutley, NJ. It is about the 1927 emigration from Deutsch Tschan. and life in the US of Franz and Theresia (Panny?) Frey. It also contains photos of 3 Panny sisters (1923 probably in D.T.), Franz Frey and Gustav Pany (1924 in Güssing), Franz and Theresia Frey (1930 in Bronx), plus a 1947 Weihnachten holiday photo (5 people). My microfilm is too early to contain their births, but should contain their parents'. It will be challenging to get them properly connected. It appears the Pani name was changed to Panny by the priest of Our Lady of Hungary Church on Newport Ave. in Northampton. The earliest Pani emigrations I have so far, as listed on the 1920 Census, are Mr/Mrs Frank Ifkovits (c. 22) and Ida Panny (c. 19) in 1905, with Adolph Panny (21) in 1911 and his wife Anna (18) in 1913, (age 21). Thank you, Gerry and Frank, for sharing this info with us. I will try to get a lot of the microfilm data transcribed onto Family Group Sheets and maybe some of us can get together during the Bethlehem Musikfest to sort it all out. I will concentrate on transcribing the following: Ifkovits, Jandrisevits, Malits, Pani, Tanczos, and their spouses/children. More later. Anna Tanczos Kresh. TOMBSTONE NAMES OF BURGENLAND IMMIGRANT FAMILIES FROM OUR LADY OF HUNGARY CEMETERY IN NORTHAMPTON (from Anna Kresh) I have transcribed into an alphabetical ASCII text listing, the names and birth/death dates that I collected during my recent day-long visit to the Our Lady of Hungary Church cemetery in Northampton, PA. The list covers a majority of the following 58 surnames for a total of 323 gravesites. There are some omissions because I did not record the newer section of the cemetery which contains the gravesites of those who were born and died in the more recent years. BAHNICK, BENDEKOVITS (BENDEKOVITZ), BLAUKOVITCH, DERKITS, DRAGOVITS, DREISBACH, EBERHARDT, FARKAS, GARGER, HANDLER, HORVATH, IFKOVITS (IFKOVITZ), JANDRISEVITS (JANDRISAVITS, JANDRISOVITS), KEGLOVITS (KEGLOWITS, KEGLOWITZ), KERBACHER, KLUCHARICH (KLUCSARITS, KLUCSARITZ, KLUSARITS, KLUTSARITS), KOSITS, LANG, MAIKITS, MALITS, MARAKOVITS (MIRAKOVITS), MAZUR, MIKSITS, MILISITS, MILKOVITS (MILKOWITZ), PANY, PUSKARITZ, SCHATZ, SCHUCH, SIPICS, SERENSITS (SZERENCSITS, SZERENSITS), STUBITS, SZOKE, TAKACS, TANCZOS, TANZOSH, TRENKL, TRINKLE, UNGER, WINDISCH, YANDRASITZ, YANDRISEVITS (YANDRISOVITS, YANDRISVITZ(?)) I would be happy to make data available to anyone doing research into these names. (newsletter continues as no. 40B) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 40B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) July 30, 1998 This third section of newsletter 40 contains articles on: - Presseller Name - Gary Portsche Trip To Burgenland - Confusing Status Terms - Two Well-Known US Burgenlanders - Riedlingsdorf & Hannersdorf War Memorial Donors - Eltendorf War Memorial Names - Demise of Regi Magyororzag PRESSELLER NAME (from Betty Mische) It appears I stirred up some interest in the Kapeller name, so now I am taking another stab at Presseller. From 1770 it showed up in the LDS films as Blasseller, Plasseller, Preseler etc. I find them in the Zanegg/Szolnok area from 1770 on. I try to imagine what the name would have been at some time before then. I know there are Presseller's in Austria, but as I do not speak anything but English (and sometimes that is not too good!) I cannot communicate well with them. (Ed. Anyone have any thoughts on this name?) MEMBERS LEAVE FOR BURGENLAND (from Gary L. Portsche) Well, friends, soon we leave for Europe. Son Doug, cousin Richard Mann and I are flying to Munich where we have arranged for a car and then we'll head straightaway for Gols, Austria. Have spoken with cousins Margaretha Heinrich, Helga Gyorik and Maria Schrammel and have things pretty much arranged. We will be staying at the Brunner's Pension and through Maria have arranged with the Evangelical Pastor to copy all of the church records from 1783 up to about 1830. The LDS has the rest. Plan to make day trips to old Ragendorf which is now in Hungary and Karlburg which is now in the Slovak Republic. We then will head to Budapest then north to Cracow and Warsaw, Poland thence Berlin and Dresden, Germany, Prague and back to Munich where we plan on visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. Dachau was the first camp established by the Nazi's. Hopefully, we will be able to pull a lot of the records together with the additional information we glean. Have been working on my German and am going to try to interview Frau Allacher in Gols, she being the person who seems to know the most about the genealogy of the area. Will Email you a report of our trip when we arrive back in the U. S. A. MORE ON THOSE CONFUSING STATUS TERMS (from Albert Schuch) (Ed. While it may seem that we're belaboring the point, I find a great deal of interest among our members as to "just what kind of a farmer" was my ancestor? How much land did he work, was he well off, comfortable or a pauper? Burgenland society was very structured and the German and Hungarian terms for status are very revealing. As a result, we continue to research the status terms found in church and civil records). Fritz Konigshofer writes: "the priest distinguishes between colonus (farmer?), octavalista (farmer with or of an eights of ... a sessio?), and operarius (day-)worker?). Anyway, the interpretation pulled from the Internet by Joe makes very good sense." Joseph J Jarfas writes: reply [from Hungarian news group] says: "any settler who worked 1/8th of a basic area of land, before and around 1848, was called that (octavalista). The writer claims the basic area was sort of undetermined at that time." Albert writes "with much delay, let me add my comment: I also have not read this word before, but in view of the above information I think an "octavalista" will have been a person with LESS than 1/8th of a sessio, hence the word "octavalista" would be synonymous with the term "Söllner". The territory of a village in those days was divided into the "Intravillaneum" (areas "within the village", whereby the word village refers to the area where the houses are built) and the "Extravillaneum" (areas "outside the village", again, meaning outside the village "as such" (the area of the houses)). The "Extravillaneum" consisted of the following areas: 1) the "Urbarialwald", the forest collectively owned by the "Urbarialgemeinde"; only as a farmer ("colonus"; owner of 1/8th of a "sessio" or more) you were a member of the Urbarial community; 2) the "Hutweide", the pasture collectively owned by the farmers; 3) the "Söllnerhutweide", the pasture collectively owned by the Söllners (inhabitants who own "Extravillaneum" land, but less than 1/8th sessio); 4) the fields and meadows owned by the individual farmers and Söllners. As regards the term "Söllner", I have not been that clear in my answers to Frank Teklits' questions, one of which was published in BB Newsletter #27A (January 15, 1998): "Holden" are "Söllner", people who do not own farming land... When I wrote that a Söllner doesn't own "farming land", I should have added that only land amounting to a minimum of 1/8th sessio was termed "farm" in the documents. My best regards. TWO WELL-KNOWN US BURGENLANDERS (from Albert Schuch) --- Johnny WEISSMLLER --- The weekly "Das Burgenland" writes on 16th Dec 1928: Is American master swimmer Johnny WEISSMLLER a Burgenländer? The "Vossische Zeitung" in Berlin calls him a Swabian child from the Austrian Burgenland. Maybe his parents emigrated before WW-I from the Seewinkel. --- Gisella LOEFFLER (Wörtherberg-born artist in St. Louis) --- The weekly "Das Burgenland" writes on 2nd June 1929: Drawings by Gisella LOEFFLER are published in a German newspaper in St. Louis (Sunday Magazine of the St. Louis Post Dispatch). She was born in 1900 in Wörtherberg, emigrated to the USA with her parents at the age of 6, has graduated from a university and already had many exhibitions. Her husband Edgar LACHER works in the "staff of the Western Post", they have two children aged 3 and 7. [this information already e-mailed to member Bob Loeffler] VILLAGE WAR MEMORIALS (Gerry Berghold & Albert Schuch) While both we in America and those in other countries honor our war dead, Burgenlanders in every village have erected war memorials in prominent spots, generally a small park near the Gemeinde Amt or local cemetery. These memorials are of stone or concrete, often with metal plaques listing the dead and missing from the two world wars. They also include the names of civilians who died as a result of battles fought near the villages in World War II. Showing birth and death dates they are a poignant reminder of the large numbers of families who suffered loss. I was struck by the many family names appearing on the memorials in my family villages. So many young men! I took photos of each memorial and was able to link some names to my genealogy. (I'll be publishing names and dates from some of these photos-the first from Eltendorf is included in this section.) I was particularly moved by the name of a distant civilian cousin who died from a Russian grenade, probably thrown by mistake. My mental image of a terrified old man hiding in a small building from the combat all around him while an equally terrified Russian soldier thinks he hears an enemy soldier and lobs a grenade, is not a pretty picture. When visiting Burgenland, look for these war memorials. They are as important as cemeteries in locating family. Of added interest is the fact that in the same plot with war memorials may be found tablets commemorating villagers who emigrated during the period of greatest "Auswanderung"-emigration. These tablets (memorials) are often the work of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft and are dedicated with much pomp and ceremony. I attended one such in Kukmirn in 1993 and was very impressed. Frequently emigrants and villagers donated money for the erection of memorials and their gifts were recognized in local newspapers of the period. Albert Schuch has found some of these, has translated them and we will be printing some in these newsletters. Notice house numbers, your families may be listed. The first follows: --- Riedlingsdorf War Memorial Donors --- The weekly "Oberwarther Sonntags-Zeitung" of 8th June 1924 includes an advertisment from the community of Riedlingsdorf, thanking their countrymen in America for their donations for the war memorial in Riedlingsdorf. The donors are: Johann BRUCKNER 5127 Barriart 2 Dollar, Tobias SCHUH 6156 2 Dollar, Johann KURTZ, Johann SCHUH, Samuel SCHADEN, Michael und Fr. KIRNBAUER 1 D. each, Tobias SCHUH 144, Samuel WAGNER, Samuel WOMACKA 2 D. each; Michael WAGNER, 3 D.; Tobias REHBERGER # 131, Johann NEID # 82, Johann ZAPFEL # 130, Franz ZAPFEL # 130, M. SCHMITT from Wiesfleck 2 D. each; Maria SCHADEN 0.50 D.; Johann REHBERGER # 117, Johann und Paulina KEIPPEL 20 2 D. each; Tob. und Ros. BAUER # 86, 5 D.; An. WETH 2 D.; Sam. HERMANN from Tauchen 1 D; Josef KLUG from Bernstein 0.50 D.; Tobias SPIEGEL # 55, Elisabeth PIFF # 92, Michael SCHUH # 144, HEILEMANN, Samuel FLECK # 88, 2 D. each; John ZAPFEL 1 D.; Franz KEIPPEL # 20, 2 D.; John BÖHM # 20, 5 D.; Tobias ZAPFEL # 21, 5 D.; Johann HACKER 1 D.; Samuel FLECK # 126, 2 D.; Samuel HEROLD # 163, 5 D.; Samuel ZIERMANN # 112, 2 D.; Charles FLECK, Samuel KEIPPEL # 20, Johann PRISCHING # 88, Tobias STEGER # 54, Pauline BEIER, Johann KARNER 1 D. each; Samuel STEGER 2 D.; Franz BRUCKNER # 211, Johann GABRIEL # 132, Mike SCHIEBINGER 1 D. each.[already e-mailed to member Barry Keippel] HANNERSDORF WAR MEMORIAL DONORS This is a list of American donors for the war memorial of Hannersdorf. It was published on 12 July 1925 in the weekly "Oberwarther Sonntags Zeitung". The donors were living in Chicago, collectors were Adolf UNGER and Josef HORVATH. Numbers following surnames are house numbers in Hannersdorf (showing the house they had emigrated from, note: "geb." means "geborn" or the maiden name). 15 Dollars: Adolf UNGER 35, Josef HORVATH 155; 10 D: Franz KORNFEIND jun. 59, Bernhard GOSZY 22, Johann HORVATH 35, Alois KLEPITS 135, Maria ROSIWORTH geb. REIGER 105, Theresia UNGER geb. WIEDNER 68, Georg WERDERITS 104, Anna OSWALD geb. REIGER 4, Johann GOSZY 84; 5 D: Michael WERDERITS 30, Ferdinand JOSEF 55, Alois WERDERITS 52, Josef PERL 83, Georg JOSEF 91, Josef GOSZY 33, Stephan HÖRIST 133, Theodor BESENHOFER 42, Franz KOTZ 118, Thomas KAINZ, Johann GABRIEL 124, Franz KORNFEIND 59, Georg REIGER 79, Johann GOSZY 15, Franz REIGER 69, Josef KERGITSCH aus Neuberg, Maria TOTH geb. WIEDNER 68, Franz GOSZY 15, Josef SCHMALZER 147, Franz HÖRIST 64, Johann TOMISSER 70, Franz KORNFEIND 45, Johann KORNFEIND 87, Anna KRUTSCH geb. WERDERITS 89, Theresia WERDERITS 89, Johann SZALAY 28, Josef SZALAY 28, Johann KORNFEIND 108, Johann WERDERITS 74, Franz WERDERITS 13, Fany GLASNER geb. WERDERITS 74, Johann WERDERITS 74, Anna MABLING geb. KORNFEIND 87, Franz MÖLLNER 27, Johann PAHR jun., Franz GOSZY 111, Jakob LOIBL, Johann ADORYAN, Johann WERDERITS 112, Johann WERDERITS 153, Alois WERDERITS 156, Josef HASZLER 100; 4 D: Johann KLEPITS 113, Franz UNGER 101; 3 D: Alois WUKOWITS 107, Adolf JOSEF 55, Josef WAGNER 24, Adolf KLEPITS 150, Johann HÖRIST 21, Josef HÖRIST 152, Adolf TITZ 136, Josef BAUMGARTNER 31, Gabriel WUKITS 149, Michael SCHMALZER 147, Johann VARGA 127, Josef STEURER 72, Theresia WERDERITS 145, Alois HÖRISZT 52, Johann KLEPITS 135, Adolf DEVAY 54, Johann KORNFEIND 14, Michael WERDERITS 89, Maria STEINER geb. KLEPITSCH 113, Franz PETRAKOWITS 148, Rosina SCHOMOGYI geb. STEURER 72, Alois SCHMALZER 147, Maria TEIFLER geb. WERDERITS 156, Karoline JOSEF geb. SOMOGYI, Andreas WERDERITS 82; 2 D: Ccilie FRÜHWALD, Andreas WERDERITS 131, Elisabeth MUHR geb. TITZ 136, Josef AUGUSTIN, Elisabeth BAUMGARTNER geb. REIGER 69, Josef HEIDEN aus Badersdorf, Maria GALOVITS geb. SCHMALZER 147, Franz KAPPEL 92,Josef WERDERITS 82, Franz KORNFEIND 36, Johann UNGER 134, Franz HASZLER 100, Johann SCHUCH 7, Theresia OSWALD geb. REIGER 119, Theresia KARNER geb. WERDERITS 74, Karl HÖRIST 64, Johann JUSZT, Michael KORNFEIND 148, Leo PADGASEK, Michael TAUBER 4, Anna WERDERITS geb. OSWALD, Franz WIEDNER 70, Maria HASZLER 100, Fany HORVATH 160, Johann WERDERITS 76, Franz WERDERITS 85, Rosa WIGGOLD geb. UNGER 125; 1 D: Franz TRESCHLER, Peter TRESCHLER aus Miedlingsdorf, Maria SCHRANZ geb. REIGER 79, Johann KORNFEIND 36, Josef MASCHEK, Richard TTERER, Johann KUMMER, Maria KOLLARITS geb. STEURER, Johann SCHMALZER 147, Hermann SCHOMOGYI, August SIROLIKA (?), Maria, Josef TOTH; total: 486 Dollars. ELTENDORF WWII MEMORIAL NAMES & DATES (District of Jennersdorf) GEFALLENE DES 2. WELTKRIEGES BERGHOLD Andreas 1903-1944, BERGHOLD Rudolf 1917-1944, BEUTL Eduard 1925-1944, ERNST August 1923-1944, FIEDLER Franz 1927-1945, FLAMISCH Gustave 1913-1944, GIBISER Franz 1922-1944, GIBISER Josef 1908-1943, GIGLER Franz 1903-1945, GIGLER Franz 1909-1943, GIGLER Franz 1922-1944, GIGLER Josef 1918-1940, GIGLER Josef 1924-1944, GILLY August 1918-1941, GOLLINGER Franz 1906-1944, GOLLINGER Johann 1899-1946, GRÖLLER Franz 1922-1942, GRUBER Eduard 1923-1945, HARTL Anton 1915-1942, HEMMER Gustav 1912-1945, HEMMER Hermann 1923-1945, HOLLER Franz 1920-1942, HOLLER Gustav 1911-1945, HOLZER Rudolf 1913-1943, JAINDL Rudolf 1921-1941, KÄFER Gustav 1908-1944, KÄFER Johann 1906-1944, KROPF Josef 19018-1941, LANG Josef 1918-1942, LEITGEB Johann 1924-1944, MAYER Johann 1921-1944, NEUBAUER Josef 1920-1942, NIKITSCHER Franz 1914-1942, NIKITSCHER Gustav 1912-1944, NIKITSCHER Johann 1914-1944, PERL Gustav 1914-1944, PETER Johann 1924-1943, PFEIFFER Julius 1904-1944, PREGLER Rudolf 1895-1942, RABEL Gustav 1905-1944, SOMMER Johann 1913-1944, STRINY Anton 1905-1945, SUPPER Franz 1909-1943, UNGER Julius 1022-1942, WEINHOFER August 1919-1944, WEINHOFER Franz 1911-1944, WEINHOFER Franz 1920-1944, WOLKOWITSCH Josef 1921-1945, ZIEGER Josef 1901-1945. DEMISE OF REGI MAGYORORZAG (courtesy of Gerard Stifter) (Ed. If, like me, you subscribed to the above publication and wondered whatever happened to your subscription, you'll be interested in the following. My apologies for the recommendation in the BB newsletter. All I can say is that RM showed great initial promise.) Gerard Stifter wrote: "Doug (Holmes), I would like to begin subscribing to Regi Magyarorzag. I am a member of the Burgenland Bunch and saw a recommendation of your publication in one of the newsletters... Also would like to receive all back issues prior to 1998 if still available. Let me know." Holmes replied: "Here's the status of the newsletter and memberships. Feel free to give this message to any in your group, too. There are currently 15 issues of the newsletter "Regi Magarorszag" (Old Hungary). The most recent issue was sent to members who subscribed for the 1997 membership year. They received it in March 1997. There hasn't been another issue since. Because no one ever received the final 3 issues of 1997, I have written a final big issue of the newsletter, with the help of several others, and am close to completion of it. In fact, I hope to send it out this month. But I've been saying that since November!, so if past history is any way to judge it, I won't meet my goal. For your purposes, you can receive the 15 issues (though #5 and #8 are out right now and must be reprinted soon - by August, I hope) and for that you would pay $45. I would send the 13 in stock and the other two when reprinted. Also, you can decide to receive the final issue and if so, cost would be $10. They will all be in manila envelopes since it will be big. That's about it. You can decide and let me know if you're still interested. My explanation for discontinuing it will be in the final issue. Basically, no longer the time for it. Sincerely, Doug Holmes, www.dholmes.com. My reply: Gerard, many, many thanks for copying me although I'm very annoyed with Doug's handling of this. I've been wondering what happened to my subscription (like you were considering, I purchased all old issues and paid for future ones). Many of our BB members took out subscriptions on my say so. His first few issues had great promise. I'll be including his comments in the next newsletter with an apology of my own. Looks like he ran out of steam! Another instance where someone took too big a genealogical (geographical) bite. This is the reason why I try to keep the BB confined to the Burgenland and immediate border villages. Microcosym genealogy is what's needed - not Macrocosym - there are enough genealogical organizations (and books) out there that feel "German Genealogy" covers everything from St. Louis to Russia and from Denmark to Romania! An abysmal ignorance of history and geography coupled with monolithic detail. END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD