BB News No. 42 dtd 31 Aug 1998

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 42 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) August 31, 1998 (all rights reserved) This first section of the 3 section newsletter features - the village of Stinatz (the Father Leser series), - Parts III & IV of Poppendorf Emigration, and - Much Comment on Burgenland Croatian Movement. 35) Stinatz (extracted and translated by Albert Schuch) North of Stegersbach and Ollersdorf. Founded by Croatian immigrants (16th century). In 1910 a Croatian nun from a Dalmatian island in the Adriatic Sea came to Stinatz to collect donations. She spoke the same dialect as the Croatians from Stinatz. This led Father Peter JANDRISEVITS to the conclusion that the ancestors of the Stinatz -Croatians came from the Adriatic shores or from a Dalmatian island. Radoslav LOPASCHITSCH in his book "Oko Kupi i Kor ne" (The area of Kupa and Korane), published in Zagreb 1895, refers to a book by CSAPLOVITS and states that the village name Stinatz is derived from the town of Stenitschnjak in Croatia. This town had 3800 inhabitants in 1577, and was conquered by the Turks in 1580. Some of the Croatian refugees came to the Vas Megye of Hungary via Karlovac in 1582. Oral says that Stinatz has been founded by 12 families. From certain customs in Stinatz Father JANDRISEVITS concluded that some of the first settlers were Greek Catholics. A document of 1689 is signed by the Richter Marko SZTIPSICS and by theGeschworenen Jure TOMSICS, Jure GRANDICS, Peter PIPLICS, Matthe JELESICS, Jure RESETARICS and Miho SZTIPSICS. The 1693-Urbarium names the following families: TIMSICS (9), SINKOVICS (6), GRANDICS (4), FABSICS (4), KIRINCSIC (3), PIPLICS (3), FUMICS (2) und KRALICS, ROTHGICS, JELENCSICS, KERZNAR, BLASKOVICS, UNGER, PAUR, HANZ, RADOSICS, VUKICSOVICS, GERBOVICS, RESETARICS, BERKOVICS, TOMSICS. The 1748-50 - Urbar for "Stynak" names: SZIFFKOVICS (9), KERENCSICS (10), KIRINCSICS (6), FABSICS (5), RESEDERICS (5), TOMSICS (14), GRANDICS (4), STIPSICS (3), PIPLICS (3), JELLENCSICS (2), BLASKOVICS (2), HORVATICS, BECKOVICS, STOITSICS, WIFINGER and TSCHAR. Richter was Miko TOMSICS, Geschworene: Jure SZIFFKOVICS, Peter STIPSICS, Jure JELLENCSICS, Paul STIPSICS, Pave STIOTSITS [note: probably should read STOISITS or STOITSITS], Paul STIPSICS, Wolf POLASKOVICS. The 1750-Urbar also says that Count KOTTULINSKY from Neudau (Styria) and his subjects as well as inhabitants of Wörth own land in Stinatz. Notaries: Johann HOBEL (1847-56), Franz KLEPEISZ (ca. 1859/60), Anton WEISZ (1875-80), Franz ZAMADITS, Aloys KAKOSSY (1897-1925), Karl MLINER(1925-30); number of inhabitants: 1812: 634; 1842: 760; 1870: 940; 1930: 1086 - all Catholics. Fires: 1884: 27 houses burned down; 1909: 27 houses and the vicarage. Belonged to Stegersbach parish until 1790. Priests: Sebastian ROBICZA OFM (1790-1810), Denat PRÖSSL OFM (1810), Georg PINTER OFM (1811), Georg TEKLICS (1811-14), Julius LEBENICS OFM (1814), Georg Simon PALATIN (1814-21), Lukas KORBATSITS (1821-28), Johann FABIANKOVITS (1828-49), Franz AUSZERNIK (1849-50), Georg MAJRICS (1850-56), Karl ARENDAS(1856-57), Sidonius BARILITS (1858-64), Josef STERR (1864-68), Vinzenz KORNFEIND (1868-75), Ivan KAUSZ (1876-78), Mark KORVATSITS (1878-80), Rudolf KERMANN (1880-90), Josef KOLLAR (1890-92), Stefan BEERY (1892-1906), Peter JANDRISEVITS (1906-24), Lukas DRIMEL (1924-30). Teachers: Andreas BLASKOVITS (1809-21), Michael BLASKOVITS, Johann BLASKOVITS (1847-63), Franz ILLETITS (1863-76), Michael DERKITS (1876-1904), Rudolf FUMITS (1904-08), Johann SABAR (1908), Franz SZICHERLE (1908-23), Josef LIEBEZEIT (1923-30). Second and third teachers in 1930: Helene LIEBEZEIT, Rosina BIRICZ. (source: V+H Nr. 9-10/1958) REASONS FOR MIGRATION (continued) - Parts III & IV of a IV-Part Series - Adolf Königshofer on Emigration from Poppendorf (Patafalva) - from Fritz Konigshofer. This third installment is an article about what Michael Spitzer reported on his adventures in the West. It is an original and unique story. PART III DVF of October 11, 1902 (by Adolf Königshofer) The well liked and respected inhabitant of Patafalva, Michael Spitzer, has returned from America, where he had spent quite some time. He might be the only one in the Lafnitz valley who advanced farthest to the west. He worked in the state of Dakota, in Montana, in the immediate neighborhood of Indian settlements which are supervised by the federal authorities. Spitzer frequently had the opportunity to stay among these settlements.The Indians are under the command of chiefs. All movements of the Indians are closely watched. Especially when the Indians stage their war-dances, these are most of the times signals for a planned raid. In this case, the farmers immediately inform the military which is stationed nearby, which then restores peace and quiet. The Indians receive from the state clothing, blankets, mules, have an area of land assigned to them which they must not leave, and have their own hunting grounds. In turn, it is also strictly forbidden for the white palefaces to enter without good reason the areas reserved for the Indians. The state assumes no responsibility for the consequences of such trespassing. The Indians are a very hardy lot, and can easily stand the greatest frost in their flimsy clothes. The women perform the work, while the men attend to the hunt. Young Indian misses do not receive the same kind of courtship as is customary with us. Instead, a mule, donkey or goat gets negotiated with the father. Some whites also take Indian women as their married wives and live among the Indians. These whites receive some benefit from the state, such as a loghouse, piece of land, etc. The example of our compatriot Spitzer shows how the need for a livelihood can drive someone to very far lands, from where the same, never afraid of any danger, now has returned to his wife fresh, happy and healthy and with a tidy sum of money. PART IV Emigration from Poppendorf (4th and final installment) From: (Fritz Konigshofer) The following installment, the last for this time, is a collection of short stories on emigration from the Lafnitz Valley. The stories give a good taste of how emigration was at times attractive and at other times deplored, and how good and bad stories about life in America followed each other. The article of March 2, 1907 also gives a flavor about how the theme might have been discussed at the tables in the inns of the villages. Emigration from the Lafnitz Valley, Short stories from Der Volksfreund, by Adolf Königshofer DVF of June 15, 1901 Last week, once again 11 people left Patafalva for the promised land America. The lack of work and earnings; the knowledge to have no occupation despite a healthy, strong body, and additionally the suffering of misery; the fear of not being able to keep up with the yearly increasing expenses and of losing one's property; simply stated: the worry about the daily bread for today and in the future ... these are the reasons which force the walking-stick into the healthy hands of young and strong people. This was the fifth exodus by good, hard workers from their home soil within the last 12 months. They departed from their dear families and homeland with their hearts bleeding. Indeed, the stomach, on which the whole world turns, knows no mercy; relentlessly, it separates the young, caring husband from wife and child, splits the bride from the groom, tears apart a loving couple, all in the hope to find far away over the ocean, the one thing which one seeks here at home only in vain: durable, well-paid work! DVF of March 22, 1902 Some days ago, once again 14 vigorous, strong men and women left home from Patafalva (Poppendorf) for America; nearly no day goes by without one or two carriages full of emigrants from the upper regions passing through our village, with destination America. Most are driven from their homes by economic misery. DVF of October 17, 1903 Depopulated Villages. This message was received from Patafalva (Poppendorf): From our village, which altogether does not count more than 700 souls, half have emigrated to America. Only the women, old men, and the children remain behind. The emigrants are sending their relatives a total of 60 to 80,000 crowns per year. The situation in the whole Lafnitz valley is just about the same as here. Within a short time, the valley will be completely depopulated. DVF of November 21, 1903 Returned. Some days ago the following returned from America to Patafalva: Schwarz Johann and wife, J. Fandl, J. Lorenz, J. Wirth, and Mrs. Grotzy. When looking at them, one can see that they were in America, and that they were not able to pick up the Dollars there, as one would think, like stones from the road. As they tell, there are countless people there who have gone without work for months, would like to return home, but have no money. Shortly, some more will return. DVF of February 4, 1905 Once again, several people of Patafalva have left for America. Zach Franz went already for the fourth time. He has a good farm here at home, a pretty wife and hard working children; in spite of all this, he packed his knapsack. Whoever once knows life over there from its good and bad sides, does not wish to stay here at home. Every Saturday you have your Dollars in the bag, there's no little judge within earshot drumming up tax payments; there's good beer instead of water, meat on the table instead of beans, and then, on top of all that, you are free like a bird, answerable to nobody about where have you been in this or that night. However, this American freedom has not brought happiness to every family. Four years ago, two men left for America with the firm intention to support as well as they could the ones who stayed behind. Afterwards various chatter got relayed to us over the ocean. The wifes got nervous, made themselves ready and followed their husbands; however, when they arrived over there, both men had evaporated in the freedom-filled air together with their lovers. The house of one of them [in Poppendorf] had to be sold due to various debts, and since the mother [still legal wife] also did not care, the village got saddled with caring for the five children. The mothers do like the fathers did, and the family happiness finds its end. DVF of October 6, 1906 Emigration. Karl Mayer and Josef Feiler have once again emigrated from Patafalva to America; the former for the third time, and the latter for the second time. [Editorial comment: The earlier return of Josef Feiler and family to Patafalva from their first, long stay in America was subject of a separate article in DVF of April 28, 1906 which will be translated separately. That article made clear that the family was happy to be back, and had returned with good savings. In spite of this, Josef Feiler emigrated again after only half a year at home!] DVF of March 2, 1907 Emigrated. On February 18, Zzilia Oberecker, Maria Host, Zzilia Schwarz, and Theresia Koller left Patafalva to emigrate to America. Nice prospects [for the people left behind]! If anyone would like to marry in the future, he can travel to America for a bride. This would be a nice wedding journey. But in any case, the emigrations cannot last much longer; listen as a farmer recently spoke in the inn: "Meshurs, as you all probably have heard yourself, nobody is allowed to immigrate anymore [into America]. The President there, or is it an emperor or even a count, or whatever he is, I just don't know right now, haswritten to the emperor in Vienna that the latter should prevent his people from leaving home; yes, this is really true; whatever little space they have left over there, they [the Americans] now need for themselves, this you can believe me, and if nobody would listen [to the American President], I was told that there would be a war, just like the war between Japan and Russia. And, by God, that could easily happen. I might be too old for it, but you, the young ones, could easily get the smell of American gunpowder into your noses. And let me tell you, the way the Americans shoot, I am not sure whether their bullets could not reach us even here. On my soul, our lives might not even be safe over here. Who knows, one of their hellish bullets might hit my roof tomorrow morning. Don't laugh, these are matters not to be taken easily, because the Americans are 500 years ahead of us. The things we consider new, are things which the Americans have already forgotten. Innkeeper [Wirt], please give me another 1/2 liter of wine, because my wife is fortunately busy at the KernMühle [the flour mill]. DVF of April 20, 1907 The entire family Spitzer of Patafalva has emigrated to America. House and land have been rented out ("in Pacht gegeben"). DVF of December 12, 1908 Emigration gets more expensive. The German shipping lines have increased the price of lower deck (steerage) for the passage from Bremen to America effective November 1. The new price from Bremen to New York is 210 Crowns.(There are four more articles with quite interesting stories of individual emigrant experiences. I hope to translate them some time in the future.) BURGENLAND CROATIAN MOVEMENT (Patrick Zimanyi and Gerry Berghold) Ed. New member Patrick Zimanyi started a thread about Croatian migration to the Burgenland. He writes: Vasalja is several villages south of Szentpeterfa (follow the Pinka river south and you go through villages of Mochendorf, Austria, Pinkamindszent, Hungary and finally Vasalja, Hungary... there are many Zimits (family name) in Vasalja... my father tells me that about 400 families came from Croatia with a priest and settled in the area... would lead to the fact that ultimately they spread out and ended up in various other villages such as Szentpeterfa. My reply follows: I have a Germanic-Hungarian connection to Pinka Mindszent (my g-grandfather Alois Sorger from Rosenburg-Güssing, married Julianna Tarafas, born in Pinka Mindszent. Her line extends to the 1600's with some branching to Vasalja where several Slavic names appear. I checked cemetery entries there in 1993. I've also scanned Vasalja LDS microfilm. It covers the period 1789-1895. The numbers are 0602066-67. You are correct in assuming village movement. While there was and still is a desire to retain Croatian ethnic culture and language, there was inter-marriage, particularly in later years, hence my g-grandfather's journey. The most important (perhaps the first major) movement of Croatians to the Burgenland area was in 1525 when Franz Batthyány (Ban of Croatia) was given the Herrschaft of Güssing (virtually all of the present southern Burgenland). He made Güssing Castle his "Besitz" and moved there with many followers. His other holdings involved "eine Kurie in Enying [a court in Enying village in Fejér Co, Hungary, SE of the eastern end of Lake Balaton], das Schloss in Torony [the castle in Torony (a village in Hungary just west of Szombathely)], Besitzenteile in Ugal und Szabas (Komitat Somogy) [owned lands in Ugal (likely now called Igal) and Szabás, both south of Lake Balaton in Somogy Co, Hungary], die Burge Gereben bei Varazdin [the castles Gereben? by Varaždin in Croatia], die Kastelle Kristaloc, Garnica, Mogor, und Ujudvar (in Kroatien) mit ihren Appertinenzien und Anteile in Szent Andras und Desnice" [the castles Kristaloc, Garnica, Mogor, and Újudvar (in Croatia) with their accessories and shares in Szent András and Desnice]. (Although I know a few, maybe some nice historical geographical expert will determine the present names of all these places). Franz survived the debacle at Mohacs in 1526 as did most of his followers. He was late bringing 3000 knights (Reitern) and 1000 foot soldiers (Fuszsoldaten) to the battle, retreated and lived to fight again. In the Herrschft of Güssing (16th Cent.), the following villages were founded by Croatians; St. Nikolaus, Krottendorf, Steingraben, Rehgraben, Eisenhüttl, Hasendorf, Punitz, Schallendorf, Tudersdorf, Sulz, Heugraben, Neuberg, Stinatz, Kroatisch Ehrensdorf, Steinfurt, Kroatisch Tschantschendorf, ...other villages in which they settled were Güttenbach, St. Kathrein, Harmisch, Edlitz, Kulm, Grossmürbisch, Kleinmürbisch and St. Michael. Reinersdorf and Stegersbach both had Croatian sub-villages (source pages 38-39 "Stadterhebung Güssing" 1973-Festschrift). With this surviving army, Franz was also responsible for holding southwestern Hungary for the Austrian crown, who acquired it by treaty following the Turkish occupation of Buda. Since the Batthyány also had a horde of Croat farmers, who were great irregular cavalry, supported by Austrian military strength and many strong castles in the region west of Lake Balaton, the Turks must have felt it wasn't worth the effort to expand further. They subsequently did overrun the region in the campaigns involving the two sieges of Vienna, but Güssing castle and some other strongpoints were never taken, laying as they did off of the main routes of Turkish advance. Many villages, however, were burned and destroyed both on advance and retreat. Frank Teklits may provide the full Croatian migration story when he finishes his translation: however, it would follow that there would have been other refugee movement as the Turks consolidated their holdings in Croatia. There was undoubtedly movement before 1525, probably starting with the first Turkish incursions into Dalmatia and Croatia. Peter Sugar in "Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804" gives a date of 1468. By 1526, the Balkans were Turkish vassal states and it was only after 300 years of occupation that they were finally driven from the region by the Austrians (1789). There were some Venetian holdings on the Dalmatian coast during this period and Dubrovnik was a free city. I believe we can confine Croat migration to the period between 1468 and perhaps as late as 1700, with a peak around 1525-50. The Batthyány group started one Croat village of which I am very familar. In 1545, Croatian "Fluchtlingen" (refugees) founded the church and community of St. Nikolaus (Szt. Miklos bei Güssing). In an Urkunde in the Batthyány archives (Kormend) appears "On the feast of the 'holy martyr Georg,' in the year 1545, several Slavs, Blasius Mysyak, Peter Horwath, Markus Rogosar, Jacob Dambsics, Nikolaus Doitsics, Stefan Toth, Simon Sostarics, Blasius Stansics, Martin Nagy, Peter Robik, Matthias Hirgwala, Matthias Kiss, Georg Paulikovics, Matthias Kehen, Matthias Balkovics, Johann Gerdasics, Georg Toth, Barnabas Toth, Johann Berksycs, Peter Medvics appeared before us (Franz Batthyány) and giving thanks for their victory (?) over the Turks apply for permission to build a community and a church, etc." These remained Croatian for many years, eventually being absorbed by the city and parish of Güssing. My grandmother Mühl (married Sorger) and her twin sister were baptized there in 1885, by which time the service was in German. The similarity of some founders' names to present ones in the area is obvious (source pages 38-39 "Stadterhebung Güssing" 1973-Festschrift). The founders of these communities must then have contacted their compatriots left in Croatia. The Balkans never were completely pacified by the Turks. The Montenegrins, for example, fought a guerilla war for 300 years in the mountains around Cetinje. Some refugee movement would have continued for a short period. Your group of 400 accompanied by a priest may have been an early or late one. It would be a major breakthrough if we could somehow verify the movement of this group. It's interesting that the Güssing source is silent with respect to Vasalja, which may not have belonged to the Güssing Herrschaft. St. Peterfa, for instance, belonged to the Erdody's (History of Vas County-1898). It is noted that, as the years went by, the Burgenland Croats lost all connections with their homeland. By the 1800s, those in Croatia were not even aware that there were Croat enclaves in the Burgenland region (page 157, "Borderland" by Burghardt). I mentioned this in a prior Burgenland Bunch newsletter. So again, the migration period narrows further to definitely exclude the 1800's and most likely much of the 1700's. While a great deal of good work is being done, the origins of those who migrated to today's Burgenland is still virtually unplowed ground. MORE COMMENTS CONCERNING BURGENLAND CROATIANS (from Yvonne Lockwood) Dear BBunch/Hrvate! I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth to this discussion about migration and borders, now that the discussion is up in "my territory" of central Burgenland. The 1921 border between Sopron and Rechnitz and Kiseg (Kőszeg) split the Croats; villages are on both sides of the border; families were separated. But until the post-WW-II period, people didn't hesitate to move back and forth. There is a lively body of personal-experience legends, for example, about smuggling. It was the post-WW-II border that really made contact more difficult until Austrians (as neighbors) were given more liberties at the border crossings and then finally they were allowed to cross without visas some years ago. Hungarian Croats did not travel into Austria however, because they did not have as much freedom, Austria was too expensive, and only a few had cars. Nevertheless, the Croats in Hungary are a different subculture of Croats from those in Austria (just as the Croats of northern, central, and southern Burgenland are different from each other). Although historically they were much more alike, in this century their political, cultural, and economic experiences have been very different from those Croats of Austria. One strong influence all Burgenland Croats have felt in the last 20 years has been from Croatia; there has been considerable contact, especially culturally between them. The Croats of Croatia have been studying "their cousins," teaching them Croatian dances and giving them Croatian costumes (even though neither of these represent the areas their ancestors came from) so that a public culture for presentation (dance, music) has developed which shows cultural hybridization. Unfortunately some of this influence has drifted over to perceptions of language where local languages are denigrated by some intellectuals who regard the pure and real language to exist in Croatia. Fortunately, however, there has been since the mid-1970s -- among the other Croats of Austria -- a strong resurgence of ethnic pride and finally in the language as well. For those of you who are not familiar with the Croatian language, the waves of people from what is today Croatia came north before major language shifts occurred, so that the Burgenland Croats speak beautiful (musical) dialects that no longer exist in Croatia proper. It is true that there are many German words in the everyday vocabulary, a common occurence for all languages of minorities. Also many of the intelligentsia at the time of the 1920s -- priests especially (they had considerable power) and schoolteachers -- were very pro-Magyar. A large number of villagers too at the time of the Anschluss came down on the side of Hungary and not Austria (whether this was the influence of the priests, I don't know). They spoke Hungarian (as well as Croatian), their food, music, and dance was (and still is) heavily influenced by Hungarian culture. Although many villagers/peasants/farmers spoke some German -- often hiring themselves out to German-speaking farmers and families so they could learn German as they earned some money -- they regarded it as language for animals (apologies to all you German-speakers out there). Many of the oldest generation still prefer to speak Hungarian. It is that "best time of their life" their youth. Yvonne Lockwood, Ph.D., Curator of Folklife and Extension Specialist, Michigan Traditional Arts Program, Michigan State University Museum. CROATS OF BURGENLAND / WESTERN HUNGARY (by Fritz Königshofer) An almost purely Croatian village was Schachendorf south of Rechnitz (and long belonging to the Rechnitz r-c parish). The Hungarian name of the village was Csajta. Rechnitz itself had a strong Croat fraction in its population which, according to the historical articles written by the local teacher Karl Klein, was over many years served by their own Croatian teachers and priest (and there were at times also Protestant Croatian pastors there). Althodis and Markt Neuhodis had a good proportion of Croats as well. Miedlingsdorf, north of Grosspetersdorf, apparently was also a mostly Croat village. Its Hungarian name was Merem. I do not know whether this was still Batthyány territory. One of my ancestors, Alois Fürsatz, was teacher at Miedlingsdorf from about 1880 to 1890, and we assume from that fact that he must have spoken the Croat language (or else would have been ineffective). He transferred from there to Windisch-Minihof south of Jennersdorf, although from the name of that village I would have rather guessed it was mostly German/Slovenian rather than Croat. The r-c parish priest of Kittsee is a descendent of Croats, and I know from him that he has accumulated a file on (past) Croat teachers in Western Hungary, today's Burgenland, i.e., their names, assignments, etc. He also gave me the clue on Miedlingsdorf. His name is Mag. [Magister] Johann Karall, at Hauptplatz 1, A-2421 Kittsee, Tel. +43-2143-2321. If he has an e-mail address, I do not know it. I got in touch with Mag. Karall thanks to the pastor of Stinatz, to whom I had sent an enquiry on some family history matters. Back to Karl Klein of Rechnitz. In his historical articles on Rechnitz (for which my source is a booklet titled "Beitrge zur Geschichte der Grossgemeinde Rechnitz") he speaks about two waves of Croat immigration. Accordingly, the first wave occurred early in the reign of Franz Batthyány in the 1530s, after the devastating campaign and raids by the Turks which ended in 1532. Franz B. needed to fill up the depopulated villages. The villages around Rechnitz that received Croats (besides Rechnitz, where Croats settled in the so-called Hungarian market) are mentioned as Schandorf, Schachendorf, Nahring, Dürnbach and Hodis. It is stated that this first wave of Croat colonists called in by Franz B. came from the area of Kopreinitz (sorry, I do not know where this is [it is current day Koprivnica, Croatia]). It is easily imaginable that this very much encouraged wave of immigration included large groups from same original villages with their own priests and teachers. The second wave of Croat colonisation mentioned by Klein happened under Adam Batthyány before or around 1650. The purpose, apparently, was to fortify the border area, and this wave of colonisation, therefore it seems, involved a lot of clearing of new land. These Croats were mostly soldiers and received special rights. It is not clear to me from Klein's related article whether they were brought in from Croatia, or merely enticed to move from their current villages in Southwestern Hungary to newly cleared strategic spots. These soldier-like Croat settlers of the 17th century were also called Vlahi (Wallachen, Walachians), though this term really puzzles me since I would have thought it describes people from Romania, i.e., people speaking a Romanic language. Another point worth noting is that, in list of villages around Rechnitz receiving Croat immigrants in the first large wave as mentioned by Klein (see above), Nahring remained in Hungary after 1921 (Hungarian name Narda). When I recently looked through the r-c matrikels of Koszegszerdahely, which include Bozsok (Poschendorf) and, I believe, Velem, the large element of Croats in these records was striking. These villages would also qualify as near Rechnitz, but the borders of 1921 might have had a dampening effect on the rightful extent of the areas that should be considered in any study of the typical questions which interest us in the Bbunch. In this sense, I am glad that you were bringing in one of the villages that still is in today's Western Hungary but shares much of the history of the Burgenland! (BB Newsletter 42 is continued as 42A, more Croatian articles appear in 42B)

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 42A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) August 31, 1998 (all rights reserved) This second section of the 3 section newsletter features an interesting Trip Report. Ed. Comment: the following recent trip report covers the northern Burgenland as well as parts of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Hungary. The journey involved most forms of transportation. It's a great report. One observation is that genealogical research is improved by spending a few nights in the village of your ancestors. Most people on their first trips to ancestral homes are torn between "seeing" Europe and persuing family history. My first three week visit of Austria was followed by a five week one which included fourteen days in the villages of my ancestors. It was the second trip, of course, which yielded family links and data. TRIP REPORT (from Barabara Rabbe) The goal of this trip was to take Mom on a sightseeing, genealogical tour of the homelands of her parents and Dad's parents. They are as follows: Mom's mother - Trinec (Tryzniec) in Czech Republic on the Polish border. Mom's father - Somewhere in Bohemia - he was orphaned at 14 and raised by an aunt. He came to Trinec looking for work as a young man. Dad's mother - Wallern, Austria; her mother - Tadten, Austria; her father's grandfather - Andau, Austria. Dad's father born in Pecs (Funfkirchen), Hungary; his father born in Wurzburg, Germany, from where he escaped during a political uprising. I looked for a loose tour that would take us to the major cities near these locations, but that would give us lots of freedom to take side trips on our own. General Tours had a 9 day Gems of Eastern Europe package: 3 days in Prague; 3 days in Vienna; 3 days in Budapest. They met us at the airport, transferred us to a hotel, provided orientation and half day city tour and put us on the train to the next city. I had made reservations from home for rental cars and train tickets for our side trips to the towns and villages of our ancestry. Getting to Germany was the next hurdle. It seemed a long way to drive and we did not want to have to handle luggage on the train. I found a KD River Cruise of the Danube that started in Budapest and ended in Regensburg, Germany. From there we arranged for a rental car to drive to Wurzburg, spend the night and then drive on to Frankfurt for one night as we had an early flight for home the next morning. In all a 20 day trip. Czechoslovakia We departed July 16 from Seattle-Tacoma Airport for Copenhagen on SAS - then got a connecting flight to Prague. Upon arriving, we were met by our General Tours rep who drove us to our Hotel (Moevenpick). I took note of the lovely, large old stucco homes, some in disrepair, as we traveled to our hotel. One thing I noticed were lots of fruit trees laden with fruits of many types and entire backyards turned into vegetable gardens with flowers included. It was obvious which buildings the Communists built - big, plain cement apartment buildings - very stark and unkempt and not at all as fancy as were the older buildings. There was graphite (soot) everywhere throughout Prague, almost as bad as Los Angeles. We took a walk to find the nearest tram station from our hotel and stumbled upon the most unique old cemetery. This was part of an adjoining Catholic Church that dated from the 1600's, as near as I could figure out as the description was in Czech. The gated cemetery was like a park below street level, with huge old trees and HUGE tombstones and monuments. The tombstones that were new enough to read dated from the mid- 1800's and had German names. Some had as many as five people buried under each monument. The next day, we took a bus tour of Prague with the 6 other people from our tour group. I was totally in awe of the unique, intriguing architecture in Prague. Everywhere you go and everywhere you look are beautiful old buildings, ochre in color, red tiled roofs. Most have some unusual ornamentation; they are all charming. There are castles on every hill and huge churches nestled right in with other buildings, always with onion domes and spires atop. We discovered a Mozart Concert just half a block from our hotel. Everyone was served champagne before the concert in the outdoor courtyard before entering for the operetta (all in German). We enjoyed the view from the glass-enclosed tram that took us from our hotel to the restaurant on the hilltop above. There were so many pleasant surprises and discoveries in Prague - a very undiscovered city. We had arranged with our hotel for a taxi to the train station for our trip to Trinec and the porter made sure we had the same cab driver to pick us up so we would know exactly where to meet him. That meant an 8:00 A.M. trip to the station and an 11:00 P.M. return to hotel for our cab driver. The Prague train station was seedy, no English and you are really on you own to figure out where to catch the train. It is imperative that you know the train number not just the destination. There was never anyone to check tickets when boarding but if you look hard you can usually find a sign attached to one of the cars with the train number on it. For this 5 hour trip across the Czech Republic, I had prepared mom and myself for much environmental devastation. Other than the 3 nuclear power plants right in the cities, we saw nothing but beautiful countryside all the way. The farms are very large and red-tile-roofed houses are in little clusters in villages, often with a church at the center. Our guide later told us that, since the end of communism, a lot of the villages have chosen to remain in the agricultural collectives. Everything looked green and thriving as we traveled through the gently rolling hills of Moravia. Along the tracks here and there are little areas with gardens and huts and our guide later told us that these were used by the apartment dwellers from the larger cities, who take the train out after work to tend their gardens. Everywhere were fruit trees. Being Sunday, we saw no one doing any work in the fields but men were tending the gardens in the villages. We were told the women would be inside cooking. Lots of families taking the train or biking together. You can take your bike and your dog on the train. I don't know if you can tell the prosperity of an area by the type of hay bales but we noticed this area didn't bale their hay - just a large stack at the end of a field. No sign of irrigation either but all quite green. Tricky knowing where to get off the train; you can't always see the sign for the town from your car and you are on your own to figure how to open the door and get off. I learned that you can tell the town by the time - trains are very punctual. We hired a taxi to go from Cesky Tesin (Teschen) to Trinec, just over the river and along it for a mile or so. We communicated with the cab driver by writing Czech phrases from my phrasebook on notecards. We had intended to see the Culture Museum, Trinec Museum and find my grandmother's house, #15. The Culture Museum was out of business, the Trinec Museum was closed on Sunday (Czech museums are usually open Sundays and closed Mondays) and the location of house #15 was now a restaurant and taxi company with apartments above. The building seemed post WW-II. There was a new, very large steel production plant right along the river on way to Trinec and communist-style housing units in the town. It would have been nice to peruse the cemeteries and churches in Trinec and to cross over into Poland to see Ciesyn (the other half of Cesky Tesin, split apart in 1920) but with just 2 hours at our destination I didn't want to cross the border and taking a taxi was not easy when no one spoke English. We spent the rest of our time walking around the Plaza and shops in Cesky Tesin. I had photos of the old buildings but none matched. I had read that the old Plaza ended up in the Polish part. Most everything was closed except ice cream shops, etc. The people were all in their Sunday best and seemed relaxed, strolling the streets, usually in family units incorporating the old and the young. They seemed a very reserved people, not much interaction outside family units but very good with each other. This would be a great place to go exploring on a bike, pretty flat along the river and in towns, at least on the Czech side of the Polish border - It would be helpful to be able to say a few phrases in Czech because NO ENGLISH SPOKEN HERE! The train trip back to Prague was uneventful save for 3 burly uniformed patrolmen that kept parading together through the cars reprimanding folks for having their feet up on facing seats. I never figured out what their function was - I did not see any of these on any other train and we were not near a border so they couldn't be border guards. Martin, our cab driver, was there to meet us when we got off the train in Prague - he got a big tip! We traveled with our tour group to Vienna by train. Unlike our trip across the Czech Republic the day before, this trip was very hot and these trains aren't air- conditioned. Countryside is also beautiful here and had more evergreens as we traveled through some low mountains. The villages and church are tucked away every few miles and the farms are still huge, as we noticed on our trip the day before. The train slows while border guards from the Czech Republic and then Austria pass through to check passports. In addition, customs agents came through to eye each compartment, including luggage racks above seats. As we enter Austria we see irrigation, roofs no longer all red, streets laid out more our style rather than in clusters, a golf course, hay bales and graphite not so noticeable. Austria We arrived in Vienna and were met by the tour guide. My impression was that it was a very crowded, modern city with some very large, beautiful white buildings with gold decorations. The buildings along the Danube are mostly post WW-II, as this area was heavily damaged during the war. The one exception is the Jubilee Church (where the Hapsburgs were crowned). This is a beautiful, huge church right near the river. Interesting note - the shops across the street from the church don't take American Express Travelers Checks. We stayed at the Hotel Biedermeyer, which was charming but not air- conditioned, and Vienna was experiencing a heat wave during our stay there. We went on a city tour with our guide - saw the Schonnbrun Palace, which was lovely, and the Vienna Woods of deciduous trees. Unlike the gracious people in the Czech Republic, I found Vienna to be very crowded, traffic a mess and people not helpful or friendly (with few exceptions) and most don't speak English, young or old. Burgenland - Wallern, Tadten & Andau Our car rental for our trip to the Burgenland turned out to be a luxury Mercedes (not what we ordered) but most importantly it was air-conditioned. I hadn't intended to take the autobahn but that was the only direction our less than helpful Budget Rental Car agent gave us for exiting the city. We ended up completely off track but saw some beautiful country as we traveled through the foothills of the Alps on a course for Graz. We found a helpful delivery man at a rest stop along the autobahn who spoke some English. We went back to Eisenstadt and then around the north end of the Neusiedler See as I didn't want to waste time going the southern route through Hungary. Beautiful area on western slopes of the See with vineyards everywhere. We arrived at Wallern first. A very unique town - flat area with farms outside of town in long narrow rectangles. Men all have tractors that they use to transport themselves to their fields. They park them in big stucco sheds that open to alleys behind their houses. Most of the houses are walled and connected making a solid wall facing the street and are right on it. They each have a front door and a big fancy garage door that opens from the street into their houses and courtyard. Their backyards are walled in also. The crops were grapes, tomatoes in plastic greenhouses, hay, sunflowers and some kind of greens. Every long rectangle was a different crop so I don't know how many each farmer tends or owns. Our guide said most construction jobs in Vienna are done by Burgenlanders as there isn't enough farmland to support them all. Some new houses are being built, same style as old, brick blocks covered with stucco but not walled in. We stopped by a lovely Gasthaus on the edge of town. No English spoken there. I saw "salat" and asked if "kalt" and the young waiter nodded. It was a beautiful gourmet lunch, a combination of chopped vegetables with white cheese cubes and herbs. The place was filled with beautifully made unusual crafts. I asked the waiter about our house numbers 118 and 119 and he turned to the older patrons and then they explained that Wallern's house numbers only go to 90s. He did draw me a map to the mayor's house and said he had all house numbers back to 1700s. We drove there but there was no sign and I find it difficult to go up to someone's house and knock when I don't speak their language very well. The cemetery adjoining the church was quite unique. The Austrians recycle their graves about every 20-30 years so the oldest graves were from the 1960s. They all had large, shiny new tombstones for each family. The vertical portion at the back had the family name and some had pictures next to the individual's names and the horizontal portion was about a foot high and ran the length of the grave and was used as a planter. All were meticulously planted and cared for. I saw all the family names that I see when I read the church records. This was a moving moment. The main tower in town has an occupied stork nest on top - huge thing and intricately woven with reeds. It looks like a thriving area, people of all ages and lots of bike riding around town and some families riding along paved road between fields and highway. Great place for biking, very flat. We saw lots of bikes in racks on way back to Vienna, perhaps this is where they bike for the day. Every so often along the highway, as we traveled from village to village, we noticed a religious monument at the end of the row of crops. Tadten was our next village and it was nearby. After driving around the town and observing that it was much like Wallern, we went to the Zwickl Gasthaus and had a beer. The couple who ran it spoke no English but were very interested in our family tree and in helping us find our house numbers. They followed up our Zwickl line and conveyed that it wasn't theirs and then they wanted to know how long we were staying so they could help us. We said we were going back to Vienna that night so there wasn't much they could do but they did enlist the help of older folks to no avail. They had a crucifix on the wall of the Gasthaus, which was really a tavern. The men began filling the tavern as they brought their tractors back to town but I didn't notice any women patrons. Tadten also had a stork nest atop a building and this one had 3 storks. We traveled just a short distance before we came to Andau - same type of town. We headed out of town the wrong way and right away there was a lookout tower with armed border guards. Ahead was the usual customs office that you'd expect at a border crossing. We did a u-turn and headed back. Our Vienna guide said these were the Austrian border guards protecting Austria from would-be illegal immigrants. I was surprised that Andau was so close to the border. When we write to villages in the Burgenland and get no reply it could be because they don't speak English or because postage in Austria is very expensive - over $1.00 to mail a postcard. The people seem very genuine and eager to help and I wished that I'd been able to stay a few days and spoke better German. I'll work on that for next time. Hungary - Budapest & Pecs The train from Vienna to Budapest was very hot, the countryside looked a lot like the Burgenland and the border crossing was serious business. The train came to a complete stop for about 10 minutes. I was asked for my passport 3 times by 3 separate people. Inside Hungary, as we approached Budapest, I noticed that the Hungarian roofs are very unusual. Generally black with pronounced ridge work and some have a roof on top of a roof and all are rather steep. We were met at the station by our very gracious guide and taken to the Hotel Intercontinental. American hotel right on the Danube and most importantly it was air-conditioned. Budapest seemed quite charming, full of graphite, however. Some larger than life churches, buildings and monuments on the river and hillsides above. They are all lit up at night, as is the chain bridge, and it's all quite spectacular. Mom preferred to stay near the hotel so I went on the train alone to Pecs (a three-hour trip south). As I had done in Prague, I arranged for a cab to meet me at the train station upon my return. The train trip again was miserable and, unlike any of our other trains, this one was packed with people standing. A Hungarian woman and her son were in the seats I'd reserved but since I had a seat I didn't make it an issue and I think she was saying that someone else had taken her seat. I didn't find anyone who spoke any English on the train or at my destination. Pecs, on the other hand, was enchanting. I wrote phrases from my Hungarian phrase book to communicate with the cab driver and everyone was very helpful. Some people knew a little German and I communicated a little in German. This was a medieval town with beautiful churches and a Turkish Mosque that was made over into a Catholic Church. There were narrow streets running every which way on the side of a gently sloping hill. I bought an English book about the city and the surroundings. I took lots of pictures, as I was captivated by the city's charm; I had no idea it would be such a delightful place. I walked back down the hill and, once on the flat, passed through rows of Communist-style housing complexes before reaching the train station. I just about missed my train - the only one to Budapest that day - because it said Krakow on the side. As time for my train approached, I walked close to see Budapest in tiny writing. Again, the time was a good indicator for the right train. En-route, the conductor studied my ticket for the longest time - even sat down in the seat next to me to read it more carefully - I'm thinking, am I on the wrong train? Finally, she returned my ticket and gave me a look like OK. Trip back to Budapest - train practically empty - where did all those people go? Religious monuments in fields here like in Burgenland but graveyards more like ones at home. The environment of southern Hungary looks healthy - storks and birds everywhere. I saw 2 teams of horses and wagons collecting hay but most farmers had tractors. My cab driver met me at the train as I disembarked. Went to mass next morning at St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest. Huge church, hard to find entrance. Mass and sermon in Hungarian but service same as in America including greeting and women without hats. Beautiful marble altars and huge, high painted ceilings. Doors are even grandiose - can't reach doorknob - makes you feel very insignificant. Our General Tours guide transferred us to our KD river cruise and we spent 7 days cruising up the Danube to Regensburg. This would be backtracking the way my great grandfather must have come as he escaped from Wurzburg to Pecs, Hungary; most likely down the Danube River. Going through Austria was especially beautiful and lots of people were biking the paths on either side of the river. I was impressed by how much of the riverbank is unspoiled and open to the public to swim or fish, very little development along the river through Hungary and Austria. We stopped and walked around Bratislava, Slovakia. A lovely city, formerly Hungarian capital. A cultural center with museums and a university. You go through numerous locks as you travel from Budapest to Regensburg - about 14 in all. Toured the abbey at Melk - Beautiful setting, interesting abbey, church breathtaking. The side altars contained glass coffins displaying skeletons dressed in fancy clothes and posed. The abbey is Benedictine and dates back 1,000 years. Germany - Wurzburg & Frankfurt Regensburg, Germany, was our point of disembarkation and we took a cab from the boat to the Avis Rental Office. This agent was more helpful about how to get out of town. We traveled part way on the Romantic Road and part way by autobahn as we headed for Wurzburg. Lovely trip, beautiful lush, green countryside. At Nordlingen, the sign for Romantic Road had an X through it with no alternate route or detour so we stopped to find out how to get to autobahn. Again, no English. We understood directions, however and found our way. I imagined Wurzburg to be a little medieval town but was surprised to see it was a thriving city perched on both sides of the Mainz River. It was easy to find English-speaking people here in restaurants, hotels, mini marts and gas stations but we still had a great deal of difficulty locating our Hotel Amberger. We circled many times trying to figure out which street to take. I walked to the Residenze of the Prince Bishop early Sunday morning and was captivated by the gardens in the back. Some of the most intriguing gardens I've seen: with fountains and statues and geometric flower beds; with paths all over; with archways of climbing vines and steps ascending to higher levels all covered with ivy. Dad said that his grandfather had been a gardener in Wurzburg at one of the palaces - this could have been it. I went armed with my new camera and a new roll of film but about 6 pictures into it the battery went dead. So, I sketched the garden. Mom and I attended mass that morning at the Stift Haug (I don't know what that means) but again an enormous church. This one was pre baroque - built between 1670 and 1691. It had a dome over the altar with pews on 3 sides. When the organ played your whole body felt the vibration. Mass was all in German. The priest was black, which I found unusual in this country where the only black people seemed to be American military personnel. There was a lot we left unseen in Wurzburg but we were concerned about making it to Frankfurt, so we left early. We had no difficulty getting from Wurzburg to the Frankfurt Airport via the autobahn but the car drop-off is in a basement garage with no directions for what to do after you park your car. Thankfully there were lots of other Americans lost there also and I found a man with an Avis sticker, didn't speak English but motioned to follow him. Difficult airport to navigate! We took a cab to our hotel Astron - out in the middle of an industrial area. Lots of Arab people living in Frankfurt - cab driver, hotel management and staff. Most people speak very good English in this area - American base nearby. Free shuttle from hotel to airport in the morning and found our way to correct gate. One-hour stopover in Copenhagen - our connecting flight was in a different section of airport and we arrived as they were boarding. Non-eventful flight home and arrived at the same time we left Copenhagen. Great trip - only hitches turned into adventures and lots of memories and new experiences. I'd love to return someday.

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 42B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) August 31, 1998 (all rights reserved) This third section of the 3 section newsletter features - a preliminary Report of the BB Minneapolis Picnic, - Health & Southern Burgenland Immigrants, - Austrian Schilling Exchange, - Hannersdorf War Memorial, - More Croatian Movement, - a Book About Zahling (Bezirk Jennersdorf), - BB World Expansion and - Church Records. BB PICNIC A SUCCESS (Gerry Berghold) Hap Anderson tells us that the picnic was an unqualified success with over forty people attending and that plans are already being considered for the next one. A full report will be coming later. Following is the address which I asked be delivered to those in attendance. GREETINGS TO THE MINNEAPOLIS BRANCH OF THE BURGENLAND BUNCH! While I'm very sorry I couldn't attend this picnic, the first Burgenland Bunch (BB) social function, I'd like to say how pleased I am that Hap and Susan have arranged it. The BB has grown from 8 email correspondents less than two years ago to over 170 today. Our membership has had very little turnover, we have lost maybe seven or eight members in our brief existence. I like to think that we must be doing something right and are filling a need. One question that keeps popping up is "why the name Burgenland Bunch?" The "Burgenland" is obvious, but "Bunch" in the connotation being used is poor English at best, particularly confusing to our Austrian members. They think in terms of a "bunch of flowers" - I won't go into that since it also implies weeds, thorns, flower children and the like! The best I can say is that the name had a harmonious ring to it and I'm partial to a western movie called "The Wild Bunch". A group of people, helping themselves, helping others. Our members are found all over the United States as well as in Canada, Austria, Hungary, Australia and the UK. Our Burgenland research breaks into definite patterns of north (the Seewinkel to Eisenstadt), middle (above Oberwart-below Eisenstadt) and south (below Oberwart). Our US researchers tend to follow the patterns of eastern US (descendants of south Burgenland emigrants) and central US (north and middle Burgenland emigrants) and western US (all Burgenland areas). Seems like the western descendants just continued our ancestors' migration - so far I know of none that have ended up in the Orient! If the migration continues, maybe all of our descendants will end up back in the Burgenland! From the above research patterns, it makes sense that the BB should break into regional groups which can hold regional functions. I hope it will become a trend. We now need an eastern and a western region. Without this sort of growth, the BB could become unwieldy. As we get bigger, I hope to see some more regional groups and leaders emerge. As the workload builds, you may have noticed that BB "staff" calls for help have been increasing. I began this organization because I remembered how difficult it was for me to get started in Burgenland genealogical research. It was a morass of German-Hungarian village names, little geographical and historical data in English, many archaic German, Hungarian and Latin language problems and virtually no English-speaking Austrian contacts. The LDS, the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft and a few visits to the homeland got me moving in the right direction. I was also fortunate in being raised in that Burgenland enclave - the Lehigh Valley (Allentown) of Pennsylvania. As a result, I was very successful with my own genealogy, which also caused me to want to share what I had found. Postings to America On Line and other server bulletin boards then found some kindred spirits. We all owe these BB pioneers a world of thanks. People like Hap Anderson who started and maintains the homepage and who now, with Susan Peters' help, founds the first BB region, and Albert Schuch, who solved the historical-geographical and language problems and who finds and translates all those old records. I view both of these men as valued personal friends although I have yet to meet them in person. There is also Anna Kresh, who has visited with my family and has taken on the internet URL load. Her continuous moral support has been most encouraging. Then there are people like Mike Spahitz, Joe Gilly, Frank Teklits, Dale Knebel, Gary Portsche, Bob Unger, Tom Glatz, Bob Schatz, Fritz Königshofer and many others who correspond frequently and make significant contributions to our growth. If I haven't mentioned your name, it's not because I'm not grateful for your efforts. I just don't have the space to append the names of most of our membership! Some of you add to our knowledge without even realizing it. Many times when a new member contacts me, I have to dig in my files for answers or query others - as a result, my knowledge of matters Burgenländische increases tremendously. When it does, everyone gets copied. Sometimes copies of your email come my way and another fact gets filed away for future reference. Other members just lurk in the background, reading our newsletters, scanning the homepage, sharing with relatives and friends, adding a name or note to their genealogy on occasion, and that's all right too. By their support they enourage the more active among us to bigger and better things. Our internet links continue to spread our message among other interested parties. We have recently linked with WorldGenWeb and, through them, with the magnificent Roots-L genealogical organization. The Burgenländische Gemeinschaft and other Austrian cultural organizations are aware of our work and speak well of it. In fact, I can safely say that we are probably now known throughout the Burgenland, having appeared on ORF (Austrian Radio) and having been mentioned in some Austrian publications. As more and more Austrians and Hungarians join the net, we can expect even more foreign exposure. We have some links with academia and some of our historical work is helping others who are involved in pure Burgenländische research. This is something in which we can take great pride, as it signifies the professional quality of our work. Our message in the US has been spread both through the internet, Heritage Quest Magazine and some evangelical work among ethnic-American clubs. I've asked Hap and Susan to send an article about this picnic along with a few pictures to the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft for inclusion in their newsletter. The BG again mentioned us in their most recent edition. I like to think that our courageous immigrant ancestors would have been as proud of our efforts as we are of theirs and that our links with the "Heimat" will continue to grow and pay dividends as we search for our origins. I'm sure the entire organization joins me in wishing you all the best and hoping you have a great picnic and a safe trip home. Perhaps someday I'll be able to meet many of you. After all, we're probably cousins to some degree! Please continue to spread the Burgenland Bunch word, alert other Burgenland descendants of our existence and share research. A toast to all of you "Grüss Gott und sehr danke for your interest in the Burgenland Bunch". IF YOU"RE A DESCENDANT OF A SOUTHERN BURGENLANDER YOU MAY LIVE LONGER! (received from Fritz Königshofer) Fritz writes: If you receive the Washington Post, I must point you to an op-ed that was printed in today's (Sunday Aug. 16)) edition... The title is "Deadly Disparities -- Americans' Widening Gap in Incomes May Be Narrowing Our Lifespans." The op-ed is written by a James Lardner, who is a writer for US News and World Report. The story reports of research originally started in Great Britain but meanwhile picked up in the US, which has established a correlation between the width of the gap in incomes and the average life expectancy of a community or area. The finding is that the wider the gaps, i.e., income inequalities, the earlier the people die, and this earlier death hits basically all classes. The focus of the current research is to identify more direct correlations, i.e., what particular factors in an unequal society prompt the worse individual health in it. I picked up the story for you because after identifying Biloxi, MS, Las Cruces, NM and Steubenville, OH, as the nation's top samples for high inequality/high mortality, it lists Allentown, PA, Pittsfield, MA, and Milwaukee, WI, as the other end, the good end, of the scale, with low inequality and low mortality. You find two favorite emigration places of South Burgenlanders among these, Milwaukee and Allentown! My own family provided one emigrant each from Poppendorf to these two places, respectively. I have to admit, I liked the story very much! AUSTRIAN SCHILLING EXCHANGE (from Albert Schuch) As an aside, a little something on Austrian banks: Today's newspaper has a report from an Austrian who traveled to the USA. He changed 10000 Austrian Schillings (ATS) in Vienna at an Austrian bank ("Die Erste") and received 762 Dollars. Immediately upon his arrival in New York he went to an American bank ("Chase") and again changed 10000 ATS into Dollars. Here he received 833 Dollars, that is 71 Dollars more than in Austria! Later on he did the same thing at a small provincial bank and still received 784 Dollars! (22 Dollars more). In case this also applies to exchanging Dollars to ATS, anyone traveling to Austria from the USA will be better off if he changes his money in the USA. HANNERSDORF WAR MEMORIAL (from John J. Kornfeind) Gerry, Thank you for your most recent set of articles. The one on the Hannersdorf War Memorial was especially meaningful. Since I last wrote to you, I have had contact with a number of BB members. Members Pat Jahn and Keiron Rado and I have discovered that we have common threads in our family fabrics. With Pat and myself, it is our Kornfeind ties, and with Keiron and myself, it is our Haramy connection out of Markt Neuhodis. With the article in #40B, I noted my Grandfather's brothers Frank and John out of Haus #36. For Pat, she noted her grandmother Maria Kollarits, geb. Steurer. I thank both you and Albert Schuch for your efforts. They are very meaningful to us. At the end I will place a photo taken in 1993 of the Hannersdorf War Memorial. My Father, John L. Kornfeind is pointing and my Mother Helen E. (nee Pospischil) Kornfeind is the photographer. The War Memorial sits at the bottom of a bluff along the main route through Hannersdorf. At the top of the bluff sits the Catholic Church (a portion of which you can note in the picture) along with its cemetery. I guess I had all of these things on the surface of my mind this weekend as my family and I went to see Speilberg's "Saving Private Ryan". This includes the the sacrifices of so many so we can sit here today and have the freedoms we have! MORE ON CROATIAN IMMIGRATION (from Frank Teklits) The issues surrounding the Croatian immigration to Burgenland/West Hungary are very interesting to me. Based on my research up to this point and from what I have read from others, the mid-1500s seems to be the most likely period, but exactly which part of Croatia they came from, where they first settled, and their patterns of future movement and settlement in succeeding generations is very poorly documented. This is a very interesting subject to many people I know. Based on my 16-month effort translating Dr. Dobrovich's text "Burgenland Research", I'd put the Croat Migration in the late 1500's and early 1600's. The more I read, the more I see references to the fact that the Croats from Eberau, Szentpeterfa, etc. most probably stem from the area surrounding the Croatian city of Kostainica [south of Zagreb on the Una River border with Bosnia] and or the region of Moslavina [east of Zagreb on the Drava River border with Hungary]. I have a few feelers out testing this with some folks, but no comments as yet. AND A FINAL COMMENT (from Yvonne Lockwood) Gerry, one note regarding "contact with Croatia" after migration. I was told that there was horse (and cattle?) trading with southern Burgenlanders and Croatians of today's Croatia in the 1800s, but I don't know how early this exchange began. Oral tradition -- told by 80-year-olds in the 1970s, who told legends they heard about their ancestors -- is my source. I'm at work without my sources and, since I don't know the villages of southern Burgenland real well, I can't help with Croatian names. Hope others do; if not give me another message. ZAHLING 300 YEAR ANNIVERSARY HISTORY (editor) BB Member Vicki Wenninger advised me of a book concerning Zahling's 300-year anniversary, which just became available. I ordered one and I'm well pleased with it. You won't find better coverage of Zahling. I'm passing the information on to BB members with an interest in the immediate area. Zahling, for those who may not know, is now part of Gemeinde Eltendorf, just northwest of Poppendorf (Bezirk Jennersdorf) in southern Burgenland. While it began in 1346 under the name Zollal, it became known as Zahling in 1698. The book (150 pages, 8 1/2 X 12), which is loaded with pictures and names, is in German and is hardback with glossy paper. It can be ordered for $40 US, which includes surface mail postage (figure on a month for delivery). You can airmail your order and check for 60 cents postage to: Frau Anneliese Boandl, Zahling Nr. 1, A-7562 Zahling, Austria. While I've only given it a cursory look, I think you'll be very pleased. Lots of current data plus a brief history. Many names, including a "then and now" village census by house number. About 170 houses (population is now about 450. Also a number of pictures of houses "then and now". There is mention of an older "walled city" where Zahling is now located. Destroyed 1400's(?). May explain why Zahling was once head of the parish. Also mention of extant Urbars, Visitations and Grundbuchs. BB WORLD EXPANDS (from Bruce Klemens) Here's an interesting story for you. As you'll recall, you printed the history of Oslip that my second cousin Anna Odorfer sent me. Anyway, BEFORE it appeared in the BB News, I get an E-mail from Burgenland. It's from someone named Walter Leeb. Turns out that Walter is the boyfriend of Anna's daughter Maria and he has access to E-mail at work. He says they have heard that Anna is mentioned on the Internet somewhere but he can't find it so he is writing me: perhaps I know. No mention is made of the BB at all. Well, I wasn't really sure what Walter was talking about. I assumed it had something to do with Anna's Oslip history but, since it had not yet appeared in the BB News, how did they know about it? So I told Walter that, according to you, it would appear in a couple weeks and I would send it to him when it did. To make a long story short, a while later, Walter sends me another E-mail written by Anna. She said her husband Alfred Odorfer (Fredi) was doing business at his bank in Eisenstadt, and the banker asked, "Are you related to Anna Odorfer?" Fredi replied, "She's my wife." It turns out that the banker is Gerhard Lang who belongs to the BB, and I believe you sent him an E-mail of the article before it appeared in the BB News. Small World! (Ed. note: When listing new members, I copy others researching the same material. These copies may include attachments used in subsequent newsletters. Gerhard Lang, by the way, is a frequent Burgenland (Eisenstadt) correspondent. Story shows the BB is being noticed in Burgenland.) CHURCH RECORDS (Anna Kresh & Deanne Malloy) (Ed. Note: 9 of the 34 poll responders received to date have never used LDS Family History copies of Burgenland Church Records. The following is my help.) Deanne writes: How did you get your hands on the church records? This may really help my research. I would love to find similar records for other churches nearby. The Güssing and Zahling areas, in particular. Anna replies: I got the number of the microfilm from Gerry Berghold and then I went to our local Latter Day Saints Family History Center (LDS FHC), which is located at our local Mormon Church. The LDS had microfilmed the duplicate church records at Budapest. Civil authorities permit the Zweitschriften records (duplicates) to be microfilmed, but the Catholic Church does not permit LDS copying of its Erstschriften (originals). See Burgenland Bunch Newsletter No. 41A for a very good explanation of LDS COPIES OF CATHOLIC CHURCH RECORDS by Bob Schatz. The local FHC ordered the film from Salt Lake City for me at a loan fee of $3.50 for the first month. The FHC has equipment to view (and print) microfilm and fiche records, in addition to many other resources, including computer surname searches from their Family Search database, other software and CDs, reference books, some census records, etc. At the end of the first month I renewed the loan - $3.50 for the second period -- but this time the loan period was for 2 months. At the end of those 2 mos. I again renewed ($3.50 - limit is 2 renewals), but the second renewal is for an unlimited time period. I now will tell them when I am finished with it. I think this is standard procedure for LDS film and fiche loans. If someone else would try to borrow the same film during the time that I have it, then the LDS in Salt Lake City would simply make another copy for the 2nd person, and the copy I have would become the permanent property of our local FHC. For example, microfilm #0700693 is for the St. Miklos/Nikolaus Church Records (Güssing) 1828-1895 in Deutsch Tschan., which was the parish for Catholics living in Kr. Tschan., Deutsch Tschan., Tobaj and Tudorsdorf -- so you get 4 villages for the price of one! I got the film number from Gerry Berghold, but your local Family History Center (FHC) can get the number for you. (Ed. You must know what parish your village was in.) It can also be obtained from their Family Search computer database, which you can use for surname lookups. I hope someone else is interested in one of the villages on my film because, if they were to order this film for viewing at their nearest FHC while I have it, my local FHC will get to keep my copy.;-) END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD