BB News No. 44 dtd 30 Sep 1998

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 44 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) September 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) "No man is responsible for his father. That is entirely his mother's affair." -Margaret Trumbull, Alabaster Lamps This first section of the 3 section newsletter features the villages of Neudauberg and Burgauberg, Translations of Latin Terms, Immigrant Language as a Clue, Lost Village of Gschorrholz, More Terms, Burgenland Districts (Bezirk) and Email Message from Heinz Koller in Güssing. ***NOTICE***NOTICE*** THERE WILL BE NO NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED OCTOBER 15 THE NEXT EDITION WILL BE DATED OCTOBER 31 THE BURGENLAND BUNCH OFFICE IS CLOSING FOR A LITTLE REST Our circulation is now 222! STAFF MEMBER NEWS Ernest Chrisbacher has agreed to join the Burgenland Bunch staff as a contributing editor. His specialty will be western Hungarian border villages, particularly in the Bakony region immediately east of the Burgenland. Ernest is preparing a data base of German-Hungarian families and villages in the Bakony area. Albert Schuch; Burgenland Editor, will not be able to receive email or answer questions until further notice. Albert entered Austrian military service on September 28 for 8 months of duty. He has our best wishes and we hope for a speedy return to our staff. The good news is that Albert completed the Father Leser Village Translations and they will continue to be featured in the newsletter. BURGENLAND VILLAGES (the Father Leser series, translated by Albert Schuch -may be the earliest Burgenland document which shows your family name) 38) Neudauberg South of Hackerberg. Always belonged to the Güssing domain, but to Neudau (Styria) parish. The Urbar of 1693 for Neudauberg ("a Najgoj Hegyben") names: TRAGNER, KAPFER, GASSNER, SCHALK (2 each), RUS, HOANDL, SPANNER, CSAR (1 each). For the "Bers Berg" area: SUMMER, BOLFART, KAUFMANN, CERFUSZ, HAOFFNER, REICHHART, PIKKL, RING, PAJTER, ROART, POGER, SCHWARZ, NEUBAUER (1 each). The Urbar of 1732 names the following "Neudauer-Bergholden"-families (i.e. Söllner-families in the Neudau hills): POHLMLLEN (3), GOTTHARD, RESCH, LASCHALT (2 each), RUISZ, BUMHALTER, GLATZ, PAUER, HABERSACK, KLAR, KNECHTL, GOGER, FREYTAG, FRENZ, KUROKISCH, JANOSCH, HAMMER, CSAR, HALPER, SCHTTL, WINKLER, PUIKL, GNOSER, FELKISCH, PFEIFER, TAUCHER. In 1750: GURTHET (3), FREYTAG, POHLMLLNER, GOGER (2 each), SCHALK, PFEIFFER, FELKISCH, SCHUTZL, GRLL, RATH, PROMISLER, HERBST, GRUMHOLZER, REYSMUTH, CSAR, HABERSACK, BAUMGARTNER, WOLF, FUX, REICHL, HAMMER, KNECHTL, LASCHALT, PUIKL, TAUCHER, BREINER, GARTNER, RESCH, HARMANN, LUIFF, GLATZ. Has a school since 1878, built by the Hungarian government. [Note: Obviously the government didn't like to see Hungarian pupils attending Styrian (in this case: Neudau) schools.] Teachers: Georg KUNTSCH (1878-1913), Alexander GRAF (1913-1918; lost his job because he supported the Communists in 1918), Julius NEMETH (1918-19), Artur ZANYI (1920-21), Josef SCHWEIFER (1922), Adolf WERTSCH (1924-), second teacher Elise POFSCHEK since 1929. (source: V+H Nr. 12/1958) 39) Burgauberg Many inhabitants have ancestors in Burgau, Burgauberg is also a part of the parish Burgau (Styria!). In 1644 Michael GRISLER, administrator of the domain Burgau, receives three vineyards in Burgauberg to cover a debt from the times of the Turkish wars. Owners of neigbouring vineyards are: Hans SAMER, Peter LANGHEIMBER, Andreas SIX, Rieperl SCHITLER, Georg GRUBER and Count Maximilian HERBERSTEIN. The Güssing Urbarium of 1750 names as "Burgauer Bergholden" living "auf der Hungerischen Seiten in dem Weingebirg" (= small-holders from Burgau, living on the Hungarian side [of the border, i.e. of the river Lafnitz] in the vineyard hills) the following families: VEIGL (3), PRUNNER (3), SODL, HIRSCHBK, PESSINGER, RUESZ, WAGNER, PFINGSTL, SCHWARZ, PROSCH (2 each), FRHLICH, TOMPF, NEUBAUER, HOECKL, MUIK, PUIKL, HNDLER, PAUER, STRK, ZOTTER, LOIPERSBCK, RABER, PFSTER, PLTZL, SCHABHTL, REITHER, KRAMMER, REISSENHOFER, LUKICS, HAISLER, RATHMANN, LAMPL, LAMMINGER, SCHUSTER, SCHTZL, WIPPERL (1 each). These 49 families own 46 houses, 27 oxen, 55 cows, etc., and the Urbarium says about them: "These Styrian "Bergler" (= people living on the hills) have acquired property with the permission of the Count Batthyány, they have come over from the Styrian side [of the border] from time to time. Their number is at times higher and at times lower. They own nothing except for a few vineyards and fields." Number of inhabitants: 1870: 606; 1930: 772 (in 123 houses). Part of Burgau parish. Two chapels. Teachers: Franz SCHLEGEL (1870-1911), Julius NEMETH (1911-14), Flora CHAKANY nee PECZLY (1914-21), Robert HOLPER (1921-29), Andreas MEDEK (1929-), second teacher Mathilde SEELIG (1923-). (source: V+H Nr. 12/1958) TRANSLATIONS OF LATIN TERMS APPEARING IN BURGENLAND RECORDS (email from Anna Kresh, Albert Schuch, Fritz Königshofer) Ed. Note: Latin was the official language of Hungary for centuries. Definitions may differ from those found elsewhere. It would be well to make a list of what is printed here if occupations are part of your genealogies. Anna writes: Here are several occupations I found in the Nemet Csencs (Deutsch Tschantschendorf) Hungarian church records. I'm including the gender of the persons listed. I have also added the translation as found in my Latin/English dictionary. Can you add anything more to these? I am aware the 'us' endings are masculine, and the 'a' endings are feminine. What translations would be applicable for Vas Megye during the 1800s? OCCUPATIONS: ancilla (f) - maid servant; carnifex (m) - executioner, hangman; famulus (m) - servant, famula (f) - handmaid; figulus (m) - potter; ludimagister (m,f) (ludimag., ludim.) - no translation found; molitor (m) - builder; molitorifsa or molitorissa? (f) - Maybe the 'fsa' should be 'ssa', but it sure looks like an 'f'; praefectus horrei (m) - overseer/superintendant of barn, granary, storehouse? NAME OF CHILD: proles mortua - could this be "stillbirth"? It's usually listed in the column for 'name of child'. In many cases the names of the Godparents are missing. Is there any differentiation between a stillbirth and a child who lives for just a short time? Under what circumstances would there be no Godparents? Waldburgus (m), Waldburga (f) - name of a child - for example: Theresia Waldburga, although most of the time Waldburgus/a is used alone without any other given first name. The child is always illegitimate. I have not found this name given to a legitimate child. Never heard of this name and can't find anything on it. LOCATION: Prom. - I also am finding the abbreviation Prom. preceding the birthplace (or residence) of the parents, for example: "Prom. Nemet Csencs N. 4". I understand that this means they lived at house number 4 in Deutsch Tschantschendorf, but what does the Prom. mean? All I can find in the Latin dictionary that might fit is Promontorium (a mountain ridge). Albert replies:following are some comments on your Latin terms: > ancilla (f) - maid servant > famula (f) - handmaid. These are very similar. Both can be translated as "Magd" (maid) into German. If there is a difference, then I think it will be the following: The "ancilla" might have worked on the farm most of the time, whereas the "famula" might have worked in the house most of the time. > carnifex (m) - executioner, hangman; more likely: knacker (called "Schinder" or "Abdecker" in German; removes dead animals for their hides, bones, etc.) > famulus (m) - servant; > figulus (m) - potter - nothing to add on these two; correct translations > ludimagister (m,f) (ludimag., ludim.) = teacher > molitor (m) - builder - more likely: miller > molitorifsa or molitorissa? (f) - Maybe the 'fsa' should be 'ssa', but it sure looks like an 'f', the correct female version of molitor would be "molitrix"; but I think if it reads "molitorissa" it will still mean "miller's wife" > praefectus horrei (m) - overseer/superintendant of barn, granary, most likely: granary overseer or storehouse overseer > NAME OF CHILD: > proles mortua - could this be "stillbirth"? - yes, it is "stillbirth" > LOCATION: > Prom. - I also am finding the abbreviation Prom. preceding the birthplace (or residence) of the parents, - most likely this is correct; the Latin "Promontorium" seems to be the equivalent to the German "Bergen" (ED. note:Fritz is in Europe on a business trip but finds time and opportunity to check his email) Fritz writes: Let me send this message to you via replying to Albert's very good comments. Greetings to all of you. I am in Almaty, Kazakhstan where for a few precious days I have access to my e-mail. Unfortunately, I'll be without access once again all of next week, when work will take me to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan (the former Zelinograd) in the north of the country. Unexpectedly, I might have to go to Budapest for a day or so, before returning to Washington on the 20th or 21st of this month. The communications with you fellow bbunch members and friends, and the newsletter, were the most cherished things in my mail. On "carnifex," Albert's explanation of "Schinder" makes very good sense. I had thought of butcher, but this is normally given in Latin as "lanio." It would be unlikely that a small village like Deutsch Tschantschendorf had a hangman. The ending -fex indicates somebody who manufactures something, typically a member of a trade. For instance, panifex is a baker (bread maker), and artifex a general term used to describe a member of the trades, a craftsman. "Molitorissa" might well have been used to describe the widow of a flour miller, because as long as the husband lived, the family status was usually entered after the man (i.e., molitor). Since Latin and German show the female form in the ending of the word, a small ambiguity gets introduced, because the female ending can indicate a carrier of the profession, or the wife or widow of a man who is the carrier. A widow after (or the wife of) the village teacher was usually described as ludi magistra. Other terms used to describe the teacher were ludi rector, or docens. For young teachers, I believe the term "praeceptor" was used, also docens. I am not completely sure as I have to work from memory. In my search, I found that stillbirths usually had no godparents. The same could happen to some children who died very soon after birth. Perhaps the name used for illegitimate girls in N.Csenc was Walburga, also spelled Waldburga or Walpurga. This is a relatively rare female name. Interestingly, this summer a far away relative in Graz suggested to me that some catholic parish priests had the habit (in former times) of insisting to provide the name for illegitimate children, in order to stigmatize them (make everyone realize for life that the person had been illegitimate). Some priests often insisted that the child be baptized in the name of the saint whose nameday was on or near the day of the child's birth. This then produced names such as Dominik, or Pankratz. I wonder whether the priest of N. Csenc might have used the name Walburga to mark girls born out of wedlock. I fully agree with the interpretation of promontorium as "Bergen." Another such term was praedium, often abbreviated as P. before the name of the location. This then described a Maierhof (manorial farm) of the village. The Latin word for the overseer of such a farm was usually spanus or spanus dominalis, in Hungarian ispan or major gazda. Later: Last Saturday, I had a few hours in the Szechny Library in Budapest and used the opportunity to check the Latin dictionaries in the reference section there. These are what I found: [1] "Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis Regni Hungariae" (glossary of middle and earlier (?) Latin in the kingdom of Hungary), by Anton Bartal (Ed.), Teubner, Leipzig, 1901. [2 "Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae" (lexicon of middle-ages Latin in Hungary), by Jnos Harmatta and Ivn Bornkai (Eds.), Akadmi ai Kiad, Budapest, 1987 and following. This is in several volumes, of which the issues up to the letter H have been published so far. [3] "Glossarium Vocum in Politicis ac Juridicis negotiis" (glossary of [the language] spoken in political and legal affairs), by Antal Szirmai, Cassova (Kosice?), 1801. [4] "Dictionarium Latino-Hungaricum et Hungarico-Latino- Germanicum," by Priz Ferenc Ppai, Budapest, 1995. [5] "A Latin nyelv Sóztára" (dictionary of Latin language), by Dr. Henrik Finly, Budapest, 1884. What do these books say about carnifex? Number [1] defines the word as "lanius qui carnes vendit et facit" (butcher who sells and produces meat). The Hungarian equivalents are given as mészáros and hentes, German "Fleischer," i.e., butcher in English. No other meanings are provided. Number [2] states the meanings as follows: (1) bakó, hóhér, kinvallató; meaning hangman, executioner, or torturer; (2) hóhérlelk, gyilkosá; which I translate as "execution-style murderer"; and (3) mésázros, hentes; which we already had as meaning butcher. Numbers [3] to [5] translate the word only into the meaning of hangman or executioner, with the Hungarian words hóhér, hengr, börtön (prison-ward), and bakó. As you can see, we have no clear answer from these Latin dictionaries! Interestingly, the Latin word lanius translates to executioner as well, besides the (more common?) meaning of butcher. I think it still remains most likely that the term in the records of Nemet Csencs referred to the meaning of butcher or perhaps knacker/flayer as Albert has suggested. If you can follow the related person into one of the periods where the Hungarian language was used for entries, then you might find the pastor's Hungarian equivalent for his use of carnifex in Latin. IMMIGRANT LANGUAGE AS A CLUE TO ORIGIN (Gerry Berghold) While stuck in the mid-1600's, as far as expanding my own genealogy is concerned, I continue to pursue subjects that may aid the search. Recently I've been reading "In Search of the Indo-Europeans", J. P. Malloy, Thames & Hudson Publisher, 1997. Tracing the origins of each of the Indo-European peoples of Europe and Asia from both Neolithic and Eneolithic periods and using current archaeological and linguistic evidence, it is a fascinating story: a "prehistoric genealogy," as it were. A modern scientific appraisal of what used to be considered the migrations of the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. A point made by the author suggested this article. Paraphrasing his remarks slightly. "Languages upon the point of extinction are normally carried to the grave by the older members of the community when the younger members have failed to learn it. This process can happen within three generations. An immigrant family in (the United States), may speak exclusively (German) while their children become bilingual. They in turn decide to raise their children exclusively in English. Within three generations grandparent and grandchild can no longer communicate." This applies to our research in two distinct areas. Since we have three major language groupings in the Burgenland (i.e. German, Croatian, and Hungarian, plus some Romany and Yiddish), we must always consider what language our individual immigrant ancestors used in the early days of their emigration. Why waste time looking in exclusively German villages for ancestors who spoke Croatian or Hungarian full time, or vice-versa? If we don't know what language they spoke, we may find some documents or perhaps the US Census may tell us (1910 and 1920 carry this data). We can then look in which villages the particular language was spoken. We can find information in the LDS holdings as LDS microfiche 6001476 "Topographical Lexicon of the Communities of Hungary Compiled Officially in 1773". Our area is mostly covered in the section under "Comitatus Castriferrei" (an older name for Vas Megye). Villages are listed under Latin, Hungarian, German and Croatian (Slavonic) names, by parish. Chief religion and principle language is then shown. While many of us know the primary villages of our ancestors, the above may also help in locating others. One could say that this isn't very helpful given that 85% of Burgenländers are German. However even here one can differentiate between those who spoke (speak) Hianzisch and those who did not. The former are probably from the southern half of Burgenland. Likewise there is a group in the Bakony Hills of Hungary (see previous newsletters) who speak something similar. Hianzisch is a softer language, slurred a little like a US southern accent and full of strange words and "o", and "oa" endings. To us, if it looks or sounds like German but differs from what we learn in US schools, it's probably Hianzisch. The second area of relevance involves pre-Burgenland place of origin. Here also, language can play a part. I wouldn't look in Bavaria or Styria for ancestors who spoke Croatian or Hungarian. Even in the Germanic lands there is a possibility that the dialects spoken in Burgenland (like Hianzisch) may point to particular regions in the Germanic or Slavic lands. In other words, narrow the choices. Language within the framework of general family grouping is a clue to origin just like culture, music, food and folktales. Think about it as you search for that elusive village. LOST VILLAGE - GSCHORRHOLZ & SOME MORE TERMINOLOGY Ed. Note: There are villages whose names no longer appear as post offices or in phone books. These villages for the most part have been absorbed by others. Their names may still designate an area within the absorbing village. Here is one that gave us some trouble: Part of e-mail sent to Roman Weber by Albert Schuch. "Until you wrote that Gschorholz was also part of Pilgersdorf parish, Hap (Anderson) and others thought maybe it was Kirchschlag parish. G. Berghold didn't know ...Until very recently, I also had no idea. This is how I found out: In an antiquarian bookshop I bought an "Ortsverzeichnis für Burgenland" as was used by the Austrian disability insurance company. It was compiled at a time when all of their payments went through the local post offices. It includes even the smallest of small settlements and gives the information to which post office it belonged. Once I know the post office, I know the Gemeinde (community). By the way, in this book Gschorholz is spelled GSCHORRHOLZ, with two "r's". It seems that today the name Gschorholz is no longer used. This area is now just a part of Pilgersdorf. Some More Terminolgy >Leser refers to "Rottgründe" as compared to village "Sessionsgründe"< For Fritz (& other "Terminology Bunch" members), you are definitely on the right track this time. The "Rottgründe" are areas cleared of wood and turned into farming land. I think that at the time the Urbarium was set up (in the 1760's) these were still forests owned by the domain. The word "Anger" as I know it refers to an area inside the village, usually in the center. > A term I don't recall from the Burgenland, but certainly used a lot in neighboring Styria is "Leiten," typically meaning a pasture on the side (slope) of a mountain or hill. < This term is used in the Western parts of Southern Burgenland (i.e. at the or close to the Styrian border). For example, my Stegersbach ancestors lived in an area called "Leitenwald". BURGENLAND DISTRICTS (BEZIRK) by Gerry Berghold You should be aware of the Bezirk to which your villages belong. Various types of records may be found there. When visiting Burgenland villages, be sure to also visit the Bezirk if for nothing more than historical association. Many immigrants often refered to the Bezirk as there place of origin. I have seen US census records which gave the district as place of foreign origin. I always furnish new members with the name of the their village district. There are now seven Bezirks (Districts) Which Comprise Burgenland (North to South): Neuseidl, Eisenstadt, Mattersburg, Oberpullendorf, Oberwart, Güssing, and Jennersdorf. The Hungarian or pre-1921 districts also included the above (excluding Jennersdsorf) plus: Ungarisch Altenburg (Magyarovar), Ragendorf (Mosonrajka), Ödenburg (Sopron), Güns (Koszeg), Steinamanger (Szombathely), Körmend and Szentgotthard. Within these districts are many Gemeinden (communities) which may include a single village or a group of villages. Gemeinden may be further identified as Freistadt (free cities), Marktgemeinden (market or business communities) or Katastralgemeinden (land record communities). Political structure may continually change as villages develop or combine or share their administrative functions. You may find also find references to the Hungarian counties (Megye) from which Burgenland was formed - Vas (Komitat Eisenberg, earlier Comitatus Castriferrei), Sopron (Komitat Ödenburg) and Moson (Komitat Wieselburg). EMAIL MESSAGE FROM HEINZ KOLLER IN GÜSSING There will be some interesting events in Güssing next year (1999): The "Burgspiele Güssing" (historical drama performed at the castle every summer) from June 24th til July 17th will be concerned with the theme "Amerika - hin und retour"! Dr. Walter Dujmovits, president of the "Burgenländische Gemeinschaft" is a member of the committee for awarding prizes for the best three of ten submited projects. For stage management we could gain Burgschauspieler Frank Hoffmann, a famous dramatic actor, who already knows America very well. I hope you will be interested in giving this news to the members of the Burgenland Bunch. Refering to Rosenberg: I was born in Langzeil, my wife in Rosenberg. Her Mother's name was Gerger, her father - Alois Sammer - is one of the brothers of the former landlord Johann Sammer in Langzeil. One of my mother's sisters was married to Alois Artinger in Langzeil. In the 50's my family lived in the hous of Johann Sorger in Güssing, Josef-Reichl-Strae, who owned some plots of land in Rosenberg... Maybe its interesting for you! I should be glad to meet you on your next journey to Austria. By the way: My parents will go to New York next week to visit two sisters (Rosy Schmidt, Margaret Yost) and the brother (Frank Koller) of my mother. And last I will tell you of my new homepage "Heinele's home", where you can find a lot of words and expressions "Hianzisch": http://members.xoom.com/Heinele With best greetings, Heinz Koller, A-7540 Güssing, Bergstrae 13; http://www.bnet.at/guessing (Newsletter Continued As No. 44A)

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 44A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) September 30, 1998 (all rights reserved) This second section of the 3 section newsletter features an excellent and revealing report of a recent Trip to Austria and Hungary. An enlightening genealogical excursion to the "Heimat", with some sad yet happy overtones. (note-diacritical marks have not been used on Hungarian names). Thoughts on Scanners For Genealogy and a Little Humor follow. VISIT TO HUNGARY AND AUSTRIA; AUGUST 1998 (by Ernest Chrisbacher) The purpose of my trip was threefold: 1. To attend the 50-year reunion of the ethnic German people expelled from the village Bakonyjako, Veszprem County, after WW-II in 1948, the town where my grandfather was born; 2. Go to Eisenstadt to do research for ancestors in the Diocesan Archives of Burgenland; and 3. Visit several small parish villages around Oberwart in south Burgenland for research in their old baptismal and marriage records. Day 1, Thursday, Aug. 13, 1998: Weather clear, sunny, hot, humid, temp. 93 deg. F. I arrived at Budapest Airport at 11:00 a.m. on Malev Hungarian Airlines, having left Kennedy Airport on Air France yesterday at 5:30 p.m. and with a three-hour layover at Paris. I slept six hours on the initial flight so I was not affected by jet-lag. I picked up my rented Mitsubishi Lancer with AC and drove into Budapest. The roads and highway signs are very good but the street signs in the city are difficult to see and read while driving because they are located high up on the corners of buildings. With the help of a city map I found No. 50 Jozsef kort, the apartment of my correspondent friend and genealogist, Dr. Sandor Harmath. We sipped some Tokaj wine and discussed plans to travel to Austria for research at Eisenstadt and at several villages in the vicinity of Oberwart. It was agreed that we would meet Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. in Papa where I had a reservation at the Hotel Griff. I left Budapest at 5:30 p.m., headed southwest and found the M-1 Autobahn, then drove to Gyor City and then Papa, a two-hour drive. The hotel Griff is in the main city square opposite from the double-domed Roman Catholic Belvarosi Cathedral. My room was clean and very comfortable so I showered, shaved and had supper. It was tender Beef Stroganoff with potato croquettes, salad and two glasses of rather good dry Riesling wine, cost was 1,400 forint, about $7.00. Watched CNN and retired at 11:00 p.m. Day 2, Friday, Aug. 14, 1998: Weather clear, sunny, hot, temp. 85 deg. F., morning showers. Up at 6 a.m., continental breakfast at 7 a.m., then I walked down the main commercial street of Papa to the post office for some stamps. There are a hundred shops and the streets are crowded with shoppers and the hustle and bustle of productive activity. Then I drove 35 km to Veszprem City and visited the Queen Gizella museum which displayed many old garments, regalia and jewels worn by Hungary's rulers. I walked through the old castle section of the city where some of the buildings are 700 years old and are situated at the top of a commanding hill with beautiful views of the surrounding city and countryside. I visited the Dezso Laczko Museum which displayed artifacts of Hungary's history from the stone age up to modern times. There was a straw-roofed ethnic German farmhouse (Bakony Volk Haus) from the 18th century next to the museum building which displayed typical period furniture, cooking utensils, smoke kitchen, bedroom and toolroom. I walked all around this beautiful old city observing the commercial activity, construction, old and new buildings, the tourists, the vitality of the place and the apparent flourishing business and prosperity of the inhabitants; a stark contrast to the poor, depressed, drab, gray downtrodden people that I had seen here under Russian Communist domination when I visited in 1973. Many of the people spoke German with me, also in stark contrast to the situation in 1973 when no one would dare to speak German. But the bureaocrats in the county offices speak only Hungarian so I was unable to obtain maps of the German villages which I wanted. After many photographs I returned to Papa where at six o'clock I had a glass of Riesling wine at a table in the sidewalk cafe of the Hotel Griff . Three marching bands came by to start off the festive weekend celebrations of the city. It was very pleasant, crowded with happy people, a beautiful small city enjoying its freedom and looking forward to future prosperity. I found out that next weekend is a four-day holiday for the Hungarian people beginning on Thursday, August 20th as the 1000-year anniversary of the crowning of the first king, St. Stephen. Day 3, Saturday, Aug. 15, 1998: Weather partly cloudy, clearing, hot, temp. 90-95 deg. F. At 9 a.m. I drove east 15 km to Bakonyjako, the village where my grandfather, Joseph Grisbacher, was born. This was the weekend of the 50-year reunion celebration of the German people who were expelled from the village in 1948 after WW II. Because the population of Bakonyako was at that time 95 percent ethnic German, almost all of the people had to pack up what they could carry on their backs and leave their homes. A drummer marched down the main street the morning of January 6, 1948 and a list was posted at the town hall. Only those who were sick, pregnant, with babies, or old and unable to work were allowed to remain. Tragically, these innocent peasant farmers, descendants of Germanic settlers who colonized and opened up the land for productivity 200 years earlier, were ruthlessly forced from their homes, families were put in wagons, carried to the Varoslod train station 12 km to the south, loaded into boxcars and shipped to East Germany where they had to live in camps until they could be resettled and find jobs. Today, 50 years later, they were coming back to their home town to revisit their lost homes and to renew old friendships. At 9:30 a.m. people started to gather at the sport hall of the village school. By 10:30 a.m. there were perhaps 250 people greeting one another with smiles, hugs, kisses and tears. Starting the ceremonies was difficult because of the highly emotional nature of the reunion. The mayor, Hans Szabadi, greeted everyone in German and Hungarian. Then a memorial speech was given by Franz Heilig, head of the regional office of German minorities. He gave a very moving talk in German about the history of settlement and the expulsion. There were not many dry eyes. After the introductions a small band played German dance music, waltzes, marches and polkas, and lunch was served of sandwiches, beer, wine and soda. I introduced myself to many people and spoke German with them, taking notes and taping the conversations. Joseph Leitner invited me to his aunt's house, Lizzi Heller, who served us (seven people) a very large meal of chicken noodle soup, chicken paprikash, noodles with tomato sauce and six different kinds of pastries and coffee. We ate and drank wine all afternoon. At 4:00 p.m. we went back to the sport hall for more meeting of friends, a big goulash party and entertainment by a group of majorettes and athletic dancers from the village. After that everyone went to the culture house where the street was roped off and dance music was playing and dancing started in the main street at 8 p.m. I met several people with whom I had corresponded but had never seen before: distant cousin Joseph Griesbacher, Andrew Gabriel from Fairview Hts., IL, distant cousin Maria Griesbacher Tillich from Canada, Joseph Steiner from Germany. I asked Mayor Szabadi if I could go to the town hall to get a map of the village and see if I could find information which would enable me to correlate the old house numbers with the new house numbers. That would enable me to find the house where my grandfather was born since the old number was included in his baptism record. Day 4, Sunday, Aug. 16, 1998: Weather partly cloudy, rain,. 85 deg. F.At 9:00 a.m. there was a small group playing music at the Kultur Haus as people began to gather for the morning services. At 10:00 a.m. a wreath-laying service was held during a rain shower at the memorial monument for those who were lost in WW I and WW II. An introductory speech was given by Mayor Szabadi and a memorial speech by Dr. Zoltan Kovacs, member of Parliament, about the role played by the German people during the wars. At 11:00 a.m. high holy mass was celebrated at the newly renovated Holy Trinity church by Bishop, Dr. Gyula Marfi, of the Arch Diocese of Veszprem to a standing-room-only crowd with full orchestra, organ, choir and a large overflow of people outside of the church. This was a very beautiful and moving ceremony with the bishop speaking about the expulsion of the German people and asking forgiveness of the Hungarians. It was a very emotional service with plenty of tears including mine. Following mass there were more than 300 people at the school sport hall for lunch which included Hendlsuppe mit Knudeln (chicken noodle soup), Rindfleischgulasch mit Petersillie-Kartofeln, beer, wine, soda and pastries. There was plenty of time to mix and talk to newly-found distant relatives. The weather cleared to a humid 95 degrees F and I went with Joseph Steiner to the house of Emilia Maria Griesbacher Andl, age 77, where I reviewed my genealogical charts to determine that we are fourth cousins once removed. Her daughters, Emma Andl Sas, Anna and Eva are fifth cousins to me. Then back to the sport hall for more meeting, greeting and talking. At 5 p.m. there began a cultural program in the courtyard of the school which included: 1. a song by Barbara and Katharin Sas, cousins of mine, 2. Jaka Margareten children's dance group, 3. German Nationality Choir of Totvazsony, 4. Dance group from Totvazsony, 5. Frauenchor from Ganna, and 6. Brass band from Soskut. The celebration ended with "auf wiedersehen" which became a very emotional and long farewell. These expellees are mostly 60 years old or more who were childhood friends. They came back to their birthplace from many locations, including the USA, Canada, Germany and Austria, where they have made a new life. Saying "until we meet again" was difficult knowing it probably will never happen. Although I am a second generation American, they made me feel like one of their own, a native German-Hungarian, and I found it hard to keep a dry eye when saying goodbye. I am probably distantly related to many of them. Day 5, Monday, Aug. 17, 1998: Weather partly cloudy, hot, humid, 90 deg. F.This morning I drove to Bakonyjako again to try to get the key to the old house numbering system, but the clerk was unable to provide it . He did, however give me a copy of the list of about 300 names and addresses of the respondents to the advertised notice for the 50th reunion celebration. He also showed me maps of the village and I was able to obtain an address of a company which prepared them. Then I drove through town and saw Zoltan and Elizabeth Kungl Bergmann who invited me into their house for a drink of wine. They tried to help me with the question of old house numbers but without success. Zoltan is a hunter and has several antler trophies on his walls. He is now retired but worked as a foreman at a scientific sheep breeding operation with 4,000 ewes. After saying good-bye I decided to photograph more of the villages of Veszprem County for my book, so I drove through Bakonyszucs, Bakonykoppany, Bakonybel, Penzesgyor, Lokut, Harskut, Marko, Band, Herend, Szentgal, Urkut, Nagyvazsony, Vorosto, Barnag, Azsofo, then to Tihany, a beautiful peninsula jutting out into Lake Balaton with the double domed cathedral of the Benedictine Abbey at the pinnacle of the hill, and then along Lake Balaton, Europe's largest fresh-water lake, with its crystal clear blue water and thousands of vacationing swimmers. Back to Papa at 7:30 p.m. for supper. Day 6, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 1998: Weather clear, hot, 90 deg. F.At 8:00 a.m. Dr. Harmath, arrived from Budapest, with his son at the Hotel Griff and we drove to Eisenstadt, Burgenland, Austria to research in the Archives of the Diocese Eisenstadt. We spoke to Dr. Hans Peter Zelfel, head of the reference matricals , and asked about three parishes: Allhau, Neumarkt and Rotenturm. Dr. Zelfel telephoned the Priest at Neumarkt where the original old books are still kept, and he set up an appointment for us at 2 p.m. We had lunch at a local biergarten and drove to Neumarkt near Oberwart arriving at 3 p.m. Father Mach was very understanding and helpful and allowed us to look through the old baptismal and marriage registers from 1698 through 1760 where we were hoping to find my GGGGGGrandfather Johannes Carolus Grisbacher or any other Grisbacher names. Unfortunately we had no results. Dr. Harmath and his son returned to Budapest and I went to Stadtschlaining for a hotel room and supper which included a very good dry Riesling wine, veal cutlet with mushrooms and wine sauce, cucumber salad like mother used to make, raspberry marmalade filled Palatschinken, also like mom's, and good strong coffee. The cost was 162 Schillings (about $14). Day 7, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 1998: Weather clear, hot, 90 deg. F.Today I drove to eight village parishes in the vicinity of Oberwart to look at old church Baptismal and marriage books for possible clues to my Griesbacher ancestors. Most of the priests were away on summer vacation or just not in. Some of the parishes had their Pfarramter (offices) at other locations. I was told that the records of St. Martin and of Rechnitz were now stored at the Eisenstadt archive. Had a late lunch at Rechnitz consisting of Nuckerl Suppe, beef Goulash and Apfelstrudel not even close to Grandma's. Then I drove to Oberwart where the traffic in town was very heavy and I found out that it was market day. There were hundreds of merchants set up with their stalls and wares all along the main street and thousands of shoppers rubbing elbows and jostling along on the sidewalks. I had to drive around the back of town to get to Gasthaus Neubauer. I had a late supper in the garten restaurant with excellent Riesling wine, breaded fried fish cutlet, mixed salad, potatoes and coffee. Food and merchandise cost about twice as much here in Austria as in Hungary. The Cookoo birds actually say 'cuckukaruk' and there are large stork's nests on tops of telephone poles or roofs in most of the country villages. Day 8, Thursday, Aug. 20, 1998: Weather clear, warm, 80 to 90 deg. F.I drove to the Evangelical Church of Markt Allhau where the secretary said that the Roman Catholic parish office is in Wolfau. To Wolfau where the priest was not at home. Following is a list of the parishes that I visited:1. Allhau, records at Wolfau parish, Priest away; 2. Rotenturm, Records at parish begin 1688, Priest away; 3. St. Martin, Records at Oberwart begin 1725, Priest away; 4. Stadtschlaining, records since 1727, Priest away;5. Tatzmandorf, records at parish, Priest away;6. Pinkafeld, Looked at oldest book beg. 1752, Prior to that records burned;7. Rechnitz, Priest said books begin1676 are at Eisenstadt; 8. Mariasdorf, Records since 1682, Priest away; 9. Mischendorf, Records since 1719, Priest away; 10. Lockenhaus, Records since 1660, Priest away;11. Hannersdorf, Records since 1721, Priest away.The lessons to be learned from this are: Do not try to visit parishes in Burgenland during the month of August when most of the priests are on vacation, and call ahead to make appointments with the priests. Unfortunately I had to schedule my trip around the 50-year reunion celebration at Bakonyjk_. In late afternoon I left Oberwart and drove 4-1/2 hours through the border town of Hegyeshalom to the Hotel Art in Budapest where I had a supper including white wine, mushrooms stuffed with goose liver surrounded by a fruit salad of bananas, grapes, orange slices, pear and kiwi slices; a mixed salad of pickles, peppers, beets, slaw, cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce; mushroom-covered pork tenderloins with rice and peas. I had no room for dessert but had my eye on sour cherries over cake. The cost including tip was 2530 HUF (Hungarian Forints), or about $12.00. Day 9, Friday, Aug. 21, 1998: Weather cloudy, scattered showers, clearing by noon.At 7:00 a.m. I met Dr. Sandor Harmath at his apartment and we drove the M-1 Highway at 140 km/hr (85 mph) with plenty of cars passing us. This is an excellent highway but there is a very high toll of $8.00 at the newly-constructed western 40 kilometers in Hungary. We drove to the village Furth-an-der-Triesting in Lower Austria. The travel time was 3-1/2 hours. We had a quick lunch of wurst platter with vegetables, beans and French fries washed down with the excellent local bier. The priest, a Pole, allowed us to look at the old marriage records (1740-1750) but again unfortunately we did not find the marriage of Johannes Carolus Griesbacher to Eva Maria Pantzenpeck as we had hoped. We then drove to nearby Pottenstein and phoned Mr. Leo Wirtner, a local historian and genealogical correspondent of mine whom I had not yet met. We were cordially invited to his house at 1 Einsiedler Weg and there we discussed my lost ancestor problems. He said that possibly Eva Maria might have been born in Rohr, that he would look at the records and write to me of his findings. We then drove to Vienna to visit Lazslo Kovi, another researcher and correspondent of mine and of Dr. Harmath's, whom I had not yet met, but unfortunately he was not at home. It took us only 2 hours to drive to Budapest and after I drove Dr. Harmath to his apartment where his wife awaited him, I had a nice supper at the Hotel Art consisting of wine, duck, parsley potatoes, red kraut, and coffee followed by sour cherries on vanilla ice cream. Day 10, Saturday, Aug. 22, 1998: Weather cloudy, steady rain, clearing in afternoon.I took a 3-hour tour of Budapest on Ibusz Bus Tours, the highlights of which were the Danube River, Parliament Building, Margaret Bridge, Chain Bridge, The Royal Castle on the Buda side, Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, The Citadel on top of Gellert Hill with its beautiful views overlooking the city, Heroes Square, The Opera and St. Stephen's Basilica. I then walked around the city for a couple of hours taking plenty of photographs and had supper at the sidewalk Bistro Jardin at the new and very posh Hotel Kempinski. It included Riesling wine, mixed salad, rabbit in paprika sauce, Esterhazy Tort and coffee. It was expensive but excellent. Then I went to a concert at the beautiful Duna Palota (Danube Palace) where an excellent orchestra played Liszt, Brahms, Strauss, Lehar, Bartok and Berlioz ending with the popular Radetzky March where the audience claps on cue with the music. The taxi driver who drove me the 2 km back to the Hotel Art wanted $25 but I was outraged and gave him $10 which he was apparently happy to get. Day 11, Sunday, Aug. 23, 1998: Weather cloudy, clearing in afternoon, 80 degrees F. I drove to Varoslod in Veszprem County by way of the Pannonhalma Monastery where I got some good photos. In Varoslod I visited Dr. Michael Roth, a correspondent of mine for 15 years whom I had not yet met. We had a bottle of good white wine and lots of good German conversation which I needed to improve my language skills. Michael has written two books about the village Varoslod. The first is a history of this German settlement which is very interesting to me because many of my ancestors lived there. The second is an 800-page as yet unpublished, computerized list in alphabetical order containing all of the baptisms and deaths of the original German settlers of Varoslod including findings from the earlier books at Kislod, Veszprem City and the Spessart villages in Germany where many of the settlers came from. Michael has accomplished a great deal of important work concerning the history and genealogy of Varoslod and has established a partnership between Varoslod and Wiesthal-Krommenthal in Bavaria, Germany where many of the surnames are still the same as those of Varoslod. The people of both villages have visited each other with singing and dancing groups and have celebrated their relationships together. Michael is a retired chemist who lives in Germany but spends a lot of time running his ceramics factory in Varoslod. He gave me a tour of the facilities showing me the processes from forming the raw clay, drying, baking in electric ovens, hand painting and glazing. He produces beautiful hand-painted dishes and various other pottery. We also toured the archaeological dig ongoing at St. Michael's Roman Catholic church. It is the most important archaeological site in Hungary and the excavated foundations and floors of the former Cartesian Monastery are over 600 years old. When the German people settled here in the early to mid 18th century they used the stone blocks from the ruined Cartesian Monastery to build their new Catholic church. At 5 o'clock I left Varoslod and drove 2 hours back to Budapest and took an evening stroll along the Danube River for some photographs. There was a bazaar with hundreds of small white tent stalls displaying all kinds of merchandise for sale and thousands of people strolling along the sidewalks and streets closed to traffic. There were many sidewalk cafes and many groups of musicians playing along the way. The bridges, Royal Castle, hotels and other buildings are lighted at night and graceful tour boats glide along the Danube River for a spectacular scene. At a sidewalk bistro I had tender veal goulash Bakony style and wine while I watched the people strolling by with strains of Gypsy music in the background. Day 12, Monday, Aug. 24, 1998: Weather clear, 75 degrees F. Checked out of Hotel Art and drove to Budapest Airport to turn in rented car which I had driven a total of 2,530 km or about 1,500 miles. My flight to Paris took off almost an hour late so I had to scramble in Paris to make the connecting flight. They had to hold the airplane for me, and for my stressful troubles Air France put on First Class. It was a great trip home and I got my money's worth with champagne, hors d'oeuvres single-malt scotch, salad, a lamb chop, a great Bordeaux wine, plenty of room to spread out, a personal TV screen and instantaneous service from the flight attendants. Somewhere over the North Atlantic Ocean I began to think about my next journey to Austria which will be better planned to utilize the records at the Eisenstadt archives and to make appointments with local parish priests. End Of Trip Report. SCANNER FOR GENEALOGY Member Tom Glatz was looking for a good scanner that would allow him to share material in his library. He asked about a particular model. Many of you may not know that charter member Mike Spahitz is a professional graphics designer (he did the BB homepage logos for us). He provided Tom with the following answer: "I have the Microtek ScanMaker E6 which has the same 1200x600 dpi resolution. It is GREAT! And the price is great at $179.00! I can't recommend the next one up that does 1200x1200 because I would get jealous! Just kidding, I think that you won't need that high of a resolution especially if you are going to use it for scanning things for the web which only need 72dpi or for personal use at tops 600dpi? Anything over 300dpi is really getting into the graphics field and you'll need LOTS of hard drive space! I think the 1200x600 would be more than sufficient even if you have a printer that does 600pdi or 720dpi (like mine, the Epson Stylus Color 800). DPI= dots per inch. If you have ANY more questions about graphics, feel free to email me! A LITTLE HUMOR (forwarded by Mary Montoya-I'm still laughing) The Smiths were proud of their family tradition. Their ancestors had come to America on the Mayflower. Their line had included Senators and Wall Street wizards. Now they decided to compile a family history, a legacy for the children. They hired a fine author. Only one problem arose----how to handle that great-uncle who was executed in the electric chair. The author said he could handle that chapter of history tactfully. The book appeared. It said that "Great-uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution and was attached to his position by the strongest of ties. His death came as a real shock." Newsletter Continued as No. 44B.

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 44B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) September 30, 1998 The third section of this 3 section newsletter features Results from Our Recent Reader Poll, articles about Contacting New Members, Old Newspaper Clippings, Burgenland Memories of the War Years and "Alter Sprach". READER POLL RESULTS We had a 25% (43 people) response to our reader poll. A little disappointing but comments were very favorable. These will help guide future decisions about Burgenland Bunch development. I conclude from the poll that the Burgenland Bunch fills an ethnic need. We'll continue publication and plan no major changes. o All respondents read each issue of the newsletter and most print or save copies; most share copies with others and all but 3 felt the bi-weekly frequency was just right. We'll continue biweekly issues of the current size, material permitting. o The village series is the favorite subject, followed by Burgenland history, trip reports, translations of old publications, lifestyles and culture and genealogical help and aids. Many members said they enjoyed everything. o Only half add newsletter material to their genealogies although all but two said that their family names or villages had appeared in articles. I stress that family names appearing in Urbars or Visitations are primae facie evidence of early family origin. Should become part of genealogy notes. o Over half access the archives and use the URL lists, archive catalog and member lists. All but one contacted other members. Most everyone visits the homepage at some time, some very often. These tools require a lot of staff work and maintenance but as long as they are used, we'll try to continue them. I get the impression that some members are reluctant to use the internet. o Only five members were also members of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft. This may indicate that few members know any German. Half plan to visit Burgenland, some in the near future. Only 7 have libraries of Burgenland source material, but another 6 say they have limited material. o No one has technical problems with the newsletters but many are still struggling with the umlaut problem. All but 8 have used LDS microfilm. Most everyone says their questions get answered. Sixteen members plan to contribute an article for the newsletter. CONTACTING NEW MEMBERS In my first response to new members, I try to copy ("cc") other members who are researching the same areas. I also copy those who I know are researching the same family names. This is the first opportunity to match kin. It's not a fool proof match as I use my AOL Email Address File which doesn't show me much detail. We hope that new members will scan our homepage or member changes in the newsletters looking for contacts. I also copy staff members who may have an interest. While I hope those copied will email new members, I don't really know if they do or not. Recently, I in turn was copied, and the email was so typical of a good new member greeting that I'd like to share it. It's the perfect way to build a file of genealogical correspondents. Sept 17th 1998 Hello Audrey, My name is Therese Knaus Cameron and I lived in Newington, Ct. for many years. I now live in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. My grandparrents on my father's side were Josef and Fanny Poglitsch Knaus who came from Minehof Liebau, Austria to New Britain, Conn. in the early 1900's. They had a farm in Newington, Conn. My mother's maiden name was Prem who came from Vienna and Feldbach, Austria. My father was Carl Knaus and my mother was Victoria Prem Knaus. Do any of the names ring a bell? Also family spoke of Jennersdorf many times. My grandmother's sister was Theresa Poglitsch Kern who lived in New Britain. My grandmother had a nephew, Dr. Poglitsch, who married a Jewish girl and sadly, she and their son were burned in the tragic circus fire in Hartford in the "40's. I don't know what happened to him after that. We have been to Minehof Liebau twice but didn't check any geneology at that time. I wish we had. Also stopped in Feldbach at the Gasthaus Kern. Berta Kern was married to a Prem. He died and she married a Kern. He died and the son, Rudy, now runs the Gasthaus. I would like to hear from you. Therese Knaus Cameron OLD NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS - TOBAJ & POPPENDORF (from Fritz Königshofer) When browsing the hardcopies I made from Der Volksfreund, I noted a tiny (but very nice) item from Tobaj, and then found that one of the names in the story relates to a name you are searching. VF issue of October 6, 1906, page 5: "Run-away girls. The 14-years old Eleonora Schweitzer and the 16-years old Josefa Tepler made off from Tobaj (near Nmetujvr- 'Güssing') from the house of their parents, in order to proceed to America. Quite incredibly, they successfully, without passport, reached Hamburg, where they then also managed to get on a ship." Some of you are searching "Unger." Another little VF story about an Unger from Poppendorf is the following, from page 7 of the issue of October 12, 1901: "Funeral. On the 6th of this month, the far and widely known veterinary doctor ["Viehdoktor.... cattle doctor?)] Josef Unger was buried in Patafalva. For his practical knowlegde of cattle diseases and for his open character, Unger was respected and loved by old and young alike." BURGENLAND MEMORIES FROM THE WAR YEARS (as told to Gerry and Molly Berghold by Gertrude Schlener) My wife and I had a most delightful experience a few days ago. We received a visit from my second cousin Gertrude Schlener. She came to the door with a plate of tasty apple and plum strudel! She had recently found us and we corresponded for the first time through the Burgenland Bunch. Her Langasch grandmother and mine were sisters. She was just a young girl living in Heiligenkreuz during WWII and has vivid memories of southern Burgenland as it was prior to emigrating to the United States in the 1950's. A sister remained in the "Heimat" and she has visited often. She showed us some prewar family photos of her happy and attractive family in their Sunday best. Gertrude remembers a beautiful blue glass oil lamp that used to provide their light. Electricity arrived late in the Burgenland and when it did come, as a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling, it was nowhere near as nice or romantic as the soft glow of the oil lamp. Her father was drafted into the German army in the 1940's although he claimed he was much too old for that sort of thing. Fortunately he survived the war having been sent to Styria, some distance from the major battle areas. During this period, the villagers still socialized by gathering at homes and sharing in the work necessary to provide food and comfort. They would gather to process pumpkin seeds for salad oil "Kernoil". First seeds were removed from the pumpkins and dried. The pumpkin flesh that wasn't eaten (often made into a cream soup or baked with sour cream) became feed for livestock. After drying, the seeds were sprinkled with water which caused them to split. The husk was then removed and the inner seed bagged. They were taken to a mill where they were roasted and pressed. The resultant oil has a distinctive flavor and is a great favorite. Very expensive when purchased. Enough was made to provide the family with their yearly salad oil needs. Wagon loads of corn would be husked with the help of neighbors, friends and relatives. Usually the work would be completed in one evening but sometimes it carried over to the following day if the harvest was an especially good one. On average there would be 20 people on hand. The whole thing turned into a sort of social affair, people would tell jokes and stories. It was so much fun that you hardly took notice that around 10 pm the huge pile of corn that everyone had been sitting on at 6:30, had dwindled away to almost nothing. Afterwards, there was usually a little new cider or wine, apples and bread. In a few days, the whole thing would be repeated at another house. As for removing the kernels from the cob, that was often done in mid winter when farm work was not quite so pressing. You would press two cobs together to start loosening the kernels, once started the kernels came off the cob quite easily. Some was fed to animals but most was ground into corn flour, out of which many tasty dishes were made. Large quantities of "down" were required to fill pillows and comforters. A true down comforter is a marvelous thing on a cold night. The down (very fine feathers) was prepared by removing the side feathers from the larger central feather quill. A fingernail was used. When it gets too warm, you shake all the feathers to one side of the comforter and use the cover as a sheet. (The recently published book "Zahling" has a picture of women preparing down). Quilting and sewing were other group projects, the ladies with their children rotating through all of the homes in the village so that everyone received help with their busy work. Naturally refreshments were available and gossip, songs and stories enlivened the work. Gertrude says that falling asleep to the murmur of adult voices in the shadows cast by oil lamp light gave one a wonderful feeling of comfort and security. Field work was an all day venture and a lunch and liquid refreshment were carried. I showed Gertrude a small antique pottery bottle from the Güssing area and she said she carried water in one just like it, closed with a cork. In late 1945, the thunder of Russian and Wehrmacht artillery came ever closer to Heiligenkreuz. (One Russian Army Group swung south of Budapest to Lake Balaton, then split and swung west to the Austrian border.) When the flash of the guns was finally seen, Gertrude's mother gathered her children and went to an Aunt's home in Poppendorf just a few kilometers west. A fortunate decision on her part. Gertrude says that load noises made her tremble for years and once when her picture was being taken she cried because she thought she was going to be shot. Heiligenkreuz is an important crossroads border village and was an important military objective, probably the first in southern Austria. The Germans defended it. The village was shelled, burned and heavily damaged. There were civilian casualties among those who didn't leave. Their names can be found on the war memorial. Poppendorf, much smaller and not near a crossroad, escaped much damage, although the next two villages, Eltendorf and Konigsdorf were shelled. When the fighting moved west, the Schlener family returned to their home to find it bullet scarred, damaged and full of holes. Most of their possessions were broken or gone. A creased photo was one memento recovered from the mud of battle. The bad times, the hungry times started. For a short time their home was the office of the Russian "Kommandanteur". Much trauma, partially relieved by the slow return of the men from the military. For some time there was nothing to buy, nothing to eat. Everything was in a state of chaos. The Russians were of some help but they did what they pleased. Some packages began arriving from relatives and friends in the United States and were much appreciated. Finally early in the early 1950's, the Schlener family had enough, decided to leave the old "Heimat" and emigrated to the United States. We discussed the present situation in Burgenland. How prosperous it seems to be, automobiles, roads, evidence of plenty, everything neat and well maintained, modern conveniences-a far cry from 1945. A Phoenix reborn from the chaos of war. I wonder if the villagers still socialize with busy work? I did see a group of Poppendorf ladies processing pumpkin seeds as late as 1993. Hope it continues. I'd gladly exchange television for some old fashioned socializing. SOME THOUGHTS ON HIANZISCH & "ALTER SPRACH" (Fritz Königshofer, Albert Schuch, Yvonne Lockwood responding to a thread initiated by your editor) ED. Question: This prompts a question concerning Hianzisch or Burgenländische as Dr. Dujmovits calls it. Is it an early form of German dialect which has been corrupted like Pennsylvania Dutch (with an admixture of Hungarian and Croatian) or is it a pure remainder of the original dialect spoken by the germanic colonists who migrated to the Burgenland many years ago? If the latter, wouldn't we be able to find the main region of their origin by looking for the place where that dialect was used? I believe Albert said it was similar to dialects in use in south Bavaria. What about that used in the Graz region of Styria? The mountain regions of Styria and Lower Austria? I've also recently read that the Croatian used by Burgenlanders is a purer form of Croatian than that used by the Croatians of Dalmatia (the homeland). (Yvonne, do you agree with this?). Could it be that Hianzisch has also remained pure? Fritz writes: Greetings from Budapest, where I am unfortunately only today and quite tired from the long journey from Almaty. To my limited knowledge (and leaving the more erudite explanations to Albert), the Heanzisch dialect is German throughout, i.e., not mixed with Hungarian or Croat words. In my youth, I read with great enjoyment the poems by an author Ponstingl (don't recall his first name), who might still be alive. I believe he wrote the poems, or most of them in Heanzisch. The problem with the Styrians (and other Austrians except those in the Vorarlberg) is that they also originated in Bavaria and Franconia. The German settlement of Styria happened not too much earlier than the settlement of what is now Southern Burgenland. The area where the Königshofers come from, namely Ratten in Northeast Styria, was only cleared for settlement (Ratten = Roden which means "cleared land") after the turn of the first millenium. Therefore, the Heanzisch might have had as much chance for further development into a separate dialect, as had the Styrian, which (for us in Styria and for other Austrians) is very different in sounds from the Bavarian, yet retained many words in common. According to the discussions I had with my father, I believe that the origin of the Heanzen is still a matter of debate. However, one of the first overlords of Güssing was a Heinz or Henzo of Wildon (Wildon lies south of Graz and has an old castle hill, now in waste). One theory for the name Heanzisch relates the word itself to this Heinz of Wildon, who is said to have brought settlers with him -- which would have to be from the region to the south of Graz -- when he assumed the reign over the Güssing area. A perusal of my little atlas of the German language revealed very little on the question of the Burgenland dialects. For the most part, this area clearly forms part of the southern German dialects, and is even not distinguished in words and forms from the Eastern part of Austria. The maps are also not detailed enough to show any difference between Northern and Southern Burgenland, though we know this difference does exist. The only major deviation I noted was in the form -ui- for the vocal -u-, such as Muider (for mother), which is -ua- in the adjoining parts of Austria, like Muader. The form -ui- is otherwise only documented for the northern part of Lower Austria, i.e., the northern Weinviertel, but I doubt that this implies any deeper connection. I asked my father and he essentially said the same thing as Albert, namely that Heanzisch included some words from the Hungarian language. He particularly mentioned words used in football (soccer) playing. No Croatian word in Heanzisch came to his mind. Albert writes: Hianzisch does include words of Hungarian origin - this I know for sure. I am not sure about Croatian, but I think there will also be some words. I don't think that all the original colonists came from one single place. Also, the German dialects of Burgenland vary from region to region. For instance, the language in the Raab valley has a few special characteristics. Poet Josef Reichl (who had traveled quite a lot in his younger years) wrote in 1912 in an article on the Raab valley, that the language spoken there reminded him of the language spoken in or near Frankfurt am Main. The Burgenland area was never totally separated from the adjacent Styrian and Lower Austrian territory. There were certainly social contacts at any time. The Hianzen-name first appeared in print in 1778, when Slovakian-born geographer Johann Matthias Korabinsky published his "Almanach von Ungarn auf das Jahr 1778". Therein he wrote about an area called "Hienzey" in the Güns (Koszeg) area. Spelling varies between Hienzen - Heanzen - Hianzen - Heinzen. I wrote about the inclusiion of Hungarian words in my answer to Gerry. The full name of the Hianzen author is Hans Ponstingl. I think he was born in the Jennersdorf area. He died in 1977, aged 67. The Burgenland has to be divided into several separate dialect areas. I mentioned the Raab valley. Another example is the Seewinkel (Lake Corner): It is not easy for me to understand people from let's say the Seewinkel village Apetlon. An example: For 11 (eleven) we (in the south) say: "(l)v" or "(l)ve". In Apetlon they say "alave" - very similar to English. Yvonne Lockwood reponds: As a trained folklorist/historian (with only a bit of work in linguistics) I have some thoughts on language change that I'd like to express here. Change is not always negative (Ed. question had negative connotations)....Language is a part of culture and as such, changes as does culture. These continue to meet the needs of the people they serve. As long as there are folks who understand and share these cultural expressions, they live. Nothing is static.... As for the Croatian dialects in the Burgenland, they still maintain much of the linguistic structure of the language before the major language shifts that took place in what is Croatia today back in ca. 16C. The reason being that for the first centuries there probably wasn't much (if any) contact between the immigrants and their linguistic peers in the south. The Croatian dialects of today's Gradiscanski Hrvati contain a large number of German words. And in some areas and within some families German has made deep inroads. I know families where the wife had to literally brush up her Croatian in order to speak with me (whose German is that of a babe), while her husband spoke a pure Croatian (i.e., he always knew the Croatian word, even though in everyday speech he and the other villagers used a German word instead) and often had to give her that word. As for their children, one taught grammar school English and Croat Croatian (and her Burgenland Croatian is excellent as well), one spoke some Burgenland Croatian but was primarily a German speaker (she later married a local whose identity as a B.Croatian was strong and she has since relearned Croatian, which is now their first language). There is still a debate among the intellectuals about whether their literary language shouldn't be Croat's Croatian, but I have noticed a prevalence of Burgenland Croatian in the weekly newspaper, the periodicals, the Kalendar, and books. Given that sto, ca, and kaj are all present, they are also all represented in print from time to time. I am hoping that the literary language embraced is Burgenland. Yes, Gerry, it is a beautiful language to the ear (even with the German words, despite what the purists say). It is an absolute pleasure to talk with octogenarians (plus) and hear their speech (and often they use a lot of Hungarian words). You referred to the language as Croatian (Serbo-Croatian). It is Croatian. (Scholars from Croatia (Serbia) have considerable trouble understanding Burgenland Croatian at first. There is a learning process for them, albeit shorter than folks from other languages.) Serbo-Croatian is the official language of the former Yugoslavia. S-C is now a political term. Though Croatian and Serbian of the former Yugoslavia are virtually the same (it IS one language, from a linguistic point of view), with the breakup of the country, the languages of the respective countries are called Croatian and Serbian. Croatia proper is attempting to actively change/adapt their language so that it differs as much from Serbian as possible. Their language police are creating new words like their lives depend on it. I should add also that all Burgenland Croatians speak German (high and local dialect) and many, especially older ones, speak some Hungarian. The older farmers used to laughingly tell me that they speak the local German dialect to their cattle, because that's what the cattle understood (or stated another way, that's all it was fit for!). But this has to do with being an unrecognized (for centuries) minority in a sea of German speakers and striking back in the only way possible at that time. That sentiment was stated in the 1970s, and a lot has happened in terms of ethnic recognition and rights in Austria since then. Well, this has been a wonderful diversion from my current focus of Arab American culture (an exhibit I have curated). Thanks! END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD