BB News No. 51 dtd 31 Jan 1999

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 51 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) JANUARY 31, 1999 (all rights reserved) "Only a genealogist regards a step backwards as progress." ***NOTICE-THERE WILL BE NO FEB. 15 NEWSLETTER-NEXT ISSUE FEB 28*** This first section of the 3-section newsletter contains: - historical material concerning the villages of Rudersdorf and Dobersdorf, - Origins of Szentpéterfa, Hungary, - continuation of Emigration Articles From The Volksfreund (5 of 5), and - A Long Return Home, the story of one immigrant's long journey. VILLAGES OF RUDERSDORF & DOBERSDORF (from the Father Leser Series, Extracts & Translations by Burgenland Editor Albert Schuch) 50) Rudersdorf Around 1600, possible settlement by expelled Styrian Lutherans. Families listed in 1750 Urbarium: 17 BAUER; 7 BRUNNER, SCHNECKER, KÖNIG; 6 UNGER; 5 WINTER, SOPPER; 4 LUIPESPECKER; 3 STROBL, WAGNER, HEIBERGER, MONDSCHEIN, EICHINGER; 2 KOBER, DEUTSCH, KNIEDL, FREISMUTH, LEWITSCH, HOLLER, BRAUN, HIERTZER, KOHL, SCHMALDIENST; 1 TALKNER, GRAFF, ROSMANN, KRITTLER, REICHL, PAMER, SCHOBER, HEIMAT, KRIEGER, ROTHBRAUN, FEIERTAG, GANTZFUSZ, WOLF, TRETTER, KAINZ, KARNER, TASCHLER, KREUTZER, SCHULTER, HEIDENWOLF, ROTH, FISCHL, WIRTH, CHRISTIAN, HÜTTER, MANDL, KAINDL, WEBER. Fires in 1857 and 1863 (with 20-30 burned houses). Number of inhabitants: 1802: 618 Catholics, 230 Lutherans; 1832: 1030 C, 206 L; 1856: 930 C, 230 L; 1930: 1234 C, 323 L. Catholics belonged to Deutsch Kaltenbrunn parish until 1928, have their own parish since this year. Catholic teachers: Michael KÖNIG (-1872), Andreas SCHLGEL (1872-74), Josef NIKO (1874-1907), Matthias TOMSCHITSCH (1907-14), Alois POPP (1914-30), in 1930 also Elisabeth MODLY and Otto ROTH. Lutherans belong to Eltendorf parish since 1783. Lutheran teachers: Johann ERNST (1886-93), Johann KARNER (1893-1930). Dr. Medardus Josef KOHL, born 5 Nov 1859 in Rudersdorf # 5 became a bishop in Hungary. The establishment of an independent Catholic parish was only made possible by his donations. He died in 1928. (source: V+H Nr. 3-4/1959) 51) Dobersdorf Possible settlement of expelled Styrian Lutherans around 1600 (from Fürstenfeld?). Families listed in the 1750-Urbarium: 6 LEITGEB; 5 TALKNER; 4 UNGER, WAGNER; 3 KRAMMER, KUKTIZ; 2 KOHL, BAUER, WIRTH, LENZ, SITZWOHL, LORENZ, FANDL; 1 REICHL, FREISMUTH, HARTNER, SCHWARZ, POSCH, FENES, ZACH, PRINOL, RUIDORFER, GOLDTSCHMIDT, HAUSER, EICHINGER, SCHIMPEL, HEBER, HALMAN, WEINHOFER, SCHREINER, KAINZ, FRISCH, STEIF, SCHULTER, MONDSCHEIN, GIBISER, PUICHL, RUSS, GRABNER. Söllner families: 2 REICHL, UNGER, SCHIMPL, POHNER, LEITGEB, KOHL; 1 WIRTH, MONDSCHEIN, PUICHL, KRANAVET, WAGNER, ASTL, GIBISER. (Catholic) teachers: Matthias TAUCHER (1777, born in Litzelsdorf); Georg GODHARD (1788), Bartholomus PEHM (1812), PERGER (1817), Matthias SEIDENSCHMIED (died 1824), Matthias BISCHOF (1826-32), Johann BERGER (1858), Karl WEHOFSITS (1863-72), BABITS, Johann BISCHOF, Johann FANDL (1884-1922), Franz ZOTTER (1923-30; from Königsdorf); second teachers: Franz THALER (1909-20), Florian KNAUS (1920-23), Georg SAGMEISTER (1923-30). (source: V+H Nr. 4/1959) ORIGINS OF SZENTPÉTERFA, HUNGARY - A SUMMARY OF FINDINGS TO DATE (from Croatian Corresponding Editor Frank Teklits) The following information can be added to the growing base of material concerning Szentpéterfa. Perhaps over time, with the continuing effort of many others, it may someday be possible to pinpoint an area, or perhaps a village, within Croatia from which the ancestors of this village may have emigrated. There are certain references from Dr. Dobrovich's text Burgenländische Forshungen, which is in the process of being translated, that mention specific areas of Croatia from which our ancestors may have migrated into Burgenland. For the most part, these references have been shared in the past with other BB members who are interested in the town of Szentpéterfa, also known as Prostrum, and Petrovo Selo. Some of the more salient references taken from Prof. Dobrovich's text follow: We can distinguish five groups of settlements in the space of the former Domains of Güssing, Eberau, and Körmend among the old homesteads of the Croatians settled in the 16th century. Most Croatian villages were situated and are still situated today in the center of the Strem Valley up to the small Hungarian town named Körmend. Besides these, there are still three smaller and one larger group of settlements. The sources for (including) these settlements are: Outline from the History of Güssing up to the End of the 16th century by Zimanyi Vera; Burgenland Research, Eisenstadt, 1963; The Settlement of the District of Güssing, by J. Schwarz, Graz 1951; The Croatian Settlement in the Southeast German Border Area, Vienna 1949; the Conscriptio (tax records owed to the King) of the Eberau Domain of 1617; the Urbar of the Güssing Domain of 1635 and occasional Zehentverzeichnisse (a tenth part of the harvest tax register) of the County of Eisenburg of 1563. The following pure or predominantly Croatian villages were in neighboring Hungary: Kroatisch Schützen, Prostrum, Kroatisch Nadalja, Harasztifalu, Berkifalu, and Gross Kulken, all together a total of 6 villages. Prostrum and Grosskulken were predominantly Croatian in 1698. The Urbar of 1603 from Körmend shows the localities of Kroatisch Nadalja, Berkifalu, and Harasztifalu to be founded solely by Croatians. The first Croats of these villages came from the region of Moslavina, Roviste, Raca, and Koprivnica, and were settled here after 1545 by the Erdödy family. A second group came between 1557 and 1561. After the fall of Kostajnica, Nicholas Zrinyi led the move from his Estates into this region also. The traces of these Croats settled by Zrinyi in the Domain of (Vep) Weppendorf from 1557 until 1561 have been totally obscured. We know nothing of them. Peter Erdödy completed an agreement with Nicholas Zrinyi on February 12, 1557, in which the Zrinyi Domains of Eberau, Rotenturm and Csatar in the County of Zala were transferred in exchange for the Castle of Medvedgrad near Zagreb (Agram) and Rakonok (Rakovac) in the Slavonian county of Kreuz (Krizevci). The royal Curia decided in 1612 that the heirs of Zrinyi had to transfer the Domains of Eberau and Rotenturm, and all accessories to the Erdödy family in return for the castles of Medvedgrad and Rakonok, plus a payment of 12,000 florins redeeming an old loan. Erdödy had already settled Croats in the Domains of Rotenturm and Eberau from the area of Moslavina, and several years later from the territories of Roviste, Raca, and Kopreinitz. Nicholas Zrinyi, his successor, led his Croats from Slavonia in 1557-1561 to the Estates of Eberau, Rotenturm and Vep (in Hungary). These were from the area of Kostajnica and Hrastovica. A direct, and poignant, reference is made to Petrovo Selo in the following footnote: In the Chapter: The Immigration of our Croats into today's Burgenland and in the Neighboring Lands, we said, that the population of Kostainica migrated as far as Hrastovica (a community around Petrinje) after the surrender of Kostainica in the year 1556. The villages of Hrastovica and Petrovo Selo point towards the old home town. Teklits Note: The village of Hrastovica is located approximately 15 km west- northwest of Kostainica, suggesting the flight of the Croats from the Turks in the general direction of Zagreb. A Croatian village named Stari (Old) Petrovo Selo is located approximately 35 km due east of Kostainica. Another Croatian village with the name of Licko Petrovo Selo is located 60 km west- southwest of Zagreb. In the course of recent weeks, several messages containing relevant information pertaining to Szentpéterfa have been received from members of the BB. In June 1998, I wrote to Fr. Johann Schneller, the Pastor of Szentpéterfa, asking him for the earliest dated church records in his parish, whether his parish was a Filiale, and if so, what was the name of the Host Church, and does that church have records dating back prior to 1682. While waiting for a response, a source with strong familial connections to Szentpéterfa provided the following information: I got some great news for you. My Uncle Andy told me that during the St. Peter & Paul Church's (Ed note: in Szentpéterfa) 750th anniversary celebration that was held at Petrovo Selo (Ed Note: Croatian name for Szentpéterfa) in 1996, a priest from Austria mentioned that before Petrovo Selo had its own priest (before circa 1650), the priest would periodically visit from Eberau, Austria (located 1.5 kilometers away from Petrovo Selo). I was told that if a child was to be christened, the parents would have to take that child to Eberau, or wait until the priest came to visit Petrovo Selo. This information was shared with Fr. Reicher, Matthew Kurtz, (fellow BB members) and Judith Garger, a recent immigrant from Szentpéterfa. Shortly after receiving this information, Fr. Reicher, a member of the BB, received the following information from a meeting with Fr. Schneller in Burgenland: After the market we drove to Horvatlovo-Krowatischschützen to meet with Ferencz and Maria Schneller. Fery is the brother of Johann Schneller, the priest from Szentpéterfa. We had an enormous dinner there and after lunch Fr. Johann came by. We had a very nice conversation with him and I tried to ask him about some of your concerns and questions. The original church in the area, built around 1221, withstood a siege by Tartars in 1245, but was heavily damaged. The churches in this area were originally a part of the Salzburg diocese. That does make some sense since, on Lake Bled in Slovenia, there is a large palace overlooking the lake that belonged to the Archbishop of Salzburg. According to Fr Schneller, Croatians made their first appearance in this area about 450 years ago. The present St. Peter church was built by a knight by the name of Berchtold Ellerbach around 1475. It was a Gothic structure, primarily stone, but with a wooden nave. The church in town, dedicated to St. Stephen, is of much more recent origin, only about 150 years old. In 1735, St. Peter suffered a fire and the wooden portion was destroyed. Rebuilding started and that is when the rebuilt section took on its present Baroque style. Incidentally the altar in the church was from a convent closed by Joseph II. You know that Emperor Joseph secularized a lot of church property and closed monasteries and convents, prompting a visit to Vienna by the Pope of that time. Over the last number of years, Fr. Schneller has been slowly renovating this ancient church. He has done a magnificent job. According to Fr. Schneller, the parish of St. Peter has never been a filiale. It has always been selbstständig, the principal church in the area, being responsible for the surrounding parishes in Eberau, St. Kathrein, Kulm, etc. However, he did say that, for a time, Eberau was the political center of the area. Perhaps that might be the origin of the thought that Eberau was also the church center of the area. Fr. Schneller mentioned that he has records dating back to 1681. (That is one year earlier than your estimate, but obviously you are both on the same page). The aristocrat Berchtold Ellerbach founded a monastery in 1460 or 1473 in Kulm. His widow Barbara and sons Johann and Stefan, who made the monastery a valued property gift, completed the building in 1482. The monastery also found other benefactors. On February 5, 1558, Nicholas Zrinyi and Peter Erdödy destroyed the cloister and acquired its possessions. On August 14, 1559, the General of the Order of St. Paul complained that Nicholas Zrinyi and Peter Erdödy had torn down the Monastery of Kulm and confiscated its property. The general also complained that he had been forced to sell Hagensdorf, because Zrinyi threatened to kill him." I forwarded this information to Matthew Kurtz, who provided the following substantive input, with minor editing on my part: Recently I was at a party where Andy Skrapits was present. He told me the story that his nephew Joe Skrapits contacted someone in Croatia by Internet and found out that around Sebenica (Sibenic), Croatia, on the Adriatic sea, there is a small place where people call themselves Skrapich-es. There is a high probability that Skrapits-es in Szentpéterfa migrated from that place. If this happens to be true, that supports the idea that the Croats in Petrovo-Selo did not come from one place, but rather from various places. They settled down in Szentpéterfa, perhaps with a Croatian speaking priest. The Church in Szentpéterfa was always the Mater (Mother, Main) Church, and also had Filiale-es (Ed Note: a Filiale is a subsidiary church, referred to in the US as a Mission Church). These Filiales were: Monyorokerek (Eberau), Kolom (Kulm), Tothfalu (Faluba)(Winten), Szent Katalin, Horvathasas (Kroatische Ehrensdorf), Hovardos (Harmisch) Pokolfalu, and Abdaloc (Eisenberg). In 1804, Szent Katalin established their own parish with the following Filiales: Abdaloc, Hovardos and Horvat-Hasas. From this time forward, these villages were no longer Filiales to Szentpéterfa. In 1905, Monyorokerek (Eberau) become an independent parish and, from this point in time, Szentpéterfa no longer had any Filiales. Uncle Andy probably confused the Church Registry with the Civic Registry. The Church Registry was always in Szentpéterfa. A priest from Szentpéterfa said a Mass in Szentpéterfa, in Monyorokerek (Eberau), and on high holy days in Szent Katalin. The Civic Town Clerk was located in Monyorokerek (Eberau) until the partition of Hungary, when Eberau become part of Burgenland, Austria. (I remember around 1930 when a couple went together to Eberau to get civic birth certificates that it was the first sign that they planned to get married.) The Eberau fortress (castle) has an interesting story. When the Croats settled in Szentpéterfa, most of them at that time were illiterate, so they translated the surrounding village names into their own dialect. For example, Szombathely became known as Sambatel, Körmend as Kermend, Kertes as Kartezs, Saroslak as Sereslak, etc. There were two exceptions: Szentpéterfa was translated from Hungarian to Croatian as Petrovo-Selo; Monyorokerek (Eberau) was translated not by hearing, but rather from sight. The fortress (castle) was visible from Szentpéterfa by naked eyes, so they started to call it Varos, and until today, it is still called Varos. Var means in Hungarian Fortress-Castle. The reason why (there are) church records prior to 1681 remains to be determined. Attempts will be made to contact Fr. Schneller via familial connections living in Szentpéterfa. It is vital to establish the whereabouts of these records, as they would most probably contain references to the Croatian villages from which they emigrated. The small towns of Guttenbach, St. Kathrein and Harmisch already existed before the settlement of the Croats and are newly Croatian. The Konskription (tax records owed to the King) of Eberau from the year 1617 says that St. Kathrein is virtually Croatian. Harmisch was purely Croatian in the years 1698 and 1720. Two small towns on the right bank of the River Pinka are mentioned, which were Croatian according to Visitation from 1698. These are Edlitz and Kulm that were newly founded by Croats. Kroatisch-Schützen, situated east of Deutsch Schützen, and located on the Hungarian side, was almost entirely Croatian. Five Croatian villages, Prostrum, Grosskulken, Kroatisch-Nadalja, Berkifalu and Harasztifalu, are situated in Hungary close to the border with Burgenland. EMIGRATION ARTICLES FROM THE "VOLKSFREUND" (no. 5 of 5) (Ed. Note: this is the last of the emigration articles written for the Szombathely "Volksfreund" at the turn of the century by Adolf Königshofer. Adolf was the school teacher in Poppendorf as well as a contributing columnist. He was a learned man of much erudition who recorded the tempo of the unsettled emigration years. Of immense interest to me is the fact that he succeeded my own g-grandfather Emil Langasch as school teacher of this village. The articles were found in the National Library in Budapest, extracted and translated by Adolf's great-grandson, our Austrian Contributing Editor, Fritz Königshofer. We owe Fritz a lot of thanks for his efforts and for sharing them with us. These articles portray both the hope and pathos of the Burgenland "Auswanderung" in a way that is as clear to us today, one hundred years later, as it was to our ancestors. I wish more of these articles existed but we are fortunate that these have survived.) Fritz writes: Gerry, as I had already written to you, this was the last article Adolf wrote about the subject of emigration. The reason why he gave up writing on his previously pre-eminent subject of interest might have been the fact that in about 1908 or 1909, one of his own children, second-born Adelheid, had left for the United States. As Adolf had described in his earlier articles, she married almost as soon as she had settled in the Milwaukee area, and as he had most likely feared (and also written about before), she never returned to see her father and home soil again. Adelheid, married Schmitz, died in 1912, after giving birth to two daughters, Marie and Adeline. In 1914, the third-born child Emery also emigrated and settled in Allentown. Best regards, Fritz. From Der Volksfreund, 27 February 1909, page 4: A Woman's Odyssey. "Several years ago, a healthy and strong man emigrated from the Lafnitz valley to America. He had been blessed with many children, but his farm was small. Therefore, he had taken the walking stick in his hands and had left, with the goal to better fend for his family from (by going to) America. Year upon year, he took on the heaviest labors, faced the great heat at the blast furnaces, so that his hands started to look like they were seared. Diligently, he frequently sent money, and yet more money, back to his loved ones; from these remittals, his wife paid the debts and cared for the little ones. However, man gets old, body strength lessens, and this also happened to our poor emigrant. The money transfers became smaller, because he was no longer able to earn as much as before. At this point, he decided to take a daring step, namely, to let his family join him in America. The mother and the 5 children went on the long journey to the United States. It needs to be mentioned that one of the children was a 15 year old cripple who was unable to stand on his legs; this one was also taken on the journey. Dear reader, please just think about the boundless love of the mother! They all arrived safely in Wien (Vienna) where the marching instructions were given to them. They traveled by train, reaching Hamburg without a hitch. There they boarded a freighter that took them to Liverpool (England), from where they traveled over the wide ocean to America on another freighter. At arrival, they found themselves unable to understand anybody. They faced the greatest hardships, hunger and thirst. Someone tried to smuggle them into the United States, but the attempt failed. One day, they once again had to board a ship, not knowing where it was headed. For God's sake, the woman thought, will I ever see my husband? Off they sailed, again through many nights and through fog, until the ship one day stopped in a harbor; they had arrived in the Republic of Virginia (South America) [sic]. (Obviously the southern part of America was meant). 'In this harbor city' (Norfolk?)-- she told -- 'there were only black people, and once again, not a soul who would have understood me. Therefore, I stayed with my children on the ship. Only once I visited the town, where I could see heaps of melons, oranges, figs, etc., and where the heat was so huge that it was unbearable. Otherwise I was not afraid, except for the fear of us being sold to somebody somewhere. Then, one day out of the blue, a gentleman came on the ship and asked me in best German whether I am this or that person. When this man talked to me in German, I began to weep and cry of joy, and I cannot even recall anymore in detail what I had felt at that moment. It had been the first time since leaving Hamburg that I had heard German.' 'Dear lady', said the man, 'don't cry. You will see your husband shortly. You come with me on a New York pleasure steamer where you will have a cabin. Please just stay quiet with your children. When we arrive in New York, you follow me. I will take you to an inn, where you can await the arrival of your husband.' 'And so it went. After a long sailing, we moved into New York, without anybody having touched or harmed me; my husband was called to me by telephone, and the joy of reunion was an immense and happy one. Within short time, we had completely recovered from the 3 months of journey, but I must say that I had endured much pain and hurt, especially with my poor sick child.' Meanwhile, some more years have passed, and today the family is back in their old home country, experiencing again the pains and joys as before the emigration. A few of their children are buried in foreign soil, but the poor cripple rests in a grave in his native country." [end of series] A LONG RETURN HOME (by G. Berghold) Having read the Volksfreund emigration articles with their mention of returns to the Burgenland, I'm reminded of a strange case I experienced while growing up in Allentown, PA. My grandmother, Hedwig Mühl Sorger, and her twin sister, Fannie Mühl Wallitsch Holzer, emigrated in 1905 with their mother, Johanna Pöltl Mühl, from Güssing. After the death of her first husband, Sam Wallitsch, Fannie and her second husband, Charles Holzer, had the West End Hotel at the corner of Ruch & Oak Streets in Stiles, PA (West Coplay), north of Allentown. We visited often. The property was very nice, a large Victorian building with side porches, and an old carriage house barn, surrounded by landscaped grounds. "Aunt Fannie" and "Uncle Charlie" were favorite relatives who filled us kids with draft birch beer, bar pretzels and other goodies. Stiles was the home of many Burgenland immigrants, most of whom worked in the cement mills and frequented the hotel. One such immigrant was a man whose family was still in the Burgenland. His name was Charlie Nikles and he emigrated some time in the 1920's or early 1930's. He was something of a local character but a reliable worker at the cement plant. He sent money home to his family and lived rather rough, the local men having built him a cabin (some called it a shack). When not working he could be found at the Hotel, occupying a corner of the bar where he would greet all and sundry. My great aunt saw to it that he ate well and that he kept himself presentable. He had much respect for her and was something of a hotel fixture. The years flew by, the old people passed on and the Hotel changed hands. Charlie became eligible for Social Security after WW-II and, while I don't know the details, with help from the locals he finally returned to southern Burgenland where we were told his wife still awaited him after so many years. There was a strange aftermath. My second cousin Raymond and his father Adolf Burkhardt (he and his wife Hilda had become owners of the Hotel) took a trip to southern Burgenland in the 1950's to see the village where Adolf was born (Klein Mürbisch). Adolph had emigrated as young child. While driving into a village, who should they see but Charlie Nikles, neatly attired, strolling down the street at mid-day, apparently without a care in the world. They called out "wo ist die Coplay Männerchor" (where is the Coplay men's club?). He replied "muss Coplay, Amerika gehen" (you must go to Coplay, America). They laughed and he recognized them, was astounded to see them and invited them to his home. When they asked him about his wife, he said "She's out in the fields - she must work! (Sie muss schaufen)". Just one of the many stories from the Auswanderung, sad in some respects yet with a happy ending. (Newsletter continued as number 51A)

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 51A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) JANUARY 31, 1999 (all rights reserved) This second section of the 3-section newsletter contains: - Comments Concerning Email, - notification of Web Site Help Obtained, - Church Names, - the Jewish Presence in Eisenstadt, - Changes to A Burgenland Immigrant Enclave, and - Beginning Your Burgenland Search, Part 3. COMMENTS CONCERNING UNWANTED EMAIL In the last two months our membership list has been used by others to send material to all members. One was vetted by me and advance notice was provided through the newsletter, the other was not. Most recently some received a "Scientific Survey" from Austria, of interest to some, unwanted by others. This has caused some members to ask me to put a stop to such mail. Unfortunately I can not do that as I have very little control over someone using our email addresses. When you join the BB, your address becomes available world wide through our web site and our distribution lists. Anyone can copy them. This of course can result in your receiving junk mail or unwanted correspondence. While I can take action to stop our membership list from being used for commercial purposes ("all rights reserved" on BB correspondence means just that) and will not provide it to other organizations without informing the membership, I have neither the time nor the desire to engage in legal or policing actions. Before doing that I'd dissolve the BB and return to private correspondence. Since the editors decide what will appear in the newsletters, we needn't concern ourselves with unwanted material appearing there. Likewise if any of our members engage in continuous and pervasive blanket commercial mailings to the BB without clearing with the editors, we will cancel their membership. There is often a thin line between commercialism and a service or product that may be of value to Burgenland or genealogical research. As editor and coordinator, I must reserve the right to those decisions, but please do not be afraid to forward material to us which you think might be of interest to others. I suggest you make judicious use of the delete button or use your email server's address blocking option to control unwanted mail. I blocked a particular server only to find that a number of potential members using that server had been trying to reach me. As a result, I no longer block but instead delete obvious junk mail without opening it. You may wish to do likewise. AOL also provides a SPAM service in which they will take steps to reduce SPAM from being sent to their members. Your server may do likewise. I hope this clarifies the issue. While I'd like to tell you that you won't receive any more junk mail or items in which you have no interest, I'm afraid that is not possible unless we discontinue our web sites, our membership lists and our distribution lists. If we do that, we destroy the BB. WEB SITE HELP OBTAINED Homepage Editor hap Anderson writes: "Gerry and all, I received two volunteers to help with the BB web site... Dean Wagner and Bill Rudy. Dean has HTML experience and will start immediately. Bill is still learning HTML editing and should be ready to help in March." Our thanks to both of these volunteers. CHURCH NAMES Norm Pihale writes: I'd like to have the name of the Catholic church in each town that I have an interest in. For example: Illmitz............Saint Bartholomew Catholic Church Frauenkirchen......Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church Wallern............Saint Matthew the Evangelist Catholic Church Pamhagen...........Catholic Church of the Crucifixion Halbturn...........Saint Josef Catholic Church I believe these are correct. Is there any way to find the names of Apetlon and Tadten churches? Answer: This is a little harder than village names. I have two sources of church names; "Burgenland Kirchen Kulturdenkmäler" (BKK - forwarded by member Tom Glatz), which is a list of those churches which are considered monuments or are "parish" churches, and the Bezirk books recently issued by Kirsner and Peternell. Unfortunately, I don't have "Bezirk Neusiedl". Apetlon is not in BKK and the phone book doesn't help but BKK lists Tadten as "der Erzengel (Archangel) Michael". As far as I could check, your list is correct. I don't have Illmitz or Pamhagen. I'll run this in the newsletter and maybe someone else can provide an answer. JEWISH PRESENCE IN EISENSTADT I was copied on an answer to new member Aliza Sharon and was intrigued by the historical connotations. Member Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein writes: "(Aliza) I saw your posting about interest in the Burgenland Bunch. You mention in your posting that you are descended from Austerlitz and Spitzer. As you may know, one of the founders of the Jewish community of Eisenstadt was Abraham Spitz (my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-gf) whose wife was an Austerlitz. Some of the Spitz descendants became Spitzer. If you have done some research on the subject, you are probably aware of the book by Bernhard Wachstein on the old Jewish cemetery of Eisenstadt and his two volumes on the old cemeteries of Vienna, in which there is a considerable amount of information about both these families. (I believe also quite a bit about Gompertz, some of whom married into the Spitz descendants.) The Austerlitz family is also mentioned in Hock's book about the old Jewish families of Prague. Editor's Reply: Rabbi Marmorstein, Thank you for copying me on the above reply. Could you perhaps comment on the establishment of the Jewish community in Eisenstadt? Particularly with reference to the earlier periods....Spitzer is also a name common to German Catholics in the south of Burgenland. I assume this is due to naming conventions or the source of the name (a dweller near the peak of a mountain). One of our staff members points out the Austerlitz name as being the name of Fred Astaire, one of Burgenland's few emigrant claims to fame. I associate it with the village site of the Napoleonic battle. I believe it was also the name of a noble family.... Best regards, Gerry Berghold Rabbi Marmorstein's Reply: As in much of central Europe, Jewish residence was restricted in the Burgenland until the end of the 18th century, but those towns which were privately owned, such as Eisenstadt, which was the property of the Esterházy princes, could make their own rules. When the Jews of Vienna were expelled in 1675, gggggggf Abraham Spitz and his wealthier business associate Samson Wertheimer arranged for them to resettle in Eisenstadt. This enabled the Esterházy's, who were a cultured and tolerant bunch, to enlarge their tax base, and the displaced Jews to continue running businesses in the Vienna area. The early transactions of the Eisenstadt Jewish community are preserved in a published book "Urkunden und Akten das Judische Gemeindes Eisenstadt." Around the same time negotiations were successfully concluded allowing Jews to settle in Lackenbach, Deutschkreutz, Mattersdorf (Mattersburg), Kobersdorf, Sopron and Frauenkirchen - these communities became known as the "Sheva Kehillos" (- Hebrew words for Seven Communities). They were extremely large and prominent throughout the 18th century and early 19th. Later, because of the greater number of places where Jews could settle legally, they declined in size and significance. CHANGES TO MAJOR BURGENLAND IMMIGRANT ENCLAVE: ALLENTOWN, PA Burgenland Bunch charter member Sue Straw contacted me recently and her questions set off a train of thought which ended up in this article. Sue writes: Hi, Gerry! I was amazed at the length of the Burgenland Bunch membership list in the latest newsletters. You've really created a wonderful research network for those of us who are researching our Burgenland ancestors. Are you finding that you're related to all the other Berghold researchers with ties to Allentown? I had the chance recently to visit Allentown and Bethlehem when my son went up to interview at Lehigh University. We drove past the enormous (and now closed) Bethlehem steel mills. It must have really been something to see when the steel mills were open and running. As we approached Bethlehem from the south at night, we could see light spilling up from the valley. The valley must have been ablaze with light at night when the steel mills were all operating. (And the air must have been very polluted!) Large segments of Bethlehem -- many neighborhoods -- seem to have built around the same time (turn of the century, I'm guessing) to accommodate the newly arrived immigrant families. Certain streets, judging from their width and location, appear to have had streetcar lines to get workers to their jobs in the valley. It must have been a bustling and energetic place at one time. I found myself wondering what happened to all the people who lost their jobs when the mills closed. Did Bethlehem and Allentown lose a lot of population, or did people just turn to other occupations? Do the two towns still have a strong German flavor or has that been lost as the immigrant generation has died off? I did notice the Moravian influence (and schools) in downtown Bethlehem, but the downtown area was clearly struggling to find a new economic foothold. Ed. Reply: Yes the BB has grown and I hope we can keep it up. Fortunately we're getting a staff put together to share the burden. I have connected to all of the Bergholds as well as some other formerly unknown distant cousins and have also been fortunate in having some of the staff do some research for my lines.... Is your son thinking of going to Lehigh? I'm a member of the class of 1957. The wife and I were married in Packer Chapel. Except for the Coke Works, the Beth. Steel is gone. They're thinking of making a mall out of the plant and leaving all of the structure intact as a museum. Eat a hot dog and see where your immigrant grandfather wrestled with the output of the rolling mills! Not a bad idea. In 1947, on an AHS school trip, I was allowed to tap a blast furnace (pushed a button which sounded a warning klaxon and detonated the explosive furnace plug, causing a roar, a shower of sparks and rivers of steel). I've never forgotten the sight! Allentown-Bethlehem is now becoming a new immigrant enclave, although the small towns to the north (Northampton, Catasauqua, Egypt, Coplay, etc.) are still some what Burgenländisch. People are relocating to the Lehigh Valley from the NYC and northern NJ ethnic regions like they did years ago, mostly Hispanic this time, although there are sprinklings of other ethnic groups including Asian. Not too bad a commute to NY-NJ jobs with the new highways. The Eastern European descendants of immigrants who replaced the Penna. Dutch who replaced the English who replaced the Indians (3 or 4 tribes in turn) are in turn being replaced by a new wave of immigrants. Different cultures - different customs, no strudel or paprika, but Hispanics and Asians have their good food specialties too! The Burgenland section of Allentown (6th 10th, 11th wards) is almost gone. Most of the Burgenland clubs and taverns have closed. The city centers are also changing, like so many others, but late coming to this region. Hamilton Street (main street Allentown), is now pretty derelict, where once it was the place to see and be seen. I met my wife on the escalator in Hess's Department Store at Ninth & Hamilton Sts. We both worked there in the early 1950's. The finest clothing, with many helpful sales people, well groomed shoppers, the latest in all department store goods, afterwards a choice of fine restaurants, ornate movie palaces, ice cream parlors or old style snack shops and taverns. A trolley or bus ride home to a quiet tree lined neighborhood. How nice it was! Now my old neighborhood (the North end) has many properties boarded up, although someone just fixed up my family's old homestead (sold in 1982 after 78 years of the same family). St. Peters Lutheran, home church of many Burgenländers for 100 years, has moved to the western suburbs and the old church is now a mission church which has become a focal point of the new neighborhood just as it was for the old, Spanish language church service instead of a German one. Don't know if the RC Sacred Heart Church at Fourth & Gordon Sts. has replaced their German mass with a Spanish one. When the new immigrants become integrated, it will all come around again. We relocate for a better life style (perhaps we should re-think that) and it can still be found in the Lehigh Valley. Some assimilation already. Lots of changes though. As I remember it, no one seemed to mind steel works pollution, that smell was the smell of money, although when the wind was just right the Coke Works could be pretty pungent and the smoke would turn the snow and a clean white shirt black. Mostly restricted to South Bethlehem. Mass transit service was wonderful. A trolley or bus every 7 or 15 minutes, although I had to run to catch the last midnight trolley from Fountain Hill to Allentown (15 cents) when the wife and I were courting. Otherwise it cost $1.50 for a taxi. Cabbies often said, "cheaper to get married". The reduction in the Steel Works occurred over a period of time following WW-II, so the end didn't appear to be that shattering. Very few of the younger descendants went to work at the Steel. Most found something better. My immigrant Sorger grandfather was a brick laying foreman in the Open Hearth Section, commuting by trolley from Allentown. It eventually killed him (heat stroke); my father worked for the railroad. I went into the Air Force and then college, worked for DuPont in Wilmington. Retired to Winchester. Relocation story of many descendants of older immigrants. Look at the addresses of our members. Many have relocated. The first generation immigrant pays the dues, the second lays the groundwork, the third reaps the rewards, the fourth continues upward mobility or takes it all for granted and the fifth, who knows? One of my granddaughters (BA, Columbia 1998) is working for a publishing house in NYC and living in Greenwich Village. From NYC Ellis Island immigrant back to NYC in five generations, but what a difference in life styles! Some immigrant families have achieved it in less. We had a good life in the Lehigh Valley. Those ethnic neighborhoods were little village enclaves. Shame it had to change, but change is the only permanent thing and the new immigrants need their chance. Always a pleasure to hear from you. BEGINNING YOUR BURGENLAND SEARCH - PART 3 (by G. Berghold) Newsletters 47 and 48 covered certain basic steps required for a Burgenland genealogical search and No. 48 ended with an order of LDS microfilm to be delivered to your local Family History Center. This tells what to do when that film arrives. Plan to spend a full day at the Family History Center and don't forget to bring all of the tools and material mentioned in the last article. Upon arrival at the FHC, ask a volunteer to show you where your film has been filed. Take it to a film reader. If you have a choice (come early) pick a comfortable spot, you'll be there a while. Check each film box with the pink receipt copy you were given to determine if all of your film is available by matching the numbers, film box to receipt. Select the film for the village matching your ancestor's birth place. Load the film onto the reader; ask for help the first time. Advance the film to the first frame. It should show film number, German village name and maybe even Hungarian name, Megye and church. Make sure it matches your receipt. Now advance all the way to the end, stopping every so often to get a feel for the contents. Adjust the reader lens for best magnification and clarity. Use your piece of colored paper to see if it clarifies the picture better than the white surface of the reader. You are now probably in a state of shock and sorry you ever started this business! The image looks like nothing you've ever seen. A bunch of chicken scratching in unreadable languages. Not to worry, it'll soon become clear. Go to the very end of the film and look for an index. It'll be a semi-alphabetized list of names and page numbers or dates. There rarely is an index but if you find one, you are most fortunate and can use it to look for your family names and records. Now go back to the first frame. I'm going to assume you have a pre 1896 record. Post 1896 are civil as opposed to church records and they are more complex. I'll also assume the data is not in script. If it is, advance until the script disappears (abt 1840). If you must use a script record you must learn to read script or find someone to do it for you. You are looking for a heading that says "Taufen" (German) or "Kereszteltek" (Hungarian)- these words mean (baptism). You might also see some variation of the words "Geburt" or "Szlek" (birth). If you don't you might have "Verheiratet" or "hazasultak" (marriage) and "Tod" or "halottak" (death) records instead. (Latin headings may also be used). Advance the film until you find baptisms. You'll also see a year, probably 1828 as well as a month and day in the left hand column. There may be a sequential number in front of the date. This is a record number. Ignore it unless you have an index. Let's assume your ancestor was born in 1879. You are looking for the exact date and parents. Advance the film until you find baptisms for January 1879. Let's assume your ancestor's name was Louis (Alois, Aloysious) Sorger and he was born in Rosenberg (Rosahegy), was RC and you know the RC's of Rosenberg went to church in Güssing (Németújvar) whose records you're now looking at (you found out all this good information by following previous instructions). Now start looking for a given name Aloysious or equivalents under column Keresztneve, born to a Sorger (under column "atya"-or German "Vater"). Under Jan. 16, you find "Alois", born Jan. 16, baptized Jan. 16, father "Aloysius Sorger" szul. (born) Rosahegy, a "figula" (potter) , mother Julianna szul. (born) Tarfass in P-Mindszent, from Rosahegy. Looking closer you find nr. 225 in front of Rosahegy, this is a house number, remember it. The parents ages (eletkorya) are 41 and 33. There are also some names under a column called "Kereszt Atyas es Anyai". These are the godparents. In the last column you find the priest's name. Have this frame copied (see volunteer) or hand copy everything you see. If the copy isn't clear, keep it as proof and copy by hand for clarity. Mark the appropriate line with a high liter of some sort. DO THIS FOR EVERY RECORD YOU FIND! If you don't you'll be ordering the film again and again. There may be more information on this record such as "standing (status)" or occupation of the parents or god parents, sex of child, whether illegitimate or not, even the dreaded X which means the child died. You can use your dictionary later to translate all of this. FHC time is too precious to spend translating. We have the start of a genealogical ball of string in our hands and now is the time to unravel it. We now know that Alois's father Aloysious was age 41 in 1879. This means he was born between 1837 and 1839, so go to baptisms for 1837 and start searching for him. Sure enough on May 17, 1838 we find Aloysius Sorger born Rosahegy to Mathyas Sorger age 28, born Szt Miklos and Magdalena Horvath age 33 born Rosahegy. Since we don't have records from 1809-1811, we can't trace Mathyas' or Magdalena's birth. But we've found two more generations. We might trace the mother Juliana Tarafas, but we remember she was born in P-Mindzent (we later find this stands for Pinka Mindszent, a village nearby-now in Hungary and we eventually order film and trace it the same way). Now, we must assume there were more children so we go forward nine months at a time looking for the same parents from the same place, maybe the same house number. We find three more a little over a year apart. Three siblings to add our family! Now lets go back a few years and do the same thing. We find an Aloysius Sorger and a Seraphina Schleder who had five children all at nr 225 Rosahegy. Must be our Aloysius because the age tallies as well as the house number. What is going on? The last child is even named Aloysius! But wait, we find he died on the same day he was born (a cross appears on his birth record or we check the death records for that last child) and we then also find Seraphina's death. Julianna Tarafas must be Aloysius' second wife. We prove it when we find their marriage later in the Pinka Mindzent records. (The film number is found by looking under Hungary- Vas- Pinkamindszent-church records). Looking in the Güssing marriage records ("hazasultak") we find that Aloysious and Serafina were married 13 Sep 1868. The marriage record also supplies Serafina's parents and corroborates Aloysious' parents. We can't find a marriage to Julianna (for reason stated above). We've done well and we have another film (P-Minszent) to order, but it is still early and we have the Güssing film for 5 more weeks. What should we do. Well lets find all of the siblings and trace them forward for at least one more generation. Lets link to other families by their marriage. Start with Serafina and the Schleder family (mother name Terezia Vider). Eventually we should also copy all Sorger records since Aloysious had many brothers and sisters (while Sorger is not a common name we find this a large task and that to accomplish it we must create a computer data base which groups by family, using names and house numbers) and link them. Same with allied families. We should try to find all marriages and scan all death records. In looking at death records we find that Mathyas Sorger died at nr 225 Rosahegy, that he too was a "figula" and that he was the son of "figula" Georgious Sorger from Langzahl and Ursala Artinger from Inzenhoff! Another generation and another family (Artinger) to try to link and more villages. We find that Georgious died 13 April 1853 at nr 225 Rosahegy and that he was the son of Gyorgy Sorger. Another generation. Since the ages were given on the death records we even have an abt (about) birth date as well as "status-standing" and cause of death. Before releasing the microfilm you should make every effort to copy the available birth (baptism), marriage and death record for at least all of your blood line family members. Some other Hungarian words often used: "a törvényes atya" - the legal father "lakóhelye" - place of residence "szüléteshelye" - place of birth "eletkorya" - age "Az anya" - the mother "haz" - house (number) "ideje" - date "nap" - day "gyermek" - child "neme" - sex ("fiú" - boy, "lany" - girl) Member Margaret Kaiser advises that many of the words used in these records are defined at: The URL - http:www.bmi.net/jjaso - contains English-Hungarian-Latin translations of Baptism, Marriage and Death Records. Anna Kresh has also added the site to our URL list. When you go home, enter the data you've found on Family Group Sheets while it's still fresh in your mind. Computer entry can wait until you're absolutely sure of your data. Test dates to see whether they make sense. You may have made some errors. What I've tried to do is show the logic behind searching these records. I haven't supplied all the German, Hungarian, Latin terms. We have lists of them in the archives and you can use your dictionaries. There are just too many and some are of limited importance. You'll find that if you learn to read one church record you'll be able to read all the variations. Your first emphasis should be on dates and names. The rest will come with experience. If you must use script, learn how to read and write your family names and villages first. Once you start, you'll soon get used to reading the church records. Hard at first but don't give up, you'll soon become proficient. Our next step will cover the civil records 1896-1921. Gerry Berghold (Continued as Newsletter No. 51B)

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 51B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) JANUARY 31, 1999 (all rights reserved) This third section of the 3-section newsletter contains: - Croatian Translator - a New Village History (Kogl), - Church of St. Emmerich-Felso-Ronok, Hungary - House Numbers and - Mail From Members. CROATIAN TRANSLATOR OBTAINED Internet Editor Anna Kresh writes: Hooray, we've got a willing and able Croatian translator! Thanks to member Lea Buzby's efforts, Joann Aftanas has agreed to assist us. She comes highly recommended and we thank her for her kind offer. Joann writes: Dear Anna, I wrote you immediately after I received your email, however, I am not sure if you received my message. Hungarian AOL is very undependable!!!!!!! Please feel free to add me to your list of translators of the Croatian Language. I have just returned from Croatia -- my 12th trip -- and, as always, have found it a wonderful experience. Please warn anyone who tries to contact me that they will have to bear with the System here. And, yes, I do live in Pittsburgh, however, presently I am working as a Croatian Translator for the U.S. Army in Taszar, Hungary. Thank you for your very kind letter and I hope to hear from you. Joann Bedic Aftanas NEW VILLAGE HISTORY - KOGL IM BURGENLAND Announcing a New Burgenland book, "400 Jahre - Kogl im Burgenland". The 400 year history of the village of Kogl in Burgenland. The price is ATS 150 = $13.00. Order from: Kulturverein Kogl, z.H. Herrn Obmann, Ing. Anton Grosinger, A-7441 Kogl, Austria For additional information contact Hap Anderson. FELSO-RONOK, HUNGARY and CHURCH OF ST. EMMERICH Ed. Felso Ronok or 'Ober Radling' is the third village after crossing the Hungarian border at Heiligenkreuz on 'Rt. 8' in southern Burgenland. The border as drawn in 1921 swept sharply west here so as to keep Szentgotthárd in Hungary. Szentgotthárd was then the Bezirk municipality for most of today's villages below Bezirk Güssing. It was replaced by Bezirk Jennersdorf. Many families with Hungarian ties were split as a result. A number of BB members have ancestors from this area and the Felso Ronok LDS records date from 1789, Nos. 0601492-494. In 1873, there were 1400 RC's attending church there (included Also Ronok) and 120 Lutherans who used the Martin Luther Kirche in Eltendorf (Körtvelyes). There were 16 Jews (Körmend synagogue?). I've been following a Felso Ronok correspondence between Margaret Kaiser, Bernadette Sulzer and others. Margaret who has conducted much research in this area is planning an article on the history of the church. She recently asked some questions which Fritz Königshofer answered in addition to translating Felso-Ronok material appearing at the turn of the century in the "Volksfreund". Margaret's questions and Fritz's answers follow: Margaret writes...."do you think pre-1789 records exist somewhere in a Diocese or were destroyed along the way? If so, how/where does one go about seeking them? Would the archive be Austrian or Hungarian? What is the reformed church? Is that like the Dutch Reformed? Or is it another form of Lutheran (in this country we would say another Synod)? From letters from my distant relative who is acquainted with the current Priest the earlier parish records on hand on site begin in 1860. The LDS films begin around 1789. The parish records are on site from 1860 to present." Fritz replies: "Margaret, In the Hungarian context, the "Reformed Church" invariably means the Calvinist form of Protestantism. In Austria, we call it the "Helvetian (Swiss) Confession" as compared to the Augsburgian (Lutheran) one. The parish priest of Felsö-Rönök would likely be the best person to know since when matrikels were recorded in the parish, and what happened to the earliest ones; or in which parish earlier recordings were made for inhabitants of the village. Since you have expanded on the story of the Szent Imre church, let me enumerate the articles I copied on the subject from Der Volksfreund: Jan. 24, 1891, p.6. About the derelict state of the existing church which apparently was a stone construction. The parish priest Nikolaus Herczeg is said to try very hard to urge the church and civil authorities to do something, but to no avail. Feb. 7, 1891, p.5. Parish priest Herczeg responds to the above article by stating that the authorities have already acted, and that the measures toward planning and building a new church are under way. He expects a quick start and completion of the new church within 15 months. Feb. 21, 1891, pp.6-7. Rudolf Ruisz reacts to the statement of the parish priest. He declares that it was he who had written the article of Jan. 24, and that the priest's rebuttal had not been able to explain away the fact that the existing church presented an imminent danger to priest and congregation when holding services or ringing the church bells. Apr. 3, 1897, pp.6-7. Letter to the editor from a visitor to the cemetery of Oberradling (the visitor wanted to visit the graves of his or her children). The letter deplores the state of wilderness and lack of care in the whole graveyard, as well as the derelict schoolhouse next to it. Feb. 25, 1899, p.7. Reports on concerns that the old little church might crash down any moment; that recently, during a service held while a storm was going on outside, the church had started to shake in its fundaments so that the congregation had to flee outside at once. The authorities have now closed the church and approved funding for building a new church. Plans for it are already available for view. Two builders have been found so far who would be willing to erect the new church, namely Josef Lang of Szent Gotthárd, and Roman Tropper of Graz. Sept. 7, 1901, p.3. Recalls that the old church had been closed by the authorities two years ago, and that one year ago the builder Lang of Szent Gotthárd had been selected to erect the new church. Nobody seems to know why so far not even the fundaments have been laid for the new church. Mass was being held at the schoolhouse for the last 1 1/2 years, creating an impossible situation for the new teacher R. Linger and his family. The article then reports that a village delegation led by the teacher went to Rátot to complain at the "Ministerpräsident" [perhaps meaning the district's governor?] and was promised effective help to get the work underway. All articles are in German. Further, I noted that Der Volksfreund of June 17, 1905, p.3, reported about the consecration of the new Szent Imre church that would serve Alsó and Felso Rönök and Rába Szent Mihály. The ceremony took place under the most terrible weather conditions. The church is stated to be a masterpiece of modern architecture, having the best organ near and far. "Thus the wish of parish priest J. Bartl has found its fulfillment." [Bartl had succeeded Herczeg.] In Sept. 1909, the newspaper reported about the completion of a brand new school house in Felso Rönök. The teacher at the time was Rudolf Steiger. The issue of July 23, 1910 reports that the 18-year old son of the "much-liked teacher of Oberradling Rudolf Steiner" [sic; his name was either Steiger or Steiner] had drowned when swimming in Güssing; the son had been a hairdresser there. This completes the copies and notes I have about events in Felsö-Rönök. HOUSE NUMBERS (Kornfeind, Berghold) Jon Kornfeind asks: "This leads to my first question for Gerry and Albert. Somewhere along the line it was suggested to me that house numbering systems in communities like Hannersdorf had something to do with the order or sequence that homes were built within the community. Is this true or have I been laboring under a misunderstanding? Has the system changed over time? Is it or has it been made uniform among the Burgenland communities in its current day form?" Berghold replies: "John, I don't know a definite answer re house numbers. Something for me to add to the newsletter. Many were (are) the same today as hundreds of years ago. Others have changed as villages expanded, I don't think numbers were retired. Berghold #44 (now Toth) in Poppendorf is still the same although a Gasthaus was built in front of it (no. 43?). Nr. 225 Rosenberg, the Sorger residence for 200 years is still there but applied to a new (modern) building. Number gaps appear where houses are torn down or new ones built and two digit numbers give way to three (with 100, 200, etc.) as you move out to the edges of villages, so I feel the lots are numbered in some cases. I've also seen at least one case (Eltendorf) where duplicate numbers have been used, being differentiated only by the terms "old village", "new village". I also read recently (and can't find the source) that numbers are now being issued in sequential order to new construction." SOME MAIL FROM MEMBERS (Ed. Some success) From: Barb Groh Just a short note to let you know I found a long lost cousin in California. We confirmed it today. It's John (and Mary) Schatz. John's grandmother and my great grandmother were sisters (Jautz). Mary was able to provide me with some information on other generations. And I will provide her with tons of cousins they have in Pennsylvania. Great. I haven't been able to find out any further information on the other names (Nikles, Bodisch, Kiss, Csar, Potsmann, Dergosits, but will keep trying. We hope to get to a Family History Center when the weather gets a little better as I've been able to gather a lot of information as far as file numbers to get from a couple members and the newsletters. Really appreciate that. Also, I've been in touch with a cousin of yours, Lea Buzby, and I am going to put her in touch with one of my cousins as his mother had the maiden name of Simitz and she has relatives with that name. This is such a wonderful thing-to be able to trade information. (Ed. LDS records in Austria?) From: Jürgen Brandweiner Hi! I'm also interested in the records of Stegersbach. In Stegersbach / Santalek, I'm interested in the names of Novakovits (before the year 1791), Siderits (before the year 1788) and Pendl (before 1912), Graf before 1887 and Stinatz before the year of 1887. It is much work traveling through Burgenland and checking all the records. I hope to find someone, who already owns copies of the church records concerning these periods. Thank you anyway. I'll try it also in Eisenstadt and Vienna. Thank you for your help, Jürgen (Ed. a potpourri) From: Giles Gerken Following has nothing to do with genealogy but arouses historical curiosity. From "The Rise & Fall of Habsburg Monarchy" by Victor L, Tapie I quote: "At the eastern extremity of Lower Austria almost on the border of Hungary the traveler of today can still see the escutcheons of the Frohsdorf estate- Herrschaft Frohsdorf - where the Comte de Chambord, the last king of France (Henry V) spent his melancholy years" (Duke of Berri Henry died 1883) Does anyone know just where this was located near what village? Also second volume - From "The Last Days of Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI by Rupert Furneaux Re. the daughter Marie Therese: Quote "When her husband died in 1844 she retired to live in a castle near Vienna & died there in 1851." Since Comte Chambord was her nephew by marriage and also her Heir, wasn't this the same castle or estate? Just curious to learn where it was located. Also, on last Newsletter someone looking up Latin word shown as Vicrum. Suggest it might supposed to be "Viduum" meaning Unmarried - either single or widowed, Female form Vidua, male shown as Viduum, as I have found on some of the film - sometimes writing not too legible. Last question - Does anyone know of place which seems to say SARDA which was under jurisdiction of Rom Kath church records of Hegyeshalom, but is shown as the Domicilii? Hungarian Dictionary defines word Sarda as Marsh. Giles later answers his own questions: "Found interesting site in Austria www.intersearch.at. I found info on Herrschaft Frohsdorf - located near Wiener Neustadt and was location where daughter of M. Antoinette lived as well as later Comte d Chambord. Also pretty much determined that "Domicilii" on birth record from Hegyeshalom shows word "Zarda" or monastery ????? Thought since I posed questions earlier I would advise that I found answers. (Ed. Hungarian Salt. The wife and I collect open salt dishes and we have to produce a program concerning the open salt dishes of the Austro/Hungarian Empire. We have a lot from other regions but few from Hungary, I asked member Joe Jarfas to comment on how salt was used in Hungary when he was growing up.) He responded with: From: Joseph Jarfas "Hi Gerry, your request for information on salt containers (start) turned out to be a tall order! I still remember the time, during WW-II, when we used rock salt at home. But we had some kind of simple plate for it on the table. What I can't remember was what kind of container we had for the big chunk; since we had to hammer/chisel pieces off of it.... Found it interesting that you can do other things beside your newsletter. I would think THAT will occupy all your time....Getting back to s (salt). I have some vague memory of a salt mill, but can't even remember what it looked like. There always was a meat grinder, coffee grinder and poppy seed or nut grinder practically in every household (pepper mill was less common). Also remember that our rock salt was full of impurities and had to select them out by hand before you put the pinch of salt onto your food (those were the darker crystals in there). Can't recall any glass manufacturer (for open salt dishes) or such. I know there were individual glass blowers around; pots and pans were also made in small shops as well as dinner ware of all sorts (clay not porcelain). In secondary school's arts and crafts class they were trying to teach us a little bit of everything - but as you can see not much remained from it! END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD