BB News No. 72 dtd 15 Jan 2000

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 72 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) January 15, 2000 (all rights reserved) A NEW YEAR - A NEW CENTURY - A NEW MILLENNIUM - A NEW GENEALOGY? THANKS FOR THE NUMEROUS HOLIDAY GREETINGS RECEIVED FROM MEMBERS! Note to recipients. If you don't want to receive Burgenland Bunch newsletters, use the Membership Forms to change your status. We can't help with non-Burgenland family history. Comments and articles are appreciated. Please include your name with email, otherwise we must search four very large membership lists to establish who is contacting us. This first section of the 3 section newsletter contains Information About the Homepage Surname List, articles concerning Reformed Hungarians in Oberwart, More Translations from "Der Volksfreund" and Burgenland & the National Geographic. This first section of the 3-section newsletter contains: - Homepage Surname List Volunteer Still Needed - Hungarian Reformed Church - Oberwart Region - Translations from "Der Volksfreund" of the Last Century (from Fritz Königshofer) - Burgenland and the National Geographic. HOMEPAGE SURNAME LIST VOLUNTEER STILL NEEDED MEMBER RALPH NIELSON SENDS the following message to Anna Kresh: < I believe (you are) responsible for updating the list of surnames being researched by members. On browsing through the list, I discovered that my main one, STRODL, is absent. May I ask that you kindly enter that for me, and in addition enter the surname of (we are not quite sure of the spelling; - originally we thought that it was WCSINGERIN; but Albert Schuch advises that it could well be WURZINGER, or WIESINGER. > MEMBER BOB GESHEL WRITES: < Re E-mail links in the Burgenland Bunch Surnames: Both Geschl and Magdits have my outdated AOL E-mail address. In a message dated 1/6/00 5:46:43 PM Eastern Standard Time, ARKRESH writes to G. Berghold: << Would you please forward this to the BB member who handles surname updates. I don't know who is doing this now. Thanks. Anna >> G. BERGHOLD REPLIES: Sorry, the Surname list has been frozen indefinitely since we don't have a volunteer to maintain it. we now have a year's backlog of changes. Hap Anderson is maintaining the Membership List, Bill Rudy is maintaining the Village List, Anna Kresh has the URL List and I'm editing newsletters. The rest of our small staff is busy with research. Until such time as we have a volunteer, you can find members who are researching particular family names by searching the Membership List (all 400+ members). interested volunteers may contact Hap Anderson for details of what's involved. Familiarity with HTML required. Your Editor supplies the family name data as received from new members. the list volunteer reformats it and changes or adds it to the List. Changes average 15 to 20 per month. This List has been a helpful tool but since the same data is available from the Membership List (albeit more difficult to find) we are assigning its maintenance very low priority. if no volunteer comes forward, we may eventually delete the Surname List. HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH - OBERWART REGION In past articles we've addressed some of the minority ethnic and religious groups which make up today's Burgenland. Some may find it painful to read about some of the old animosities, but knowledge of the past provides clues as to the possibility and location of old records. We firmly support today's ecumenical efforts and have no wish to stir up old conflicts. We also hope that archives everywhere may become available for research, regardless of religion or ethnicity. One religious group we haven't covered are the Hungarian Calvinists (Reformed Church) who were part of the Protestant movement of the Reformation. Carol Sorenson raises some interesting questions. CAROL WRITES: "... With your latest issue of the BB, you have me thinking in a more expansive way when we search our family history. I have always thought of my family as Hungarians living in Burgenland. From my trip this summer, I found my Croatian/Czech/German roots all in the Oberwart district. I immensely enjoy your articles, and I now know how these ethnic groups got to Burgenland, however, is it possible you could address more of the Hungarian (especially the Calvinist/Reformed) presence in Oberwart? "Most all of my family there and in the district speak Hungarian as their family language. My family in Oberwart seems to dead-end after 3 generations back from current day relatives... of course the name is spelled various ways, but from "Die Obere Wart" book, I see a Fayth in Unterwart in 1549. Any clue as to where Fajt, Fait, Faijt (as I have seen from church records) came from? (The Hungarian pronunciation is like "fight" in English.) Today it is spelled Faith. I believe the adding of the "h" is a decree for Hungarian families in the area. Am I correct? Happy Holidays! Carol Sorensen" ANSWER: Hello Carol. Although I closed the BB office for the holidays I can't resist reading my mail and, when I find an interesting question, I'm moved to comment. As you probably know, the Burgenland population is composed of about 84% German, 13% Croatian and 3% Hungarian. There is (was), in addition, less than 1% "other" (Hebrew, Roma, Slovene, Slovak, etc.) Unfortunately, being of German extraction, I'm not as versed in the other ethnic and religious groups as I am in German Catholic and Lutheran. We do have some member experts in the other groups however, so I'll pass your request on in the form of an article in the newsletter. Our Croatian members have been most active; maybe we can stir up some Hungarian members. I'll mention the little I know. Given the small number of Hungarians in the Burgenland, we must again split them into Roman Catholic and Hungarian Reformed, an even smaller group. In the 1500s, the Protestant movement quickly spread through Austria and Hungary; Lutheran in Austria proper and along the Hungarian border (Güssing, Oberwart, Pinkafeld, Kobersdorf, Mattersburg, Gols and Mürbisch am See among others becoming Lutheran centers) and Calvinism (Reformed) in the Hungarian-speaking villages and Hungary proper. With the advent of the Counter Reformation in the 1600s, the pendulum swung the other way and Catholicism returned when the aristocracy reverted to the older faith. There were isolated pockets of Protestants who refused to convert and some had to migrate. Fortunately for them, both the Batthyány and Esterhazy aristocrats were fairly tolerant in matters of religion, and the Burgenland region (both sides of today's border) became a haven for some of these religious refugees. Today's existing Lutheran enclaves, as well as a small presence of Hungarian reformed, in Austria are the result. There were, however, Hungarians in the "Wart" regions before the Reformation and these too probably switched to the Reformed faith. Some questions arise. Why did Lutheran tenets appeal to German-speakers and Reformed tenets to the Hungarians? Was it a simple matter of language (most Lutheran reformers spoke only German and Latin) or is there a more significant reason? Were Reformed tenets more appealing to the Hungarian (Magyar) desire for independence? Why did the Croatians (for the most part) continue in the Catholic faith during the reformation? Was it because there were no Protestant pastors who spoke Croatian? All of the above has significant meaning to those of us who may have Protestant ancestors in our genealogy. It means we must search the records of both faiths. You will find family attending both churches and there was intermarriage, even though there could be strong ethnic and religious animosity right up to the present day. A quick scan of the 1873 Hungarian Gazetteer pages from LDS microfilm 6000840 shows that in Vas Megye, there were only six Reformed (REF) churches. They were (numbers refer to the size of the Reformed population): In the district of Kormend: Kormend 707; Rádócz (Egyházas) 343; Szecsod (Teresyyen) 17 In the district of St. Gotthárd: Kercza (Kercsa) 272; Szazafo (Öri St. Peter) 589. In the district of Felső-Eőr: Eőr (Oberwart) 1480. The LDS has Oberwart microfilm records from 1828 as film number 0700667. Sopron Megye had one: District of Csepregh: Geresd (Nagy) 302. In Moson Megye there were no REF churches. The LDS records for the REF villages that remained in Hungary post 1921 start in 1783 (after the Edict of Toleration). This means that the REF records filmed for those villages in today's Burgenland were filmed from the 1828 government copies in Budapest. The earlier records are undoubtedly with the churches in the Burgenland. Even older records may be in Catholic archives which date from when the protestant churches were converted! It follows that, until these earlier records are copied, the only way to get pre-1828 data is to visit or write the parish. CAROL REPLIES: I didn't expect to see your message... thanks and Merry Christmas! My mother has translated from Hungarian, a booklet about the history of (the) Reformed Church in Oberwart. I need to work on it to get it into workable sentences, but I shall delve into it after the Holidays. Perhaps it will be of some value to you. It goes into how the Reformed congregation had to literally hand over the keys to the Catholic church, and even negotiate in Vienna to allow to continue. There are names of people who were influential ...especially a woman(!) in the very early history. The church had to be rebuilt near the Pinka river (as decreed by Maria Theresa) so that when it flooded it would take the church away ...it still stands. I did not realize what a minority my Hungarian relatives were. Ed. Note: We hope we can eventually publish the translation mentioned. TRANSLATIONS FROM "DER VOLKSFREUND" OF THE LAST CENTURY (from Fritz Königshofer) o When I recently browsed old issues of the weekly Der Volksfreund in the National Library in Budapest, I ran across an article printed in the issue of December 3, 1887. The article reported that on November 21, the 20-year old Anna Tamedl of Eltendorf danced with such verve that she suffered a heart stroke and died on the spot. This article indicated that there was a Tamedl family living in Eltendorf. o Der Volksfreund of September 18, 1886 carried the following story which I believe refers to the name Mahr, despite the different spelling. The story said that Karl Mar, until now teacher in St. Michael im Burgenland, had been elected, by acclamation, into the teacher position in Wrterberg. o Der Volksfreund of August 14, 1886 carried the following story: On July 26 several cattle-dealers from Poppendorf went into the "Wendische" [the area in the southwest of old Vas county where Slovenian was spoken, now part of Slovenia] to attend a fair. On the way back, they stopped at an inn. It came to a brawl, in the course of which one of the dealers, Michael Mdl, received a heavy blow to his head. He died on the cart which carried him to Poppendorf. Michael Mdl left behind a widow and 4 underage children. o Der Volksfreund of February 20, 1886 carried an article on the golden wedding in Pinkafeld of the Lederermeister (master tanner) Johann Supper, 84, and Katharina nee Eitner, 69. According to the article, the couple had married on January 9, 1836, and had 10 children of whom six were still alive, all married. There were 14 grandchildren. o The reprint of the Gludovacz story no. 1 (see below) in the most recent bb newsletter reminded me that there may be a connection to the story from the Volksfreund which I sent recently. Upon reflection, I also believe that the father of the groom may have had the first name Simon rather than Armin. While Arnim is a name used in Germany, it would have been rather uncommon at the time in the area of the Burgenland. Still, it is not impossible. However, there is now the alternative interpretation that the name might have been Simon. Further, it appears that the family of the Gludovacz in southern Burgenland lasted at least through two or three generations of teachers. Story no. 1: ========= [Yesterday], when I did my own searches in the film with the records of the rom.-cath. parish of Kukmirn (Kukmer), I saw a Gludovac entry and noted it for whatever interest it may have. Accordingly, this was the marriage of a Gludovac Alajos, "mester" (master) from Rehgraben, 23 years old, the son of Gludovac Armin (not sure, would be a very unusual first name) and Niklosi (not sure) Maria, with Terez Rober, 18 years, of Kukmirn. The witnesses were Gyorgy Rober and Ferenc Schlegl. Kukmirn is in the Southern Burgenland, near Güssing, and Rehgraben is nearby. Kukmirn was mostly Lutheran, and the rom.-cath. parish was rather small in the size of the congregation. My interpretation of the "mester" is that this Alois (Louis) Gludovac was the schoolmaster of Rehgraben. The marriage of Alajos Gludovac and Terez Rober happened on February 16, 1871. Story no. 2: ========= When I [recently] looked through further issues of the weekly Der Volksfreund in the Hungarian National Library, I noted an obit about the death of the retired teacher Simon Kludowcz. The article appeared in the issue of Jan. 30, 1886. The article says that Simon K. died (probably, as it is not made explicit) in Grossmürbisch on January 18, nearly 80 years old, after many recent ailments. He had been the rom.-cath. teacher in Grossmürbisch for more than 50 years. Despite all these services of a lifetime, the article continues, Simon's wife had had to petition the parish to pay her husband a pension, and reluctantly 100 florins per annum eventually were paid to him. The article is signed K.B__l, which I interpret as Karl Beidl, a (younger) teacher colleague. BURGENLAND AND THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (G. Berghold) I've been a member of the National Geographic Society for over half a century. I joined when my 7th grade geography teacher (a well-liked Mr. Peters, at Harrison-Morton Junior High School in ethnic Allentown) sponsored a group in our class. In those days membership meant more than just subscribing to a magazine. You had to be sponsored. Once my children left home, they received a Geographic subscription every year as a Christmas present. As a result, I like to think that my grandchildren are not geographical illiterates like many today who don't know where Austria is, much less the Burgenland! I recently asked if I should discontinue the subscriptions and my children vociferously said "no". At the time I retired, I was faced with the task of moving almost 500 saved Geographic magazines to our new home. I kept only a few and gave the rest away. Ever since, I've sorely missed their research value. This Xmas I treated myself to "The Complete National Geographic, 110 years on CD ROM." The last few days I've traced various subjects, particularly in the earlier issues. As advertised, the CD's contain the complete magazine, cover, articles and pictures including advertisements, which in themselves can be interesting research items. There is a tool bar and a search engine and of course the first subject I searched was "Burgenland". I was disappointed when the search came up blank, but then I never remembered seeing an article solely about the Burgenland. (This seems to be the case in every English language magazine I've ever read except for one or two articles in some travel and food magazines. If I was younger, I'd publish one, similar to the newsletter!) I next searched on "Austria" and "Hungary" and was much more successful, finding 20 Hungarian and 32 Austrian articles. The articles included only a few pages about the Burgenland, but the earlier pre-WW-I ones provide fascinating glimpses of the Europe of our ancestors. The area was still quite backward and rural, with little, other than the castles, recognizable today. I found that tracing these countries through 110 years of history is quite a journey. I'd recommend it to anyone. Windows 95/98 and a Pentium 90 MHz or faster computer are required. Macintosh Power PC, System 7.5 or higher is also supported. I would also suggest a large-screen monitor (17 inch or larger) for optimal viewing although the CD installation will adapt to your hardware. There is also an internet connection. The CD-ROM set can be purchased for $99.95 from the National Geographic Society by calling toll free 1-888-225-5647. They also have a mail order catalog of fine gift items. Purchases help support their activities. They are on line at www.nationalgeographic.com. Scanning the pages via CD-ROM requires the use of the tool bar to move vertical pages to horizontal scan. It's also necessary to zoom to different screen sizes to maximize picture and print clarity. A little tedious but not overly demanding. I printed a few pictures, including a Mürbisch am See street scene and Burgenland dancers in Oslip. I also printed some articles which print as pictures (graphics). The Austro-Hungarian National Geographic articles I've found to date are: HUNGARY August 1907 - St. Stephen's Fete in Budapest December 1912 - The Land of Contrast: Austria-Hungary October 1914 - Hungary: A Land of Shepherd Kings February 1917 - Bohemia and the Czechs October 1917 - Flags of Austria-Hungary (and others) December 1929 - The Danube, Highway of Races June 1932 - Budapest, Twin City of the Danube June 1932 - Hungary, a Kingdom Without a King April 1935 - A Sunday in Mezokovesd January 1938 - Magyar Myth and Melancholy December 1945 - A Tale of Three Cities (Budapest, Vienna and Prague) March 1957 - Freedom Flight from Hungary July 1965 - Down the Danube by Canoe April 1971 - Hungary; Changing Homeland of a Tough, Romantic People August 1975 - The Pious Ones (Hasidic Jews-Hungary to Brooklyn) October 1977 - The Danube: River of Many Nations, Many Names February 1983 - Hungary's New Way: A Different Communism December 1988 - Hungary: A Static Society March 1991 - Dispatches From Eastern Europe June 1991 - East Europe's Dark Dawn AUSTRIA (also see some of the above) April 1915 - Austro-Italian Mountain Frontiers February 1921 - The New Map of Europe January 1923 - Vienna-A Capital Without a Nation (post WW-I scenes) December 1929 - Alpine Villagers of Austria March 1932 - Entering the Front Doors of Medieval Towns October 1932 - Styria, a Favored Vacation Land of Central Europe August 1936 - Merry Maskers of Imst April 1937 - The Salzkammergut, A Playground of Austria April 1938 - Austrian August--September December 1943 - Over the Alps to Brenner Pass July 1945 - This Was Austria January 1947 - What I Saw Across the Rhine (post WW-II scenes) June 1950 - The Vienna Treasures and Their Collectors June 1951 - Occupied Austria, Outpost of Democracy September 1951 - A Stroll to Venice (the historic Salt Road) September 1958 - The White Horses of Vienna February 1959 - Building A New Austria August 1960 - Salzkammergut, Austria's Alpine Playground July 1961 - Tirol, Austria's Province in the Clouds September 1965 - The Alps: Man's Own Mountains June 1968 - Vienna, City of Song April 1985 - Those Eternal Austrians (Newsletter continues as no. 72A) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 72A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) January 15, 2000 This second section of the 3-section newsletter has: - Excerpts from Das Schicksal der Burgenländischen Kroaten (Part 2) EXCERPTS FROM DAS SCHICKSAL DER BURGENLÄNDISCHEN KROATEN (Part 2) (The Destiny of the Burgenland Croats) by Bela Schreiner Citation: Das Schicksal der Burgenlaendischen Kroaten Durch 450 Jahre, Bela Schreiner. (or in Croatian: Sudbina gradišcanskih Hrvatov Kroz 450 Ljet); Eigentuemer, Verleger und Herausgeber: Kroatischer Kulturverein Dr. Karallstrasse 23, 7001 Eisenstadt, Postfach 26 - publisher's date about 1983. German language edition may be purchased from: http://www.croatians.com/croat/croatbook.html Note: this site provides much ethnic Croatian information as well as commercial genealogical publications, coats of arms, etc. It is a not a Burgenland Croatian source as such but if you have Croatian links you will find many items of interest. Editor: This history, which provides another view of Croatian settlement in the Burgenland, is translated from the German and excerpted here. It is brought to us by member Bruce Klemens, who did the translation. He cautions us that he has not sought permission from the author or publisher to publish his translation on the net, and thus it should not be copied or used in total or used in any way without mentioning the source and the author. Of importance to our research is the description of the destruction of Burgenland villages and the accompanying depopulation, leading to subsequent migration and colonization. You will find a description of land holdings. There is also a translation of a Latin land contract between the settlers and the Güssing Herrschaft. The contract appears to be for the village of Szt. Miklos (St. Nicholas), now part of Güssing. (... indicates breaks in translation) ---------------------- The Situation of the Resettlers The revival of the west Hungarian land and economy from the Raabtal (Raab River valley) up to Pressburg (Bratislava), began with the arrival of the Croats. They showed great diligence and courage in the resettlement of the country, which included: farming the land, tending vineyards, cattle breeding, building new houses, repairing ruins and expanding the settlements. The majority of the resettlers were farmers, field workers, or laborers... As numerous property registers show from that time, the farmers were divided, as follows, according to the size of the land assigned to them by the landlords. Full sessione list: These received arable land up to 30 acres and up to 3 acres of pasture. Next to their house they had a vegetable or fruit garden. Three-Quarters sessione list: These were farmers who possessed only 3/4 of a sessione, which included up to 20 arable acres and 2 acres of pasture. Half sessione list: Their property included up to 15 acres of arable land and up to 1 acre of pasture. One-Quarter sessione list: These managed up to 7 acres of arable land and up to one acre of pasture. Through property divisions, there was even a One-Eighth sessione list. Cottagers and small tenants received only one basic unit of property, on which they could build their little house and grow their small garden. But they had to perform "Robot" (certain services for their lords). Usually the farmers had a contract with their landlord that precisely documented their rights and obligations. One such contract, from the year 1558, survives in a well-preserved document, drawn up in Latin. It was between Count Franz Batthyány and 25 of the aforementioned Croats, who originated from Slavonia and had settled on his estate in the vicinity of Güssing. In this contract it was first stated that Count Franz Batthyány, "Counselor of his majesty King Ferdinand," had given these resettlers a deserted place near Güssing with mixed woodland and bushes (Ed.: Sankt Miklos - St. Nicholas ?). He initially gave them 12 years full exemption from paying taxes and property assessments. "And now, since these 12 years had passed, they came to him as his subjects and asked that they might draw up a new contract with him, which would forever regulate all their obligations to the landlord. The terms are stated in the contract: "We (Count Batthyány) listened to their wishes, since we appreciate their diligence, which they have already shown by clearing the land and by building their houses on this land from scattered stones, and in order that they may continue to remain on our property, we give these Croats a contract valid forever. They are exempt from all controls and deliveries. They are exempt from all taxes and duties. They are exempt from all usual tributes to the landlord. They are however obligated to execute all work to which they are called by their lord. If the men have to work on the fields of the landlord, their wives can remain at home in the house and perform their own work. If the women are working on the property of the landlord, then the men can remain with their houses. After the planting and harvesting on the landlord's property is completed, they may then perform all their own work. All these tasks may require other resettlers, who may wish to settle on the estates of Count Franz Batthyány." This contract between the landlord and his settlers describes, as well as possible, the position of the newly arrived Croats. This contract is not an isolated case, but was also drawn up in other places in a similar form... In 1846 and 1848, the folklore collector Fran Kurelec from Zagreb wandered about west Hungary in the areas inhabited by Croats in order to collect their folk songs. Near Eisenstadt, while on the property of Prince Esterházy, he heard an old song that states: Croats live here also, a proud family. From Croatia they came, and settled here. One may call them gentlemen, but not serfs, The women like the men, are all magnificently dressed. The guys like the girls, walk in little boots. Reformation and Counter-Reformation Delaying and dampening the further favorable development of the new settlers was the propagation of Protestantism in the 16th century. According to the well-known Ausburger resolutions of 1555 and the principle, "whoever rules determines the faith," the rulers alone determined the faith of their subjects.... From numerous accounts, it is known that King and Emperor, Ferdinand I, exercised his privilege and gave the immigrated Croats the right to select their priests themselves. At first, this right probably only applied to those farmers who operated on the possessions of the king or had leased his property. It is an important document, due to which the Croatian immigrants received religious freedom, which surely included the use of the Old Slavic language and also books using the Glagolithic (Slavic) alphabet with their church service. For the time being, the Protestant faith won many converts in Austria and Hungary, particularly among the aristocracy. Since all the Croats remained Catholic and a large proportion of their landlords became Protestants, it was inevitable that there were disputes, clashes and even violence. During the Reformation, the Croats had to wage a continual fight for their religious as well as ethnic existence, since they insisted they be allowed to select their own clergymen... This right to religious autonomy is of great importance in the history of the Croats, because from it stems their other rights as well, which prevented Magyarization or Germanization of the resettlers for the first 150 years. This privilege guaranteed to the Croats the use of their native language in all ceremonies which were carried out by the priests both in the church and outside of the church; ...and later into the schools, which were in the area of responsibility of the church. The church was at that time a fundamental factor of the social life. However, Croatian ethnicity was lost in all those villages where, from the outset, Croats were in the minority and could not select their clergymen. The same thing happened where Lutheran landlords used Protestant ministers. This occurred mostly in German speaking areas in Lower Austria. But there were complaints and arguments in the Hungarian areas as well, because the nobles were disturbed by their subjects exercising their right to religious freedom. Finally, in 1569, the landlord of Eisenstadt, Hans Weisspriach, forbade the Croats from using their old language (old church Slavic) in their church services. At that time the Croats of west Hungary fell under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the diocese of Raab (Györ). It wasn't until 1777 that the southern settlements came under the diocese of Steinamanger (Szombathely). Most of Hungary, including the landlords, followed the new Protestant teachings, so the Croatian settlers were left as nearly the only Catholic inhabitants. Thus, the Croatians were of particular interest to the Bishop of Raab. Also, the provincial head of the Franciscan order supported the Croatian religious customs, which were in danger because of the Lutheran beliefs. In the 16th century, numerous Croats achieved high rank in the Franciscan and Paulist orders. The German-speaking Austrian aristocrats soon detected in the Catholic Croats an important power factor, which in their eyes threatened the interests of the aristocracy. They tried to win over the Croats to the new faith. The already-mentioned landlord, Hans von Weisspriach, who owned a large part of the estates around Eisenstadt, appointed in 1568 a Croat from Istria, the Protestant preacher Stefan Konzul, to convert the Croats on his property to the new faith... A second Croat from Istria, Antun Dalmatin, supported him and together both translated a "Postille" of the Württemberger Professor Johannes Brecius into Croatian and had it printed and distributed among the Croats. This "Postille" contained explanations of the gospels, which in their opinions supported the new teachings. A second book, the Veliki Katekizam (Great Catechism), printed in 1564 from the same authors, pursued the same target: to promote the spreading of Protestantism among the Croats of west Hungary in order to break their religious autonomy. These two works were the first books in the new homeland of the Croats which were printed in the mother tongue, and they became widespread. It is well known that the intentions of the Protestant aristocracy to use the two preachers, Stefan Konzul and Antun Dalmatin, to spread Lutheran teachings was not particularly successful. The Croats stubbornly rejected the new religion, which they felt was "German," and drove out from their villages the Lutheran preachers who had been imposed upon them, often by the use of force. Among other things, this was also a reason why the Lower Austrian states made complaints to Archduke and Emperor Maximilian II (1564-1576), "against the rebellious Croats" and they made the accusation that, in most places where the Croats were in the majority, they began to prevail over the German inhabitants. Therefore, in a secret instruction, the emperor told his property managers how to behave in the future toward the Croats. This document of December 29, 1573 sent to the Güns administrator, Captain Franz Schnach, has been preserved. This instruction holds great meaning for the further fate of the Croats, for the preservation of their nationality and for their economic prosperity - particularly in Lower Austria. We quote therefore here the most important part of this "secret and unpublicized" instruction that substantially contributed to the Germanization and elimination of the Croats in Lower Austria, as well as sections of west Hungary: "We have been informed that the number of the Croats continues to grow and that they try to prevail over the Germans where they are in the majority. We think that it is only right and proper that the aforementioned Croats, who had been driven from their homes by the Turks and who had courageously opposed this cursed enemy, should be considered loyal subjects. Through their work, they do not harm our possessions, but on the contrary, they have brought us better utilization of the farmlands, including bigger yields, rents and wealth. "Nevertheless we must assure that, because of the large number of Croats (people of another nationality and another language), in the future no danger develops for the established inhabitants. For this reason, the Croats must be kept in a subservient status. "Therefore, we do not provide any public instruction to you and our loyal noble ranks who have on their properties a large number of Croats among their subjects, but instead, with this letter, we provide a secret and unpublicized order: "We direct whoever reads this that, if up to now you have employed Croats, inconspicuously replace them with our German subjects. "Croats are not permitted to lease new property. Pay particular attention that, where Croats and Germans live together in the same area, Croats should not be appointed to the positions of judges or jurors who have legal powers. If there are disagreements between Croats and Germans, treat the Croat more strictly, but within the framework of the law, and be on the side of the German. "We impose upon you as an obligation to endeavor to hold the Croats in strict obedience. We give this secret order to you and our loyal subjects and expect that you will zealously execute all of this and that you will keep our order a secret, so that it does not fall into the hands of the Croats, who would think that we have no confidence in them, which could bring innumerable difficulties to this country." These instructions, which were supported by the Austrian aristocrats and their judicial system, encourages the Germanization of the Croats and, perhaps as well, influences the reduction of Croatian villages, because they required that the farms should be primarily leased to Germans and not Croats. Although the Lower Austrian aristocrats had many possessions in West Hungary, one must nevertheless be aware of the large differences between their possessions in Lower Austria and in Hungary. The West Hungarian Croats had a powerful protector in the Bishop of Raab and were supported by him, because even at that time, Croats had been installed as Bishops of Raab, i.e., Paul Gregorianec (1554-1565) and later George Draskovic (1578-1587). In them, the Croatian resettlers found energetic defenders of their faith and their other rights. In Lower Austria, however, they had no protection from the church. It is well known that church dignitaries were not friendly to the Croats and that their language had been forbidden in the church and in public. In particular, a Viennese archbishop, the Croatian aristocrat Sigismund Kollonitsch, forbade services, lectures and ceremonies in the Croatian language in all his subordinate parishes. In the time of the Counter Reformation (the Catholic revival) a great number of Catholic priests came from the flock of West Hungarian Croats, who, we can conclude from name registers and inspection reports, not only took over neighboring German parishes, but also held lectures and services in the German language. The canonical inspections of 1641, which were executed in 65 parishes of the Raab Diocese, found 48 Croatian priests in place, but only 17 German or Hungarian speaking clergyman. In the course of the 17th century, the Croats flooded the universities of Vienna and Graz. During this time there were about 2000 students from Hungary. And of these, more than half were Croats. The major part of them studied at the theological college. It is obvious from a cursory reading of the inspection reports that the Croats were under religious persecution and associated economic pressures. The Croats of Grosshöflein (32 years), Kittsee (57 years), Kohlnhof (Kópháza, Koljnof) and Klingenbach (Klimpuh) were preached to only by Protestant Evangelist ministers, yet they remained faithful to their "old religion" for almost two generations. Also the Croatian inhabitants of the branch church in Dörfl announced proudly that they had remained Catholic, although they had been preached to only by Protestant ministers from the German parish of Steinberg for 32 years. The Catholic Church in Hungary received a powerful defender in Peter Pazmany, a teacher in the Jesuit order who later became Archbishop of Esztergom (Gran). With his lectures and literary works, he converted most of the Protestant and Calvinist noble families in Hungary, as well as their subjects, back to the Catholic faith. Pazmany founded the Pazmaneum in Vienna, which was intended for the training of higher ranking clergyman from Hungary. In 1662, of 62 theologians studying there from Hungary, there were 59 whose mother tongue was Croatian. In 1605, the Hajduken troops of the Calvinist Stefan Bocskay devastated the villages of the Batthyány estates in southern Burgenland and burned down the villages in the Wulka River plain. In 1620, the hordes of the Calvinist Gabor Bethlen plundered and caused much destruction to the villages in the environment of Ödenburg (Sopron). They did not spare the Catholic Croatian villages in any way. (End of Extract) (Newsletter continues as no. 72B) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 72B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) January 15, 2000 (all rights reserved) This third section of the three section newsletter contains: - Surfing The Burgenland Bunch Member Links, - Family Names From Village Names, - Hungarian Working Papers Translated, - Güssing Traupmanns, and - URL and Membership Changes. While we welcome all new members, we are particularly pleased to have Ingeborg Schuch officially join us. Ingeborg (Inge) is the sister of Burgenland Editor Albert Schuch and she has frequently used her professional translating talents to assist us. SURFING THE BURGENLAND BUNCH MEMBER LINKS For sometime I labored with an IBM 486-66mhz computer, Windows 3.1, a 14" Monitor, a 14400Mhz Modem and a costly internet server connection. My surfing involved getting in and out as quickly as possible. Fortunately we had the good services of Anna Kresh to keep us apprised of what was new and interesting on the net. Unfortunately I couldn't always visit some of the goodies she added to our URL list. With a new system and a new server with unlimited access I still don't have too much free time, but the recent holiday took care of that and I made up for lost time. I found so many good things put together by our members that I don't know where to start, but I did visit Hap Anderson's web page first and wasn't disappointed. It could serve as an example of what a good personal web page should look like. Gene Andert supplies some fine information about Pamhagen and Barry Keippel has a good story about Riedlingsdorf. Janos Bogardi had a buffet of Hungarian items that I must return to, including information about prices charged for researching and copying Hungarian records. If you are stuck, he'd be worth a contact. Lea Buzby had some great pictures of some of my Berghold-Simitz cousins among other items. Heinz Koller has a fascinating Güssing page. It's mostly in German but don't let that bother you. You'll find all sorts of good things including great pictures of Heinz and our Burgenland editor Albert Schuch and a Hianzisch dictionary by his sister Inge Schuch plus some nice Güssing photos and data about castle events. Gerhard Lang's Eisenstadt site emphasized music as well as genealogy. John Lavendoski has just opened a unique "Jurasits Family" page, which you must see for yourself; it is really different, first class. Al Meixner offers some great ethnic music. Gary Portsche offers a slide show of the Gols area taken during a recent visit along with his genealogical offerings, and Vicky Weninger, while still building her site, is also using a unique graphic arts approach. Ralph Nielsen has a window on Burgenland-East Riding, UK, that is different. Some of the web pages were not available for some reason, but it may have been a problem with my server. I'll definitely try again. Although I haven't mentioned them all, I found each visit worth my time. You will too if you haven't seen them. If you have a personal web site you'd like to share with BB members, contact Internet Editor Anna Kresh. We'd appreciate your mentioning the Burgenland Bunch and providing a hyperlink to our homepage in your design. It would be great to see many of our members eventually providing a web page for their particular family names and villages! (member site addresses may be found on the homepage URL List) FAMILY NAMES FROM VILLAGE NAMES (Bernadette Agreen, Albert Schuch, Fritz Königshofer) We have previously mentioned family names being formed by adding an "er" to the locality name, such as "Sorg-er". The "er" signifying someone from Sorg. Now Bernadette Agreen wonders if one of her family names could have originated from a Burgenland village name. (She also asks me to forward some Nickischer data to a contact who has not joined the BB - hope he's reading this edition). The answers to Bernadette's question also point out that a family name was not necessarily derived from the locality of residence but could come from a similarly named locality elsewhere. Confusion heaped upon confusion! BERNADETTE WRITES: "Gerry, please (also) forward to Fred Nikithser... I didn't see his name listed in the Surnames for Nickischer. Thanks. I saw your communication in the newsletter (no.69) and thought I might be able to offer some help. In researching my own ancestors of Unterradling & Oberradling, I've contacted a few people who live in the McKees Rocks, PA, area, who also have roots to those villages, to see if we share any common threads. One of my contacts is the 77-year-old daughter of John Posch (Gleisdorf) and Mary Nickischer (Unterradling). Mary Nickischer, daughter of Barbara and Frank Nickischer was born in Unterradling. The Nickischers also had a son, Michael Nickischer, who settled in Germany. The Nickishers were related to the Wagner family. Fred may want to search the Unterradling LDS records to see if those Nickischers are of any relation. You never know! These can be found in microfilms 0602075 thru 0602078. THE QUESTION: I was interested in your connecting names to villages. I've often seen (references to) the village of Sulz and wondered about a connection to my Sulzer ancestors." THE ANSWER: (I write to Albert & Fritz) Albert & Fritz, would you say it's possible that the name Sulzer may mean someone from Sulz? I realize there are many family names that were developed like this but with Sulz being resettled in the 1600's and the name being used for the first time in 1676 (from the book "Güssing im Wandel der Zeit"), it is difficult for me to believe it could have been used as a family name. Any thoughts? ALBERT ANSWERS: I think it is possible, but there will probably be no way to prove it. One also has to consider that there are several other villages named Sulz in Austria (and probably in Germany as well), and some with Sulz being a part of the village name, like Sulzbach etc. The word "Sulz" also has the meaning of jelly or meat preserved in it. Note that the villages Sulz (in Bezirk Güssing) and Sulzriegel (in Bezirk Oberwart) were probably both named this way because of their mineral springs. The colloquial word for "Mineralwasser" (mineral water) is "Sauerwasser", which literally translates to sour water - or salted water, water with salt (in German: "Salz"). FRITZ ANSWERS: I second Albert's interpretation. Sulz must be a southern German form describing a place with a "Sauerwasser" (a naturally carbonated water spring), and it is related to the word Salz (salt). In areas toward the middle of Germany, such places also get names like Seltern and similar (leading to the term Selterwasser and the word Seltzer, as used in English). On the other hand, I wonder how old is the village name Sulz im Burgenland. Is it really only from the 17th century? If so, there are at least two candidates (besides other possibilities) not too far away. One relatively substantially-sized Sulz lies to the south of Bad Gleichenberg in Eastern Styria, not far at all from the Raab valley in Southern Burgenland, and there is also a hamlet Sulz south of Ehrenhausen, near the border to Slovenia. According to one theory, the original settlers of the Southern Burgenland (the Heinzen) might have come from the area around Wildon (following the call or the order of their overlord Henno (?) of Wildon), and in this sense the name Sulzer might well fit one of the original settlers. The derivation from a type of work is also possible, i.e., someone who was curing ("salting") meat, or preparing the "Sülze" or "Sulz" (jellied pig's skin and knuckles). However, I feel this is a much less likely explanation than the geographical one, i.e., describing someone hailing from a place called Sulz. HUNGARIAN WORKING PAPERS TRANSLATED (Albert Schuch to Bob Geshel) ALBERT WRITES: Hello Bob,I received the copies of your document a few days ago. Here is what I can make of it (an interpretation follows below): Page 1: szám = number: 1/903 Vármegye = County: Vas Járás = District: Ne.ujvár (shortened! - read: Nemetujvár = Güssing) Község = Municipality: Ne.hasos (shortened! - read: Nemethasos = Deutsch Ehrensdorf) Munkás-igazolvány = Worker's card (ID, license, permit, etc.) Keschl Robertné = Wife of Robert Keschl részére = for. Kiadta etc. = Issued on June 22 [not sure about the 2nd digit !], 1903 Can't read the following line (but it is where issued). The signature reads "Hegeds", which is a Hungarian surname. ______________________________________________ Page 2: Szemlyleirs = Personal description. Születési év = year of birth: 1861 [not 100 % sure about the last digit !!!] Vallása = religion: RK (roman catholic) Családi állapota = personal status: férjes = married Allandó lakhelye = permanent residence: Ne.hasos (shortened! - read: Nemethasos = Deutsch Ehrensdorf) Termete = height: közep = medium Arcza = face: hosszü (sp.?) = lengthy Szeme = eyes: barna = brown Szemöldöke = eyebrows: barna = brown Orra = nose: can't read the entry Szája = mouth: can't read the entry Haja = hair: barna = brown So, what to make of it? First, this is a document issued to the wife of Robert Geshel (indicated by the "-ne" attached to Robert), a worker's legitimation. Both district and municipality have been difficult to read, but I am quite sure that I got it right. We can now conclude that Robert Geshel's wife lived in Deutsch Ehrensdorf (Nemethasos) in 1903, hence there is a fair chance that this might also have been the native village of your ancestors. Deutsch Ehrensdorf belonged to the parish Gaas, Hungarian name was Pinkakertes or just Kertes. If you haven't looked at the Gaas church records already, this will have to be the next step in your research. Good luck, and a successful Year 2000! GÜSSING TRAUPMANNS (Fritz Königshofer to various members) FRITZ WRITES: Most likely you all know this already, but let me mention it just in case. When I looked through the film with the baptismal records of the r-c parish of Güssing, covering births from 1828-61, I noted a number of Traupmanns. For the purpose I pursued, I only checked about the years 1828-36 and 1851-61, and may have overlooked a lot. However, the following Traupmann couples had children at the addresses as indicated (or served as godparents as stated): 1835 in Urbersdorf, Josef Traupmann, farmer, and Elisabeth Tuztsi (?) 1836 in Güssing, Andreas Traupmann and Anna Klepeisz 1856 as godparents in Glasing: Georg Traupmann and Johanna Hutter 1856 in Glasing no. 4, Josef Traupmann and Anna Fürst; also 1857 at same address 1857 as godparents in Glasing: Andreas Traupmann and Theresia Gröller 1859 in Urbersdorf no. 41, Franz Trautmann [yes, with "t"] and Theresia Recker There was one other detail I wanted to pass on to you. A booklet by Karl Klein on the history of Rechnitz mentions in its section about the Counter-reformation that some new names show up in the earliest Lutheran matrikels of Rechnitz of the late 17th century that had not been listed in the earlier Schlaininger Urbar (taxation list) of the Rechnitz population of 1532. These new names of Lutheran families for Rechnitz include the name Traubmann. While no documents appear to exist about the migration of Protestants, the assumption is that Lutherans from nearby Styria decided to settle in the southern Burgenland when Emperor Ferdinand II forced Lutherans to convert or else leave "Austria" during the 30-Years War (early 1600s). Obviously there are other explanations as well, such as that the Rechnitz Traubmanns migrated from the core area you are searching (Glasing, Urbersdorf, Heiligenbrunn). However, as you go back in the matrikels, just keep in mind that it seems that the earliest Lutheran matrikels of Rechnitz of the late 1600s, early 1700s, contain(ed) Traubmanns. I am saying "contained" as my Handy Guide to Austrian Genealogical Records states that the Lutheran matrikels of Rechnitz were destroyed in WW-II. This needs to be checked though. BERNADETTE SULZER AGREEN ADDS MORE: I read this recent death notice in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette dated Friday Jan 7, 2000. Maybe it will be helpful to those of you researching the Traupman name. George W. Traupman Age 66, suddenly on Jan 6, 2000, of McKees Rocks; son of the late Ignatz and Hermina Traupman of Burgenland, Austria; brother of Frank (Janet) Traupman, Sister Mary C.D.P.; uncle of Eric Traupman, Lisa DeArmit, Heidi and Ellen Traupman; great uncle of Nicole Traupman; great uncle of Nicole and Emily Traupman, Megan and Annie DeAmit. George was a lifelong member of St. Mary Church and former Borough Secretary of McKees Rocks; also a member of Austiran-American Cultural Society... BURGENLAND BUNCH INTERNET LINKS - ADDITIONS, REVISIONS 1/15/00 (from Internet/URL Editor Anna Tanczos Kresh) BURGENLAND INTERNET LINKS o South Burgenland Homepage http://www.sued-burgenland.at - provides access to several Southern Burgenland businesses, hotels, communities etc. (The Neuberg pages include online village news.) One can order rooms online in 22 hotels (in 19 villages). Currently only available in German. English version is said to be online soon. (Albert Schuch) GENEALOGY RESEARCH LINKS (U.S) o Immigration & Naturalization Service http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/history/index.htm - information on research tools, immigration arrival and naturalization records, ports of entry, annotations made on passenger lists, etc. (no actual passenger data)(Lea Buzby) GENEALOGY RESEARCH LINKS (OTHER) o US CIA Factbooks http://www.cia.gov/ - by U.S. CIA; click on "Search", then enter "Austria" or "Hungary" to get current, concise, and detailed data and statistics on that country's geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military and transnational issues (no genealogy here, just lots of facts)(Bob Unger) SEARCH ENGINES o ProFusion http://www.profusion.com/ - Microsoft-sponsored meta-search engine, which can use up to nine Internet search engines (such as AltaVista, Google, InfoSeek, etc.) simultaneously to find that ancestor, or relative of yours on that obscure web page. Very fast, with lots of options. o AllTheWeb http://www.alltheweb.com - by Fast Corporation; a really fast meta-search engine. URL CHANGES (revised links/descriptions) o ORF Landesstudio Burgenland http://burgenland.orf.at - ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation); live daily news and music programs http://www.burgenland.orf.at/ORF/rblive.ram from Radio Burgenland - needs RealPlayer (changed address for a better direct link to live broadcast) MEMBER CHANGES REMOVE Newsletter deliveries to addresses that had permanent fatal errors will be removed from the distribution list CHANGE O Henry (Hank) Dilcher; Atlanta, GA. RABOCH (at some time changed to RAPPOSCH) and UITZ, Muhlgraben but also could be Leoben or Eisenberg. Settled in New Britain, CT.(new address) O Bob Geshel; E-mail address change In addition, you might add me as researching the additional villages for Geschl: 1. Moschendorf; 2. Gaas; 3. Neusiedl Bei Güssing; 4. Deutsch Ehrendorf. I'm going to try and establish a Geschl/Magdits database for the Güssing and surrounding districts of the Burgenland. O Carl Maschler; e-mail address change. O From: TschidaJ; e-mail address change. O Joyce Vogrin; Huntington Beach, CA. STROHRIGL, STRORIGL from Harka (Harkau), (Magyarfalva), Sopron Megye, Hungary. Settled in Chicago. O Patrick Zimanyi; address changed. NEW Dennis B. Ardinger; Bridgeville, PA. ARTINGER (spelling changed in US to ARDINGER) , ZWICKL (CWIKL various spellings); Heiligenkreutz im Lafnitzal, Felso Ronok, Sandorhegy (Tschanigraben) which is now called . Settled in McKees Rocks, Allegheny County, PA. Bob Fleck; FLECK/FLEK/FLCK: Neustift bei Schlaining, Bernstein, Stuben, Alt Schlaining, Rettenbach; KARNER: Mariasdorf, Oberschutzen; BAUER: Loipersbach, Goberling, Drumling; BINDER: where?; BENDL: Litzelsdorf, Mariasdorf, Bernstein; THEK/TRK/TEK: Kleinbachselten, Jabing. Emigrated early 1900's and settled in Chicago. KAPPEL, SCHMIDT: Bernstein?; UNGER, BAUMGARTEN: Litzelsdorf; TSCHURTZ, KOPPHANDL: Loipersbach; KUH, POSTMANN: Drumling; KASPER, MAROSCH: Kleinbachselten. Emigrated? Settled? Peter Karl Girschek; Toronto, Ontario, Canada. KUZMICH, BUJTAS, LEOPOLD, GUGGENBERGER, GOLLUBICH, villages of Kroatisches Geresdorf, Rust am See, St. Margarethen. Settled in Montreal, Canada. Nadine Hardin; Orlando, Florida. GALGOCZI,Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Koronco, Hungary. FEJES, Sopron, Megye,Hungary. Settled in Rosebush and Mount Pleasant, MI. Carla Herbert, Glens Falls, New York, BINDER, HAUCK, DOMINEK, SOMMER, KERN, GORZA, BRADT. settled in Denver, PA, and Bronx, NY. Joseph Knopf; Oxnard, CA. KNOPFF, St. Peterfa. Settled in Allentown and Lehigh Valley of PA. Sheri Michaels. Michigan, USA .STUMPFEL, MUHL, ROSENER, and KOLLER families. Kemeten, Austria. Kathie O'Mara; Gibsonia, PA.; KOGER, LEIRER, FRANYI, CZVITKOVICS, STANGEL, MITTL; Eberau and Beled; settled in McKees Rocks, PA; Long Island, NY; Maplewood, NJ; and Watervleit, NY. Curt Reinik, Reading, PA. REINIK, Mogersdorf (Nagyfalva); DECKER, SCHERMAN(N); Kukmirn (Kukmer); settled in Allentown, PA. Rudolf J. Rothemund; Wooster, OH. FRIESL, Tobaj Ingeborg Schuch, Vienna, Austria; for genealogical details see the entry of my brother (Albert Schuch). Time permitting, I am happy to assist with translation problems (German-English; English-German). Judy and Tim Snyder; Slatington, PA. GOLLIS - GOLLIS- GOLLES-GELLIS, Langzeil, (Güssing) settled in Lehigh County, PA early 1900's. SCHRAMMEL, Pernau, (Pornoapati), Hungary, settled in Lehigh County. REINSTATE o Hank Dilcher, Atlanta, GA, RAPPOSCH, Minihof- Liebau, UITZ, Muhlgraben. Settled in New Britain, CN. o Firmus J Opitz; Hopkins, MN. Searching for: my great great great Grandfather and Mother who would be the parents of MICHAEL OPITZ,my GG Grandfather who was born in Tadten in l832: the family of FLORIAN GANGL(e) born in Apetlon 1825: JOHN PITZEL, Wallern about the 1830's. End of Newsletter BURGENLAND BUNCH STAFF Coordinator & Editor Newsletter (Gerald J. Berghold; Winchester, VA) Burgenland Editor (Albert Schuch; Vienna & Kleinpetersdorf, Austria) Home Page Editor (Hap Anderson) Internet/URL Editor (Anna Tanczos Kresh; Butler, PA) Contributing Editors: Austro/Hungarian Research (Fritz Königshofer) Burgenland Lake Corner Research (Dale Knebel) Chicago Burgenland Enclave (Tom Glatz) Croatian Burgenland (Frank Teklits) Home Page village lists (Bill Rudy) Judaic Burgenland (Maureen Tighe-Brown) Western Hungary-Bakony Region (Ernest Chrisbacher) Western US BB Members-Research (Bob Unger) WorldGenWeb-Austria, RootsWeb Liason-Burgenland (Charles Wardell, Austria) BB ARCHIVES>(can be reached from Home Page hyperlinks) BURGENLAND HOME PAGE> http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org Burgenland Bunch Newsletter distributed courtesy of (c) 1999 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Newsletter and List Rights Reserved. Permission to Copy Granted; Provide Credit.