BB News No. 88 dtd 30 Sep 2000

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 88 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued monthly by Gerald Berghold) September 30, 2000 (all rights reserved) Note to recipients. If you don't want to receive these 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. Always add your full name to email. Our staff and web site addresses are listed at the end of newsletter section "B". Introductions, notes and articles without a by-line are written by the editor. This first section of the 3-section newsletter contains the articles: - Newsletter Frequency Change, - Szentpéterfa Record Update, - Croatian Origins, - Rohrbach an der Teich, - Brandies from Kukmirn, - Transdanubia - Mother of the Burgenland - Some RootsWeb Information. NEWSLETTER FREQUENCY CHANGE (from Gerry Berghold) Age wise, I have just passed the proverbial three score and ten: my biblical allotment as it were. I admit to feeling less spry then when I began this newsletter four years ago. As a child I thought if I could live to the year 2000, I'd die happy, now 2020 looks pretty good. As a young man I once told a friend he was an "old man!" His reply: "if you live long enough, you'll get old too!" A worker last week removing a dead tree threatening my property saw me watching and said "Hi old man, I guess you're glad that tree is down." I'm reminded of my immigrant Burgenland great-uncle, Josef Mühl (1875-1971), a tailor, apprenticed in Güssing, who retired in Allentown-Bethlehem three times. In his late eighties, he admitted to feeling tired on occasion. His fingers had trouble grasping the needle and his eyes couldn't see the stitches. He still made his own suits; he was 96 when he left us! Fortunately my fingers have no trouble pounding the computer keyboard and I switch glasses, but my wife says I do become touchy and remote as those biweekly newsletter deadlines approach. All this is by way of introducing my decision to change the BB newsletter frequency from bi-weekly to monthly. Looking back over 88 issues of the newsletter (some 250 sections of 7-8 pages each ...some of the earlier ones were shorter and issued weekly), I'm proud of the large amount of material we've made available. Our homepage lists and links, our newsletter and WGW Query Board archives are the world's largest source of English language material pertaining exclusively to the Burgenland available anywhere. Charter member Mike Spahitz said "take it easy; you'll run out of material!" We'll never run out of material. There is a vast amount that has not been translated from European language sources. There are many village histories we haven't found and the Burgenland Landesarchiv, Esterházy and Batthyány archives, as well as the Vienna and Budapest Library material will never be completely copied and translated. (Our staff are well aware of the work we still have before us!) Still, we have already provided an in-depth source of material for those Burgenland immigrant descendants who wish to research their family histories. I estimate that it should take a beginning researcher one or two years of casual study to get up to speed (ignoring any concurrent study of language(s), history, geography or genealogy basics). One can spend many days reviewing our lists and archives. Most new members receiving our newsletters are well behind older members. A little like the person buying their first computer and trying to make sense out of some of the computer trade magazines. The result has been some confusion and lots of repetitive questions, whose answers are usually in the archives. People and time constraints being what they are, new members tend to ask rather than dig into the records. I'm hoping a less-frequent newsletter will change all that and provide both time and incentive for them to look into what is already available. In other words, don't look to the monthly newsletter to tell you about your village or family name or how to get started. Use the homepage lists, the archives index and our welcome letters. I hope our newsletter will mature as a result of this change and be less repetitious. It will still carry news of pending events, ethnic trivia and new member listings and URL changes. It will still carry examples of interesting problems, opinions, trips, etc. It will hopefully carry more articles dealing with new research and translations. Some short-shelf-life material and lengthy threads may fall between publishing dates and not be published. The new frequency will give us all some time to breathe between issues. I won't be changing the size, format or policy of the newsletter. We should make more use of the WGW Query Board between issues (see the address in our staff listing if you've never used it). Many of our members read those queries and most are being answered. You also have the option of receiving an email copy of what is posted, either as individual queries or in a digest mode. Post a question and see what happens. One reminder: where the site asks for surname being researched, enter only the surname, not given name or anything else (it can also be left blank). If you enter extraneous material, it garbles the surname locator and then Charles Wardell (as WGW-Austria Host) gets after me to edit it! Please follow instructions. I look forward to another period of BB development and growth and refer you to the archives and WGW as you eagerly await our new monthly newsletters! SZENTPÉTERFA RECORD UPDATE (from Frank Teklits) Hello to all, I have completed correlating the births of the 1760 Decade with the marriage records, and thought that you may be interested in an update. The number of births recorded in the 1760 Decade amounted to 736, which brings the total birth count to 4,343 from the period of 1681 to 1769 inclusive. Approximately 22% of the births recorded in the 1760's were from marriages shown in the church registry. The number of births from marriages recorded in the Szentpéterfa church files has increased by approximately 5% over the 1750's. I consider this number to be on the low side due to the fact that there are periods where the marriage & birth files are both incomplete. As an example, there are but 3 marriages recorded in the entire 1700 decade. There are no birth records for the years 1689, 1691 & 1721. Other years have incomplete files. Hence, I anticipate this percentage to increase since the church records are anticipated to be considerably more complete than in the earlier periods. I intend to complete the same statistics for the 1770, 1780, & 1790 Decades and forward them to you as they are available. (Note that the records in this register terminate in the year 1796.) I have a strong feeling that these percentages will increase slightly after a 2nd pass through the marriage records is completed, which is planned after I enter all of the births through and including 1796. This is due to be "my being higher up on the learning curve", and most of all utilizing a vastly more superior program when attempting to read the entries. Adobe's Photo-Shop is the best I've used to date. I am also of the opinion that a detailed study of the handwriting characteristics for each church pastor (or scribe) will also increase the accuracy of the digitizing process. Alas, for records in some periods of time, I doubt that any software tool, or study, will enable the reading of some terribly written entries. CROATIAN ORIGINS (Janet Cobb, Frank Teklits, et al) To Messrs. Teklits and Berghold, In regard to the website of the Burgenland Croatian Culture Center, whose address you published earlier in the summer... As you may know, the website pages are now available in English. They contain an excellent history & timeline for Burgenland, besides information about the Center and its activities. I wrote to them and asked a question about the dialect map, since I had previously read that there were three or four Croatian dialects spoken in Burgenland and this map appears to list seven. Here's the reply I received from Mr. Franjo Schruiff of the Center: "...The map on our homepage shows the villages and regional/dialectal groups. Generally, you will find mostly "Cakavian" dialects among the Croatian population in Burgenland. But there are also some regional differences inside the Cakavian population. And at this level you may distinguish among the Haci, Poljanci, Dolinji, and so on. "The name "Haci" has its origin in the Croatian name of the region in the north of Burgenland. It is called "Hati", in German "Heideboden" (heath land). "Poljanci" is coming from Polje, meaning "field." This group lives in the valley of the river "Wulka". (The Wulka passes Mattersburg and Eisenstadt, then flows into the Neusiedler See.) "Both groups are Cakavian, and the differences are not very big. But they feel as "a little bit different" communities, mostly because of regional aspects. "Today it is not possible to give an answer where the people from the different regions originally came from. We know only where the old homeland of the Burgenland Croats was in general." I thought this information might be of interest to Burgenland Bunch readers so I am forwarding it. Mr. Teklits, a question I asked you about the possible origins of my family surname was also answered by Mr. Schruiff. I just want to thank both of you gentlemen for answering my previous letters to you and for publishing the address of this organization. Comment from the editor: << "Today it is not possible to give an answer where the people from the different regions originally came from. We know only where the old homeland of the Burgenland Croats was in general." >> Janet: this is not exactly correct. There have been a number of Austrian-Hungarian scholars who have correlated regional origins using both the dialect similarities as well as the family names in both early Burgenland (Güssing Herrschaft) and early Croatian Batthyány Urbars. They pinpoint Burgenland Croatian origin to villages south of Zagreb, some of which never recovered from the Turkish incursions and no longer exist. A knowledge of local Croatian history would be necessary to find their exact location. Robert Hajszan in "Die Kroaten der Herrschaft Güssing", Literas-Wien Verlag 1991 is just one of the available references. There are others and the field is growing, albeit slowly. One of many examples (there are 149 pages of them) that Hajszan shows is: > From the Güssing Urbar of 1576: the family name Krysanytt (later Krasanits?) in Grossmürbisch correlating to Krysanchych in the Urbar of 1519 Stynychnyak (Croatia) - the Castrum (castle) Another: > From the village of Rauchwart 1576 to Stynychnyak-village of Lypye 1519 Kattych (Kattits?) to Kachych Admittedly not for amateurs, this requires the ability (which I don't have) to read the 16th century languages and script and only pinpoints family names, not individuals. It is also necessary to be able to trace the changes which have taken place in the spelling of the family and village names through 3 or 4 languages! Except for the recent work of Frank Teklits, none of these sources have been translated from the German. Something to look for and be aware of, however. Would that we had the same for German immigrants to the Burgenland. ROHRBACH AN DER TEICH (from Albert Schuch) Albert responds to a WGW query: Burgenland Province Austria Queries, a new message, "Rohrbach emigrants," was posted by Albert Schuch in response to "Family Search," posted by Scott A Kulowitch. The message reads as follows: As Fritz Königshofer writes, your ancestors definitely came from Rohrbach an der Teich in today's southern Burgenland. Quite a number of inhabitants of this village emigrated to the US prior to 1906, as a stone cross still tells us today. It had been built in 1906 and was paid for by donations from the Rohrbach emigrants. The inscription says: "Zur größeren Ehre Gottes. Gespendet von den rohrbacher Amerikanern. 1906" "[For the greater glory of God. Donated by Rohrbacher Americans. 1906]" Names inscribed are: (Numbers following surnames are house numbers in Rohrbach an der Teich) Vinz. Jos. FREY 22 Joh. u. Johanna OSVALD 5 Maria HEFLER und Tochter 11 Ant. OSVALD und Cecilia 16 Mich. und Aloisia OSVALD 23 Joh. und Anna OSVALD 23 Jos. und Maria OSVALD 80 Mart. und Ther. OSVALD 77 Ant. WOLF 70 Anna OSVALD 75 Joh. und Ther. OSVALD 65 Ant. OSVALD 82 Ther. ERNST 87 Georg KANTHAUER 31 Joh. REICHSTÄDTER 36 Jos. RADAKOVITS Jos. SCHUH 79 Franz KNAR 37 Jos. HALPER 69 Ign. OSVALD 49 Joh. LAKINGER 59 Aloisia SCHUH 45 Fanni CSEBITS 76 Fanny und Rosa KROLIK 17 Franz OSVALD 81 Rosa OSVALD 50 Anton OSVALD Josefa OSVALD Mich. und Ther. OSVALD Mich. und Ther. KAPPEL Ign. OSVALD 33 Josefa BRODL 65 Paul SCHUH 47 Mich. und Maria PLANK und Sohn 12 Vinz. und Ther. OSVALD und Tochter 23 Franz und Kath. KULOVITS 30 Franz, Maria und Fanni OSVALD 21 Joh. Franz und Pauline GRAF 90 Franz und Maria MAYERHOFER 12 Joh. und Ther. KAPPEL 84 Franz und Johann FREY 48 Vinz. und Aloisia SCHUH 45 Joh. PUTZ 24 Mich. WOLF 27 Joh. OSVALD 9 Jos. OSVALD 13 Mich. und Ther. STEINER 4 BRANDIES FROM KUKMIRN (suggested by Albert Schuch) Kukmirn (which also administers the villages of Neusiedl, Limbach and Eisenhüttl) in the district of Güssing, is the village of origin for many of our members. About one thousand Kukmirn villagers emigrated. It has two churches, RC and Lutheran, whose records are available from the LDS. It was the scene of the dedication of a BG immigrant memorial in 1993, which I attended. The Bürgermeister, Reinhold Fiedler, a local Gasthaus owner is also a "schnapps brenner" or distiller of some skill. He supplied me with a bottle of "birnen" (pear) schnapps, which I hand carried home and treasured as long as it lasted. There are other distillers of fruit brandies in the area and it has become known for the excellence of their products. There is even a "schnapps" museum. Unlike American brandies, which come in plain bottles, the Burgenland brandies are put up in very artistic, colorful bottles which are collected for their beauty as well as their tasty contents. I received a beautiful blue one from Klaus Gerger when I visited him in Vienna last year. Now there's a Kukmirn web site and you can see some even if you can't taste. Albert writes: Fine brandies from Kukmirn. Fine Website in German & English. http://www.signale.co.at/lagler/ [website no longer available] Regards, Albert For Gerry: Includes many nice glass photos! TRANSDANUBIA - MOTHER OF THE BURGENLAND (Historical Geography) I have a list of names (almost a litany), which I use to search for information concerning the Burgenland. As you know, the name "Burgenland" didn't exist until 1921, so if you check any index for that name you will not find much. If you use Austria or Hungary or Austro-Hungary, you'll get much more than what you want. I'm always chagrined when a history will jump from Vienna to Transylvania without mentioning anything in between. Royal Hungary (from the 16th Cent. or Western Hungary (before 16th Century or after 1848) will sometimes work but double names are rare in an index. Pannonia helps but frequently refers only to Roman times. Lately the use of this name for the Burgenland region is appearing in more and more Austrian publications. The Hungarian county (megye) names of Vas, Moson and Sopron will sometimes work but only in an Hungarian index. One name that works often is Transdanubia (translates to "over or across the Danube" (German "Donau", Hungarian "Duna"); this "across" presupposes you are standing in the middle of Hungary, just east of the Danube (where it flows south) and are looking west. The Danube, one of the world's great rivers stretches for 1800 miles from a spring in the Black Forest of southern Germany near Donaueschingen to the Black Sea. It runs east through Regensburg and Passau, Germany, to Linz and Vienna, Austria and on to Bratislava, Slovakia, then continues east to Budapest, Hungary where it abruptly heads south to Mohacs, Hungary. It is then joined by the Drava and again turns in an easterly direction to Belgrade, Serbia where its volume is increased by the Sava River. It then continues east, forming the border between Romania and Bulgaria, eventually creating a massive delta which now includes parts of Russia, Romania and Bulgaria, before emptying into the Black Sea. The delta is a very important bird sanctuary and breeding ground. I was fortunate in being able to cover the entire distance (from Passau, Germany to Ismail, Russia) by riverboat a few years ago. An odyssey comprising eight days of unimaginable historical and romantic interest. Unfortunately, due to Balkan problems, this trip is no longer offered as a tour, although it might be possible to arrange it in sections as an individual traveler. The area beyond Mohacs takes one through the Balkans and the river route used by invaders. From Ismail, it is an overnight trip to Istanbul, Turkey by ship. Travel writers like to point out that the "Beautiful Blue Danube" of the Strauss waltz is not blue at all but a muddy brown (they cavil over the beauty part). In the winter it can be a steely gray from alpine runoff. We've found that on a warm, sunny afternoon, following a long lunch, with the river banks slowly passing by, the river is beautiful and as blue as the sky. Likewise on a soft summer night, following a well-wined dinner, with wife in hand and a waltz playing in the background, it can be a romantic, star-studded, glistening deep blue... so much for reality! I'm sure that's how Strauss saw it. On its banks you'll still see women washing clothes, fishermen's huts, stock and geese being watered, crumbling castles, river hamlets and village scenes, not to mention urban bridges, promenades and shipping quays. You'll also see Roman remains (the Rhine, Danube and Euphrates rivers defined the borders of the Roman Empire), Austrian/Hungarian-Turkish-Balkan forts and palaces, Balkan army maneuvering and a large hydroelectric dam where once the "iron gates" (rapids) caused transportation problems, but bucolic scenes still predominate. Between urban areas you can still see bits of "old Europe" -the whole historic panorama. You can even imagine the first crossing of the river by the Goths in AD 377, the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. The river's former wild nature has been subdued and tamed but it can still assert its authority on occasion, flooding river towns and villages and changing channels. If you haven't read one of the many excellent books about this river, you're in for a treat. Check your local library. The National Geographic Society's archives also have much Danube material. All of this is but a prelude to the name Transdanubia, a portion of whose western region now includes our Burgenland. For all intents and purposes, Transdanubia is that part of Austria-Hungary which lies west of the Budapest-Mohacs Danube River bend, ending at the Styrian-Lower Austrian eastern borders and south of the Vienna-Budapest urban line to about the Raba river and the Yugoslavian border. An area about 130 miles east to west and perhaps 80 to 100 north to south; say 13000 square miles (mostly in Hungary), of which Burgenland takes up about 1530 square miles or a little more than one tenth. This small area is unique in that it differs from other parts of Austria-Hungary, being hill country (Hügeland), neither Alpine nor Plain (puszta). It has a different geography. It also has an older history and has always been borderland and a racial melting pot. The mixture has spawned a unique culture: part German, part Magyar, part Slav. The portions of interest to us, from north to south, start with the Leitha River region below Vienna and the Neusiedler See (Hungarian Lake Fertö), the northern-most part of the Burgenland. East of that area after crossing the border, we find the Moson villages, the Slovakian border and finally urban Budapest. As we drop south from the Neusiedler See, we come to many other streams which wend their way to the Neusiedler or eventually, after joining other rivers, empty into the Danube. Among them are the Leitha, Wulka, Rabnitz, Pinka, Lafnitz and Raba. They add their names to many of our Burgenland villages. East of them are the Sopron villages, the Bakony Hills and Forests of Hungary and Lake Balaton. A little further south and we find the Vas villages. East of there and across the Danube, we enter the Hungarian Plain. What we've just delineated was most of the Roman Province of Pannonia. If it wasn't for tribal, nationalistic and ethnic differences, Burgenland could well be part of a country called Pannonia or Transdanubia. Perhaps one will arise some day in the unimaginable future if Magyar and German and Slav can ever be completely reconciled. History has shown the futility of considering the area as Pan Magyar, Pan German or Pan Slav. In looking for information concerning the Burgenland, don't fail to look under the name Transdanubia, it is truly the mother of the Burgenland. ROOTSWEB INFORMATION (from Anna Kresh) RootsWeb is no longer accepting monetary contributions. I am changing the 1st link below to their main homepage at www.rootsweb.com. No changes contemplated to 2 and 3. If you are not yet aware of this change, you may like to take a look at this link (how-to-subscribe). (ED. Note: RootsWeb began as a free, non-profit, no-contribution organization. They grew to a size which required more hardware and software than their staff could personally fund. They then began accepting contributions, and many of us, who utilized their services, contributed. RootsWeb then made a decision to open their websites and newsletters to advertising. This now funds their hardware and operating costs so they no longer seek contributions. Users of the "free" internet should be aware that many of those providing the services do so at personal cost in time, perquisites and money. Your BB service is provided "cost free" through the donation of personal-server-provided space and software which is supplied to staff members as part of their "server" enrollment (that which is covered by their AOL fees as an example). Likewise, the distribution services are provided "cost free" to the BB by RootsWeb. Like PBS television, so-called "cost free" service is really provided by the generous support of others. This is in addition to the "free" services provided by contributors of articles and web site design and list maintenance. Remember this as you enjoy what the BB has to offer. You repay us by your cooperation.) o RootsWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html - premier genealogical service; all your family names should be listed on Roots Web. o RootsWeb - Guide to Tracing Your Family Tree http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ - Guide designed with the beginning genealogist and new RootsWeb user in mind o RootsWeb WorldConnect Project http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ - RootsWeb users have uploaded more than 6.2 million names of their ancestors to the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project; online search facility; new GEDCOMs uploaded at the rate of one million names per week. (Newsletter continues as no. 88A) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 88A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued monthly by Gerald Berghold) September 30, 2000 This second section of the 3-section newsletter contains: - Files Lost and Croatian Language, - Soldiers' War Graves, - Question Concerning Viennese Birth Records, - Austrian Newspaper Carries Stegersbach-Northampton Partnership Article, - Birthday Greetings & Minneapolis Picnic Video Received, - Prune Filling (Lekvar) For Raised Strudel, - Ethnicity & the Internet, - ZEMLYAK Family Notes, and - A Recipe for Austrian Fruit Bread (Glattzen Brot). FILES LOST AND CROATIAN LANGUAGE COMMENTS (from Yvonne Lockwood) Well, the absolutely most awful happened: someone stole my laptop! Gone are years of records. And how many of us regularly backup files? As a consequence of resurrecting my records, I went to the BB web page and archives. What a treasure trove! Thank you, Gerry, for your labor of love. In the last newsletter regarding languages, you list Serbo-Croatian as one of the spoken languages in the Burgenland. Today, this is more true than ever before because of the large number of Bosnian refugees. However, the Burgenland Croats, present in the Burgenland and western Hungary since 16th century, according to oral tradition, speak Croatian. The reason I make this point is that their language is quite different from the Croatian spoken in Croatia (and therefore from Serbian) because of language shifts in the territories of origin that occurred after major migrations. Gradiscanski Hrvatski cannot today be called Serbo-Croatian. As an aside, I do believe that the Serbs and the Croats in the south (former Yugoslavia) do speak Serbo-Croatian today regardless of what the super nationalists in those regions say. Perhaps with time what they speak will diverge beyond vocabulary, but I doubt it. WORLD WAR I GERMAN SOLDIERS' WAR GRAVES by Robert (Ro) Lipprandt (Ed. Note: Previous issues of the BB newsletter have mentioned the many War Memorials found in Burgenland villages. These are a source of family names as they provide given names as well as birth and death dates. Place of burial, however, is something about which I know very little. The following describes a source for German war dead. I'm wondering if a similar source is available for the Burgenland war dead? I would assume that many of those from WW-I are buried in northern Italy or Galicia, those from WW-II in Russia, Hungary or perhaps France. I asked one cousin if she knew where her father and uncle were buried, she said "we don't know... one somewhere in Finland, the other somewhere in Russia.") Lipprandt writes: My mother's oldest brother died as a result of mustard gas in the second battle of Ypres, Belgium, in 1915. No attempt was made to locate his burial site because of my mother's and her brothers' statements that all information was "lost." Lost, my foot! There is a service, based in France, that has records of German-Prussian soldiers' graves. The site is in German. The service is free, but you will be sent information/brochures asking for donations to help them upkeep the research and various projects that they undertake. There is a long wait (mine took about a year) but it is worth it if you have blanks in your pedigree chart that involve German soldiers. The Web address of the organization is http://www.Volksbund.de/ Article previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links, Vol. 5, No. 31, 2 Aug 2000. RootsWeb: www.rootsweb.com/ EMAIL FROM MEMBER QUESTIONS VIENNESE BIRTHS (From Giles Gerken) Joined the group about three years ago and had only sketchy info on maternal ancestors. With help from various members (a lot from Albert Schuch), I now have complete info from my great-grandfather Anton Regl (about 1781) to present day, including also info on great-great-grandfather George Kapeller. An interesting item on Kapeller name: a niece of great-grandmother, also named Eliz Kapeller, born 1825, married 1845 an Antal Kurtz in Moson County. This info also listed in FamilySearch by a descendant, one Ladislao Kangyera: Lelis M of Rivera, Uruguay. So people from the area apparently are now scattered over the world. Had a lot of help from Felix Game also, who I contacted over the past month. He clarified much for me on the name Regl (Austrian version; Regel in North Germany). Only one question: great-grandfather Anton supposedly born in Vienna (I am now told by an 80-yr-old relative I just met), with surname said to be from his mother (illegit). Question: How would one start to look for such a birth in Vienna without traveling there? Doesn't appear LDS has any film on such? Thanks again for all past help. Answer: Problem with Vienna is the many parishes and the growth of the city. It is difficult given a particular time frame to determine when the villages were incorporated or parishes established. I understand that, to date, there is no central index of Viennese births and, short of visiting a specific church, birth (baptism) records are not available. One possible source is the "domicile registrations" available from the LDS as microfilm numbers in the 1648500 series (they are alphabetic by family name). Whenever an address changed or people moved into or out of Vienna (I don't remember when this started, maybe mid-1800s?), they had to register with the city authorities. AUSTRIAN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE - STEGERSBACH & NORTHAMPTON PARTNERSHIP (from Inge Schuch and Klaus Gerger) Below please find a rough translation of the Burgenländische Volks Zeitung article circulated earlier by Klaus Gerger. Greetings from Vienna, Inge Sister-city connections renewed daily via the Internet. 25 years after Stegersbach and Northampton celebrated the twinning of their towns, the new media have revolutionized the contact between the two sister towns. The year 2000 marks not only the 25th anniversary of this sister-city partnership - it also marks the 100th anniversary of the start of a mass exodus from the province of Burgenland to the state of Pennsylvania, and the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft has made an effort to honor both events. To commemorate the fact that Lehigh Valley, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were the preferred centers of immigration from the Burgenland up to the middle of the 20th century, Dr. Walter Dujmovits, president of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft, proclaimed 2000 the "Austrian Year of Pennsylvania" when visiting Northampton last year. The Burgenland-Americans of today are third-or fourth-generation Americans, and many of them are descended from immigrants from the districts of Jennersdorf and Güssing. Many have started to research their family history, and many have visited the land of their ancestors. Both in Burgenland and Pennsylvania the young generation is, meanwhile, using hi-tech tools to stay in touch: the days of the air mail letter are history; these days it takes a mere click of the mouse to exchange stories and pictures through the Internet or to chat with one's relatives overseas. BIRTHDAY GREETINGS & MINNEAPOLIS PICNIC VIDEO RECEIVED The week before my 70th birthday was a little like Christmas. I began receiving birthday wishes via the internet, cards via surface mail, an Imperial Torte (cake) from Inge Schuch in Vienna, special greetings from Dr. Walter Dujmovits of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft, an English version of "Imperial Austrian Cuisine" from Albert Schuch, a really special message from Klaus Gerger (more later) and photos and a video of the BB picnic in Minneapolis from Susan Peters and Hap Anderson. The video presented the attendees giving their names and family names and villages being researched. It was pleasant to finally associate some BB members' names with faces. The highlight of the video was the whole group getting together to sing "Happy Birthday Gerry!" What a superb greeting-I'll cherish it. Thank you all for thinking of me on this milestone birthday. PRUNE FILLING FOR RAISED STRUDEL Ruby Garcia writes: Dave (born Pittsburgh) says his mother used to make a prune filling strudel that was also very good. Answer: That prune filling is called "Lekvar" and it's made from prunes (plums), which have been cooked and reduced to a spreadable paste. Sugar (or honey or corn syrup) is added to taste and it is spread on the dough before rolling, just like the poppy seed or nut mixture. Should not be too wet. I've seen Lekvar sold in jars in supermarkets near the baking sections. A little like apple butter, only stiffer. I believe Solo Brands also distributes it. Wouldn't be hard to make if you had a blender. Just cook prunes, remove pits, drain, add sweetener and whip. My grandmother also used it as a sometimes filling for "kipfels" - those little rolled crescent cookies generally filled with walnuts. One of the three popular pastry fillings (nuts, lekvar, poppy seeds) in eastern Europe. Dried apricots can be prepared in the same way - I think they are tastier. My grandfather always said plums should only be used to make Slivovitz (plum brandy). My wife says "how can you drink that stuff? - the whole house smells like old shoes when you open the bottle!" Yech! ETHNICITY & THE MEDIA-INTERNET Local Public Television (PBS from Harrisonburg, VA) showed "My Family - Mi Familia" the other night. It was the story of an Hispanic family in Los Angeles through four generations, mostly an average Mexican-American family story with, in this case, three very tragic events. Every family has some tragedy, but some are worse than others. Here we had some violence, murder and sudden death, which fortunately does not happen to all that many of us. I guess we have to accept media's interest in such things dramatic. They seem to think if it doesn't shock, it's not good video, but, like too much of anything, it takes more and more to achieve the same effect. We enjoyed the theme very much, however, and I thought how pleasant it would be to see four or more generations of a Burgenland family so depicted. If we could only make videos of the "auswandererschicksal" (immigrant stories) that both the BB and the BG feature in their newsletters. The Sunday supplements of our newspapers also often carry such stories and the current (Oct. 2000) edition of the National Geographic features an article concerning North Boston Italian immigrant families. They have featured others in the past, Chinese and Hebrew in New York and San Francisco, Vietnamese in Texas, Germans in Milwaukee, etc. This yearning after ones roots goes deep and the media sometimes presents what their subscribers want to read or see. Now we have the internet and the plethora of ethnic sites continues to reflect this yearning in a new way. Many of us were brought up in ethnic neighborhoods. Little villages (enclaves) within the big cities where everyone knew you, your family, your village in Europe and even your hopes and desires. Shopkeepers knew your first name and shops and restaurants featured ethnic items and food. It was a place where you felt secure and where you felt you belonged. It was home and stirred something in our genes. Then many of us left for far-off places and lived among strangers. Some of us acquired computers and with the establishment of the internet, one thing we looked for were sites with traces of ethnic roots. If we didn't find them, some of us created our own - in effect, we built an ethnic neighborhood within the internet. Here we can again refresh our ethnic ties. The Burgenland Bunch is one such ethnic neighborhood, but a global one, reaching beyond the confines of our birth place. Come in, draw up a chair, sit down, be at home and read about your ancestors. ZEMLYAK FAMILY (from Bob Tratz, Bruce Klemens & Steve von Hitritz) Descendant tree of: Paulus Zemlyak 1 Paulus Zemlyak m. Catharina Juraszovich 2 Georgius Zemlyak b. 10 Apr 1821 m. 17 Jan 1843 Barbara Kern 3 Maria Zemlyak b. 13 Jan 1844 3 Andreas Zemlyak b. 27 Nov 1845 3 Stephan Zemlyak b. 20 Aug 1850 3 Karl Zemlyak b. 6 Oct 1852 E-mail from Bob Tratz to Steve von Hitritz (Sept 2, 1998): I appreciate your information about the Zemljak family in Oslip. It is most interesting, particularly the information about Anna Zemljak and the Oslip history by Anna Odorfer as translated by Bruce. All I can say is that until I view the LDS microfilm of RC church records in Oslip (thanks for the roll number), I cannot be 100% sure that it is the origin of my great-great- grandfather George Zemlock and great-great-grandmother Barbara Zemlock who came to Wisconsin in 1856 or 1857 (some census records, which I believe to be unreliable, put it as early as 1853). Barbara was the daughter of a Mathias and Elizabeth Kern (cf. 1866 Winnebago County, Wisc. church marriage record of their daughter Mary to a Joseph Sommer, also of Hungary). George (born about 1819) and Barbara (born about 1817) came to this country not only with their daughter Mary (believed to be the eldest sibling) but also with Andrew (my great-grandfather) born in 1845-1847 and his brothers Stephen (born 1850) and Charles (born 1852), all from Hungary. My grandfather told me in 1965 that the family came from Oslo, Hungary. But I searched maps and gazetteers off and on for years without finding anything to corroborate that. Then in 1984 I obtained a copy of an 1884 birth certificate in which great-great-uncle Stephen related that they came from Oslop, Hungary. I didn't get around to doing a decent search of maps and gazetteers for Oslop until just recently. Naturally, I didn't find anything in the boundaries of old Hungary, because I confined my searches for Oslop and similar spellings to present day Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Galicia, and Western Romania. Tried internet searches for "Oslop" to no avail. I didn't notice the small sliver of land next to Austria that was converted to Austria apparently in 1921 (Burgenland). Not until I quickly scanned a book by Dagmar Senekovic titled "Handy Guide to Austrian Genealogical Records" on Monday a little over a week ago, did I notice that the village of Oslip, Austria even existed (complete with parish church records!). According to the book, baptismal, marriage, and death records are available for the Oslip parish all the way back to the year 1700 (but only through direct contact with the Roman Catholic Church). Apparently the duplicate records (on microfilm) are only available for 1828 on? When I went on to the internet for the Austrian telephone directory a week ago and tried the name Zemljak as well as Zemlock, I came up with one match for Zemljak in Oslip. I also noticed one other Zemljak in another Burgenland community (along with two others elsewhere in Austria--but no Zemlocks). Obviously the name was changed upon arrival here. Anyway, that search result convinced me that I had finally found the Zemlock origin (probably). I saw the Burgenland Bunch website shortly thereafter. I don't know a whole lot more. My grandfather only remembered one story about life in the old country--He recalled his uncle Stephen telling of seeing his older brother (Andrew, my g-grandfather) carrying a cross in a church procession in the home village in Hungary. My grandfather said his grandfather George was the village leader in his home place, but I never put much stock in that story--I figured there was less reason to emigrate then (unless, I guess, you ran afoul of the wrong person higher up). My g-g-g-randfather George was a farmer in Winnebago County, but had only 80 acres, so he was not terribly successful, at least in economic terms. George was still alive in 1900 at the age of 81, but I have been unable to find a record of him after the 1900 Census. I do know that "Oslip" looks most probable. There are lots of Zemljaks in Slovenia; I had always wondered if there might be a connection since I noticed many years ago that a "Zemljak" immigrated to Buffalo, New York, from Laibach (Ljubljana), Slovenia in 1902. I wonder if the Zemljaks came up from Slovenia? It was interesting to read the Burgenland Bunch history about the Croatian connection to Burgenland. Perhaps the Zemljaks or Zemlyaks were originally Croatian rather than Slovenian? Anyway, I ramble on. I really appreciate all of your leads. I may not be too good about responding to e-mail during the next 4 weeks. I'll be out of town a lot on business, but in October I should have a chance (if my wife will let me) to do so more searches. Best Wishes, Bob Tratz From: Klemens, Bruce H [AMSTA-AR-DBP-R] Subject: RE: Zemlyak Query Hello Steve, good to hear from you. I assume you're referring to the history they are writing over there, not my own, which I think I sent you a couple years ago. I've probably updated my own since then and would be glad to resend it if your email can handle eight megs! Anna says it's the 700th anniversary of Oslip actually being called by that name, so they are publishing a history. Maybe there was a village there earlier but it wasn't called Oslip yet. The book should be ready very soon... actually I had hoped to have it by now. I'll let you know as soon as she sends it to me. I can always Xerox it for you. Cheers, Bruce From: Steve von Hitritz Hi Bruce, Hi Aaron: Bruce: I too would love to have a copy of the Oslip History. Who do I contact? Aaron: When you are ready to sit down at your nearest LDS FHC library and scan the parish records in Oslip, let me know. I have spent a long time looking at them and I can help. You will need a Latin, German and Hungarian dictionary at your side. From: Klemens, Bruce H Subject: Zemlyak Query Hello Aaron, I saw your Zemlyak query in the Burgenland Bunch newsletter. There are several of us in the Burgenland Bunch with ancestors in Oslip, e.g., Bob Tratz and Steve von Hitritz. A couple years ago when Bob Tratz joined the Burgenland Bunch, Steve and I contacted him since he mentioned he had ancestors in Oslip. Turns out both Bob and I have Zemlyak/Zemljak ancestors from Oslip but I could never find any relationship between them, although I assume somehow in the distant past there must be one. You, however are a different story. It appears that from the information I have, you and Bob are related. I am attaching a Word file with an old 1998 email from Bob to Steve and also a chart showing the descendents of Paulus Zemlyak. I think Steve may have found this in one of his Oslip LDS microfilm searches. Anyway, you will see the very same Georgius Zemlyak with exactly the same birth date you mentioned, i.e., April 10, 1821. What is strange is that you mention that his father married PAULINA Juraszovich. This info shows her name as CATHARINA. But it must be the same person. My Zemljak ancestor was George Zemljak (my g-g-g-grandfather) who married Maria Schindler (birth dates of both unknown). They had a daughter, Anna Zemljak, born May 17, 1813 who married Franz Klemensich, born March 8, 1811. Klemensich is a Germanization of the original Croatian Klemensic. Obviously, it became Klemens in America. I'd love to find some relationship between your Zemlyaks and my Zemljaks. Looking forward to hearing from you. By the way, I have written a history of Oslip which I would be glad to send you if you like. I still have a second cousin in Eisenstadt who I correspond with. She tells me that right now in Oslip their are writing an official history of the village. I can't wait to get a copy. Bruce Klemens AUSTRIAN FRUIT BREAD (from Ed Tantsits - recipe from Grandmother Theresa Potzmann Tantsits) (Ed. Note: I'm going to cut this recipe in half and try to adapt it to my bread machine.) Ed writes: I noticed in the last few newsletters that there were some good recipes listed of which I am familiar with. Attached is my favorite fruit bread recipe my grandmother always made for the Christmas holidays. As you are aware, all the old timers just used a little of this and that and never followed a recipe. My wife was with my grandmother many times and measured this and that to come up with this recipe. My grandmother called the bread 'Glatzen Brot' I do not know the spelling. (Ed. Glattzen/sweet, Brot/ bread) I call it 'Austrian Fruit Bread.' Also, I do not know if you receive the 'Burgenländische Gemeinschaft' newsletter but the latest newsletter I received had a recipe I love which is Pumpkin South Burgenland Style. It goes excellent with pork chops. Also in the newsletter is a picture of my second cousin Hofrat Dr. Johann Jandrasits receiving a commemorative plaque for being a Founder/Promoter for the Josef Reichl Haus in Güssing. (Ed. Reichl was a Burgenland poet born in Güssing; see previous newsletters.) 'Glattzen Brot' Recipe 3 envelopes dry yeast 1 1/4 cups warm water 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon salt 4 cups rye flour, sifted 4 cups flour, sifted 3/4 cup honey 1 cup water 3/4 cup whiskey (Ed. try brandy) 1 cup water 3/4 box each of prunes, figs & dates, cut up 1/2 lb. walnuts, broken up 10 oz jar maraschino cherries, drained, cut up 1. Mix yeast, warm water, sugar and salt in a small bowl and let rise. 2. Mix flours in a large bowl. When mixed, make a well, add the yeast mixture and mix only a small amount of flour. Let rise 1/2 hour. 3. Mix honey in saucepan with 1 cup water. Heat and keep warm. Add 3/4 cup whiskey. 4. Add honey mixture and mix all of yeast, honey mixtures and the rest of flour by hand. Add 1 cup water. Knead well. (This is a very soft and sticky batter. Hands will not come clean.) 5. Add fruit and nuts. Mix by hand. Pat down and let rise 2 1/2 to 3 hours. 6. Grease and flour Pans (will make 1 bundt pan and 1 small angel food pan). 7. Flour a baking board well. Divide dough in 2 parts. Dust dough on all sides. Do not knead. Place in pans. Let rise 1 hour. 8. Bake at 350 degrees. Bundt pan 1 1/2 hours. Small pan 1 hr. 15 min. 9. Let set in pans 15 min. Remove. Brush all sides and bottom with a little whiskey (use a pastry brush). Cool. Serve. 10. Bread may also be frozen. (Newsletter continues as no. 88B) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 88B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (issued monthly by Gerald Berghold) September 30, 2000 This third section of the 3-section newsletter contains: - A Correspondence Caution - Ethnic News From Allentown - "Austrian Music in Lehigh Valley" (excerpt from the Allentown Morning Call) - Meetings of the Austrian American Society - Pittsburgh - Sacher Torte vs Imperial Torte vs Strudel - Notice of a New Felix Game Article - Czech Website - Member Changes CORRESPONDENCE CAUTION We receive a lot of email which does not follow good syntax, etiquette or common courtesy. These include queries, comments and address/data changes and requests for membership which do not follow our simple requirements of name, address and/or data format (see Invitation extract below). Some carry requests like "send me all the information you have" or "I believe my ancestor came from Austria, what can you tell me about him?" Some prospective members receive our Membership Invitation and obviously do not read it since they don't follow our simple requests. It's also obvious that some members do not check our laboriously maintained homepage and archives for information. As a result we're forced to make some changes. In the future, email which does not include name as well as email address, will be ignored. It is imperative that we know with whom we are corresponding and we shouldn't be forced to search for your name. Likewise, questions which are not specific or which can be answered by our homepage or archives may be ignored. (If you tell me you checked those sources and can't find what you're looking for, I'll be glad to help.) If you expect an answer to your email and don't receive one (some require no answer), look it over and ask yourself if it meets our requirements. From now on, I plan to use the delete button a lot. If someone tells you that the BB is no longer as friendly and responsive as it used to be, you might ask them if they are being good correspondents. Time can never be so precious that we must forego common courtesy. In mentioning the BB to prospective members, you might also caution them to follow correct procedures. Email is popular because it is faster and less demanding to write than surface mail - but the prime reason for correspondence is the transmittal of information over distance - if your transmittal isn't understood, you're wasting everyone's time. "BURGENLAND BUNCH INVITATION (partial extract)" Subject "Burgenland Bunch membership". Furnish (in this order), your name, your email address, your city and state of residence (we only wish to know where Burgenland immigrant descendants are living - do not include your street address or phone number), Burgenland family surnames (IN CAPS) being researched, villages of origin if known and where emigrants settled. Follow this same format when sending subsequent changes. Example: John Doe, [email address]; Toledo, OH. SCHMIDT, Güssing. NEUBAUER, Eltendorf. Settled in Allentown, PA. (data in this example is fictitious) Previous newsletters and other information (our archives) may be read or downloaded from our homepage (see internet addresses at end of this letter). The rules of the Burgenland Bunch are simple. No dues, no obligations, just an interest in Burgenland family history and common courtesy. ETHNIC NEWS FROM ALLENTOWN (from Bob Strauch with our thanks) O The 22nd Annual Austrian Flag Raising will take place Sunday, October 22, 2000 at the Austrian-Hungarian Veterans Society, 852 N. 4th Street, Allentown, PA. 12:30 PM Ceremony 1-2 PM Reception-goulash & pastry 2-6 PM Dance w/Schanta Band The public is invited. Sponsored by the A/H Vet. Soc. and the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft. O Polka King Joe Weber is the new director of the Coplay Saengerbund Chorus. Former director Ann Mohr served for forty years. The choir has been in existence since 1917. Weber has also been director of St. Peter's Catholic Church Choir since 1972. A Christmas concert is being planned. O Theresa Panner Zotter, age 103, Lehigh Valley's oldest living Burgenländerin died in Cedarbrook nursing home, South Whitehall, Aug. 21. The wife of the late Rudolph Zotter, Sr., she was born 19 Mar. 1897, in Neusiedl bei Güssing. She emigrated to Allentown in 1922. Prior to moving to the nursing home when she was 100, she made an apfel strudel before leaving! Bob Strauch says "one for the road!" O St. Peter's Lutheran Church (formerly on Ridge Ave., Allentown-now renting facilities while they plan a new church) held their annual Oktoberfest Aug. 1 in Schnecksville. The congregation of this church has many Burgenländers and descendants. Your editor was baptized in this church. O H.E. Bishop Paul Iby, Bishop of Burgenland, who resides in Eisenstadt, will be in Allentown Oct. 16 prior to visiting Washington and Chicago. He will hold a mass at Our Lady of Hungary Church in Northampton. Reinhold Fiedler, mayor of Kukmirn (see previous Kukmirn article) will accompany the group. Last Minute News Concerning Bishop Iby's Schedule From B. Gemeinschaft: Saturday, Oct 14, 2000, 6 PM Passaic, Holy Trinity Church (mass) get-together in the vicary Sunday, Oct 15, 2000, 12.30 PM New York, St. Joseph's Church in Manhattan (mass) drive to the Castle Harbour Casino (Bronx) to the harvest-thanksgiving of the "Bruederschaft der Burgenländer" Monday, Oct 16, 2000, 7 PM Northampton, mass get-together in the "Liederkranz" Sunday, Oct 22, 2000, 11 AM Chicago, St. Bernadette Church (mass) dinner O Saturday, Oct. 14, the A-H Vets will hold a "Sautanz" (butchering festival dance) with the Schanta band providing the music and Bob Strauch's Hianzen Choir singing. Tickets were sold out weeks ago. A pig's carcass is blessed and then raffled off. Winner gets the pig. Second winner gets the tail! BB members in the Lehigh Valley should contact the Vets well in advance if they'd like to attend any of the Vet's functions. PROFESSOR TRACES AUSTRIAN MUSIC IN LEHIGH VALLEY by Sonia Csencsits, The Morning Call (Following article was previously published in the December 19, 1988, 3rd Edition, page B03, of the Allentown Morning Call and is copyright by them. See web site archives for entire article.) The influence of the American melting pot might bring an end to musical traditions brought here from Burgenland, Austria, according to Viennese professor Rudi Pietsch. Pietsch, a folk music researcher, spent several months in the Lehigh Valley interviewing musicians and their audiences for a doctoral thesis he is doing to complete the requirements for a full professorship at the Institute for Folk Music Research of the Vienna Academy of Music, where he is an assistant professor. In his thesis, "Documentation on the Music of Former Burgenländers Who Immigrated to the United States, Especially to the Lehigh Valley," he notes there are many bands here, but they often play to older audiences. "The typical consumers of this music are really old," he says. "I think the music has 10 or 15 years more," he said, because there are a few young musicians who still play it. "Then we will see what happens." The problem, he believes, is that the young generation is not attuned to the music. In Austria, thousands of musicians play the traditional music for tourists and, more important, for themselves. "There is a kind of revival in Austria and it is very, very alive. In America, I did not see such a revival," said Pietsch, 37. It is difficult to describe this music, he said. It has melodies of two or more interchanging parts, is performed by small groups who improvise during performances and is passed on through what he describes as word of mouth. The button box accordion and violin are important to it, he says. "My job is to distinguish between German and Austrian, Polish and Czech. I have interviewed more than 120 players. There are about 20 bands in this area, and about 15 of them play the music of Burgenland." Another important part of Pietsch's research is the interviews with audiences. "It is a very important aspect to ask people who go why they go to hear the bands. Most of them are old, but there are some young also. But the young like television. They like rock music more than the traditional. There is no question about that." He began his research in the southern part of Burgenland. "I went there and spoke to people about the music," he says. "I learned that half the people who immigrated to America were musicians." He also learned about the Schanta family, with whom he stayed in Coplay. The family band has performed since 1957 under the direction of Emil Schanta Sr. Pietsch said the Schanta band plays Viennese waltz music with violins. "This is a very typical phenomenon of how they adapt music so they can play it. When the Viennese Philharmonic plays the waltz, there are more than 60 people playing. The Schanta band has five people. The conversion of the music is a natural talent of Mr. Schanta. It is his own arrangement. He is good. He is very good," Pietsch said. Another local band, The Happy Austrians, plays the Styrian Ländler. "That song is 200 years old," he said. "I went to visit bands, to hear them and to talk to them. I did not (tape) record only the best. I recorded every one. That is a very important aspect of the work: to find out how important the button box is, to know all aspects of this music," he said. He also interviewed band members, and even sat in with bands. "It was more of a joke. They asked me to play and I did." Most of the members "are amateurs. They have other jobs," he said, and added, "Most of the button box players . . . are kitchen players. They do it for fun. This is very important. To do something like this, to play the music, not to watch television, is a very important part of life. It is important to the culture." Austrians also settled in Chicago and New York, and Pietsch spent time in those areas. But, he said, "The finest area to work is this area. Northampton, Nazareth and Coplay have a lot of Burgenländers. Whitehall and Ironton, too, have Burgenländers. Pietsch plays violin, trumpet, piano and bass fiddle. His band, the "Tanzgeiger," is a traditional one. It was here for a five-week tour in 1986, and performed for President Reagan and at the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in Nazareth, in Utah, Colorado, Texas and Georgia.... - I like music that has roots, background and tradition. I also like barbershop music," he said. "I like to play with rules." (end of extract) (Ed. Note-various BB members are helping keep this music alive in the US. See previous newsletter articles by Tom Glatz, Bobby Strauch, Al Meixner and others.) AUSTRIAN AMERICAN SOCIETY - PITTSBURGH, PA - TO MEET (from Anna Kresh) A Fall Brunch and Lecture will be held Sunday, Oct. 1, 2000 at the University Club, 123 University Place, Oakland, Pittsburgh at 12:15 PM. Speaker will be Dr. Reinhard Heinisch, Asst Prof. Of Political Science & Director of International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. "Sunday Brunch @ $19/person. Reservations George Mandl (412) 364-0146. Election Meeting and Wine Tasting to be held Thursday, November 16, 2000 -7:30 p. m. Knights of Columbus Hall in Crafton. SACHERTORTE VS IMPERIALTORTE VS STRUDEL (suggested by a gift from Albert and Inge Schuch) Having recently returned from France, I can tell you that I ate a lot of pastry. It was all tasty but not on a par with Austrian pastry. I felt the same way about Italian pastry a few years ago. My wife doesn't agree, she feels Italian is still the best (something called "tiramisu"). So it goes, we all have our preferences. During the days of the Empire if you were a craftsman, a sure way to success was to attract the Emperor's attention with a superior product. If he expressed satisfaction with it, the entire aristocracy would follow suit. A little like the way sports corporations go after the sport champions, getting them to endorse their products. The English and other remaining monarchies also still have their "purveyors to the crown." Thus we have "Kaiser this" and "Kaiser that" in case you wondered. In 1832, so one story goes, a Viennese master sugar baker (a pastry chef -Konditor- as opposed to a bread baker -Bäcker) called Franz Sacher invented a cake to attract the attention of Prinz Klemens von Metternich. It was a round chocolate sponge cake filled or layered with apricot jam and covered with a firm glaze. Eating a piece is a must experience for all of those visiting Vienna for the first time. It's a tradition. Had Metternich been lucky he'd be memorialized by the name "Metternichtorte", this name never caught on, but "Sachertorte" did. The Sacher family went on to operate Sacher's Hotel in Vienna-now priced out of existence except for contracting plumbers, prince-bishops or those on Fortune 500 expense accounts. Walter Cronkite stays there when he hosts the New Year Gala. Nonetheless, one can eat a piece of Sachertorte in the hotel tearoom with a cup of coffee (mit schlag) without mortgaging the farm (although you may have to go without dinner to afford it, you won't lose out calorie wise). I find it to be like any good chocolate cake, the Betty Crocker mix used by my wife makes a cake just as good but it has no historical association. I like apricot jam used between layers but the wife tells me I don't need all that extra sugar. My grandmother always used jam between her layer cakes, added something extra special and kept them moist. The Emperor Franz Josef enjoyed pastry as much as I do-it's said he ate Danish pastry "Plundergebäck" every morning and "Kugelhupf" every day, supplied some say by his mistress, the actress Katharina Schratt. Some also say she was just a platonic friend whose company and conversation he enjoyed. She kept him apprised of the local gossip. Either way he visited her every morning and they shared some pastry and coffee. He may even have had a bread roll named after him, the little rolls called "Kaisersemmeln" which readily break into 5 or 6 sections without crumbs. The accepted Viennese bread for a dinner party. In 1873, Emperor Franz Josef was to visit the first royal palace hotel to be built on the Ringstrasse. It was to bear the name "k. u. k. Hof-Hotel Imperial. Its first visitors were to be guests of the Emperor. A "new" torte was in order and all of the best cooks of the monarchy assembled to perform their magic, conjuring up magnificent cakes fit for a king in a fairy tale. A pot and pan scrubber by the name of Xaver Loibner longed to produce his own specialty but he was restricted to the pots and pans. It is said that during the night, unable to sleep, he went to the kitchen and created his masterpiece-a chocolate torte layered with jam, encased in almond paste (marzipan), covered with glazed chocolate bearing the imperial eagle in chocolate. The next day the Emperor passed along rows of cakes, made just for this occasion. He spotted the Habsburg crest, stopped in front of Loibner's creation and pointed to it. He ate a piece and supposedly said "das war sehr gute" -that was very good. Loibner's fortune was made. From then on the "Imperial Torte, as the Emperor is said to have called it, was reserved for him. Now, in his memory, it is again being baked at the same Hotel Imperial (another hotel for plumbing contractors and those with money) and can be mailed all over the world. My good friends Albert and Inge Schuch treated me like an Emperor and sent me one for my birthday. Like the Emperor, I can only say "es war sehr gute" (and better than the Sachertorte)! It arrived in a wooden presentation box with red ribbon and the Imperial Seal. A gift to be treasured and remembered. Fit for a king. When we first went to Austria in 1974, we spent a few days in Vienna. One evening, our children were not interested in going to Grinzing to watch us drink wine, so we left them in the hotel with money and instructions to eat in the dining room of the Hotel deFrance. They slipped out to the Ringstrasse instead, went to a nearby "würstel" stand owner who called himself "Der Kleiner Sacher" and bought sausages and bread which they took back to their room to eat. They acted like true descendants of the Burgenland, to enjoy wurst and brot over Viennese cooking. On a later trip, I passed up a piece of Sachertorte in favor of apfel strudel. I must now consider whether I will accept Imperial Torte over strudel. Maybe a piece of each! Although my Burgenland ancestors probably never tasted either torte, they made it possible for me to enjoy what was once reserved only for the Emperor. I even ate the Imperial Eagle. NEW FELIX GAME ARTICLE Hi Gerry, Just to let you know that I have added a new article and it may be of interest to your readers. In it I am introducing the concept of art appreciation as a family history research tool. The URL for this page: http://www.austro-hungarian-genealogy-translations.com/xmasmorn.html CZECH WEBSITE The Austro/Hungarian Empire covered a lot of territory and we often get queries concerning the outer regions, beyond our coverage area. Slowly, genealogical sites are responding to the needs of micro-genealogy and providing other BB type sites. Here's one for those who may have Czech ancestors. From:ETM I received your fantastic newsletter as a result of my PML search. It is absolutely terrific. Would you be interested in giving the Czech-L list a mention? Our website is at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~elainetmaddox/index.htm The CZECH-L Mailing List is an e-mail list for genealogical research for those interested in the past and present territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire including the Czech Republic, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and border countries. Elaine, Czech-L Listowner MEMBER CHANGES NEW Kim DiRoberts, Phoenix, AZ. HUTTER (Herman, born 11/28/1897 & Theresia ARTINGER HUTTER born 10/12/1901). Herman's parents Josef HUTTER & Julia SOMMER HUTTER. Theresia's parents (?) Josef ARTINGER and Julia GIBITZER ARTINGER. HUTTER and ARTINGER HUTTER lived in district of Gussing at Tschanigraben 36, Neustift bei Gussing, Austria. They came to USA via ship Bremen or Republic on 12/10/29 or 7/1930. They settled in Allentown, PA and New York City Area. Herman buried @ Tschanigraben. Joyce Goldthorpe; Grand Forks, B.C. Canada. Researching Rosenkranz, Hopitson / Hoponson / Hopenson, Potzman, Botzman. Johann (John) Rosenkranz - Bocksdorf to America 1901 Tower City, North Dakota, 1905 - 1906 to Carmangay, Alberta, Canada. Jeffrey R. Gourley; Lakehurst, NJ. Grandfather and Grandmother both came from Moschendorf. Their name was LUISSER, and my Grandmother's maiden name was GASPER. They immigrated to America in 1921. Sandra Hoffmeister; Frankfort, IL. PANI, St. Michael. ERTLER, St. Michael. HODOLITZ? CINZ? Settled in Chicago, IL. Patricia (Stoisits) Hollenbach; Coplay, PA. STOISITS-HAMMEL, Güssing; FASSMAN(N), Kohfidisch William G. Kramer; Tampa, FL. KRAMMER, Antonius (DOB 1882), Neuberg (Ujhegy). IVANCSICS, Elizabeth (DOB 1887) Neuberg settled in Chicago Il. KULOVITS, POMPER, CVITKOVICS, BLASKOVITS, HANISITS, DERGOVITS, Neuberg. Robert Kurz, Turnersville, NJ. KURZ/KURTZ, Tobaj. KRAMER/KRAMMER, Szentpéterfa area. Settled in NYC and New Jersey. Lorenz Mileder jun.; Wil SG Switzerland, MILEDER(i), My Father was born at Kleinmutschen near Oberpullendorf. Julia Wieber; St. Johns, Michigan. BEISCHLER (or BEICHLER) and UNGAR (UNGER?). Deutsch-Schützen. Settled in Cleveland, Ohio. CHANGE New e-mail addresses: Judy & Jim Betty Presseller Mische Heidi Raab Karyn Rammer Pat Screpetis Lynette Wolf DELIVERY PROBLEMS Addresses with permanent fatal errors were deleted END OF NEWSLETTER BURGENLAND BUNCH STAFF Coordinator & Editor Newsletter (Gerald J. 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