BB News No. 110 dtd 30 Aug 2002

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 110 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold) August 30, 2002 (c) 2002 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved THIS ISSUE BECAME A TRIP ISSUE - NO LESS THAN FOUR ARE FEATURED - DON'T MISS A ONE! RECIPIENTS PLEASE READ: You are receiving this email because you are a BB member or have asked to be added to our distribution list. If you wish to discontinue these newsletters, email with message "remove". ("Cancel" will cancel membership, homepage listings and mail.) Send address and listing changes to the same place. Sign your email with your full name and include BB in the subject line. Send no attachments or graphics unless well known to me. Please keep changes to a minimum. To join the BB, see our homepage. We can't help with non-Burgenland family history. Appropriate comments and articles are appreciated. Our staff and web site addresses are listed at the end of newsletter section "C". Introductions, notes and articles without a by-line are written by the editor and reflect his views. Please exchange data in a courteous and cooperative manner-not to do so defeats the purpose of our organization. *PLEASE READ! TO CHANGE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF NEWSLETTERS OR FAMILY DATA FOR LISTINGS, SEND ME OLD ADDRESS OR DATA AS SHOWN ON THE MEMBERSHIP LIST AND NEW ADDRESS OR DATA IN THE SAME FORMAT. ADD YOUR FULL NAME. WE'RE GETTING LOTS OF CHANGES. *THERE WILL BE NO SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER. THE NEXT NEWSLETTER WILL BE DATED OCTOBER 31, 2002. THE BB OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED SEPTEMER 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30. PLEASE HOLD CHANGES. NEW MEMBERSHIPS WILL BE DELAYED DURING THIS PERIOD. *See 110B-6 For Latest On Chicago/Oberwart Reunion Oct. 12 and 25th Allentown-Austrian Flag Raising (110B-5-2) Oct. 13! This first section of our 4-section newsletter includes: 1. Trip To Güssing - Tantsits 2. Burgenland In Former Days (continued from 109C) 3. New Meixner Ethnic Music Catalog Available 1. TRIP TO GÜSSING Trip to Güssing, Burgenland - July 2-24, 2002 - by Edward Tantsits This past July, along with my wife Priscilla and my brother Frank, I visited our cousins in Güssing. This was our third trip and my brother's first. Our cousins are on my grandmother's side of the family, which is in the Gustav Potzmann family tree. We stayed with Maria Potzmann and children Petra/Wolfgang Sommer and Liz/Hannes Hofbauer. Maria's husband (my second cousin) died this past Easter Sunday. He was a barrelmaker by trade in Güssing. Our primary reason for visiting was to again visit relatives, do genealogy research on the Tantsits family and show my brother some of the beautiful countryside. Our German is still the old dialect we learned from our grandmother, have not spoken the dialect for over 3 years, and we were still able to communicate with the people. Our dialect gave us away. The people knew we were not natives and wondered how we were able to speak it. In Güssing we met and spent time socializing with Klaus Gerger (BB assoc. editor), his lovely wife Heidi and children and a few hours with his parents. He was home on vacation. He also happens to be good friends with cousins Sommer and Hofbauer families. In fact, he roomed with Wolfgang when they were in college. Klaus was a big help in our genealogy research. He was instrumental in locating the present home sites of the Potzmann's in Rosenberg and the Tantsits' in Langzeil. The old house in Langzeil will be torn down later this year or early next year. Klaus was also researching names at the Klosterkirche in Güssing the same time as I was with my brother. If we had questions, he answered them. We thank Klaus for all the assistance given. We all also enjoyed a wonderful gathering with Klaus and Heidi on a Friday evening enjoying food, wines and cherry liquor at the home of Hannes /Liz Hofbauer. Everyone was quite lustig. Also met and talked with Dr Walter Dujmovits at the Gemeinschaft picnic in Moschendorf and at a local photo shop. Also numerous times, met and talked with Franz Stangl. We visited with cousin Maria Mikovits at Rosenberg 17 and Magda Toth in Güssing numerous times. In between visiting relatives and friends and doing the Tantsits genealogy we were quite active. We attended the Burgspiele "Am Grenzweg" and the Klassik Burg Konzert. Both performances were at Burg Güssing and were very nice. We drove all over Burgenland stopping at various attractions. We took the scenic route up to Eisenstadt. Went to Rust, boated on the sea, went to Morbisch, saw the rehearsal of the play Othello at the stone quarry in St. Margarethen, Kellerfest in Heiligenbrunn, fest in Gerersdorf and all the towns and sights from Heiligenkreuz to Eisenberg and from Moschendorf to Stegersbach. On separate days we also drove to Mariazell, Graz and even to Kormend, Hungary taking in the sights. I bought a wall clock that runs backwards in Kormend at a very cheap price. In Güssing, we toured the Batthyány crypt in the Klosterkirche as well as the library. Toured the Reichl museum, Biomasse gasification power plant, the water heating plant, the plant where the rapeseed is crushed to make cooking oil or even diesel fuel if needed. I even went swimming at the pool with the Sommer/Hofbauer families and also attended a town meeting where the discussion was on redesigning changes for central Güssing. The 3 weeks went by very fast and we had to return home too soon. We flew with Lufthansa Airlines from Newark, NJ to Frankfurt to Vienna. The return trip was the same in reverse. All went well on the flights. Finally, in researching the Tantsits family, I never in all my life saw the name misspelled so many different ways in the birth, marriage and death records. In the birth books especially, the child's last name was spelled different from the father's. Not even on the same line did the names match. It took extra time verifying that the names were really in our family. Edward Tantsits, Allentown, PA 2. BURGENLAND IN FORMER DAYS (From Gerhard H. Lang) - Continued From Newsletter 109C. Father Leopold Prizelitz Autobiography (Part II) - translated by Gerhard Lang. Wien - Hernals In 1915 or 1916, we moved from the Arsenal to the 17th Viennese precinct, named Hernals. At Hernalser Hauptstrasse No. 11, we got a flat on the 1st floor. My father was appointed as interpreter and Sergeant for bills to the military-court at Hernalserguertel (= street name in Vienna). On the 2nd floor lived the Jewish family Morgenstern, being friends to my parents. They had a son named Moritz. One day when our parents had left the house, we happened to see American airplanes dropping leaflets. We took books off the shelf, tore out the pages and dropped them off the 2nd floor as "leaflets". When our parents came home and found us throwing leaflets through the open window, they were frightened and hurried upstairs. Fortunately neither of us fell out the window. When I ate semolina pudding one evening, little Moritz stood beside me and watched me hungrily. A few moments later he said to me: "Pepi, I'm sure you don't want more of that." I gave him the rest of the pudding. During WWI, people in Vienna had too little to eat. The people had to queue up in front of the shops. My father - in uniform - was allowed to pass and the already-queued ladies scolded him. But "Feuerwerker" (artificer) Prizelitz could not be restrained from doing that. Those days, everyone fought for the life of his family. As the rationed foodstuffs were too little for our nutrition, my father went hunting more. With the mostly overcrowded, at that time already electric-powered, Pressburger railway, my father went to Petronell to visit my mother's parents. Grandfather Johann Richl was equerry to the Earl of Abensberg-Traun and had official residence at the castle. My grandmother Aloisia Richl, nee Rascher, worked for the Hainburg tobacco factory. Father bought tobacco products there, crammed a rucksack full and walked across the Leithagebirga (mountain) near Bruck to Hungary to his home Grosshoeflein. There he traded tobacco for foodstuffs and smuggled them across the border, near Ebenfurth, to Vienna. As there were no refrigerators at that time, mother hung up bacon, ham and sausages between the kitchen windows, leading to the areaway. The sight of that "swinishnesses" between the windows made the mouths of the neighbors water. At that time, every one in Vienna fought for survival. My father freely utilized the opportunities for smuggling. Because the Pressburg railway often was overcrowded, friends would pull father through a window of the wagon into the train. My father was relatively small and thin. People in the train often played cards, one passion of my father. Often father's friends from Grosshoeflein visited us in Vienna and brought foodstuffs. Then my sister and I had to sleep between our parents and the visitors in the cribs and on the divan. They had to place their feet onto a stool, because the cribs were too short. Because of the alms from Grosshoeflein, we did not suffer hunger in Vienna during WWI. (to be continued) * At that time - Grosshoeflein 100 years ago - by Matthias Artner. (continued from newsletter no. 109C) Damals in Grosshoeflein (Part II) The past century. The first half of the 20th century was marked with momentous incidents. 1914 - Jul 28: beginning of WW-I 1918 - Nov 3: ending of WW-I and collapse of the Danube Monarchy 1921 : Burgenland became part of Austria 1927 - Jul 15: Palace of Justice afire (the "Schattendorf-lawsuit") 1934 - Feb 12: revolution of the Republican "Schutzbund" 1934 - Jul 25: a putsch by the Austrian "National-Socialists" when Federal Chancellor Dollfuss was murdered 1938 - Mar 13: annexation to "Hitler-Deutschland" and reorganization of the Republic formed 17 years before - Burgenland apportioned to two other "Gaus", thus our Province was erased from the maps for seven years 1939 - Sep 1: beginning of WW-II 1945 - May 9: end of WW-II, the first half of the century ended with misery, hunger and calamity. Das (heutige) Burgenland war Jahrhunderte das westlichste Gebiet des Königreichs Ungarn, keine einheitliche Region und kein zusammengeschweißtes Land, aber dennoch ein Raum, der viele Entwicklungen und Schicksalsschläge mitgemacht hat. (z. B.: im selben Jahr 1683, als die Türken unser Land verwüsteten, wurde in Salzburg der Dom eingeweiht). (Today's) Burgenland has been for centuries the most westerly region of the Hungarian Kingdom, a territory, which experienced many changes and difficulties (e.g. in the same year 1683, when the Turks devastated our region, the Salzburg cathedral was sanctified.) During the end of the 19th century, our peasants slowly became owners of property. One generation later they were able to grant that property to their heirs for the first time, resulting in strip fields, the so-called "Hosenriemen-aeckern" ("Hosenriemen" is another word for belt). That ongoing diminishment of the family acreage led to an almost total lack of saleable produce above family requirements, causing farming inefficiency. It led to an agrarian-crisis in the 20th century. At the same time, birth figures were high (many families had ten or twelve children) causing an enormous over population, which led to mass-emigration. In addition to the large emigration during the period between the World Wars, 33,000 people - most of them young adults - migrated from the territory of today's Burgenland to the United States during the period between 1880 and 1914. At the turn of the century, many Grosshoefleiner migrated to the USA: Johann Marilitsch, 43 years, with wife and 8 children; Andreas Piller, brick-layer, John Treiber, to Pennsylvania. Their descendants were looking for living relatives in our village recently. In most villages, population was highest at the turn of the century. Grosshoflein had 1527 inhabitants in 1890 and 1290 people in 1920. At the beginning of the 20th century, the population of today's Burgenland (former Westungarn) was mostly German - including the cities and villages in the frontier area, that rested under Hungarian administration in 1921. Language of instruction at school was German, but there were Hungarian lessons. About 1905, the only language was Hungarian, except in religious and a few German lessons, which ended in 1907. Parents and pupils mistrusted the "Magyarian"-led schools. Teachers only used Hungarian for the lessons, which the pupils barely understood. They had to memorize the Hungarian texts, but they did not understand - they had barely learned German. Everything got "Magyarized". The Grosshoeflein parish registers had to be written in Hungarian. Parish priest Karl Stotz was renamed as "Karoly" and priest Julius Polak as "Gyula". At the municipal office, people had to sign with a Hungarian name instead of the official German, e.g., Franz was Ferencz, Johann became Janos and Anton was changed to Antal. Except for a few children, most pupils were happy when the 6-year compulsory education ended at the age of 12. Children often absented themselves from school, especially in their last year, because they had to work in the fields or at factories at the age of 12 (boys as well as girls). The Grosshoeflein R.C. elementary school had only two classes at the turn of the century - it had 60 children in the first and 62 children in the second class. School ended at the end of May and started the first of November. There was a "recapitulation-school" with about 50 children and a Sunday school during the winter-months, which had two lessons a week. Most children were not able to read or write, neither in German nor in Hungarian, without making mistakes when they left school. If someone wanted to learn a trade, knowledge of Hungarian was essential. The students and the "intelligentsia" of the village - teachers, priests, notaries and government officials were the bearers of the "Magyarizing policy". But country people in their villages retained the dialects and ancient customs and so kept the German language in Burgenland. We owe it to them - and not the cultured classes - that our country is mostly German. The village was always home, regardless of what country administered it. The "Heimatschein" (a document) documented that village affiliation. Therefore - in spite of that Magyarization - our GG-parents mostly remained German speaking. (to be continued) 3. NEW MEIXNER ETHNIC MUSIC CATALOG AVAILABLE (ED. Note: The BB does not endorse any commercial enterprise; however, Meixner Music provides great ethnic Burgenland region music. Al writes: "Just a short note to let you know that the Al Meixner Music 2002 #3 catalog is now in effect and online for your convenience. Also, if any are interested in attending our Christmas Dance this year, it will be held on Sunday, December 22 at the West Coplay Maennerchor in Whitehall. PA. Please call us soon if you plan to attend - tickets usually sell out in a few weeks. Check out our entire website & send me an e-mail or leave a message in the guestbook." Al Meixner www.almeixner.com Newsletter continues as no. 110A.

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 110A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold) August 30, 2002 (c) 2002 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved This second section of our 4-section newsletter contains: 1. GERMAN-AUSTRIAN-BURGENLAND TRIP (from Tom Glatz - Chicago Corresponding Editor) At Christmas last year I decided to warn my relatives in Austria that it was time to visit again. The trip was long overdue. I had not seen them since 1992. I planned this trip just as a visit. I viewed any possible sightseeing as secondary. With only two weeks, genealogy was out of the question. I had to squeeze in three days to be with my nephew Nick Glatz and his family in Germany. They live in the Baden region in a small town called Sankt Leon near Heidelberg. I was on a shoestring budget. I decided to try my luck with the train system from Heidelberg to Wien. In April, I embarked on this journey. Ten years is a long time to be away from Europe. I wondered how good my German would be. Since I learned German in school, it has always seemed easier to speak with Germans rather than Austrians because of the dialect. I proceeded to do so as soon as we arrived in my nephew's little town. I forced myself to speak and think as much as I could in German. Everyone seemed very patient. I attended Sunday Mass in the little hamlet of Rot nearby. The experience was different than in America. There were more remnants of the old Mass still present, more Latin was used. The rest of the day was spent just visiting with my nephew and his family. Day two was a trip to Heidelberg, twenty minutes away. My nephew and I started out on a cold and rainy afternoon in the old student tavern with local beer and gulasch soup. I saw the famous Lutheran and Catholic churches, the historic bridge, and did some shopping. We finished the day at a coffee house. On day three my nephew's wife Lisa took me to the famous cathedral town of Speyer. The huge Romanesque cathedral is one of the oldest in Germany, built in the 11th century and still intact. We then went to the Historical Museum of the Pfalz down the street. A lot of the gothic and baroque additions to the cathedral ended up here, after the cathedral's last renovation. There were Jewish objects from the synagogue in the town. There was a lot of history on the Reformation and Counter-reformation. This area was a real battleground between Catholic and Lutheran. We finished the day by going to a nice restaurant in a small town called Walldorf. I had another sampling of local beer along with bratwurst and sauerkraut. So ended my very quick visit to Germany. Very early on the fourth day of my trip, my nephew drove me to the train station in Heidelberg. From here I traveled to Frankfurt. It was announced that the train was late. I was lucky that the "Franz Lizst" express waited for us in Frankfurt. I would never have known if I didn't have some knowledge of German. I boarded the train for the long eight hour trip to Wien. I was familiar with many of the towns at which we stopped: Aschaffenburg, Wuerzburg, Nuernberg, Regensburg, Passau, Schaerding, Wels, Linz, and St. Poelten. In southeastern Bavaria and in the Muehlviertel in Oberoesterreich I noticed the towns were much farther apart than elsewhere. The farms were much larger. Upon arrival in Wien at the Westbahnhof, two five minute subway rides took me to the Pension Wild in Josefstadt on the Langegasse. The hotel was centrally located. I had planned to stay somewhere closer to the Glatz relatives in Heiligenstadt farther north, but because of illness they were not at home. They were in the Kur or sanitorium. After a short rest I walked around the area. It was a pleasant evening and I strolled past Parliament and made a quick visit to the neo-gothic Votivkirche. I had not noticed before that the themes in the stained glass windows were modern. They were themes of death in the labor camps during the war, some were multi-ethnic and multi-racial. Albert Schuch later told me the original ones had been blown out during the war. The buffet breakfasts were unusually good for the my small and very inexpensive hotel. There were fresh linens on the tables. Wiener Kaffee was brought fresh to your table. This was Thursday and I decided this would be the day for shopping on the Mariahilfer Strasse. I wanted to replace a worn out Trachten sweater from years ago. I found that the Trachten stores which once lined the Mariahilfer Strasse were now gone except the sweater store where I had bought my old one. The same elderly woman who sold me that one had only one left in my size! I then walked to Sechshauser Strasse to meet with Kristina Hlobil, a transplanted Slovenian woman who I met years ago in Wien. I had stayed in a hotel in the area where she works in the Tabak or tobacco store. When I met her, she closed up her store and we proceeded to the local tavern. We sat for two hours and talked in German over Ottakringer beer! Of course I told her all about the Burgenland Bunch. She remarked that her father was descended from German Lutherans who lived in Slovenia and that her maiden name was Huber. Thursday evening was spent at BB member Margot Zappe's apartment for a nice evening meal. Her husband Christian, her mother, Christian's father, and Gerlinde Koerper were present. Margot and Gerlinde's ancestry stems from the village of Grodnau in Burgenland. I had met Gerlinde in 1994, when her son played with the Edelserpentin Music Group from Bernstein. They were playing and touring in America and Chicago was one of their destinations. Margot visited with us in Chicago two years ago. Her mother Bibianna still owns the old family house in Grodnau. It was a delightful evening talking about the Euro, the Burgenland Bunch, Grodnau, the new cosmopolitan Wien, which they seem to like very much. The view of the famous Viennese landmarks such as Stephansdom, Votivkirche, Hofburg, government buildings, various other churches, etc., was stunning from Margot's large rooftop garden. We also spoke about the old Wenzel house in Grodnau. Johann Wenzel from Grodnau was responsible for the beginning of Burgenland emigration to Chicago. He was hired by the shipping lines to bring the emigrants from Burgenland to America. There was a commemorative plaque on his house. His granddaughter Emma Wenzel is a good friend of mine and an active member of the Burgenlaendische Gemeinschaft. On Friday I was invited to an early lunch by Gerlinde Koerper. We ate at the very nice Leupold Restaurant on the Schottenring. I had wonderful Tafelspitz (boiled beef) and nice conversation! In the afternoon I met with BB Burgenland editor Albert Schuch. We decided to visit the Oesterreich Museum für Volkskunde at the urging of BB member Bob Strauch. Albert helped me pick out some interesting post cards of typical traditional South Tyrolean dress to send to Bob. On exhibit are lots of furniture from the different provinces of Austria. There was one complete room taken from a home in one of the alpine regions. Burgenland was less represented than other provinces. The upstairs rooms had exhibits on more modern themes that we had no interest in. Afterwards we went for coffee and apple strudel at the Eisler Cafe near the museum. Albert presented me with a small book of wonderful pictures of old Burgenland postcards. In the evening I was back with Margot and Christian. We went for a ride, which included visiting two famous buildings designed by the famous architect Hundertwasser. We settled for dinner in a Greek restaurant near Margot's house. The mood and gaiety reminded me of the old Greek restaurants we had in Chicago years ago. These have now become too upscale. On Saturday morning I decided to tour the Leopoldmuseum in the new museum quarter in Wien close to Margot's house. I viewed the works of Klimt, Schiele, etc. This is modern art. I took a liking to an artist named Albin Egger-Lienz who painted farm life as it existed at one time in the Tirol. After lunch I took another suggestion from Bob Strauch and visited the Johann Strauss Gedenkstaette on the Praterstrasse. It was a nice walk in an area of Wien I had never seen before. It was on the right side of the Danube. The area still had a Jewish flavor. I saw a landmark on post war housing that had a mosaic which depicted an old synagogue. Johann Strauss lived and composed for a time in the house on the Praterstrasse. I again found some interesting post cards to send to collector Bob! On Sunday I got up very early and walked to the first district to experience 7:30 AM Mass in Stephansdom. After breakfast at the hotel, my cousin's son Werner Weber picked me up from the hotel and off we went to Burgenland. Dinner in Breitenbrunn with the relatives was Wiener Schnitzel and local Burgenland beer. On Monday my relatives decided to travel on the Autobahn to the Benedictine cloister of Lambach. Their daughter boards there while attending a riding school down the street. Lambach is a beautiful small town in the western part of Oberoesterreich. It was interesting to see a sixteen year old being able to command an animal that probably weighs six times as much as she does! Later that day we traveled to the picturesque town of Gmuenden. It is situated on a lake wedged in between high mountains. We toured the Gmuendner Porcelain Factory. On Tuesday morning, my cousin Adolf Weber showed me the inside of a neighbor's very old Weinkeller which was built into the side of a hill. It has been renovated for use for celebrations and parties. The Weinkellar (wine cellar) is characteristic of the wine-growing areas around Neusiedler See. He pointed out the ancient bear caves in the Leithagebirge, a chain of high hills in northwest Burgenland. After a meal of Gulasch, we headed for the Bergkirche, the burial place of Josef Haydn in Eisenstadt. The afternoon was spent in Sopron in Hungary. We climbed the famous Fire Tower which gives a wonderful view of the city and its surroundings. Across the square is the so called "Gypsy Church". It is a small Gothic church undergoing restoration by the Benedictines. We wandered down the streets of the old town. My Weber relatives said that they wanted to get back into Austria and past Eisenstadt before 3:30 when the rush hour begins! Despite the fact that it is not as clean as across the border in Austria, Sopron is a wonderful town and I hope to see more of it some day. Back in Austria, I noticed my cousin Guenter Weber was driving past Eisenstadt and into the Leithagebirge instead of heading back to Breitenbrunn. He had decided we should visit the famous Croatian pilgrimage church in the town of Loretto. I noticed that the kneelers could be reversed, one side was hard wood for the people who really want to repent. The other side is made of soft cushion like in the US for the rest of us! That evening after the meal we had wonderful hot apple strudel and some wonderful locally made and highly alcoholic dessert wine. We spent time looking at the BB web site. On Wednesday we took a small trip around the Neusiedlersee into the Heideboden. First we went to the Dorfmuseum in the village of Moenchof. It is a time capsule of a village from after the second world war. The houses and businesses were brought in from other places and reassembled here. The tavern is still in use for tourists. I noticed the jukebox had records of some famous American singers from around 1950 like Frank Sinatra. Down the street was a small movie theater and an adjacent building contained many old pictures. The homes had original furnishings or period furniture. After this we stopped in Frauenkirchen to visit the magnificent Catholic Church and cloister. Before returning home we went to Pfarrkirche zur Heiligen Kunigunde or St. Kunigunde which is a small Gothic church in Breitenbrunn and visited the grave of my father's cousin Theresia Glatz Weber. Early on Thursday my cousin Bernhard Lackner came to drive me to his town of Lockenhaus which is adjacent to my grandmother Maria Schloegl's tiny hamlet of Hammerteich. Bernhard showed me his wonderful new home which he was in the process of building during my last trip. After visiting with the Lackner and Fuchs families we drove to my great grandmother Maria Schmid's town of Rattersdorf. I had promised the caretaker of the church, Herr Gneis, that I would visit. We have been corresponding since we met last in 1992. He herded us into the newly renovated church which included electrically controlled bells which he rang for us. The church is fascinating because it is one of the oldest in Burgenland and really consists of five small churches of romanesque, gothic, and baroque design. It is famous for its baroque "Bilderwand" painted in 1750. These are paintings of saints from the Augustinian order and Kirchenvater or fathers of the church. We entered the rectory afterwards for some good conversation and very strong homemade Croatian Schnaps that the Pastor's sister sister Anna gave us. On Friday Bernhard took me to Bernstein to visit the post office where he works. I had promised some friends that I would buy some jewelry made from the Edelserpentin stone for which Bernstein is famous. We then returned to Lockenhaus for some wonderful Gulasch that was prepared by his mother Mitzi and wife Bernedetta. In the late afternoon we went to Deutschkreutz where Bernhard's sister Anni Heinrich lives with her husband Georg Schurtl. This couple is very active in the Catholic Church. They showed us the renovated church in Deutschkreutz. They were very proud of the new stations of the cross which were done by a famous contemporary Austrian artist. On the outside is a large mural of a dove as the Holy Spirit. Deutschkreutz was the scene of heavy fighting at the close of the war. The church suffered severe damage as did the rest of the town. It is not nearly as ornate or baroque as it once was. Surprisingly intact is a large Schloss or palace, privately owned and not open to the public. Back at the Heinrichs' house I was treated to some wonderful area wine and also a fiery concoction that they had brought from the Czech Republic. After the evening meal we viewed the vineyards which surround the house. They told me how family members from other towns get together at harvest time to help pick the grapes to sell to the vintners. Bernhard took the long way back to Lockenhaus, east through Nikitsch and Lutzmannsburg, with a stop to visit Bernadetta's father who lives in Frankenau. Bernadetta works at a newly opened luxurious spa in Lutzmannsburg. Lutzmannsburg is famous for its nicely restored and brightly colored ornate houses. There are also new upscale wine bars. Frankenau where Bernedetta grew up, is today still very Croatian. I had been there before and had seen the landmark honoring the famous priest-poet Matte Miloradic. Later that evening, at home in Lockenhaus, we spent a lot of time looking at the Burgenland Bunch site on the Internet. I am related to Bernhard in that our grandmothers were sisters with the last name of Schloegl. He is interested in finding more Janisch descendants from his grandfather's brothers who went to America. (article continued in 110B) Newsletter continues as no. 110B

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 110B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold) August 30, 2002 (c) 2002 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved This third section of our 4-section newsletter contains: 1. German-Austrian-Burgenland Trip (continued from 110A) 2. Salt Lake City Family History Center Trip - Paukowits 3. Hianzen German English Dictionary 4. Correspondence From Austrian Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 5. News From The Lehigh Valley (Bob Strauch) 6. Bad Tatzmannsdorf/Oberwart Area Reunion In Chicago Oct. 12 1. GERMAN-AUSTRIAN-BURGENLAND TRIP (by Tom Glatz - continued) On my last day Saturday I made the big mistake of asking Bernhard to take me to the Schwechat Airport in Wien very early so that I would be there two hours before the flight to Frankfurt and home. I found that I was the only one waiting there and that security had not even arrived. I could have spent precious time with my relatives instead of sitting in the airport. Domestic flights in Europe at least at that time did not have the strict security checks we have. There was barely time to catch my return flight after the security check because I had to race to the other end of the airport. Next time I will not try to visit, in only two weeks, two places that are as distant from each other as the Baden region of Germany and eastern Austria. Despite the hectic pace, it was still a wonderful trip. 2. TRIP TO SALT LAKE CITY FAMILY HISTORY CENTER (From Frank Paukowits) This past July I traveled with my wife out west to Colorado, Utah and Wyoming on vacation. One of the stops on our trip was Salt Lake City. It is a thriving city, largely dominated by the Mormon Church. We thoroughly enjoyed our 3-day stay in Salt Lake City. Among other things, we swam in the Great Salt Lake, attended a rehearsal of the Tabernacle Choir and an organ concert in the Mormon Tabernacle, and ate a wonderful meal at a rooftop restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, which is run by the Mormon Church. The people in Utah are extremely helpful and courteous, much like the volunteers we have met at the FHC in New York City. On our second day in Salt Lake City, we visited the Family History Library - a genealogist's delight. It is a three-story building that is totally devoted to family research, and has a sizable staff that is very knowledgeable in all aspects of genealogical research. I asked to meet with someone versed in Austrian genealogy and was directed to Baerbel Johnson, a reference consultant for that area. We discussed Austrian genealogy issues in general, and I told her about the Burgenland Bunch, and the website that some of our members had developed. She said she had never seen it. I provided her with the URL, and she brought it up on her computer terminal at her desk. She was amazed at the information that was contained on the site. She believed we had a tremendous resource, and she proceeded to bookmark the site, and indicated she was going to tell other staff members and people, who came in and were studying their Austrian (Burgenland) roots, about the site. Hopefully, this might mean an increase in our membership, which is something that would be beneficial to all of us. I also asked about the status on making the records for Szentpeterfa, that were digitized by Frank Teklits and John Lavendoski, available to the public at all the Family History Centers. Frank and John are apparently ahead of the technology curve with the work they have done in this area. As explained to me, a hardcopy of what was provided to the LDS by Frank and John in digitized form is being bound. Once this is done, the information will be available on microfilm. The expectation is that this will occur within a few months. This is quite a tribute to Frank and John, and to the Burgenland Bunch by association. In closing, if anyone is planning a trip to this area, please feel free to e-mail me and I'll provide some tips and information that might be helpful when visiting this very beautiful section of this country. 3. HIANZEN DICTIONARY (courtesy Heinz Koller, Klaus Gerger, Hannes Graf and Albert & Inge Schuch) Some of the German you hear or heard from immigrant family is neither high German (the German of the highlands) nor low German (the German of the lowlands), but rather one of the many Germanic dialects. The dialect in southern Burgenland is Hianzen (see our archives for more information concerning its development). There is a Hianzen Verein (club) in Güssing dedicated to keeping this dialect alive and one of their projects has been the establishment of a Hianzen Dictionary. Associate BB Editor Klaus Gerger with assistance from others added this to the BG website; it is in German. BB member Inge Schuch, who has been responsible for much high level BB editorial translation, has sent me English language translations of the work to-date. Inge cautions that it is very difficult to translate some of the older idiomatic expressions into a modern counter part, so it you don't quite understand the translation, you'll know why. We have added this dictionary to our Link list and it may also be viewed from the BB Main Page as part of the Songbook. Some examples follow: Hianzisch Dictionary - Hianzisch To German To English Developed by the Güssing Hianzisch Verein and featured in the website of Heinz Koller and the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft (with assistance of Klaus Gerger - English translations by Inge Schuch), BB additions by Hannes Graf - Copyright 2002 - All Rights Reserved (used with permission). Data is shown as: Hianzisch German English Aahn Egge harrow Ad(r)axl Eidechse lizard af auf, nach to (direction) ah (wou) ach (wo) (Verneinung) no Ahnl Vorfahre, alte Frau ancestor, old woman Antn, Antara Ente, Enterich (Erpel) duck, drake Aompa Eimer bucket aonbaun säen, anpflanzen; to sow, to plant; fig. etwas verlieren fig. to lose something aonheibm anfangen, beginnen to begin, to start aonluan anlehnen; anschwärzen, to lean against; vernadern to denounce somebody si aufbudln sich aufregen to complain, to make a fuss auffrischnan, aufkindln symbol Schläge mit Rute am "Tag der unschuldigen Kinder" = tradition of the "day of the innocent children" (January 28): children go from house to house and jocularly strike people's bottom with a willow rod while reciting a short poem; this is meant to bring health and good luck for the year ahead. 4. CORRESPONDENCE FROM AUSTRIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Dear Mr. Berghold, At the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, I am heading the division of 'Austrians Abroad' (irrespective of present, past or ancestors' Austrian citizenship), since last fall. I meet with Walter Dujmovits from time to time and heard a lot about BB but only today was able to browse your website: congratulations! Pls. let me know if you think I could be of help, for information. In the meantime, may I draw your attention to the website of the Austrian Foreign Ministry specially designed for Austrians Abroad: www.auslandsoesterreicher.at or www.auslandsoesterreicherinnen.at can also be accessed by www.austriansabroad.at. The English part is still under development but you and your members may already draw benefits from it. Any suggestions are welcome. Many greetings from Vienna, Yours Dr. Thomas M. BUCHSBAUM Minister plenipotentiary Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs Head of Division (Austrians Abroad) Ballhausplatz 2 1014 W i e n Reply from G. Berghold: Dear Dr. Buchsbaum, Many thanks for your kind words and email. The Burgenland Bunch website has been linked to yours for some time. I have recently visited the site you mentioned and was able to see the Burgenland Bunch link available through Bundesministerium für auswartige Angelegenheiten: http://www.bmaa.gv.at/index.html.de I enjoyed the line which states "Austria's 10th province" (the Austrians and Austrian descendants who live outside of Austria). It is indicative of the fact that the Austrian government is interested in these people and wishes to retain contact with them. Your title and office of course is proof of that most desirable end. My main purpose in forming the Burgenland Bunch is to further such ethnicity and hopefully develop a data base of individuals who emigrated from the Burgenland and identify their descendants. The descendants, being of the third and later generations have mostly lost contact with the "Heimat" - I like to believe that over 900 members of our organization have regained that contact. I thank you again for the contact and hope we can together advance our common goals. Yes, I would like to receive from time to time, information designed to 'Austrians Abroad' - in German. Our Burgenland Editor is Dr. Albert Schuch. You may also contact him in the future if it should prove to be more efficient. I have copied him on this email. With kindest regards and hope of future mutual assistance, Gerald J. Berghold, Founder "Burgenland Bunch" 5. NEWS FROM THE LEHIGH VALLEY (from Bob Strauch) Here are some tidbits for the next newsletter 8/31/2002: 1. More cuckoo lore I myself have had a lot of experience with Burgenland cuckoos. I couldn't begin to count all the dialect folksongs that mention the cuckoo (as opposed to the High German songs listed in the newsletter). Certainly more popular than any other bird. It's the cuckoo that should be on the Austrian & Burgenland flags, not the eagle (at least from a musical/folklore standpoint). The cuckoo's call has even found its way into Jodlers. Examples: A. The phrase "Woass da Guggu!" ("Only the cuckoo knows!") - similar to our "Who knows?/ Don't ask me!/ How should I know?". Note the dialect spelling of the High German word "Kuckuck". B. Childrens' rhyme: "Toni, Meloni, Pomarantschn, Guggu! A Hefn vull Knedln is ma liawa wia du!" (Tony, melon, oranges, cuckoo! A pot full of dumplings is better than you!" - too much gets lost in the translation of these dialect sayings and songs) C. Folksong: "Heint gehn más niama huam, heint gehn más niama huam, bis doss da Guggu schreit! Schreit da Guggu waunn er wüll, holt i's mei Diandl nou schen stüll! Heint gehn más niama huam, heint gehn más niama huam, bis doss da Guggu schreit!" (Everybody yells "cuckoo!") (We're not going home until the cuckoo calls! Let the cuckoo call when he wants, I'm still going to keep holding my girl!".) Depending on region, village, generation, or clique, line 2 varies: "Schreit da Guggu im Oberdorf, aft gehn ma holt ins Unterdorf!" (If the cuckoo calls in the upper village, we'll just go to the lower village). Many times the names of actual villages are used. The line I use in my group is non-cuckoo-related: "Dahuam im Bett, do sterbm die Leit, drum is's vül bessa, wenn mia do bleibm!" (People die in bed at home, so it's better that we stay here). Sometimes you'll hear all variations at the same time because the singers are from different towns and believe only their version to be the "correct" one. This is a very widespread song, you'll find it all over Austria, Bavaria, Swabia, as well as among the ethnic Germans in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. 2. Lehigh Valley's 25th Annual Austrian Flag Raising The Lehigh Valley's 25th Annual Austrian Flag Raising commemorating the Austrian National Holiday will take place on Sunday, October 13, 2002 at the Austrian-Hungarian Veteran's Society at 852 N. 4th St. (corner of 4th and Greenleaf Sts.) in Allentown. The ceremony will begin at 12:30 PM and be followed by a reception from 1-2 PM, where homemade Gulasch will be available for purchase from the club kitchen, as well as complimentary pastries and coffee. A dance will then be held from 2-5 PM featuring the music of the Emil Schanta Band. This event, sponsored by the Austrian-Hungarian Vets and the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft, is open to the public - no tickets or reservations are required. Donations of baked goods for the reception are welcome and greatly appreciated. 3. Hungarian-German Cultural Guide Since many BB members also have roots in ethnic-German villages still located across the border in Hungary, this may be of interest to them. I recently received from the Landesselbstverwaltung der Ungarndeutschen ("National Self-Government of the Germans in Hungary") - LDU for short - a publication called "Ungarndeutscher Kulturführer" (Hungarian-German Cultural Guide), published in 2001 in Sopron/Ödenburg. It's a 50-page, magazine-size guide to/listing of ethnic-German choruses, folkdance groups, brass bands, dance bands, and village history museums throughout Hungary. Also included is a 7-page history (in German) of the migration of German-speaking settlers into Hungary from the Middle Ages to the late 1700's. That's followed by geographical/historical/touristic descriptions of the various regions of Hungary. At the end of each regional description are photos of groups and institutions in that particular area. A separate insert provides their contact addresses and phone numbers. The guide is free except for postage. Those BB members interested should contact the editor in Sopron or the "LDU" office in Budapest. Magdalena Krisch (editor in Sopron) Fax: 0036/99/320-671 E-mail: escort96@axelero.hu Landesselbstverwaltung der Ungarndeutschen Fax: 36/1/2129 153 E-mail: ldu@ldu.datanet.hu Website: www.ldu.hu Since 1988 I have read the "Deutscher Kalender", or yearbook of the Germans in Hungary, which details the activities of such cultural groups. But still I am astounded at the number of groups listed in the guide. There are more groups in the western border region (the area bordering Burgenland) than I had thought. Also surprising and encouraging are the number of younger people involved. It may very well be that the younger generations now speak German as a second language (if at all), but at least they acknowledge their roots and participate in the preservation of the folk culture. 6. BAD TATZMANNSDORF/OBERWART AREA REUNION (from Tom Glatz) Reunion in the Chicago area is scheduled for Oct. 12. Contact Wm. Hosh, who writes to Tom Glatz: "I want to thank you again for your effort in posting the Oct.12 reunion on the "BB" website. I expect 40-50 people to attend. I hope you will speak on behalf of the "BB" Bunch & the Burgenlaendische Gemeinschaft. I would also welcome Emma Wenzel to speak on behalf of her grandfather, who was an important part in the process of bringing families to America. We have planned a very interesting reunion." Tom responds: I will speak as requested. I am not sure if any of the active members of the BG will be there except for Emma Wenzel & Hermine Wolkovits who will be coming with me. I will bring copies of the BB newsletters, BG newspapers, books, etc. I am looking forward to this. Newsletter continues as no. 110C

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 110C DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Issued monthly by G. J. Berghold) August 30, 2002 (c) 2002 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved This fourth section of our 4-section newsletter contains: 1. Flooding In Europe - Burgenland OK 2. Unger River Trip - Rhine-Main-Danube 3. Early Migration To The Bakony Region (Chrisbacher) 4. Evening at the Teutonia Männerchor (Kresh) 1. FLOODING IN EUROPE (courtesy Albert Schuch, Hannes Graf, Bob Strauch, Tom Glatz and others) Many members have been concerned about possible flooding conditions in the Burgenland. I'm happy to report that it looks like our part of Austria has escaped the disaster that has affected the northern Danube regions. Some correspondence follows: In a message dated 8/15/02 5:05:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Lynne Larson writes: Has anyone news of how the storms in Europe have affected the Burgenland area? Reply: Burgenland of course is in the southeast of Austria, but see below. G. Berghold Partial Extracts From the Allentown Morning Call and Assoc. Press: Floods, Rains Hit German Farmers, By DAVID MCHUGH, AP Business Writer, August 15, 2002, 4:47 PM EDT FRANKFURT, Germany -- Heavy rains and flooding in eastern Germany have caused about $1.5 billion in crop losses, agricultural officials say, leaving crops waterlogged and halting work just as farmers were hurrying to get the harvest in. Flooding, which has inundated areas along the Elbe near Dresden in the state of Saxony, isn't the only problem. Even in areas where rivers have stayed within their banks, heavy rain has left crops rotting on the ground, while the fields are so wet that farmers can't get in with heavy equipment to work.... Gerd Sonnleiter, head of Germany's national farmers' association, told reporters in Berlin that farmers faced "a catastrophic harvest situation" and that some regions were threatened by a "total failure of the harvest." .... Frank Freiburg, head of the farmer's association in the Mulde Valley region in Saxony, where Dresden is located, said that many farmers' crops were a total loss. "In our area, the fields that have been inundated are gone completely." The Saxony regional farmers' association estimated losses at $124 million.... Fortunately, the harvest of barley -- a key ingredient for much of Germany's beer -- had mostly been completed by the time the rains came, farm officials said.... In neighboring Austria, authorities are only beginning to figure out how much damage has been done to fields soaked by the flood waters of the Danube and Kamp rivers, where mostly fruit, potatoes, corn and sunflowers are grown.... Germany's major wine-growing regions are in the west along the Rhine and Moselle rivers and haven't been affected by the flooding that has inundated the east. Copyright (c) 2002, The Associated Press From Albert Schuch: Gerry, I just sent the following in response to a few related questions: Although the flooding had disastrous effects on many areas throughout Europe, the places where we live (the South of Burgenland and the city of Vienna) have been spared. While there has not been much rainfall in southern Burgenland at all, Vienna would have theoretically been in danger but is quite well protected by the facilities set up to control flooding from the Danube. If you want to learn more about the interesting history of these facilities, have a look at the website http://unal.tuwien.ac.at/paginas/jeanpierre/html/ which has just recently been prepared for a students' lecture about "Vienna's relation to the river Danube through different time periods" at the Technical University of Vienna. The text is in English (includes several typos but the information is quite accurate) and the pictures are worth a look too. You can navigate through the site by clicking on the large orange time bar. Bob Strauch writes: I got this info about the flooding from Renate (Dolmanits) from the BG in Güssing. 1. Burgenland was spared flooding, except for incidents in Stoob and Lockenhaus (Central Burgenland). 2. Bad flooding in Western Austria, from Vorarlberg to Salzburg. The whole Old Town in Salzburg is in danger of being flooded. 3. Very bad conditions in northern Austria - Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria and Waldviertel region of Lower Austria. 4. Vienna was spared the worst thanks to the Danube Canal. 5. Flood waters are moving downstream toward Bratislava/Slovakia and Hungary. 6. Bad conditions in Slovakia and Eastern Germany, especially Dresden. The floodwaters are moving north and they fear the dams will burst. 7. Many cleanup and financial relief efforts have been organized in Austria, Burgenland fire companies have joined the National Army in the cleanup of the disaster areas. 2. UNGER TRIP - RHINE-MAIN-DANUBE From: R. F. Unger Alice and I just returned from a grand 3 week vacation in Europe. This provides a brief summary of that trip which included cruising the Rhine-Main-Danube from Amsterdam to Vienna, followed by a week in the Burgenland. From July 1st-15th we were aboard the Grand Circle Travel ship "River Harmony," slowly traveling the Rhine, Main, Main/Danube Canal, and Danube Rivers to Vienna. Each day of cruising involved taking in picture postcard quality scenery, coupled with field trips exploring various old and famous towns and villages along the way. The River Harmony has a Switzerland registry, is 38 feet wide, 361 feet in length, and can accommodate 140 passengers - we had 122 passengers on this trip. The ship also has a draft of about 6 feet, which allows it to travel the shallow waterways. In addition, the ship has a four-deck low profile, allowing it to pass under 355 bridges along our route. In addition, our route took us through 66 locks, ranging in heights from 9.84 to 82 feet. Starting at Amsterdam the locks lifted the ship each time until we reach Hipoltstein, 1340 feet above sea level, on the German-Main Danube Canal, then from that point each lock toward Vienna lowered the ship 708.15 feet. Everything about this cruise was top notch or excellent, our accommodations, the food, the crew, our tour directors, tour guides, etc. A unique feature during the evening meal was the availability of unlimited quantities of quality red or white wine. Each day we were briefed on the events for the next day, including field trip guide material, in addition to information about the towns and villages along the route. Excellent evening entertainment was mainly provided by local talent from the towns and villages. These were called "Lock hoppers," since they often boarded the ship as we passed through a lock, then departed after the completion of their performance at another lock down stream. Grand Circle Travel (GCT) has nine ships traveling up and down this Rhine, Main, Main/Danube Canal, and Danube Rivers route. All their passengers are from the USA. In addition, they do not advertise in the usual manner using ads in magazines, newspapers, etc. but rely on prior passengers to pass on the good word about their trips. As an incentive they offer credits for those to inform others who become first time travelers on their tours. Many of our fellow passengers had been on 6 or more Grand Circle Travel tours - attesting to the quality, value, and satisfaction provided. For those interested in more detail, please go to their web site <www.gct.com>, or send for their catalogue - Grand Circle Travel, 347 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210. Our trip is listed under river cruises, specifically "The Great Rivers of Europe." Alice and I have traveled with a number of tour companies over a period of about 30 years and based on that experience we consider GCT an excellent choice. We left our fellow passengers at the airport in Vienna where we rented a car for travel on our own in Austria - to do more genealogical research and to visit relatives and friends. This proved to be the grand topping for our wonderful cruise. Our route took us through some of the most scenic areas of Europe. One spot in particular was the Danube Gorge, the narrowest and steepest section of the Danube, an area of unsurpassed scenic beauty. We took about 300 still pictures and more than 6 hours of video. Now we are busy arranging our trip story picture book with captions and remarks to help preserve our memories. If anyone should want any more information - please email your requests. 3. EARLY MIGRATION - BURGENLAND TO BAKONY REGION (From: Ernest Chrisbacher) Ernest writes: While researching my Griesbacher family in the film of Dobra, Vas (No. 0700745) I came across the baptism of Joannes Berghold, 1 Feb. 1829, parents Joannes Berghold and Maria Lang. The couple had at least 8 more children including 2 sets of twins in the period after 1829, but I did not take any other notes. Interestingly, Dobra, now Neuhaus am Klausenbach, contained at that time many names which I find in the villages of Veszprem County where my ancestors lived; supporting my finding based on name research and literature research, that the Bakony Forest was colonized during the 18th century, to a great extent, by Germans who came from western Hungary, Styria and Lower Austria. For example: Koller, Unger, Strauss, Reindl, Vagner, Kornheisl, Rehling, Vohlfart, Veber, Lang, Volf, Prunner, Mautner, Pfister, Vuerzburger, Veidinger, Vindisch, Poltzer, Steinhofer, Piltz, Steinbock, Klettner, Bonstingl, Schandl, and many others that can be found in Burgenland and Austria. Reply: Ernest - I was aware of these Bergholds in Mühlgraben and even visited there but haven't been able to link with them. The Berghold clan has been found in the lower Rhine-Pfalz as well as Styria (south of Graz), Mühlgraben, and of course my Poppendorf-Heiligenkreuz area. Thanks for remembering me. The Berghold presence in Mühlgraben is no more, so where did they go-perhaps Bakony area or back to Styria? Your observation that there must have been migration from this region to the Bakony area is a good one. The more we uncover, we find they were a traveling people. Ernest then writes: In the book that I am writing about the Germanic immigrants to the USA from Veszprem County, Hungary, I intend to use surname lists from villages in the Burgenland, Styria and Lower Austria and compare them with lists from villages in the Bakony to demonstrate the probability that a large part of the colonist settlers in Veszprem County came from those areas. In fact my own Griesbacher ancestor, Carolus, came to Bakonyjako from Felsoor/Oberwart, Burgenland about the year 1763; and his wife, Eva Maria Pancenbeck, came from Muggendorf in Lower Austria. But I have not yet reached that part of my detailed research. I will keep you informed of my progress. 4. EVENING AT THE TEUTONIA MÄNNERCHOR (From: Anna Kresh) (ED. Note: our Internet Editor takes an evening off and has problems.) You will be interested in how our evening at the Teutonia Männerchor turned out. A group of nine of us went down to Pittsburgh and had a wonderful German buffet dinner, complete with potato pancakes. It was quite a feast and everyone enjoyed it very much. However, the evening musical event hit quite a snag. The event was advertised as the "Bavarian and Tirolian Dance/Music Heimatabend from Salzweg, Austria, together with the Grenzlandla Gögging, the Woalfstoana Buam from Freyung, Bavaria and the Hollerstauan Musi". As the musicians and dancers were setting up in the beautiful upstairs air-conditioned Sängerhalle the lights went out and the dimly-lit (from the evening twilight) room slowly became very warm. We were in the center balcony (for a better view) and of course that was even warmer. About 15 minutes after the performance was to begin someone tried to make an announcement about the electrical failure, but without a microphone it was difficult for him to relay too much. The artists started their music and dancing, which were wonderful, but with no amplification and light fading rapidly, much of the artistry was lost - and the audience chatter was particularly noisy which made hearing even more difficult. The musicians even left the stage and set up in one end of the dancers' floor area, but even though all the windows had been opened, the heat got to many and they went outside. It turns out a transformer failed. I'll bet the next thing in the Teutonia's budget is a generator. One of the performances was something I had never seen before. Men in Lederhosen, etc. stood on chairs throughout the hall and balcony, cracking horse whips, to the beat of the music, above the heads of the audience. No one I asked had ever seen it before. Are you familiar with it? It was such a shame that these artists had traveled so far only to have the extremely hot weather we've been having this summer spoil their performance. What we heard and saw was great, but a lot was missed. Too many air conditioners running in Pittsburgh, I guess. I hope we get to see them again some time. END OF NEWSLETTER BURGENLAND BUNCH STAFF (USA unless designated otherwise) Coordinator & Editor Newsletter: Gerald J. Berghold Burgenland Editor: Albert Schuch; Austria Home Page Editor: Hap Anderson Internet/URL Editor: Anna Tanczos Kresh Contributing Editors: Austro/Hungarian Research: Fritz Königshofer Burgenland Co-Editor: Klaus Gerger, Austria Burgenland Lake Corner Research: (Dale Knebel Chicago Burgenland Enclave: Tom Glatz Croatian Burgenland: Frank Teklits Home Page village lists: Bill Rudy Home Page surname lists: Tom Steichen Home Page membership list: Hannes Graf, Austria Judaic Burgenland: Maureen Tighe-Brown Lehigh Valley Burgenland Enclave: Robert Strauch Western US BB Members-Research: Bob Unger WorldGenWeb-Austria, RootsWeb Liason-Burgenland: Charles Wardell, Austria BB ARCHIVES (can be reached via Home Page hyperlinks) The BB is in contact with the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft, Hauptplatz 7, A-7540 Güssing, Burgenland, Austria. Burgenland Bunch Newsletter distributed courtesy of (c) 1999 RootsWeb.com, Inc. P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Newsletter and List Rights Reserved. Permission to Copy Granted; Provide Credit and Mention Source.