BB News No. 158 dtd 31 Dec 2006

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 158 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Our 11th Year - Issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold) December 31, 2006 (c) 2006 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved ~"THE YEAR IS DYING IN THE NIGHT; RING OUT WILD BELLS AND LET HIM DIE." ( Tennyson: In Memorium cvi.)~ ~HAPPY NEW YEAR~ Current Status Of The BB: Members-1371*Surname Entries- 4605*Query Board Entries-3650*Newsletter Subscribers 1003, Newsletters Archived-158-Number of Staff Members-14 EMAIL RECIPIENTS PLEASE READ: You are receiving this email newsletter because you are a BB member or have asked to be added to our distribution list. To subscribe or unsubscribe, use the Membership Forms to update your status.) You cannot send email to this newsletter. If you have problems receiving the newsletter as email, it may be read, downloaded, printed or copied from the BB Homepage. There is also an archive of previous newsletters. This first section of our 2-section newsletter concerns: 1. Schönbrunn and Landtechnische Museum at St. Michael 2. Genealogy Versus Burgenland Family History 3. Village Histories Project 4. New Staff Positions -Steve Geosits & John Lavendoski Now Croatian Editors 5. Gereresdorfer Surname 6. BG Publishes 400th Newsletter 7. Lehigh University-Lehigh Valley Burgenland Descendant Goal 8. Greetings From Hotel Krutzler In Heiligenbrunn-"Come Stay With Us For A While" 9. Growth Of Burgenland Immigrant Descendants 1. SCHÖNBRUNN & LANDTECHNISCHE MUSEUM (from Bob Unger) In newsletter 157B there were suggestions for a 12 day Burgenland Itinerary which included a visit to the Schoenbrun Palace. I have been there six times and found that the very best way to get the most satisfaction from the visit is to rent an English audio guide. The advantage is that you can go at your own pace and take as much time as you want. The system automatically selects the proper recording as you approach each room. By contrast, when you're on an English speaking guided tour, there is a good chance that you will miss some of the features or will be hurried from place to place, or have problems keeping up with the group. They offer two different tours, a short one and an extended one. I highly recommend the extended tour. If there are others in your group, make sure that each person has their own ticket- because attendants might ask to see your pass to determine which tour you are on. Getting to the Schoenbrun Palace is very easy using the Vienna subway system - as Charles mentioned, it stops only one block from the Palace. A one-day subway pass is a real bargain. Another place that I consider a must for a 12 day Burgenland tour is the Landtechnische Museum at St. Michael; located about nine kilometers north of Güssing, off of route 57. I have mentioned this museum several times in articles I have written for the BB newsletter. Apparently because it is not advertised and a little hard to find, little interest has been generated. I consider this museum one of the best of its kind in all of Europe. In fact, for the items displayed, I judge this museum to be equal to or better than the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The museum is filled with a large variety of items, including life size and scaled down models. Some of these are operational. They have special docents to operate several items of machinery. Let me know what you think of this museum. When I mentioned that it is a little hard to find, that includes finding it on the Web. Below is a web site guide. First Google st. michael Burgenland This first entry will be as follows: Webseite der Gemeinde St. Michael im Burgenland Where the slopes of the Alps greet the Hungarian border lies the market community of St. Michael im Burgenland (southern Strem Valley.) www.st.michael-bgld.at/ Click on Highlight - Tourism - then select LANDTECHNIK-MUSEUM for info on the museum. 2. GENEALOGY VERSUS BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY One BB member took me to task for my article (BB News No. 157B) about the aftermath of the 2nd siege of Vienna. He thought I had done Islam a disservice and pointed out that Christian Europe had engaged in activity as bad as that of the Islamic East. He was perturbed by my comment that if the Turks had taken Vienna, there would be no Iraq problem today. He holds that madmen and oil are the causes of that problem. I tried to present a well balanced "what if the Turks had won" scenario, casting no blame and suggesting historical possibilities in the event of a Turkish success. I personally feel it is impossible to separate triggers of aggression; all factors can have an effect, but I do not wish to debate philosophical, religious or political matters. I started the Burgenland Bunch in order to help Burgenland immigrant descendants find answers to what were mainly genealogical questions. Our first queries concerned such matters as the use of LDS microfilm records, availability of other records, location and names of villages of origin, Burgenland surnames and so forth, all genealogical matters. Having once built multi-generational pedigrees, members then wanted to know more about ethnic food, pre-Burgenland origins, reasons for migration, the tenure of the times, etc. The emphasis moved from genealogy to family history, and my newsletter articles followed suit. To conclude that the Turkish Wars were not inspired or triggered by religious beliefs is naive at best and it must follow that a Turkish victory at Vienna would have greatly changed history. That Christianity and/or Western Europe reacted in similar fashions, both before and after the event, is begging the issue and I made (make) no apologies or justification for what has transpired. The second siege of Vienna was one of a series of unsavory events which generated Burgenland family history in the modern era; the Reformation, the 30 Years War, the Counter Reformation, the Turkish Wars, the Hungarian revolutions, to name a few more. They all impacted the formation of the Burgenland and the eventual Auswanderung to the Americas and hence our own existence. If any one of them had ended other than they did, it's extremely doubtful if we would have had ethnic migration and the eventual formation of the Burgenland. I feel that given a Turkish victory, there would be no Burgenland Bunch today. This is the gist of my article. The history of south-eastern Europe is also the history of Burgenland family history. They cannot be separated. To ignore this would be counter productive. It would be best to now label our newsletter and group as "family history" as opposed to "genealogical" -our website title not withstanding. 3. VILLAGE HISTORIES PROJECT We receive many requests for Burgenland village histories. While none have been published in English, the German language publications do provide data, pictures, maps, etc. They are thus very desirable for supplementing family histories. Village histories are archived in the Land (state) Library in Eisenstadt. Copies may be available there as well as at the village Gemeindeamt (civil office) or from some village contact. The demand is small and the number published is minimal. Publishing life and subsequent shelf life can be very short. The customer base is small. Even so the supply can be exhausted early. The State Library maintains lists of all publications for which they can furnish copies. The village offices can also tell us if copies are still available. We also publish articles telling of new histories and how they may be purchased. Hannes Graf (Membership & Homepage Editor) has recently begun a project in whi ch he plans to build a list of village histories as archived in the Land Library. He will indicate if copies are available and instructions for purchase. When completed, he will provide a web page linked to the BB Homepage for your use. We will advise when this web page is available. At that point I hope to be relieved of answering queries concerning village histories. The new web page will also be of value to those making trips to the Burgenland. A trip to the Land Library will provide copying facilities or ability to purchase copies. This is another worthwhile BB project instituted by Hannes. (ED. Note: newsletters 119C, 135, 136, 138 & 138A also deal with this subject.) 4. NEW STAFF POSITIONS-STEVE GEOSITS & JOHN LAVENDOSKI NOW CROATIAN EDITORS With the resignation of long time BB Croatian Editor Frank Teklits, we began searching for a replacement. We didn't have to wait long as both Steve and John volunteered. Along with Frank, they had formed part of a Croatian triumvirate very active in BB Burgenland Croatian matters. Both have developed their own subject websites and are well qualified to fill the position. Steve is in the process of writing a book concerning his southern Croatian villages and John was instrumental in capturing Szentpeterfa Church records, digitized by Frank Teklits. Steve has many relatives and direct contacts in the village of Szentpeterfa and in New York City and Chicago. He was born in Szentpeterfa and speaks a Croatian dialect. John was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley among Croatian Burgenland ethnic groups and has been an avid BB member from its inception. Please join me in welcoming them. To see their pictures click on Homepage "BB Staff"-Steve is on extreme left, John extreme right. 5. GERERESDORFER SURNAME Frank Paukovits' travel report covering Croatia (BB News No, 157) mentioned a grave containing the subject surname. We wondered if this family came from the southern Burgenland village of Gerersdorf. Charles Wardell enlightens us by writing: "I actually knew Hans (in German or Ivan in Croatian) Gereresdorfer in Zagreb. He had an amazing collection of clocks, watches and musical gadgets. See: http://www.mdc.hr/mgz/eng/fs-files/49.html In the late '60s he was called to London to repair Big Ben. Anyway, Gereresdorfer was a well known, noble family in Croatia." Frank Paukovits adds: "when I first saw the gravestone I thought the family came from Gerersdorf bei Güssing. However I just checked Mapquest, and found numerous Gerersdorfs in both Germany and Austria. Also, when I searched the Ellis Island site, I found two Gerersdorfers who came to the USA via Ellis Island, one from Zagreb and another who was born in a town called Rodlingersdorf in Niederosterreich. One can only speculate from whence the roots of that family in Zagreb actually stem. 6. BG PUBLISHES 400TH NEWSLETTER We congratulate editor Dr. Walter Dujmovits and staff for achieving this milestone of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft house organ. Having recently celebrated the BG 50th anniversary, they've published in excess of eight copies a year, quite an achievement. Taken together they form a vast archive of Burgenland "Auswanderer" Material. This edition's feature article concerns another 50th anniversary, that of the Hungarian "freedom fight" of 1956. Over 200K people eventually were forced to flee Hungary, most came through the Burgenland, aided by the inhabitants. Many eventually emigrated to the Americas and now form a large Hungarian ethnic group. The BG News may be read, download or ordered by going to: www.burgenlaender.com/BG Parts of the BG News are written in English (including articles by your edito r). BG membership is available from the same source. Pictures of Burgenland ethnic events and families worldwide are included. 7. LEHIGH UNIVERSITY-LEHIGH VALLEY BURGENLAND DESCENDANT GOAL In 1856, Asa Packer, Pennsylvania coal and railroad baron (Lehigh Valley Railroad), established Lehigh University on the slopes of South Mountain, Bethlehem, PA. It was to be a male college, producing mining and civil engineers. A college of arts and sciences and a business college were added later and it became an accredited university. It has always been a prime institution of higher learning in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, although I believe Muhlenburg College in Allentown as well as Moravian College for Men and Moravian College for Women in Bethlehem all achieved later university status. Graduates swelled the ranks of the Bethlehem Steel Co., local railroads and firms seeking engineers. Later firms throughout the United States also actively recruited graduates with other than engineering degrees. Education of Burgenland immigrants rarely went beyond the equivalent of 6th grade. Nonetheless, they recognized the importance of education. Many of their first generation descendants received high school diplomas. Few of that generation went on to college; however, as the Depression arose and money for tuition became tight. The third and subsequent generations did swell the enrollment of nearby colleges and Lehigh was then the ultimate goal for males. (Lehigh is now co-educational.) With the advent of the GI Bill, higher education attracted veterans and Lehigh received its share; Frank Teklits and I among them. Most of these later generation Burgenland students were so-called "town students" either living at home or boarding in Allentown, Bethlehem or nearby. They were an older group and most also had jobs of one sort or another. They occasionally gathered for social affairs (Town Council Meetings or ALO events -Alpha Lamda Omega social fraternity aka-Allentown Lehigh Organization) but they were not your typical university student. Immigrant status among students has faded but we can still identify those at Lehigh by examining surnames. I see enough of them in the Lehigh Alumni Bulletin to know that Lehigh is still a prime choice of Burgenland descendants, now both male and female. At least four of the BB staff are Lehigh graduates, if there are others among the membership, please let me know. 8. GREETINGS FROM HOTEL KRUTZLER IN HEILIGENBRUNN-"COME STAY WITH US FOR A WHILE" Helmut und Ingrid Krutzler of the Hotel-Restaurant Krutzler in Heiligenbrunn, a favorite Burgenland Gasthaus, send the following (I'll let you translate it): "Kommen's a bisserl her zu uns ..."Fröhliche Weihnachten ! Liebe Freunde, Gäste und Kollegen. An den Fenstern haben Frauen buntes Spielzeug fromm geschmückt, tausend Kindlein stehn und schauen, sind so wunderstill beglückt. Ihre Familie Krutzler, samt den Mitarbeitern A-7522 Heiligenbrunn 16 Internet: www.hotel-krutzler.at 9. GROWTH OF BURGENLAND IMMIGRANT DESCENDANTS Starting with one set of g-grandparents and including marriages, my Berghold genealogy lists 583 descendants through 2003. BB member and cousin Lea Simitz Buzby writes: "I work on my research when I can though mostly I'm busy recording current additions and events - this is our family from our parents on down at this time - wouldn't they be amazed? The family of Anna Berghold Simitz and Rudolph Simitz includes 8 Children, 32 Grandchildren, 3 Step Grandchildren, 58 Great Grandchildren, 12 Step Great Grandchildren, Great Great Grandchildren, 47 In-law Spouses." Have you recorded all of your immigrant descendants? Newsletter continues as number 158A.

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 158A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY (Our 11th Year- Issued monthly as email by Gerald Berghold) December 31, 2006 (c) 2006 G. J. Berghold-all rights reserved) ~BURGENLAND 2007 TOUR OFFER AT ARTICLE THREE, SECTION 1 OF NEWSLETTER NO. 155~ ~CLICK ON HOMEPAGE "BURGENLAND BUNCH STAFF" FOR NEW STAFF PHOTO~ ~Bob Unger reminds us: "From Vienna: The NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATION" (2007.) Zubin Mehta conducts the Vienna Philharmonic. Check your local Public Television station for time. This 1 1/2 hour performance is broadcast in the San Diego area Public Television station on 1/1/07 @ 9.00 pm - listed under Great Performances.~ This second section of our 2-section newsletter concerns: 1. BB Internet Links - New/Revised - 12/6/06 (Anna Kresh) 2. Taste Of Hungary (Margaret Kaiser) 3. Bells And The Burgenland 4. Burgenland State Library (Hannes Graf) 5. Origin Of Croatian Settlers In Dürnbach (John Lavendoski, et al) 6. German World Magazine 7. "Im Burg'nland, do steht unser Haus" (Bob Strauch & Staff) 1.BURGENLAND BUNCH INTERNET LINKS - ADDITIONS, REVISIONS 12/06/06 (from Internet/URL Editor Anna Tanczos Kresh) Items of particular interest are: AUSTRIAN, AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN INTERNET LINKS o Szentpéterfa Genealogical Pages http://www.szentpeterfa.com; - under development by BB Members John Lavendoski and Steve Geosits; some genealogical info relating to Szentpéterfa and the surrounding Austrian villages of Eberau, Edlitz, Harmisch, Kroatisch Ehrensdorf, Kulm, St. Kathrein, and Winten; photos, family histories and research data; site is password-protected to preserve privacy - free registration. See BB Newsletter No. 156A for more. BURGENLAND INTERNET LINKS o BG 50th anniversary http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/BG-50/; - picture show - Many pictures of local scenes, Gerger family, Tom Glatz, Eisenstadt, ferry on the Neuseidler, political figures, etc. o BG Internet Store http://www.burgenlaender.com/BG/en/BgmailOrder.html; - you can send a US check or use PayPal - YOU CAN ALSO SECURE A BG MEMBERSHIP AT THE SAME PLACE. HUNGARIAN INTERNET LINKS o Hungarian Names 101 http://www.geocities.com/athens/1336/magyarnames101.html; - Excellent Hungarian Names overview; Origins of Hungarians; Hungarian Language and Alphabet; Pronunciations; Hungarian Men's and Women's Names. LANGUAGE AIDS - TRANSLATORS, DICTIONARIES, etc. o GenealogyRO Dictionaries http://www.genealogy.ro/dictionary/; - online (Latin to English, Hungarian to English) dictionaries that translate words and phrases used for genealogical investigation. PASSENGER SHIP/IMMIGRATION INTERNET LINKS o Bremen Ship Passengers 1904-1914 http://www.feefhs.org/frl/spl/bremenmf.html; - major port of departure for emigrants; information on passenger list microfilms URLS NEW OR CHANGED o Lavendoski, John http://www.szentpeterfa.com/; - Texas; Jurasits/Yurasits Family Tree; see also http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/a/v/John-D-Lavendoski/?Welcome=1021258630 o Kustelski, Jim http://james.kustelski.googlepages.com/home;; - San Antonio, TX; Ancestors from Poland and Germany, plus Wolkerstorfers, Tschidas, Anderts, Kieriens, Koppis from Pamhagen, Burgenland. 2. TASTE OF HUNGARY (courtesy Margaret Kaiser) Links to more Hungarian good eating: Hearty Hungarian cuisine fits the bill - ABC7Chicago.com [1st December, 2006] Today's blast of winter is well-suited for heartier eating and Hungarian cuisine fits the bill. http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/4-0&fd=R&url=http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story%3Fsection%3Drestaurants%26id%3D4813514&cid=0&ei=oF9wRYSmHMagaIe3xcUI Warm up with Hungarian comfort food (MSNBC) [13th December, 2006] Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner of WallsÃ(c) in New York City serves his traditional goulash with homemade spaetzle. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/hungarian/SIG=119d710gh/*http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16171967/ Recipe: Hungarian Stuffed-Under-the-Skin Chicken Adapted from Mindel Appel (New York Times) [13th December, 2006] http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/hungarian/SIG=11p35hvqs/*http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/dining/132hrex.html Recipe: Hungarian Eggs with Tomatoes, Peppers and Onions (Letcho) Adapted from Rebekka and Jacob Freund (New York Times) [13th December, 2006] http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/hungarian/SIG=11ptv1ctc/*http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/dining/131hrex.html From Hungary, for Hanukkah, From Long Ago (New York Times) [13th December, 2006] The women of the Satmar Hasidic community have preserved delkelekh and shlishkes, and staples of the Hungarian Jewish kitchen. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/hungarian/SIG=11o6m3fbv/*http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/dining/13hanu.html 3. BELLS AND THE BURGENLAND Burgenland churches, Protestant as well as Catholic have bell towers and unlike many churches in this country, they contain bells that are used almost daily. To my mind there is no nicer sound. During the wars, many were taken and melted for ordnance but following each war, they were replaced. Many immigrants donated money from abroad to re-supply church bells. There are still a few ancient bells that bear the legend "me fecit anno xxx" (so and so made me in year xxx)-relics of the past. There is a small Greek Orthodox community where I live and they have a lovely church, just minutes from my home. We attended their annual Xmas bake sale and bought "baklava" and other Greek specialties. Baklava reminds me of strudel-both a product of Turkish influence. This church has an exterior double bell tower and they often rang the bells on Sunday. I asked why I hadn't heard them recently. I was told that neighbors complained about the noise and the bells are now rarely rung. Makes you wonder what is happening to us. I don't think people in the Burgenland would put up with such nonsense. Will any of us hear bells ringing in the New Year? I sincerely hope so! "Toll ye the church bell sad and slow, and tread softly and speak low, For the old year lies a-dying." Tennyson: "The Death of the Old Year." 4. BURGENLÄNDISCHE LANDESARCHIV-BURGENLAND STATE LIBRARY (from Hannes Graf) Concerning the many recent queries re availability of village histories, Hannes says: "In case our members forget, the state library has at least one copy:" A link to their online catalogue: http://195.58.177.110:58905/PSI/redirect.psi Surface mail: Burgenländisches Landesarchiv Europaplatz 1, 7000 Eisenstadt, Austria Telefon: 057-600/2358 5. ORIGIN OF CROATIAN SETTLERS IN DÜRNBACH (John Lavendoski, Fritz Königshofer, et al) Markus Dobrivits writes to John Lavendoski. "I'm searching for my ancestors in Duernbach/burgenland. Mr. Königshofer told me that maybe you can tell me where the Croatian settlers of Dürnbach had their origin in Croatia." John replies: "It is true that I was involved in some work in this area a few years ago and continue to be. I am not however familiar with the Croatian settlers in Durnbach specifically. (ED. Note: Dürnbach is in the district of Oberwart and now allied with Schachendorf.) The item I contributed to had more to do with the original research of Father Stefan Geosits in his book on the Croatians in Szentpeterfa, Hungary and the surrounding Croatian villages in Burgenland, Austria which is some distance from Durnbach. I am interested in helping. Can you tell me which dialect of Croatian is spoken in Durnbach... Sto or Cha?" To which Fritz adds: "Let me chip in from the sidelines. Dürnbach, officially called Dürnbach im Burgenland, is indeed in southern Burgenland. When still in Hungary, it had the name Inczéd. Its 800 inhabitants were almost entirely Croats. Dürnbach lies west of Schachendorf, and southwest of Rechnitz (Rohoncz) (ED. Note: It had been in the Batthyány Domain of Rechnitz at time of Croat settlement.) A half-brother of my g-grandmother, a priest with name István Béry, had his first assignment as a parish priest in Inczéd. He must have been fluent in Croatian, as he was the author of some school books for learning the language." Editor's comments: As mentioned before, the origin of Croats in Burgenland is well established. They were settled there by aristocratic families (mainly Batthyány, Erdödy and Nádasdy) with holdings in both Croatia and western Hungary. As the Turks overran Croatia, these families resettled their peasantry and lesser nobility in Hungary. Dürnbach was part of one such settlement. To trace their origin, I use two main reference works. Robert Hajszan's "Die Croaten der Herrschaft Güssing" Literas Verlag, Wien 1991 and Johann Dobrovich "People on the Border" Burgenland Research Paper volume 47, as translated into English by Frank Teklits. The latter is available serialized in ten editions of the Burgenland newsletter; use our Archive Link from the BB Homepage. There are other references, but I don't have copies. Page 47 of the Teklits' translation covers the District of Oberwart that contains the Rechnitz Domain of the Batthyány. An excerpt from Homma's "History of the Domains of Southern Burgenland" mentions that between 1538 and 1545, Croats were settled in eight villages, Dürnbach included. Three others including Rechnitz follow. On page 31, we find "Batthyány led many of the Fronbauern (bondmen-peasants) from the neighborhoods of Kopreinitz (Koprivnica) into southern Burgenland and into the vicinity of Rechnitz and Güssing. I would assume this includes Dürnbach. Present day villages in the region of Koprivnica (across the border just south of Nagykanizsa, Hungary) existing in the 16th century would most likely be the villages of origin. From what is included (pages 32-36) they spoke the "Sto" dialect. 6. GERMAN WORLD MAGAZINE (courtesy Anna Kresh) Audra Dax writes: "I just learned of a publication called "German World" magazine. The publication is bilingual German/English and is for Austrian, German, and Swiss-American culture. It might be of interest to other members of "The Bunch." German World is also the only print publication that prints the TV guide for German channels on Dish Network in America. Here is a link to the website: www.german-world.com 7. "IN BURGENLAND STEHT UNSER HAUS" (Bob Strauch and the BB Staff) (ED. Note: Hannes Graf, Anna, Kresh, Tom Steichen, Bob Strauch and I just concluded a lengthy email thread concerning the above song " In Burgenland Stands Our House." It was brought to our attention some time ago as one of the recordings by and member Al Meitzler. Terry Hurst (nee Theresia Gabriel) asked if we would include it in our homepage songbook (Hannes Graf & Tom Steichen editors.) This occasioned some concern about composer and copyright infringement. The thread was finally settled by the following from Bob Strauch. It's a great song and you'll like it. We'll include it in our song book when and if we determine copyright.) Bob writes to Anna Kresh (copy to staff) after much email exchange: "According to Walter Dujmovits' book, "Die Amerikawanderung der Burgenländer", the song was written in 1923 by Karl Beidl, who was a school teacher in Gamischdorf at the time. It has the distinction of being the first song containing the name "Burgenland". The version on Al Meixner's CD is one of 2 known here in the Lehigh Valley. The first version (on CD) has 2 parts: a verse and a refrain. In the second version, the refrain of the first version becomes a song of its own (with different melody variations) with multiple verses which are humorous and often self-deprecating. I never heard the first version (verse/refrain) or its lyrics in Burgenland, only the second version. No one here knows for sure where the first version came from (those who might have known are long gone). The first version is more refined and has a definite Viennese lilt. The second is more "countrified" and is more of a Wirtshaus song. So which version did Karl Beidl come up with? I suspect it was the first version. The second version was probably the result of countless bottles of Uhudler wine from Heiligenbrunn. It would be interesting to see Beidl's original version and to know when and where it was first publicized. Walter Dujmovits might know that, or possibly the Burgenländisches Volksliedwerk (Bgld. Folk Music Society and Archive) in Oberschützen. The first version: Ein Land so schön wie keines Land, das ist das schöne Burgenland, nicht weit vom Donaustrand, das ist mein Vaterland. Die Luft weht von den Alpen her, bringt viele liebe Grüße her, das bleibt mir so im Sinn, darum singen wir immerhin: (A land as beautiful as no other, that is the beautiful Burgenland, not far from the shore of the Danube, that is my fatherland. The breeze blows from the Alps and brings many greetings, that's always on my mind, thus we still sing:) Refrain: Im Burg'nland, do steht unser Haus, im Burg'nland, do san ma zu Haus', im Burg'nland, do gibt's fesche Leit, recht fleissig und voll G'miatlichkeit. Und singan, das tuan ma so gern, und wenn wir a Musi spüln hern, a G'wissn so rein und so guat, denn das liegt schon bei uns im Bluat! (Our house stands in Burgenland, we are at home in Burgenland, in Burgenland the people are nice, diligent, and good-natured. We like to sing, and when we hear music play, a clear and good conscience, that's in our blood) The second version: (example of possible verses) Im Burg'nlaund, do is's holt so schen, wann's regnt, kaunnst nit foahrn, kaunnst nit gehn. Die Haisa san baut aus an Kot, und drinn sitzt an olta Krowot! (In Burgenland it's so beautiful, when it rains, you can't drive, you can't walk The houses are built of dirt, and inside sits an old Croatian) Im Burg'nlaund trinkan die Männa vül Wein, die Weiba, die schenkan iahn' ein, im Burg'nlaund, do is so da Brauch, wenn's rauschi sein, gehn's olli noch Haus! (In Burgenland, the men drink a lot of wine, and the women pour it out for them, in Burgenland, that's the tradition, when they're loaded, they all go home) (I can't imagine a village school teacher of that era writing the second version) END OF NEWSLETTER The Burgenland Bunch homepage (website) can be found at: http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/ We can also be reached from: http://go.to/burgenland-bunch (this address also provides access to Burgenländische Gemeinschaft web site) Use our website to access our membership, village and surname lists, archives, internet links, maps, instructions, ethnic song book, frequently asked questions and other information. Burgenland Bunch Newsletter (c) 1997 archived courtesy of RootsWeb.com, Inc. P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. Newsletter published monthly by G. J. Berghold, Winchester, VA. Newsletter and List Rights Reserved. Permission to Copy Granted; You Must Provide Credit and Mention Source.