BB News No. 190 dtd 31 Aug 2009

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 190 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY August 31, 2009 (c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved Our 13th Year, Editor: Johannes Graf and Copy Editor Maureen Tighe-Brown The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter, founded by Gerry Berghold (who retired in Summer, 2008, and died in August, 2008), is issued monthly as email and available online at http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org Current Status Of The BB: * Members: 1733 * Surname Entries: 5585 * Query Board Entries: 4194 * Newsletters Archived: 189 * 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 change form available from our Home page at http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org. 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 Home page.There is also an archive of previous newsletters. This first section of our 3-section newsletter concerns: 1) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH IS NOW ON FACEBOOK (by Steve Geosits) 2) CONNECTICUT BURGENLAENDERS (by Frank Paukowits) 3) SPECIAL NOTICE FOR ALL BB MEMBERS LIVING IN THE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI AREA (by Ron Markland) 4) BB PICNIC IN ST. PAUL, MN (by Charlie Deutsch) 5) AN ANNIVERSARY WORTH REMEMBERING AND CELEBRATING (by Emmerich Koller) 6) ST. MARGARETHEN IN AUGUST 1989 (by Margaret Kaiser) 7) A BURGENLAND VISIT (by Pamela Zogman) 1) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH IS NOW ON FACEBOOK (by Steve Geosits) Facebook is a networking website that is free to all of its members, and is owned and privately maintained by Facebook, Inc. It allows users to join networks and interact with other members on the website. Members can add friends, send messages, and update their personal profiles to notify others about themselves. The application also allows members to upload and share video, photos and links with other members, and there are many common interest groups on Facebook that members can join or create. Currently the Facebook application has over 250 million users world-wide. For those who are interested, here are more statistics from Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics At a recent meeting of the Burgenland Bunch Staff, it was agreed that the time had come for the BB to reserve and establish a presence for itself on the Facebook application. And so, on July 28th, our group was launched and opened to all Facebook members. Currently, we have about 25 members in the new group, and some have already posted information and comments here. Hopefully, this number will grow as more people become aware of our presence. Anyone who wants to access this new Facebook group will first have to register on the application at www.facebook.com . After sign-in, we can then be found through a search of our group name, "The Burgenland Bunch Genealogy Group," or we can be found directly through this website link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36029799990. Please note that this new Facebook group does not replace official communications with the BB staff through either direct email or through the BB Queryboard accessible from our main BB website. Instead, the Facebook group acts as a calling card by displaying our main BB website name, and by encouraging members to visit. It is not a requirement for any current BB subscribers or staff members to join Facebook. Facebook may not be suitable for everyone. However, if you already are a Facebook member, or if you become one in the future, then please come join our Facebook BB group and invite others to do so as well. 2) CONNECTICUT BURGENLAENDERS (by Frank Paukowits) Come join some BB members on the weekend of September 18 -19 (Friday and Saturday) to visit cemeteries in the New Britain area of Connecticut. The goal of the visits will be to locate the graves of deceased Burgenlaenders. Many Burgenlaenders from the Jennersdorf Bezirk migrated to the New Britain area from the 1890's to the 1930's. The information we obtain from our visits will be used to develop a separate module on the BH&R website to honor the memory of deceased Burgenlaenders who immigrated to Connecticut. We will also be going to the Austrian Donau Club in New Britain on the night of September 18. There is a Heurigan Night that evening with entertainment, food and drinks. It should be a lot of fun. Anyone interested in participating in the cemetery visits and/or attending the Heurigan Night festivities should get in touch with Frank Paukowits for all of the particulars. 3) SPECIAL NOTICE FOR ALL BB MEMBERS LIVING IN THE ST. LOUIS MISSOURI AREA. (by Ron Markland) After reading newsletter 189, Hannes Graf and I had several emails back and forth, he asked how was the Burgenland Bunch doing in the St. Louis, Missouri area. My response was that I had nothing to report; if it was alive and well, I had no knowledge of that. Well, Hannes challenged me, and asked what could I do to get it off of life support. As a result, we found that approximately 70 members were located in the area where I live. An email was sent indicating that we were attempting to get the members together. Of course, a problem with email addresses is, that many are outdated and they came back undeliverable. However, about 20 members did respond favorably, and some are still trickling in. First meeting of the Burgenland Bunch of Missouri So let's plan for the 10th of September. 7:00PM. My wife and I live at 15908 Wetherburn Road, Chesterfield MO. 63017. We are just off Clarkson Road between Clayton Road and Kehrs Mill Roads. Our street Wetherburn is on the east side of Clarkson Rd, 3 miles south of Chesterfield Mall. We are the second home from the end of the street on the right hand side (south). Our mail box is the only one that is white with flowers on it. Be prepared to discuss what you would like to see our group do. If everyone shows up, we will have a total of 12 people. We should plan on defining a meeting location, day of the month and the months that we will get together, and what our "mission" is. Please let me know if you will be attending. I have been waiting for a special occasion to open a very large bottle of "Burgermeister wine" given to me by the Bürgermeister of Mödling, Austria. This is a suitable special special occasion. Ronald E. Markland P.E. 15908 Wetherburn Road Chesterfield, MO 63017 4) BB PICNIC IN ST. PAUL, MN (By Charlie Deutsch) Thanks to all the folks who attended our picnic on Sunday, August 9. We gathered at the Germanic-American Institute in St. Paul, MN. The weather was steamy, but the food and fellowship made for a rewarding afternoon. We were given the opportunity to sample three different late harvest Burgenland wines. Several people joined us for the first time, and a few people were pleasantly surprised to find relatives and near relatives. We had a short discussion on the Burgenland Honored and Remembered list; several people are compiling their own lists which we will assemble for submission. Dale Knebel volunteered to make the South Dakota list, and Charlie Deutsch will work on the Calvary Cemetery (St. Paul, MN) list. Charlie Deutsch has completed a digitization project of the Saint Bernard's Church Baptism, Death, Marriage, and School records covering the years 1890 through 1930. Saint Bernard's was forced to close the grade school in 2009, ending 118 years of existence. The Church and High School will continue to operate. If you need record lookups, contact Charlie. Saint Bernard's was the home parish of thousands of Burgenland and Bohemian-German immigrants. Next meeting The next meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, October 11, 2009, again at the Germanic-American Institute, 301 Summit Avenue in St. Paul, 1 PM to 4:30 PM. Here is the list of attendees: Charlie & Vicki Deutsch, Dale Knebel, Ellie Nicklawske, Reynald Dittrich, Arden & Sue Erickson, Judy Gardner, Dean Wagner, John & Mary Jane Pitzl, Kit & Marilyn Natz, Tom, Jim & Tony Meyers, Rick & Jayne Tischler, Al Tischler, Mary Kiecker, Judy Vermeulen, Carol Lauren-Schmidt, Dave & Lois Kelley, Jeff Neuberger, Jill Johnson, Tom Lackner, Lorraine Lauren, Jeanette MacDonald, Shirley Kresko, Chuck & Joelle Knopf, Rosemary Ruffenach, Tom Behm Additional notes by Jill Johnson After group announcements, Jill Johnson, a Pamhagen TSCHIDA descendant, asked if there were any other Pamhagen people in attendance. Two women, Sue (Thompson) Erickson and her cousin, Judy Gardner, responded, "yes." After reviewing each other's research notes, they determined they were in fact all related to each other. Their great-great grandfathers were brothers. 5) AN ANNIVERSARY WORTH REMEMBERING AND CELEBRATING (by Emmerich Koller) Twenty years ago, on a nice sunny August day at the border between Austria and Hungary, a gate was opened for a few hours during a cross-border picnic on the road between St. Margarethen/Margitbánya in Burgenland and Sopronköhida in Hungary. The picnic was held at Sopronpuszta; the event itself entered world history as the Pan-European Picnic of August 19, 1989. When visiting East German tourists in Hungary got wind of this event, they hurried there with their Trabis and Wartburgs, abandoned them at the roadside and fled through that open gate to Austria. Although the border guards still had orders to shoot, to their and their local commander's everlasting credit, they ignored the order and the exodus of about 600 East Germans ended without anyone getting hurt. Less than a month later, on September 11, the border between Hungary and Austria was opened for good. This bold act on the part of the Hungarian government at the time initiated a process that eventually culminated in the complete removal of the Iron Curtain from the Baltic to the Adriatic Seas, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the Cold War. In the two decades since then, there have been many positive political and economic developments between Hungary, Austria and the rest of Europe. And, although my focus on this 20th anniversary is on the good things that have already happened and on what the future may hold, let me begin with a brief recap of a terrible past so that we may never forget. I was an eyewitness to and victim of the misery that Hungary's socialist government perpetrated on its citizens. Life was especially hard for those who lived in villages that were too close to the border. Pernau/Pornóapáti in the lower Pinka valley was one such village where as a boy I watched the Iron Curtain go up in 1948. I sensed the distress it caused among the adults and I experienced the sudden separation from our friends, relatives and neighbors on the other side in Gaas, Eberau, Kulm, Bildein, Edlitz, Winten, Höll, Deutsch-Schützen and Eisenberg. The security inside and outside my village was very tight, the isolation almost total. There was a time in the early 1950's when I feared that even a longing look to the West, past the mines and barbed wire, would be detected and punished by the grim border guards. My apprehension was justified. One day in 1953, my father and mother were arrested, detained and interrogated for merely exchanging greetings with my uncle, Father George Schrammel, on the other side. The ultimatum that my father was given by the secret police eventually led to his decision to escape during the revolution in 1956. There were many who couldn't tolerate being fenced in like cattle and so they tried to leave even before the revolution. Some made it, some did not. One dark night in 1952, our neighbor made an attempt to escape but he stepped on a mine that ended not only his dream of freedom but also his life. After 1989, previously unthinkable developments greatly improved the lives of all people in former East Block countries, including Hungary. But the most significant improvement for the villages in the lower Pinka valley happened on December 21, 2007, when the border was finally opened to unrestricted local traffic. Before that, if they wished to visit each other, neighbors who lived only two kilometers from their destination had to travel hours to cross at a few designated crossings. In 2005, when I visited the site of the former Cistercian monastery of Pernau, located right by the border, an unguarded ramp and an old road, overgrown with tall weeds, stopped me from driving over to Deutsch-Schützen less than a kilometer from there. For a long while after that, a disturbing thought bothered me. Now that neighbors had a chance to rebuild a unity that had existed for centuries, they seemed unable or unwilling to do so. A fundamentally different situation presented itself last year, during my most recent visit to my home village. The roads to Bildein and Deutsch-Schützen were now paved, open, and unguarded. When I drove to Bildein to visit relatives and boyhood friends, no one stopped me; no one cared that I was crossing from Hungary to Austria. The joy that I felt was the perfect antithesis to the fear I felt 52 years before that when my family and I took that same road to leave our ancestral home forever. In the last two years, the villages in the lower Pinka valley have been busy establishing new connections to each other. In a recent e-mail, my godson Gottfried Eberhardt, a prominent citizen of the village of Bildein, wrote the following: "Much has changed since the opening of the border. On the negative side I would list the increased traffic through Bildein and two recent robberies. On the positive side, I can list many more examples. A Hungarian artist opened a shop in our village and he does very good work. Kirchtage, i.e., feasts of the patron saints are celebrated together. Fire departments from both sides have joint exercises. Young Hungarian soccer players now play for the Eberau Soccer Club. On July 26, a cross-border party was organized at which the Bürgermeister of Pernau displayed his Trabi and the women cooked Hungarian specialties. Our very successful "Picture On" rock festival on August 8 was also a cross-border affair. This September, a new private school is opening in Eberau in which German, English and Hungarian will be taught. Of the 72 students, half are from prominent Hungarian families. Often we go on bike tours to a Buschenschank or Gasthaus on the other side. The hunters of my village often go to the firing range in Hungary. Today I was shooting at our own firing range where by chance I met my relative from Großdorf/Keresztes. And by the way, when the mushrooms grow in our forest, one can find scores of Hungarians looking for mushrooms." Gottfried's report may serve as an example of what is happening all along the border. Similar connections in other neighboring villages are recreating once again the social and economic fabric that used to make the Pinka valley a harmonious community. I remember a time shortly after the war when my uncle Lajos Takács from Deutsch-Schützen crossed the border every day to be a shoemaker's apprentice to my father; family ties were strengthened by asking Austrian relatives to be godparents or confirmation sponsors; and like my grandfather Schrammel, who married a girl from Deutsch-Schützen, the border didn't stop young people looking for partners on the other side. Just about every family in Pernau had relatives in neighboring Austrian villages. As this natural interaction among neighbors is returning again, the lower Pinka valley is becoming once again what it was meant to be: a place where people can live in freedom and harmony, without the interference of national politics and pernicious ideologies. 6) ST. MARGARETHEN IN AUGUST 1989 (by Margaret Kaiser) A Hungarian student in a BBC News School Report recalled the events of 20 years ago when on August 19, 1889 a special event was held jointly in St. Margarethen, a Burgenland border village, and Sopronpuzta in Hungary. The border was opened for a couple of hours for Austrians to cross the border in order to attend the event. This special border opening received publicity. As a result, Eastern Germans attended and took this opportunity to cross into Austria abandoning their Trabant and Wartburg cars along the Hungarian roadside. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/school_report/8205010.stm 7) A BURGENLAND VISIT (by Pamela Zogman) Hello, my name is Pamela Zogman. I am a new member to the Burgenland Bunch. My grandfather settled in Chicago in 1921 after immigrating from Welgersdorf, Austria. In March, I had the most wonderful trip to Burgenland. Before departing the states, a good German friend of mine advised me that I would not be able to go to the church in Welgersdorf for a birth record; in small towns, they commonly share a priest. My friend advised me to go to Großpetersdorf. Luckily for me I had asked her to write a letter in German describing what I was looking for. When I arrived in Großpetersdorf, the woman at the local church only spoke a little English and the letter proved helpful. She sent me on to another town (I can't recall the name). In this town[,] no one was at the church. I stood around wondering what to do. Then a nice couple came out from their home and offered help. They then called a woman employed by the church by the name of Amy Wagner. Amy advised the couple to send us over to her and she would take us to the records. We then followed Amy to another town (I think it was Hannersdorf). She opened a glorious cabinet filled with books holding records. What a sight to see all these old fabulous books with people's histories inside! We took a photo of my grandfather's record. Amy then went out of her way to guide us to Welgersdorf. She wanted to make sure we found it. In Welgersdorf, I was standing in front of a house that, according to my grandfather's birth record, was the home of his birth. It turns out the house numbers have changed since 1904. If I hadn't been standing in front of the wrong house at that moment in time I would not have had the fortuitous meeting with a local gentleman by the name of Jürgen. Jürgen took me under his wing and thought of how he could best help me. He decided to take me to an elder in the community. He advised me this 77 year old man, whose name was Herbert, was very ill. He wasn't sure if Herbert would be able to help, but we could try. I followed Jürgen to this man's home. As Jürgen was about to walk up to Herbert I remembered that I had brought a picture with me. In the picture was my grandfather with two women and I had no idea who the women where. Jürgen brought the picture up to Herbert and he exclaimed, "That is my mother." Herbert's biological mother died when he was baby. His father remarried my great Aunt (one of the woman in the picture) who raised him from the age of one. Jürgen had no way of knowing this man would be related to me because he had a different last name than my family. Herbert had company but asked us to come back at 5 p.m. it was around noon. Jürgen then took care of us for the whole day. He fed my family and showed us around. When we went back to Herbert's home he produced a photo album of my family. Now, remember I had no idea Herbert existed (he is my deceased father's cousin by marriage). The first picture in the album was of my grandfather and my aunt that lives in Chicago. Herbert then showed us pictures of my whole family from Welgersdorf that I never knew about: my grandfather's brothers and sisters. My grandfather died when I was three and no one had ever asked him any information on his heritage. Needless to say, we had a magical experience. I left Herbert and Jürgen feeling transformed. I was so grateful for all the help they gave in putting together my heritage. It turned out that Herbert died a month after my visit. He was the last relative in Welgersdorf from my immediate family tree. If I had not gone at that exact time I would have never met Herbert and been connected to my roots. If anyone would like to taste a wonderful product that comes from Burgenland, Jürgen makes delicious Mead: visit www.velmet.at . Mead is wine made from honey. All of the honey is locally sourced. Feel free to contact me with any questions. I also had short visits to Vienna and Graz if you need any information. Newsletter continues as number 190A.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 190A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY August 31, 2009 (c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved The second section of this 3-section newsletter includes: 1) LET'S GO WEST - A TRIP REPORT 2) THE CASTLE RUIN OF LANDSEE 3) RAILROAD QUESTION 4) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) 1) LET'S GO WEST - A TRIP REPORT I am sitting at my desk table hearing in the background the "New World Symphony" from Antonin Dworak and remember what happened two months ago. Yes, I was there: it was no dream, it was reality. When I close my eyes, I remember every second, from the first step in New York to the last one in Indianapolis. At first, I want to thank everybody who make this trip possible. My wife Elfie, who tells me in April: "For what would You wait? Do it! Think about, how sad You was, when You don't do it at the time when Gerry was alive!" My hosts and sponsors, who makes it possible, without killing my financials totally: Frank & Elsie Paukowits, Tom Steichen, Anna & Rudy Kresh, Martin & Amy Schreyer, Joanne & Mike Hayden and Mike Schreyer. Thank You; without You this would never have been. 24th of June 2009 From the moment when I have to check in, a different world begins. I was never on a flight, so also I was never in the USA or outside of Europe. All was new for me, and I had not slept the night before. At 11.05 the flight started from Vienna and ended at 14.00 (+6 hours) in NY-JFK. When we gott out of the plane, we arrived to the customs area, where nearly 1000 people were waiting. I was thinking , "Oh my god, it will take 3 hours to go out of the airport; I hope Frank will wait for me." It took really 2,5 hours to come out and meet Frank and Elsie Paukowits who were waiting for "Santa Claus". I was very tired and so we have no sightseeing this day. Also when I start in Vienna, there has been about 19° C low humidity, but in Queens it had about 38° C and a full humidity. So I had troubles to breathe and I immediately got a cold from the differences between real and air-conditioned temperature. I also was not able to sleep the first night for more than 2-3 hours. 25th of June The first sightseeing trip to lower Manhattan, after a curious breakfast. Frank, Elsie and I go by LIRR and subway to the southern-most point. When I came out to the streets, I was so overwhelmed about the buildings and sooo many people around. Also I was the only person in Manhattan who had a jacket on. This made everybody know that I was a tourist. I know that I will make a similar trip as my Lehner and Schreyer relatives made it 1904. They started in Ellis Island and ended up in South Bend. But after looking to the Ellis-Island and Liberty-Island over the water, I decide to don't want to go there, because it was too much for me. We had to wait some hours for getting tickets because it was the end of school and there were many people. So I will see it when I come again and there is a reason to come back. After a walk into the streets around Ground Zero, we went to the East River, where we had a longer rest. My favorite points are water (sea, lakes, river) and bridges, so it was a nice point under the Brooklyn Bridge. At the evening, we drove back, to see Manhattan at night; it was really amazing, with all the lights on the streets and bridges. 26th of June I cannot sleep well again, maybe for 4 hours. This day we had breakfast at "Dunkin' Donuts"; I always wondered about that, because I understand it as "drunken donuts," so I was not sure about the illumination scale after the breakfast. But there I meet some of the friends of Frank and Elsie, nice mix of people. We went to the NY Transportation Museum in Brooklyn; it was very interesting to me, because I am a fan of all transport systems. In the afternoon we had a trip to Long Beach and at the evening. I met their family, and grandson Kenny. (see NL-182) 27th of June The ride begins. From this moment I was a passenger and looked out of the car windows for the next 2000 miles. We drove to Allenton, but I think all other New Yorkers do it also. So we need a little longer as we would. From the flat Big Apple over the Hudson seeing the rocks of New Jersey and the beginning hilly countries to Lehigh Valley, the area was more and more looking like the southern Burgenland. I think, many people settled there because the landscape looks like the "Heimat". On the way, I was very interested about how many cemeteries Frank knew. At the meeting, it was nice to see some of the Staff personally, I had met only Frank Paukowits 2008 and Tom Glatz 2006 before in Burgenland, and also Gerry & Molly Berghold in 2001. The meeting story from Tom Steichen was at the last NL. 28th of June Attending at the Stiftungsfest of the Coplay Sängerbund, I meet many people, whose names I now forget; sorry. I had so many meetings, I never remember who told me what. I made some pics of the Coplay cemetery with many Burgenländer names on the gravestones. Also, I attended the concert of the best Hianzn choir I ever heard in my life, with the famous bandleader Bobby Strauch. At Emma's dessert-kitchen, we had a good ending of the meeting days and I was taken to my next hosts, Rudy and Anna Kresh. 29th of June This day was the hardest, I think, for all of us three. We started to look of all the remembering places, I saw their first apartment, where the first child was born, some schools, colleges, where also Gerry Berghold has been, and Frank Teklits, if I'm correct. Then we drove to Amishland, looking for the horse-wagons and farm workers like Burgenland 150 years ago. The next stop was at the Pennsylvanian Railroad Museum at Strasburg, nearby Lancaster. There we look around for some hours before starting to the next point. We cross the Susquehanna to York and Gettysburg. After attending the show at the Museum we drove around the historic area and I made a walk at the "Little Round Top", to overview the scenery. This day ended at the Kresh Lane in Butler after nearly 19 hours! We were really nearly dead! 30th of June From this day on, I was acclimatized; I could breathe better and I slept well for the first time. Also, it was the not-air-conditioned border of America. We drove around the landscape and to Pittsburgh, where Anna shows me the Austrian Room at the Cathedral of Learning. We took Anna's grandson with us and he liked to do everything with the adults. 1st of July From Burgenland-Bunch to family. After driving me to East Liverpool, OH, this was the moment to say goodbye. It was very hard to let them go away without any tears. Grand-Cousin Martin Schreyer and wife Amy was now my host for this day and Cousin Mike Schreyer also arrived at the evening. I was resting the whole afternoon. At evening, we had a dinner at the Ohio River. 2nd of July The next big trip, from East Liverpool to Zionsville, IN. We need the whole day, with joking as we every time do. I ever was wondering about the big birds flying over the Free-, Park- and Highways. Mike tell me about the "roadkill" and the "health police". So we spent the evening at the house of Joanne and Mike Hayden, where I stayed for some days. We had enough to talk and eat and drink and at night a nice visitor: Rocky Raccoon. I never saw so many wild animals near people, never saw free humming-birds, cardinals and many other birds like vultures. 3rd of July We meet at Indianapolis at the area, where Emily Hayden was living, before she went to Harvard as teacher. It is beside the medical centers and I think it was a canal or a creek before, but in between it's nice to walk around. I did not know it, but in the days when I was in NY, something happened what changed very much. Heidi, the 22 years old daughter of Gary Schreyer died by diabetes complications. So that half of the family was very sad and didn't attend some planned meetings. I understood the situation and at the afternoon we rode to Logansport for a "say good bye" ceremony. 4th of July At the last evening, I was very daring to accept a flight with cousin Mike Hayden in his Mooney airplane. But this I will never forget, a flight around the Indianapolis area and looking down, seeing all the farmland and buildings. Mike is a real good pilot since 38 years. The second highlight should be the 4th of July party, but it rains hard, so the Indianapolis downtown fireworks was cancelled. Mike has an apartment on the 19th floor with full sight of downtown. But I met some new family members and children there. 5th of July All together, we started in the morning for a trip to South Bend, where the Lehner and Schreyer families had settled. They show me the house where the grandparents are living, the train crossing where Andrew Schreyer in 1927 found his end (NL-130), the houses where the parents are living, schools, the Notre Dame University, the cemeteries, the area where the Lehner-farm was located (today, it is the Lehner-court of Granger with Lehner-street) and so on. A Freeway crosses the farmland and most of the area is housing developments. At last we had a gathering of all relatives at the home of John & Judy Lehner beside the Notre Dame University area. Paul M. Lehner, III invited also some BB-Members so we had a little "BB-Indiana-picnic". At the evening we drove to the apartment of Joanne and Mike Hayden in Culver at Lake Maxinkuckee to stay over night. 6th of July At noon, Emmerich Koller came to Culver and we had a meeting together with Mike. At afternoon, we drove back to Zionsville, but on the way we looked to a lake, where Joanne and Mike had their childhood vacations. 7th of July We changed our program, because at 5th of July, Mike talks with Evelyn Lehner about the farm and some rememberings. So we drove again to South Bend to meet her, because she is 98 years old. We had a good day at her home, beside the old farmhouse which still exists. She shows me a picture of an unknown woman, but it was my grandmother! After the meeting, we had a short trip to the Michigan lake for a little evening walk. 8th of July Flying home and landing at 9th in the morning, where Elfie awaits me at the airport with a tall sunflower. All together, I shot 1100 pics, met many people, including about 70 BB-members, and see very much news. I got a big Jetlag, which needed about 4 weeks before I came back to my reality. My days have felt like the night. But it was good to do this trip and I try to do it again. Conclusion: Before the trip, all my hosts asked me about what I want to see or meet and I told them: I want to see how you are living, where did you grow up; family, friends and normally how things are. And this was exactly what I got from all. Thank You. 2) THE CASTLE RUIN OF LANDSEE The Göttweig monastery's traditional records of the year 1158 mention a "Gotscalcus de Landeshere." The first castle was erected probably somewhat earlier to protect an important road. The Landsees were ministers of the Earls of Pitten and presumably kinsman of the Stubenberger family from Styria. The castle became possession of the Hungarian Crown already in 1222. It was the western outpost of the county of Lutzmannsburg and part of the line of castles which was to protect the western border of Hungary. King Béla IV passed it to his cupbearer Conrad who, however, changed fronts and became a follower of the Bohemian king Przemysl Ottokar II. Therefore, in 1263, Landsee was handed over to his Steward and Gespan (a medieval chieftain in the west and south Slavic region) of Ödenburg, Laurentius Aba, whose successors were followers of the earls of Güssing. And so Landsee was one of the castles that were conquered by Duke Albrecht in course of the feud of Güssing in 1289. But following the peace of Hainburg the command over the castle was restored to the king of Hungary. Then the Athinais of the family of the Aba were in possession of Landsee but at the end of the 14th century it passed to the Earls of Mattersdorf-Forchtenstein. Wilhelm of Forchtenstein, the last of his family, pawned his properties to the Habsburger Albrecht VI, who bought Landsee in 1447 and passed it on to his brother, Emperor Friedrich III. In 1459, the dominion fell into the hands of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus. In 1482 he endowed with the dominion Ulrich von Grafeneck, who, however, is recorded as owner already for the year 1475. It was him who ordered the late Gothic styled upgrading of the stronghold. In 1506 Ulrich von Weisspriach, who also was Lord of Kobersdorf, became fief-holder in Landsee. His possessions were located around Ödenburg (Sopron) which constantly led to conflicts. In the following "Landsee-feud," his widow hired several groups of mercenaries, including the bandit leader Franz Magutsch, to harass the city. Finally the bandits were caught and Gertrud von Weisspriach died in jail in 1523. In 1548 her son Hans handed Landsee to his brother-in-law, the imperial councillor and Gespan Erasmus Teufel. But Teufel was caught and executed in Istanbul by the Turkish and the archbishop of Gran (Esztergom), Nikolaus Oláh, bought the dominion of Landsee. In 1561 he handed it over to his nephew Nikolaus Császár, whose son-in-law started the extension of the castle to a mighty fortress shortly before 1600. When his daughter Ursula married Nikolaus Esterházy in 1612, Landsee became the possession of the family, still owning it today. The castle was further extended according to the advanced war engineering of the time. During the wars against the Turkish, it was used as a sanctuary for the people and as an arsenal for the Esterházy's troops but it had never been seriously besieged. In 1707, some of the buildings had been severely damaged by a blaze and a gunpowder explosion. After the Turkish have been driven out of Central Europe through the victories of Prince Eugen, Landsee lost its military significance. The arms and other military equipment were brought to Forchtenstein. In 1772 and 1790 there was another blaze and the administration of the dominion was moved to Lackenbach; the complex was abandoned. The surrounding population used its walls as a welcome stone quarry for building their houses. In 1950 renovation was started by a local beautification society. The final restoration of the stronghold was accomplished in the course of an EU project in 1998. Over the past years, theatrics had been organized in the castle's bailey. Landsee is one of the biggest castle ruins in Europe. It lies on a dominant location above the Stooberbach valley. The actual stronghold is surrounded by four circular fortification walls. The outer wall is 1700 meters long and fortified by ten small bastions. For the protection of the first gate, which states the date of 1668, serves a two-story bastion containing a guardroom. Crossing a bridge lying on piles you reach the second gate above which there is a broad machicoulis. Originally, a drawbridge used to be in front of it. The gate structure reaches far into the moat, so that it was possible to take the second defensive wall (a high earth wall bearing a palisade) under fire from there. This wall was erected around 1600 to protect the third wall from direct artillery fire. Its gate is protected by a tower and guardroom as well. The following approximately 20 meters-broad moat is spanned by another wooden bridge. In front of the next gate was a counterpoise bridge. It was decorated by the coat of arms of the Weisspriach family. Now you get into the extensive outer bailey. Its left side is bordered by a mighty frontal wall, while on the right lie the ruins of several farm buildings and barracks. Their external walls are provided with embrasures, so that they can be used for defense as well. At the end of the bailey a stair tower leads to a higher seated inner bailey, where the accommodations and kitchens were. A beautiful Renaissance gate finally leads to the actual living quarters. Here, around a triangular bailey, were representative rooms equipped by Pietro Antonio Conti in the 17th century. Through a Gothic tower heightened in the baroque period you get into the medieval part of the castle which mainly dates from the late 15th century. From a small bailey and via wooden corridors and stairways you could once get into the several rooms. Still today they show relics of Gothic door and window carpeting, fireplaces and arches. The Romanic donjon forms the core of the stronghold and was built on the highest point of the quartzite rock. Later its mainly attacked side in the West was fortified and reached its today's wall thickness of more than 10 meters. The tower is crowned by a characteristic wall arch, the relic of a former cupola. Visitation from the beginning of April to the end of October, daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or until nightfall. Guided tours on appointment, for information and registration contact: Elisabeth Schütz Hauptstraße 88 A-7341 Landsee Phone: +43 2618 / 7306 Mobile: + 43 664 / 798 13 16 Homepage in German: http://www.landseeaktiv.at/burgruine/ruine/ruine.htm 3) RAILROAD QUESTION Jack Fritz asks: Hannes: Since you are a railroad man, I have a question for you. I have been having email discussions with fellow BB member Mary Kamper Sheridan in Chicago as to how our ancestors got from Neumarkt imT to the ports of Hamburg, Bremen, & Antwerp. Mary is my distant double cousin through two sets of ggg..grandparents in Neumarkt. Our grandparents emigrated to Chicago in 1902, 1903 & 1905. My great great grandmother Agnes Zartler wrote a letter in 1907 to my grandmother which mentions my grandmother's cousin coming from NiT to visit them in Kanak, Hungary, near the present-day border with Serbia and Romania. The letter does not specifically say that he traveled by train but he was blind and needed to be escorted by soldiers, so my thought is that he did go by train. My 1897 map of that part of Hungary shows a rail line going right next to Kanak, so I am thinking that he boarded a train somewhere near NiT and got all the way to Kanak by rail. So, the question is, could our grandparents have gotten to the three ports from NiT by rail? What is your best guess? Reply: Good question, because in 1902, not all of the current railroads near Burgenland existed. But normally, as I know from other members, they ALL went by train to Northern Germany. From NiT next station was Grosspetersdorf / Nagyszentmihaly, about 3-4 miles. Then to Szombathely, the greater station, to Györ and Vienna, at last from Vienna to Hamburg or other ports. The ride from NiT to Konak also from Szombathely to Belgrad and the line nearby to Konak. 4) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) Alfred Steiner (Nov. 12, 1924 - Aug. 25, 2009) Alfred Steiner, 84, of Whitehall, died Tuesday, August 25, 2009 in St. Lukes Hospital, Fountain Hill. Born in Neusiedl bei Güssing, Burgenland, Austria, he was a son of the late Franz and Magdalena Steiner. Alfred was the husband of the late Rosa (Trinkl) Steiner. Alfred worked for many years as a tailor in management positions for various clothing companies around the Lehigh Valley before his retirement. Survivors: Daughter, Heidelinde Predix of Chesapeake, Va.; son, Manfred and his wife, Vicki Steiner, of Walnutport; sisters, Elli Flakus and Wilma Pratter, both of Graz, Austria; grandchildren, Rachel and Raymond Predix, Melissa Marerro and Nicholas, Kate and Cory Steiner; great-grandchildren, Tristen and Kingsten Marerro. He was preceded in death by four brothers. Newsletter continues as number 190B.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 190B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY August 31, 2009 (c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved The third section of this 3-section newsletter includes: 1) HOME ON THE FARM IN DANIELSVILLE (from Anna Tanczos Kresh) 2) HUNGARIAN CENSUS OF 1828: (by Bob Unger) 1) HOME ON THE FARM IN DANIELSVILLE (from Anna Tanczos Kresh) During our attendance at the Stiftungsfest in June, a copy of a Morning Call newspaper article about the dismantling and moving of a home (see below) was given to me by Frank Tantsits of Northampton. It prompted this submission about the immigrations of my uncle Louis and father Ignatz Tanczos. Louis Tanzos (1879-) and Ignatz Tanczos (1890-1968), father of BB Internet/URL Editor Anna Tanczos Kresh were sons of ~ John Tanczos (1844-1899) of Kroatisch Tschantschendorf (Horvatcsencs), Burgenland, parents of John Tanczos were Josef Tanczos and Juliana Keglovics´ ~ and Anna Pani (1848-?) of Nr. 62 Tobaibergen, Burgenland, parents of Anna Pani were Sebastian Pani and Juliana Keglovics. Two great-grandmothers with the same name? This is not an error. The first Juliana was the dau. of Imre and Katalin Keglovics of Rehgraben. The second was the dau. of Matyas and Katalin Keglovics, also of Rehgraben. Louis Tanzos emigrated to Northampton, PA in 1904 and married Mary Keglovits (1885-1971) in about 1909. Mary Keglovits was the dau. of Alois Keglovits of K.T. Louis and Mary bought a farm in Danielsville (Delps), PA, where they raised children - Mary (m. Alois Puskaritz), Louis, and Frank. Louis' younger brother Ignatz Tanczos (my father) emigrated to Northampton, PA in 1906 and married Mary Schuch (1893-1964) of Kroatisch Ehrensdorf in 1912. Mary Schuch was the dau. of Ignatz Schuch of Punitz. As their family grew Ignatz also bought a farm in Danielsville, about one mile from the farm of his brother Louis. The latter move was in 1921, the same year their German West Hungary homeland became Burgenland. It is where I was born. Almost all of our neighbors were Pennsylvania Dutch with very few immigrants in the area. Other Tanczos siblings were the eldest son John (1871-1950 - m. Anna Miksits 1879-1946 of Hasendorf); Joseph (1876-?); Francis (1875-?); Theresa (1876-?, m. Francis Jandrisevits 1868-? of K.T.); Agnes (1882-?); Magdalena (1884-1884); Mary (1886-1954, m. Frank Malits 1880-1958 of Hasendorf - emigrated to Northampton, PA); Gustav (1889-1889); Eleanor (1893-); two stepsisters Maria Jandrisevits (1866-) and Anna Jandrisevits Tanczos (1868-, m. Joseph Klucsarits 1868-) who were the daughters born during Anna Pani's first marriage to Paul Jandrisevits c. 1834-1869 of K.T. WHY THE SURNAME CHANGE? Louis' surname was changed from Tanczos to Tanzos (dropping the "c") somewhere around the time Louis moved from Northampton, PA to the farm in Danielsville, PA, more commonly known locally as Delps. One explanation given for the name change was to facilitate receipt of their US Mail. Both his (L. Tanczos) and his brother's (I. Tanczos) mailing addresses were R.D.#1, Danielsville, PA and my father said that mail was constantly being misdelivered to the wrong brother, creating several days' delay, so Louis dropped the "c". CENSUS ERRORS: The 1910 U.S. Census in Northampton was taken by an enumerator named Llewellyn Greenawalt (Welsh in origin), apparently one of the local Pennsylvania Dutch residents who was not at all familiar with Austro-Hungarian names, thus the census forms contained a great number of misspellings. This was exacerbated by the fact that the woman of the house, probably speaking Croatian, pronounced the names of the occupants "her way". Uncle Louis and Aunt Mary (Keglovits) Tanczos (spelled Dansuch on the census) were residing at 1394 Newport Ave. in Northampton, boarders of John Helevitz (Keglevits?). At the same time my father Ignatz Tanczos (spelled Stansitch on the census) was living at 1336 Delong's Court, a boarder of Paul Dragovitch. These spelling errors made genealogical research a bit daunting and necessitated a line-by-line search. Soundex was of no help and in all my years of visiting Northampton and attending Northampton High School, I never even heard of DeLong's Court. It is interesting that my father's language was listed as Croatian in 1910 and German in 1920, probably due to the Hianzn dialect of the numerous Burgenlaenders in Northampton. On Sundays in the summer, our farm in Danielsville was the site of many wonderful gatherings of Burgenlaenders, who visited us in large numbers from the "city". I'm not sure if it was for my mother's great cooking and baking or my father's wine from the ever-present barrel in the spring located in the cellar of our farmhouse. The old home no longer exists, giving way to the beautiful stone country home my brother built in its place on Delps Road, long after our parents' passing. The former dirt road was paved the week Before Rudy and I were married, the barriers being removed the morning of the wedding, and it now has a name of its own. After the passing of my brother Edward Tanczos, his home was purchased by a New York City attorney, whose commute was greatly improved by the building of the Interstate highway. But although the old homestead is gone, Edward's son Dan retained a good portion of the farm on which he also built a beautiful stone country home, the site of the reunion of the Tanczos clan when in 2006 we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the emigration of Ignatz and Mary Schuch Tanczos. It was fitting that the celebration took place in the field where Ignatz (and we, his children) labored growing the corn and potatoes that provided for the family. We are eternally grateful for the opportunities that my father, and his brother before him, provided us with their courageous emigration from their homeland. The home of Uncle Louis and Aunt Mary also no longer remains in Delps, but its departure is quite another story . . . TANZOS HOME MOVES TO TEXAS: (the following article was published in The Morning Call, Allentown, PA Sunday, June 28, 2009) 1760s home will be resettled in San Antonio The wooden cabin will be taken apart in Danielsville, put back together in Texas. DANIELSVILLE -- After nearly 250 years in Danielsville, a 1760s vintage settler's house, among the earliest in northeastern Pennsylvania, is getting ready for a nearly 2,000-mile trip to be reassembled on a bow hunting ranch outside of San Antonio. A crew, led by Rich Williams of Williams Woodworking of Danielsville, has been tagging and disassembling the modified log structure that had been unoccupied since 1971. The roof had leaked and the supporting wood rotted to an unsafe condition. "We found a buyer," Williams said. "He owns Quatro B Ranch near San Antonio, Texas. After we finish taking this down in a couple days, my right hand man, Charlie Applegate, and I will build two timber frame additions off the side a porch, a bedroom with a bathroom, and an interior center staircase, and then load it on a truck and take it to the ranch. The settler's house was sold to Williams by Jerome and Helen Tanzos Bartholomew. Helen was the granddaughter of Louis and Mary Tanzos. The last residents of the house were Mary and her son, Louis (Helen's uncle). The original settler's house was a story and a half. "They raised the roof, added a second story, and porch." said Williams, "probably in the 1890s." The house was later wired for electricity but indoor plumbing was never installed. Water was provided by a pump outside the house and an outhouse was used until the house was abandoned in 1971. What Williams didn't know when he started the project was that he is strangely linked to the house. He is engaged to Laurel Haldeman, who was surprised to discover recently that relatives of hers had lived in the house before the Tanzos, in the late 1800s. (AP) --------------------------------------- The above was excerpted from an Associated Press (AP) article previously published in the Daily Times, Delaware County, PA on Sunday, June 21, 2009: 1760s northeastern Pa. home readying for move to Texas - http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/06/21/life/doc4a3df893dd58b689228866.txt and in the Philadelphia (PA) Examiner on the same date http://www.examiner.com/a-2079379~1760s_northeastern_Pa__readying_for_move_to_Texas.html --------------------------------------- Here is an old picture (c. 1940) of the Louis Tanzos homestead - the house that moved. http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/Newsletter/Newsletter190.htm The persons in the photo are Joseph Richter Sr., Mary Keglovits Tanzos (wife of Louis), Walter Hulsen, Mary Richter Hulsen, Joseph Hulsen, Walter "Sonny" Hulsen. A gathering of Burgenlaenders at the Ignatz Tanczos farm on a Sunday afternoon (c. 1937). http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/Newsletter/Newsletter190.htm Shown here are Louis Tanzos, Ignatz Tanczos, John Tanzos Sr., Eddie Miksits. This was a time when you wore your Sunday Best when visiting - notice the white shirts and ties. http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/Newsletter/Newsletter190.htm My father, Ignatz Tanczos, is holding a five-year-old me (in hat). Ah, those were the times! HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES Editor (Tom Steichen): This is part of our monthly series designed to recycle interesting articles from the BB Newsletters of 10 years ago. This time we recycle an August 1999 Newsletter article contributed by BB member Bob Unger that explains important information about the 1828 Hungarian census. Enjoy! THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS No.62B AUGUST 15, 1999 2) HUNGARIAN CENSUS OF 1828: (by Bob Unger) The Hungarian census of 1828 is an excellent snapshot in time, which proves not only the existence of a family at a particular period, but also gives information about assets and other items of genealogical value. Information about this census has been reported previously in Burgenland Bunch newsletters #2 and #54. However, recent developments warrant an update. The Hungarian Census of 1828 includes eight rolls of LDS microfilm (nos. 0623007-0623014; see the LDS catalog under Hungary, Vas County, Census) for Vas Megye (county) and covers 615 towns, villages or pusztas (manorial work stations). The place names are listed in an alphabetic sequence by Hungarian name (occasionally a German or Croatian name) with each assigned a number. You must know the Hungarian name (pre 1921) of your village. Use the index to locate each village's number and fast forward the film to that number. The header page shows the following with the village name and number hand written: "UNGARISCHES STAATSARCHIVE, ARCHIVUM PALATINALE, LANDSKONSKRIPTION 1828, HUNGARIA, COMITATUS CASTRIFERRIE." Vas Megye (county) derived from the Latin "comitatus (county) Castriferrei". While doing research for this article I once again was awe struck by how fortunate we are that Gerry Berghold had the inspiration to form the Burgenland Bunch (BB), and to have so many dedicated volunteers who contribute to its growing success. So I think it appropriate to report first on how the BB helped with this effort. First it made me aware that the Hungarian census of 1828 existed and that it contained information that would reveal significant details about the lives and time of my Unger ancestors. Next, by saving each BB newsletter on my computer hard drive, I had an easy search of all that had been reported by the BB on that specific topic. The search revealed sufficient details so that I was able to go directly to sources naming persons who had previously researched that census, namely Mrs. Martha Conner, residing at 7754 Pacemont Ct., Las Vegas, NV 89147-5122. I subsequently corresponded with Mrs. Conner, gaining more insight into this very dedicated person who freely shares the results of her genealogical efforts with others. She is also a very humble person. BB newsletters #2, and 54 stated that she was the expert concerning the Hungarian census of 1828. To this accolade she wrote: "Please set this thought straight -- I am not an expert on the 1828 Hungarian Land Census. I am a plodding housewife -- no expert or genius. The books were needed -- no one had time to do it -- it challenged me-- the spelling of the names are not perfect but as I read them -- anyone can do this. A HOBBY that stimulates the brain cells to making them work instead of being lazy!!! It is also fun to help others." Mrs. Conner has so far translated 13 counties: 1. Bacchus Bodrog; 2. Baranya; 3. Torontl; 4 Tolna; 5. Temes; 6. Fejr; 7. Szatmar; 8. Komrom; 9. Gyor; 10. Moson; 11. Szerm; 12. Krass, and 14. Arad. While Vas County is not yet translated, she has had the Latin census headings translated by a professional service bureau. The translated counties' census records are available (1999) for $25 per county plus $3.00 for handling and postage for census books numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11. Books number 3 and 5 are $35.00 + $3.00 for handling and postage; books number 8, 9 and 10 are available for a total cost of $25.00, and book numbers 12 & 14 are available for $30.00 + $3.00 for handling and postage. In addition, Mrs. Connor offers a book of cities, book # 13, containing all the cities named in the 1828 Hungarian Land Census microfilms of the LDS Library - 52 counties, available for the total cost of $15.00. (In a recent letter from Mrs. Conner, she commented that she really worked hard on book #13, and now considers it one of her best books.) Book # 15, Csanad, Csongrad, & Bekes (made into one book) will be ready late in 1999. Each of the books contains only the extraction of names from this census record and no other information. It is important to add that the books do not relate the old Hungarian village names to their subsequent and currently used names. I asked Mrs. Connor about her plans for doing a book on the Vas County 1828 Hungarian Land Census. She responded by saying that she has already started her next book, which will be on Maramaros and Ugocsa counties. Hopefully, because of the Burgenland Bunch's interest in Vas County, she will put it high on her priority list. She stated that her ultimate goal is to donate her books to the LDS Library in Salt Lake and thereby have them on microfilm so that everyone can read them anywhere. Mrs. Connor and her husband create these books as a retirement hobby, wishing to help as many people as possible. She jokingly adds: "So glad to be doing this instead of spending time at the casinos or watching TV. We are 73 years old and think that this keeps us out of mischief plus being productive." Thus, it is not considered a big business. They make 15 copies at a time to replenish their stock and the cost essentially reflects charges for photocopying. She said that she makes the books from beginning to end with help from her husband, Bob, on the computer. The members of the Burgenland Bunch, wish to thank Mrs. Connor for her great contribution in helping others with their individual genealogical research. It is truly through such efforts that we can now better understand and appreciate our ancestors. CENSUS HEADINGS Used with Mrs. Connor's permission, the following are translated Latin to English column headings for the 1828 Hungarian Land Census. No. 1 Names of providers of information No. 2 Providers of information of either sex that are married or unmarried but deemed to be married through the decree of 18?0 up to the age of 60 years, inclusive. No. 3 These include: Professionals, Citizens, Farmers, Tenants, Subtenants, Brothers, Sons, Daughters, Slaves, Servants, Workers, Merchants, Magistrates No. 4 Houses in which the census is taken No. 5 Urban lands, Urban fields, Market price of fields No. 6 Grain production; Which contributors farm the land and hold it under civil law; Profit attained by the contributors, assuming one harvest. How many harvests after one planting? What is the normal price of one planting? No. 7 Meadows; Meadows, held under civil law. Harvest; Profit attained by the contributors, assuming a single planting No. 8 Vines; Amount of harvest; Profit attained. Assuming one grape harvest; Pickers required; Average number of urns per picker; Average current price obtained per picker No. 9 Apple and plum orchards; Harvest; Attained profit, assuming one single extended harvest No. 10 Large domestic animals: Oxen; Heifer and milk cows; Sterile cows; Steers and cows, over 3 years old; Steers and cows, over 2 years old; Draft and riding horses, over 3 years old; Draft and riding horses, over 2 years old No. 11 Small domestic animals; Sheep one year old and above; Swine one year old and above; Goats one year old and above No. 12 Forest; Which occupy arable land; Weight of annual nut yield and amount of lumber No. 13 Signature No. 14 Notes Translator's Note: We cannot guarantee the accuracy of this translation for the following reasons: 1. This copy was typed in Latin from the original, and there are several typographical errors and misspellings. 2.We do not know the origin of the Latin document. The Latin language differed from country to country; in Italy, Latin was different from that used in Germany and other places. However, we have translated the document to the best of our ability and hope you are satisfied. (end of census headings) With the help of Mrs. Connor's 1828 Hungarian Census heading translations I was able to uncover the following information about Rudersdorf, the village of my Unger ancestors, , which is now part of the Bezirk/District of Jennersdorf, Burgenland, Austria - formerly Vas County, Hungary. I share this information as a means of showing the type of information that can be uncovered about your ancestor's village with a little effort on your part, and thereby gain better insight into their conditions during that period of time. The following is a 1828 snapshot of Rudersdorf, Austria. It documents that the village had 336 individuals recorded as married or unmarried but deemed to be married through a decree, and that there were 7 separate Unger families residing in Rudersdorf in 1828; Household # # Married Occupation Land Meadows Oxen Cows Horses (Not house #) Persons area (?) #29 Janos Unger 3 Farmer 12 3 2 1 0 #52 Janos Unger 4 Farmer 12 3 2 1 0 #53 Milhaly Unger 3 Farmer 12 3 0 0 2 #62 Adam Unger 3 Farmer 12 3 0 1 2 #80 Milhaly Unger 2 Tenant 0 0 0 0 0 #83 Janos Unger 4 Tenant 0 0 0 0 0 #109 Janos H. Unger 1 Tenant 0 0 0 0 0 (ED. Note: given the proclivity of naming sons after the father, I'd suggest (guess) #80, 83 & 109 were sons of #53, 29 & 52, working as married tenants on someone else's property until such time as they inherited) Unfortunately the census does not list the ages of the individuals, nor their house numbers. Thus, since there were four different Jnos Unger families listed, there is no way of knowing how any of them fit into our Unger family tree. But, we know for certain that there were 7 separate Unger families in Rudersdorf in 1828. A summary of other information about 1828 Rudersdorf follows: Number of married individuals 336 Number of houses 114 Number of farmers 74 Number of tenants 40 Number of subtenants 3 Number of brothers 5 Number of sons 43 Number of daughters 24 Number of slaves (?) 16 Number of servants 18 Number of workers 3 Number of merchants 0 Number of magistrates 1 Number of oxen 104 Number of milk cows 89 Number of sterile cows 26 Number of steers and cows over 2 yr 19 Number of horses over 3 years 50 Number of pigs 85 From the above it appears that Rudersdorf, one of 613 villages or cities in Vas county in 1828, had a very orderly structure. It indicated that everyone apparently shared the same living standards, because each family unit had essentially the same assets. As is the case with most genealogical research results, the answer to one question often prompts other questions. Thus I offer the following questions for BB members to ponder. 1. What person or government agency created the structure for the villages of Vas County? 2. With very few exceptions, it appears that each family unit was allocated the same amount of land. How was this administered? Was it a first come and claim process, as was the case during the free land rush here in the USA, or were specific areas first mapped and then allocated to specific family units? 3. Who were the administrators of the village? How were they selected? Anna Kresh noted that the article in BB newsletter #60 entitled 1839 Hungarian Tax Records did make any reference to house numbers and asked why. Neither the 1828 Hungarian Land Census or the 1839 Hungarian tax record for VAS County makes any reference to house numbers. Based on my research thus far, it appears that the use of house numbers first appeared in 1844 records. I subsequently learned that the house numbers were originally assigned in sequence as each new house was built. Years later the houses were re-numbered, using a numbering sequence according to the house location on a specific street, much like that currently done in the USA. During recent visits to Rudersdorf I found that many old houses display both the old and the new house numbers. It is interesting that in the left hand edge of the 1839 Hungarian tax records, each entry was numbered in sequence, starting with 1 and, in the case of Rudersdorf, continued through entry 152. I compared those entry numbers with those found on the 1828 Hungarian Census records and found the same reference numbers being used. There were 7 Ungers listed in the 1828 census and 9 listed in the 1839 tax records. However, most of the numbers matched, i.e. entry # 29 was for Janos Unger in the 1828 Census, and entry # 29 was also for Janos Unger in the 1839 tax record. Thus it appears that each family was assigned a specific reference number. Possibly they used that referencing system, then later starting using house numbers in 1844, where I first found them in church records. END OF NEWSLETTER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTICE (Terms and Conditions): The Burgenland Bunch (BB) was formed and exists to assist Burgenland descendants in their research into their heritage and, toward that end, reserves the right to use any communication you have with us (email, letter, phone conversation, etc.) as part of our information exchange and educational research efforts. • If you do not want your communication to be used for this purpose, indicate that it is "confidential" and we will abide by that request. • Correspondents who communicate with the BB without requesting confidentiality retain their copyright but give a non-exclusive license to the BB allowing us to forward to BB members, publish in our monthly newsletter or on our website, and/or subsequently and permanently archive all or parts of such communications. 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