BB News No. 191 dtd 30 Sep 2009

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 191 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY September 30, 2009 (c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved Our 13th Year, Editor: Johannes Graf and Copy Editor Maureen Tighe-Brown. This issue Copy Editor: Emmerich Koller. 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.burgenland-bunch.org Current Status Of The BB: * Members: 1748 * Surname Entries: 5597 * Query Board Entries: 4202 * Newsletters Archived: 190 * 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.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) HOMEPAGE NEWS 2) BURGENLAND BUNCH OF MISSOURI - FIRST MEETING (by Linda Pehr) 3) BURGENLAND BUNCH OF MINNESOTA - NEXT MEETING (by Charlie Deutsch) 4) BURGENLAND TRADITIONS THRIVE IN CONNECTICUT (by Frank Paukowits) 5) THE BURGENLÄNDER CURRENTLY LIVING IN PASSAIC, NJ AND VICINITY (by Rudy Wolf) 6) ANTIQUE INDUSTRIAL AREA IN BURGENLAND 7) OBERWART DISTRICT LDS FILMS (by Ed & Frank Tantsits) 8) BB-MEMBER OBITUARY 1) HOMEPAGE NEWS Statistics: The popularity of our Homepage is growing month by month. In August 2009, we had a record 11,000 plus visits with a daily average of 366. Village Pictures: There is a new village included at the Village Pictures Page: Schandorf http://www.burgenland-bunch.org/VP/VP.htm 2) BURGENLAND BUNCH OF MISSOURI - FIRST MEETING (by Linda Pehr) The first meeting of the Burgenland Bunch of Missouri was held at the home of member Ron Markland on September 10, 2009. There were 20 folks in attendance, some of whom were not direct Burgenland descendants. The meeting opened with a surprise telephone call from Hannes Graf in Vienna. Realizing it was 2:15 am in Austria, the unexpected greeting was greatly appreciated by all. It was determined that there was sufficient interest to continue to meet on a bi-monthly basis, with the next gathering set for Thursday, November 12, again at the home of Ron Markland. Subsequent meetings will be held at the homes of other members, with a tentative schedule to be determined in November. The group discussed several topics, including how their Burgenland Bunch membership evolved, genealogical research sources for this area, and causes of Burgenland emigration. Others shared visits they had made to the “home” country. Members were asked to identify any specific groups and/or resources that have been helpful to them in their genealogical research such as Hungarian church records, translators etc., and to be prepared to share them at the next meeting. Several in attendance were interested in learning more about how to access LDS records from Burgenland. Linda Pehr (a Burgenlander by marriage) “volunteered” to be responsible for the minutes. Members will receive copies of the minutes as well as a reminder email about the next scheduled meeting. A mission statement was developed: The Burgenland Bunch of Missouri membership is determined to gain more knowledge of their common heritage. This will be accomplished through sharing research sources, contributing family stories and photos, and exchanging information about the history and culture of Burgenland. The ultimate goal is to develop a website devoted to the group that can be used for sharing information, photographs and other pertinent material. 3) BURGENLAND BUNCH OF MINNESOTA - NEXT MEETING (by Charlie Deutsch) Our next meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, October 11, 2009, at the Germanic-American Institute, 301 Summit Avenue in St. Paul, 1 PM to 4:30 PM. 4) BURGENLAND TRADITIONS THRIVE IN CONNECTICUT (by Frank Paukowits) On September 18 and 19 (Friday and Saturday), I went to New Britain with Margaret Kaiser and visited the Austrian Donau Society to launch our project of developing a separate module for Connecticut on the BH&R website. Early in the day on Friday, we visited St. Mary’s Cemetery where many of the Catholic Burgenland immigrants are buried. The Cemetery is well kept and in a nice area of New Britain. The day was beautiful and many gravesites of Burgenlaenders were found. That night Margaret and I, along with my wife Elsie, were the honored guests of the Austrian Donau Club at its Heurigan evening festivities. A number of BB members from outside the area were in attendance, including Ed Ifkovits, Terry Blank (Unger) and Geoge Tebolt, who came down from Massachusetts. The current president of the Club, Dennis Kern, was a most gracious host and welcomed the visiting BB members to the Club. The Schachtelgebirger Musikanten performed at the Heurigan festivities and there was a delicious meal for the people who were there. People didn’t want to leave. The combo was terrific and they played great Austrian and German music. The function lasted well into the night. Late in the evening, Ed Ifkovits picked up a buttonbox accordion and played a few tunes for the guests who enjoyed his repertoire of old Burgenland songs. The Club has been in existence since 1920 and is still thriving. It started as a singing club and then a sick and death benefit society was formed. Many of the immigrants who came to the New Britain area came from the Jennersdorf Bezirk. Most migrated during the period from the 1890’s through the 1920’s. The people who came were industrious and worked in the many factories in the area, or were local shopkeepers. They lived alongside one another in the Arch Street section of downtown New Britain. Religion was an important part of their lives. St. Peter’s was the church the Catholics attended, and St John Lutheran Church was the adopted church of many of the Protestants, of which there were a significant number in the Jennersdorf Bezirk. On Saturday we visited the Fairview Cemetery where many of the Protestant Burgenlaenders are buried. This too is a very nice cemetery, and again the weather was beautiful for going around the grounds of the cemetery. Later in the morning we returned to the Club for a workshop to describe our project and provide general information on the BB. The people who attended the workshop were enthusiastic about what we wanted to do and are committed to working with us to create a “Wall of Honor” to commemorate the many Burgenland immigrants who came to the area. A plan of action was developed and activities will be coordinated through Dennis and Frank. The goal is to have a module up and running by the end of the year, or early next year. 5) THE BURGENLÄNDER CURRENTLY LIVING IN PASSAIC, NJ, AND VICINITY (by Rudy Wolf) The remaining aging Burgenländer population in this area has shrunk considerably. There are no longer any new immigrants coming to the U.S. from the homeland. The new generation also prefers suburban living over city life in the Passaic/Clifton area in New Jersey. Ethnically blended marriages have also merged this generation into the American melting pot. The one mainstay through all these changes has been the Church of the Holy Trinity in Passaic. It still remains the focal point of the local Burgenländer community and tenaciously hangs on to ethnic traditions. Other Germanic Roman Catholic groups have also experienced similar shrinking of their local population, namely: the Donauschwaben who immigrated from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire from the countries of Hungary, the former Yugoslavian states and Romania. Through this merging of common interests, the German community at the Church of the Holy Trinity had gained strength in numbers and continued to maintain its traditions for the last hundred years. Despite all these efforts to maintain this German community, as a means of survival, in recent times the Church has been forced to reach out and take on the new wave of immigrants to the area from Mexico. At one time this area had been predominantly German-speaking. The Church of the Holy Trinity does, however, still remain the center of the Burgenländer community in Northern New Jersey. The current parish priest is Father Antonio Rodriguez, a Cuban national. He attended the Seminary in Paderborn, Germany. He lived in Germany for ten years prior to arriving in the U.S. He has over the last few years become a perfect match for this parish. He conducts the first Mass on Sunday mornings in English, followed by the 10:00 AM Mass in German and the 12:00 noon Mass in Spanish. Additional church functions conducted in German are: the Sunday afternoon Stations of the Cross (Kreuzweg) during Lent; as well as The Rosary (Rosenkranzandacht) during the months of May and October. To date the only original all-Burgenländer organization still existing in New Jersey is the Burgenländer Benefit Society, consisting of 41 members. Edmund Trautmann (aus Glasing bei Güssing) is President. They sponsor an annual dinner dance. The Church Choir - A good percentage of Burgenländer from the area are active participants. They sing every Sunday at the German Mass. Classic German Christmas songs are performed by the choir prior to midnight mass annually. They also sing at funeral masses if German is requested. A Picnic - It takes place annually at the end of August on the Church grounds. Home cooked goulash, all sorts of sausages and salads as well as homemade desserts are prepared by the ladies of the parish. A band is provided with traditional music for dancing. The Kolping Society - Gisela Hirmann aus Gamischdorf is President. They sponsor an annual “Faschingfest” celebrated on the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday. The Austrian Weinfest - The initial idea came from Father Paul Kurz of Prostrum. He was one of the parish priests at the time. The rest of the parish embraced the idea and a tradition was born. This year will be the 38th annual celebration at Holy Trinity Church on November 28, 2009. Chairperson is Gisela Hirmann of Gamischdorf. 6) ANTIQUE INDUSTRIAL AREA IN BURGENLAND Archaeologists made a spectacular discovery in the vicinity of the Burgenland village of Strebersdorf. They found three Roman military camps, which were once located in the centre of an ancient industrial area. From the height of 30 meters on a fire ladder, one has the best view. But what is there in a field near Strebersdorf in Burgenland to be admired from such a bird's eye view? A spectacular find from the Roman period. For the first time after almost 2000 years, sticks in the ground show the course of the ancient Amber Road and the dimensions of the fortifications. Researchers of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) discovered during the international Amber Road project in Strebersdorf / municipality of Lutzmannsburg three military camps of more than two hectares (ca. 5 acres or 20,000 square meters). The camps and the nearby settlement lie directly on the most-important trade route of the Roman times. The excavation was preceded by investigations using ground penetrating radar and geomagnetics. With these modern scientific methods, it is possible to see up to three meters under the earth in a non-destructive way i.e. without a need for digging. In this way, the archaeologists systematically examined a 21-hectare site, and this year were able to verify three overlapping military camps following the discovery of the settlement the year before. The fortifications at that time were built of wooden posts, thus of perishable material. However, their former existence can be proven by means of geophysics. The numerous coins, parts of horse harnesses, parts of shortswords (gladius) and segmented armours (lorica segmentata) are real though and can be viewed. About 80 artefacts were recovered literally at the last minute, as the excavation was closed the following week. "With the finds from the site, we can prove that the first of the three military camps was built at the beginning of the 1st century AD, during the time of Emperor Augustus," says excavation director Stefan Groh. “That means that Strebersdorf’s first military camp is currently the oldest fortification of a cavalry unit in eastern Austria.” According to the current state of research, at that time Carnuntum only had riparian forests. The three tasks of the military: The first item found in the dig was part of a horse-gear, which proves the existence of a cavalry unit there and hence the importance of the place since cavalry units were the elite troops of the Romans. The military camp performed three tasks: first, the deployed troops secured the trade route; second, they kept the province under control; third, the military controlled the mining of natural resources. "Central Burgenland was then an industrial area with rich bog ore deposits. It was virtually the Ruhrpott of the province," said excavation director Groh. With geophysical research methods one can prove the existence of blast furnaces everywhere on the site. So under the supervision of the military, important iron was mined for the production of arms. The smelting furnaces demanded huge amounts of wood, which had a lasting impact on the ecology of that time. Despite the partial closure of the spectacular discovery in central Burgenland, the archaeologists of the ÖAI will continue digging and investigating intensely. It is important to secure as many finds as possible to answer the many unresolved questions about the military camps. 7) OBERWART DISTRICT LDS FILMS (by Ed & Frank Tantsits) Town/Village Film # Bernstein B-M 1828-1895 700654 Death 1828-1895 700655 B-M-D 1828-1895 700656 Deutsch Schützen B-M-D 1828-1895 700697 Dürnbach# B-M-D 1828-1888 700671 B-M-D 1888-1895 700672 Grafenschachen B-M-D 1828-1895 700648 Grosspetersdorf Birth 1895-1903 700406 Birth 1904-1920 700407 Marriage 1895-1920 700408 Death 1895-1920 700409 Birth 1828-1862 700690 Birth 1862-1895 700691 Marriage 1828-1895 700691 Death 1828-1895 700691 B-M-D 1845-1852 700692 B-M-D 1852-1855 700692 B-M-D 1856-1867 700692 B-M-D 1867-1877 700692 B-M-D 1878-1895 700692 Hannersdorf Birth 1895-1920 700523 Marriage 1895-1920 700524 Death 1895-1920 700525 Holzschlag B-M-D 1861-1895 700740 Jabing B-M-D 1852-1895 700749 Kemeten Birth 1895-1901 700313 Birth 1900-1904 700314 Birth 1905-1906 700315 Birth 1907-1920 700316 Marriage 1895-1906 700317 Marriage 1907-1920 700318 Death 1895-1903 700319 Death 1903-1920 700320 B-M-D 1828-1895 700750 Kirchfidisch B-M-D 1828-1872 700659 B-M-D 1872-1895 700660 Kitzladen B-M-D 1828-1895 700674 Litzelsdorf B-M-D 1828-1895 700685 Mariasdorf Birth 1895-1920 700371 Marriage 1895-1920 700372 Death 1895-1920 700373 B-M-D 1828-1895 700687 Markt Allhau Birth 1828-1895 700644 M-D 1891-1895 700644 Markt Neuhhodis Birth 1895-1906 700613 Birth 1907-1920 700614 Marriage 1895-1920 700615 Death 1895-1920 700616 Mischendorf Birth 1895-1902 700462 Birth 1903-1920 700463 Marriage 1895-1920 700464 Death 1895-1906 700465 Death 1907-1920 700466 B-M-D 1828-1895 700713 Neumarkt im Tauchental B-M-D 1828-1895 700661 Neustift an der Lafnitz Birth 1895-1906 700350 Birth 1907-1920 700351 Marriage 1895-1920 700352 Death 1895-1920 700353 Oberkohlstätten B-M-D 1828-1895 700668 Oberschützen Birth 1895-1906 700258 Birth 1907-1920 700259 Marriage 1895-1920 700260 Death 1895-1920 700261 B-M-D 1828-1872 700662 B-M-D 1873-1880 700663 B-M-D 1881-1895 700664 Oberwart Birth 1895-1902 700262 Birth 1903-1920 700263 Marriage 1895-1920 700264 Death 1895-1906 700265 Death 1907-1920 700266 B-M-D 1828-1895 700665 B-M-D 1828-1895 700666 B-M-D 1828-1895 700667 Pinkafeld Birth 1895-1920 700455 Marriage 1895-1920 700456 Death 1895-1920 700457 Birth 1895-1906 700458 Birth 1907-1920 700459 Marriage 1895-1920 700460 Death 1895-1920 700461 Birth 1828-1862 700707 B-M-D 1862-1895 700708 Death 1885-1895 700709 Birth 1828-1895 700710 Marriage 1828-1883 700711 Marriage 1883-1895 700711 Death 1828-1895 700711 Rechnitz Birth 1895-1902 700514 Birth 1903-1927 700515 Birth 1918-1920 700516 Marriage 1895-1899 700517 Marriage 1899-1920 700218 Death 1895-1903 700519 Death 1904-1920 700520 Birth 1828-1853 700721 Birth 1854-1895 700722 Marriage 1828-1895 700722 Death 1828-1877 700722 Death 1878-1895 700723 Birth 1828-1895 700724 Marriage 1828-1895 700724 Death 1828-1869 700724 Death 1870-1895 700725 B-M-D 1834-1895 700726 Rotenturm an der Pinka Birth 1895-1898 700630 Birth 1899-1903 700631 Birth 1904-1917 700632 Birth 1918-1920 700633 Marriage 1895-1920 700634 Marriage 1907-1920 700635 Death 1895-1902 700636 Death 1903-1920 700637 Birth 1828-1892 700751 Birth 1892-1895 700752 M-D 1828-1895 700752 Sankt Kathrein B-M-D 1828-1895 700714 Sankt Martin in der Wart B-M-D 1828-1895 700704 Schandorf B-M-D 1828-1895 700658 Siget in der Wart B-M-D 1828-1895 700705 Stadtschlaining Birth 1895-1903 700617 Birth 1904-1920 700618 Marriage 1895-1920 700619 Death 1895-1906 700620 Death 1907-1920 700621 B-M-D 1828-1895 700741 Birth 1828-1895 700742 Marriage 1828-1861 700742 Marriage 1861-1895 700743 Death 1828-1895 700743 B-M-D 1841-1895 700744 Unterschützen B-M-D 1863-1895 700646 Unterwart B-M-D 1828-1895 700647 Weiden bei Rechnitz B-M-D 1828-1895 700652 Wolfau B-M-D 1828-1895 700748 8) BB-MEMBER OBITUARY (by Kathy Bossert) Joseph H. Tanzos Joseph H. Skip Tanzos, 79, of Nazareth died August 10, 2009 in his home. He was the husband of Elsie (Yagerhofer) Tanzos. They celebrated 57 years of marriage on April 26. Skip was born November 1, 1929 in Wilson, Pa. Son of the late Joseph and Elizabeth (Lakatos) Tanzos. He worked at the former St. Regis paper Co., Nazareth, for 37 years retiring in 1984 as comptroller. He was a member of Holy Faith Catholic Church, Nazareth, where he was a formal C.C.D. Teacher. He was a life member of the Holy Family Sick and Relief Society. He coached little league baseball for 16 years. He was a former secretary of PALS. He was a former treasurer, secretary and auditor for Bushkill Township. He was a 1947 graduate of Nazareth High School. Skip was a loving family man who greatly enjoyed his children and grandchildren. Survivors: Wife Elsie; daughters, Kathleen wife of David Bossert, Bethlehem, Joanne wife of Stephen Solderitch, Wind Gap, Monica wife of Joaquim DaSilva, Hellertown, Marie wife of Scott Beil, Nazareth; sons, John and wife Sandy, Wind Gap, Mark and wife Patti Jeanne, Nazareth, Matthew and wife Jennifer, Nazareth, 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by sister, Mary Jane Tanzos. Newsletter continues as number 191A.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 191A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY September 30, 2009 (c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved The second section of this 3-section newsletter includes: 1) FAMILY-BAUER: 1-76 - MORE TO LOVE... (by Paul A. Bauer) 2) THE BARROWS OF SCHANDORF (courtesy by Ferdinand Mühlgaszner) 3) POPULATION DEVELOPMENT 1869 - 2009 Main Theme: Schandorf - Cemba - Csem 1) FAMILY-BAUER: 1-76 - MORE TO LOVE... (by Paul A. Bauer) Armed with only an obituary of my grandfather Michael (Mihaly) Bauer (1889-1961), and two birthday lists, one from my father of his 8 brothers and sisters, and the second from one of my father's sisters list of relatives in an Austrian village, I began the arduous task of tracking down and connecting with family members. It took some six years of on and off searching in my spare time to connect and then organize one of the biggest family reunions this family ever had, or would dream of having. Several reasons explain why I needed to discover my family and unite them. For personal needs, a lonely upbringing with no siblings, very few contacts with my father's brothers and sisters, and young childhood memories of my "great" grandfather Michael motivated me. For my own immediate family, my reasons were to provide them with a connection to their family for generations to come. How real is this? Could I really find ancestors and cousins in Europe? All hope relied on one piece of 1969 paper that I received from my distant mother sometime in the late 1980's. My mother, divorced since I was three, stayed in contact with my father's sister, Rita. In 1969 Rita went to visit family in a small village named Schandorf (Cszem; Cemba), located in the southern part of the Burgenland province of Austria, some 500 meters from the Hungarian border. I had heard some faint stories and family talk of my ethnic background and was very curious to find the truths and dispel myths. The most used tool in my bag was the Internet. I used the Internet extensively in searching as well as using investigative skills I acquired in my professional and business service. What I did was a simple search of white page browsing through Austrian white pages of names and addresses, matching them to names and addresses of people that were on a nearly 35 year old list. I could not believe the connection I found but had doubts that I would still be successful in confirming these names after such a long time past. I was very pessimistic that if I made the calls that they would not understand me or remember anything about cousins living in America. But I relied much on my experience I had living in West Berlin for four years and made the calls. Another tool that helped me a lot was during my Internet searches I found the Burgenland Bunch (BB) website and organization. I was amazed that this website and group was dedicated to just only Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History. This site was specific to the region of my ancestors. I felt very lucky. To do any serious research, I had to learn the environment and history of Burgenland. The BB group helped me understand the various transitions of the province and village names, and surnames associated with them. They even had an 1856 house list with my family's name in the village. Today I am still astounded that this site continues to grow and stay active due in part to the many family researches, individuals, and historians that keep it alive. The moment of truth was about to come after several weeks of setting up and organizing family branches on an easel with presentation paper of what little information I already had. I drew a wire diagram so I could visualize the relationships when I was calling. After conducting numerous searches on the Internet, I made the long-distance call to Europe and made my first contact with Emmerich Bencsics, at #95 Schandorf, Austria. This was the same address on my aunt's paper, and husband to my cousin Elizabeth Bauer, now both in their late 70's. I couldn't believe that they were at the same address. This is not so common in America where people are so mobile and fluid. We did not understand each other on the phone, but I mentioned in broken German, names that he was familiar with. Being frustrated and wanting to help, he put me on the phone with his wife Elizabeth who he hoped would understand me better. Elizabeth was not any more promising, but I understood her some and she told me that her daughter would be better to understand English and to call her. Her mane was Edith Mühlgaszner of Schandorf, married to Ferdinand also all living in Schandorf. After contacting Edith, who confirmed the relationships, she gave me a contact in Connecticut, USA: Pamela Eltrich, daughter of Apollonia Bauer Csencsics, now with the American name spelling; Zencey. Edith had some recent contact a few years ago with Pam and had an email address. Thus now I was armed with a solid contact in the United States. The surname Zencey in America is a new surname made up by one new immigrant from Schandorf with the name Csencsics. It was original, and there may be just a couple hundred. However for me the Zencey name was a familiar name in my hometown, Anchorage Alaska. There I was familiar with a Matthew Zencey. He was one of the opinion editors of our local newspaper, and he was familiar with me as a local politician. But before I was going to call the opinion editor of the newspaper, I needed to verify a potential relationship. That's when I called another Zencey in Connecticut, Susanne wife of Carl Zencey, brother to Matt. She confirmed Matt's relationship. The rest is history, summed up in Matt's editorial piece "Not So Distant." The Zencey's were all related to me from my grandfather's sister Agnes Bauer who married Karol Csencsics in Schandorf after returning from her first immigration to America in 1907 at the age of 16. Agnes and Karol, later Charles Zencey, produced several family branches on the east coast of America with one branch going to Alaska. In just a few of weeks of learning my new family members in Alaska, I found after talking to Pamela Bauer-Zencey-Elterich-Takasch at her home of in Trumbull, Connecticut, that I had more family members in Anchorage from my grandfather Michael's side from his first son Joseph, my Uncle. In the end, in the Last Frontier state of Alaska, I had 17 cousins in the same city. Thus began my quest to bring them in and meet them with what would begin with small reunions to the biggest to come.I was so excited of the new finds; I had to go meet them. I don't know what came over me, but I had the time, the opportunity and means to travel from Alaska to New York and Connecticut and meet new family members. Within the month, I was flying to New York. There, with my laptop and using a family database software, I laid out the family trees and went through the confusing task of explaining all the relationships that I found so far. Every chat gave me more clues, and more names of other family members. Interestingly, one of my first cousins had heard of me many decades ago, and last thought I was dead. I went to their homes with no agenda but to introduce myself and peak their curiosity about their family that they were not fully aware of. My genuineness and sincerity led to trust and eventually able form more reunions. One reunion had 11 members coming to Alaska on an invitation, my new cousins trusting me as a stranger coming into their lives. In 2005, the third reunion counted for about 25 members. Month after month, and after 3 years, new names were being added to the tree. However, I felt that if we did not make a connection to Europe, we would not fulfill the completion of the family tree, and bind an important element to the root, because there in Schandorf, Austria, is where it all began. Most astounding to this is that I was beginning to feel that the Bauer's and all other surnames that followed from this tree had a very unique circumstance. Schandorf, Austria, today a village of 300 was still the home for all of us. The seeds of many American families can actually trace their beginnings there to this day with living relatives and immaculate graves sites, one of which contains my great grandfather and mother, Josef (1855) and Anna (1869) Bauer. So 15 Americans packed their bags and made the trip to Schandorf, and gathered on the last Sunday of July 2007. That year Schandorf celebrates the uniting of immigrant descendants. For the Bauer's and Zencey's, it was 100 years to nearly the month and year that my grandfather Michael and his sister Agnes immigrated to America, 1907. The trip to Schandorf was very successful. Our European cousins made it a great affair involving the whole village that included historical research and presentations on the families that immigrated to America from their village. If it was not for their family branch of Ignaz and Marie Bauer staying in Schandorf, we would not have had such a close connection to our roots and the original home town. The research and historical validation would have been more difficult and maybe suspect. In Austria we all agreed on a reunion in 2009 for the Europeans to come to New York City, original home sites of the immigrants from Schandorf. I thought this would be simply a nice gesture to our European cousins for what they did for us in Schandorf. However the more I thought about this, the more I began to realize the ramifications of what I just planned for. If this American-European reunion would happen, it would be the biggest. Since 2004, the reunions were just small gatherings that started with 6 and up to 25-30. Now there would be about 40-50, the biggest reunion because of the number of families that branched out since the early 1900's were mostly still located around the New York City metropolitan area. Close to a majority of family members would attend. As the months leading up the next 2009 reunion continued, I kept finding more cousins in America. I couldn't stop. After each success, I had to find more. I did not want any family members left behind. This was an important factor for me as I searched more and more. Almost every new story I came across I found a new family member, but many of the stories were tales of discontent, bitterness, and loneliness. I know I was brought up alone, but I couldn't understand why so many siblings who had so many family members felt alone and angry. It was just the times and hardships they endured. I had a new goal; I was not going to let any discontent stop me from bringing these people together. Many of us were getting old, many of us didn't know about the number of families they were related to, and many did not need to leave without knowing. In the end we are all related, we are more than friends, we are more than acquaintances, more than some work associate, we are all of the same blood. We have common idiocycricies and quirks that unite us. If this reunion was to be successful and meaningful, and because it would include a large group of people, several things had to happen. The marketing of the idea and purpose had to be continuous. The announcements had to be early enough to plant the seed a year out. It had to be thorough with facts and brief stories that would peak interest in the family. The location was important so that most people, especially the elderly could attend. The location was also significant to the historical aspect of the family history. It had to be amicable for everybody, the elders, the middle-aged, and the young. A program and agenda was needed. Some say, why structure? The most important element was to have a structure for the reunion, just enough for keeping things organized, keeping people busy, interested, but just enough so that it did not appear to be a commercial or convention event. That was important. Planned attractions around the area needed to be included leading up to the big and final day event. A variety of networking tools were used, such as a family website that was kept current, Facebook type accounts, emails, phone calls, and yes, even regular Postal letters were needed for those without electronic means. Communications was an on-going, weekly activity 60 days before the reunion. Even to the day before the reunion we did not have firm numbers. Family reunion-July 2009 in Trumbull, CT So on a very bright sunny Sunday in July, a gathering of 76 people with a common ancestral heritage took place to meat, eat, drink and introduce themselves and their cousins and share stories with one another. A reunion of families in common was not to be trivialized to a mere daily interruption and inconvenience of our busy lives. It was an event that brought strangers together, and for many of us for the first time to socialize on a different level of commonality. Ancient philosophers described us as social animals and what opportunity for all of us to participate in a gathering of common ancestors and provide a memory for our children to share in a long lost traditional event. This reunion in July, 2009, was the most attended involving family groups from all over the United States and Europe. The theme was a continuation from the Schandorf reunion of '07 of learning more about each other, about our family history and roots, and about the immigration to America from Schandorf Austria. We planned the lodging and chaperoned our European cousins to Manhattan, Ellis- Liberty Island, the Hudson Valley, and Connecticut. The sad part of all this for me is that during the interim of searching over the past 6-8 years I had missed cousins who passed away. Time was crucial, and the day after the reunion I found two more cousins on Long Island, Richard and Harry Stefany (Stefanits) in their 80's, sons of Victor and Katharina (Bauer) Stefanits from Schandorf. Only 76 of the potential 126 made the journey. It is not over; I hope the next reunion will bring together over a hundred. 2) THE BARROWS OF SCHANDORF (courtesy by Ferdinand Mühlgaszner) Seven boards line the path to the barrows of Schandorf. The path leads to the Iron Age graveyard lying in the Schandorf forest. This burial ground consists of impressive burial mounds up to 16m high. Most of the barrows date from the Hallstatt period around 750 BC, others from the elder Roman Iron Age. The area around Schandorf was one of the first populated areas in southern Burgenland. Around 750 BC, the region was booming due to the mining and smelting of iron ore south of Schandorf. The then powerful iron princes of the Hallstatt period were based at the loop of the Pinka river in Burg. The local earth castle consisted of a plateau of approximately 600m x 250m and offered natural protection against invading enemies. Through the iron melting the "Iron Barons" became very rich and powerful. They buried their dead in several graveyards in the hills to the south, southeast and east of the castle. More than two hundred huge mounds were created as lasting memorial monuments for the dead in what is now the Schandorf forest. Inside Hill 41, which was excavated at the southern end of Group I in 1933, a stone packing and a grave chamber of huge stone slabs was found. The finds - two needles with more than one pin head, conical neck vessels with black-red paintings and figural attachments, a bronze vessel, and iron tools - suggest that it was a man's grave. The black-red painting on a conical neck vessel also shows a stylized illustration of a man with a wide-brimmed hat, that was typical for festive costumes. In the Elder Iron Age (Hallstatt culture) from the 8th century BC onwards there was a significant economic boom in the region of Schandorf-Burg-Eisenberg. The peasants of that time increasingly specialized in the production of the sought-after and expensive metal iron. While at first the iron was only used for jewelry and arms, with the spreading of new technology, the new raw material was generally used for the production of tools of all kind. In the forests of the districts of Oberpullendorf and Oberwart about 20,000 glory holes and 1,200 slag places each with 3 to 10 smelting furnaces, mostly dating from the late La Tène period, are today's evidence of iron mining in central Burgenland. The most common type is a 1 meter wide, originally nearly 1.5 meters high sunken cupola furnace with an attached work pit. This type of furnace is known as the "Noric smelting furnace, type Burgenland" named such due to the location where it was typically found. The dead were burned in their festive costumes in funeral pyres. The ashes of the dead were buried in burial chambers together with pottery vessels, which contained food and drink for the netherworld, the burned costume and arms, tools and jewelry. Above these chambers, in weeks of work, the relatives of the deceased often piled up mounds of earth as memorial monuments. So far there are five barrow fields of the Hallstatt culture known in this region with a total of 285 burial mounds. The smallest group with 30 hills is in Badersdorf, a larger group of 84 hills at Eisenberg in the municipal areas of Burg and Felsöcsatár. The largest number of Hallstatt burial mounds in this region is located in Schandorf forest, divided into three groups of 150 (Group 1), 11 (Group 2) and 9 hills (Group 4). The 73 lower hills of the groups 3 and 5 are not of the Hallstatt type, they were built in the earlier Roman Iron Age. The burial mounds are round and have relatively steep slopes. At the foot of many of these mounds are circular ditches, still visible today, from where the earth was taken to build the mound. Earth bridges can also be found across the ditches. Most of the hills are higher than 10 meters, the biggest ones are up to 16m high with a diameter of 35 to 40 meters. 3) POPULATION DEVELOPMENT 1869 - 2009 Year Schandorf Oberwart district Burgenland 1869 641 57.163 100 254.301 100 1880 697 60.038 105 270.090 106 1890 670 62.355 109 282.225 111 1900 724 63.494 111 292.426 115 1910 719 61.520 108 292.007 115 1923 638 57.515 101 285.698 112 1934 624 59.552 104 299.447 118 1939 562 56.445 99 287.866 113 1951 536 52.691 92 276.136 109 1961 448 51.933 91 271.001 107 1971 409 53.506 94 272.319 107 1981 392 53.647 94 269.771 106 1991 342 53.783 94 270.880 107 2001 310 53.365 93 277.569 109 2009 289 53.516 94 283.118 111 Newsletter continues as number 191B.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 191B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY September 30, 2009 (c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved The third section of this 3-section newsletter includes: 1) SCHANDORF-CEMBA-CSEM CHRONICLE (courtesy by Ferdinand Mühlgaszner) The name's background The name of Schandorf originates from the old Hungarian name of "Csem". In 1244 it was first mentioned in documents originating from a lineage called "genus Chem". Around 1150 the German forms of the name were used due to the Bavarian settlement. These were different types like Schämendorf, Tsemensis, Schendorf and Schöndorf. The Croatian name Cemba also has its origin in the Hungarian Csemben - which means "in Csem". The historical developement According to the large number of archeological excavations, the area around Schandorf was one of the first settled places in southern Burgenland. Some excavations date from the late New Stone Age (in the 6th millenium BC). Very interesting finds from the middle New Stone Age (around 4000 BC) that were found in the forests around Schandorf and belonged to the government, document the early settlement. At the beginning of the Iron Age Schandorf became more famous due to the iron ore mined in the south of the village around the Pinka River beween Burg and Eisenberg. It was the custom of that time that the dead were burned and their ashes together with a burial gift of food and drink were put into earthenware vessels and then buried in mounds. In the forests of Schandorf there's one of the biggest and most famous burial hills in Europe. The iron mining in this region was at its height at around 300 BC until Christ's birth. During the Roman Empire this area was densely populated, but the economy changed to more agriculture and the products were sold in nearby Savaria (Szombathely/Steinamanger). At the end of the 6th century, the Awares and the Slavs wandered into this region. Most of the names of the rivers in southern Burgenland come from the Slavic language. On his campain of conquest between 791-805 Karl the Great drove back the Awares. Now the Bavarians came to settle down in this area and started a new rural and nobel way of economy. At this time the christianising of the population also began. In the 2nd half of the 9th century, the Magyars set pressure on the Carolingian Empire. After the Battle at Lechfeld on Aug. 10th, 955 they had to draw back and finally settled in the Pannonian Lowland. In 976 the Babenbergans conquered the East German Mark. That was the beginning of the Hungarian Kingdom. At this stage a new developement arose, which was very important for the following fate of the west Hungarian region. Today's Burgenland became a borderland. In 1043 under the reign of the Emperor Heinrich III, the deviding line to the Hungarian Kingdom was finally drawn along the rivers March, Leitha and Lafnitz. The Hungarian Kings created so called "frontier guarding settlements" to secure the border. Schandorf also became a border guarding settlement and it developed to a village of its own called "Kleinschandorf' (which means Little Schandorf). Due to the invading of the Tartars, King Bela IV (1223-1270) was forced to reinforce the fortress lines and to build up a new system of frontier fortresses. He awarded the village Burg to the members of the Csem lineage ruled by Earl Mod. This place had been conquered before. In the Charter of Feb. l0th, 1244 Schandorf was first mentioned. The parish of Schandorf was also founded at the same time. Schandorf split from the early parish of Großpetersdorf and then became the Mother Parish for Hannersdorf, Burg, Kleinpetersdorf, Welgersdorf and Woppendorf until 1520, for Kisnarda till 1936 and for Schachendorf until 1939. The church building of Schandorf is of Romanesque origin. It probably emerged from an old chapel on occasion of the raising to a parish. The new construction was planned in a way so that the church could also be used as a place of refuge. Later on the house of God was rebuilt a couple of times. The members of the Csem lineage ("genus Csem") were knights of service. Although they enjoyed the freedom of nobility, duty for the King in war was compulsory for them and they did not belong to the high nobility. As the economic structures kept on developing, new dominating authorities seized possession of more and more property. In 1489 the castle was destroyed. At the end of the l5th century, those estates melted together with the estates of Schlaining, after the owner of Schlaining, Andreas Baumkirchner, had taken possession of it. In 1527 King Ferdinand I gave the estate to the Earl Batthyany of Güssing, but it was finally taken over by the Earl in 1539. The Batthyanys possessed the whole property including Schandorf. The war against the Turks in 1529 brought serious consequences for this region. The estate in Schlaining was terribly struck by looting and fires. Several farms were deserted. The owners of the estates were forced to do something about the disastrous agricultural situation. Most important of all was to get the deserted farms settled again. On May 17th, 1524 King Ludwig II agreed to let the landowner Franz Batthyany settle some of his villeins from Croatia on the west Hungarian estates. The resettlements with its highest rate between l538 and 1545 were planned and organized very well. The Croatians in Schandorf have probably come from the Batthyany estate in Garignica. The cultivation of 1576 proves the Croatian settlement in Schandorf very clearly. By this time the village had become a community with an enormous majority of Croatians and a remarkable Hungarian minority. The report of the Canonical Visitation of 1697/98 already calls the parish a "pure Croatica". The new settlers were usually free from taxes and slave duties for a certain period of time. Agricultural crises, plague epedemics and other occurances kept deserting farms and villages at regular intervals. Starvation followed and the people of this generation became impoverished. The inhabitants of the villages were the ones most affected by all those economic crises and wars. This is also documented in Schandorf by the varying number of inhabitants. But still the village has remained Croatian till today, because there haven't been any more settlements since then. The Reformation, the big mental and religious revolution, forced by Martin Luther, Jan Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli, brought about changes also in the west Hungarian territory. At this time, Schandorf became Calvanistic and Stefan Szilagy became the first known pastor in 1612/13. In 1628, the main Protestant Synod took place in Schandorf. In the middle of the 17th century, Schandorf became Catholic again. The attempt to transfer another protestant pastor to the village ended by banishing him in 1658. Because of the church's arguments, but mainly also for economic and social reasons, this region had to cope with many rebellions. The Bocskay revolt in 1605, the Bethlen revolt in 1621 and the Kuruzzen wars (1704-1708) devastated the country with fire and looting. Before 1757 the village church was renovated and a new roof was set on it. The three altars, a high altar and two side altars, which dated from the 17th century, were replaced by a plain Baroque altar. The chalice from 1762 was bought by the parish. In 1764/65 there was a revolt by the farmers in the Komitat Vas to protest against the burden of taxes and working duties. The villeins refused the payments and services partly or even completely. It was the Maria Theresian land reform that brought an equal resolution for all subjects. But it took many legal proceedings against the landowners - also in Schandorf - until the manorial system was brought under control. In the following years, the development of the west Hungarian region was rather calm. In 1835 the church was enlarged and renovated. The magnates were still in command of the political leadership. Neither the lower nobility nor the farmers, and least of all the common workers, had political rights. In March 1848, there was a revolution in Hungary and ten days later on March 13, it also broke out in Vienna. Imperial troops led by Fürst Windischgrätz and Croatian troops led by Ban Jela?i? from Croatia could suppress the democratic movement within half a year. The ideas for a democratic state that caused the revolution were shattered. The farmers however could improve their situation considerably. The privileges of the aristocrats and the subservient spirit were abolished. The farmers achieved their right of having their own property and so they were allowed to keep the land they had already been cultivating. For the loss of land due to the new liberty for the farmers the landowners were paid off by the state. But this was very difficult and often caused a lot of misunderstandings, also in Schandorf, where both Rechnitz and the priest of Schandorf were owners of some estates. By levying direct and indirect taxes, taxation was basically modernized. The aristocrats and the farmers became equal and they paid taxes according to their amount of property. Now it was necessary to have a land register. Each village was prompted to have a land register and its taxation. The measurement of property in Schandorf was ended in 1858 and then the first land register was started. The total area of Schandorf was 1,959 acres and 590 fathoms. Until 1890 the land register was kept in the district court of Steinamanger and then it was handed over to the district court of Oberwart. In 1940 it was renewed. The registrated village covered an area of 1,120 hectares, 7 ares and 52 square meters. In l97l there was a joining of acres. The resolution of 1848 also brought about a new way of administration to the state. The villages were subordinated in all important matters to "Komitat" authorities which were a kind of earldom authority (a judge office). These overtook most of the duties the village judge (who was the mayor) originally had. >From 1852 on the mayor was called " the head of the village" or village chairman. Court proceedings were taken over by the juridical district. The municipalities had their own administration - the municipal council. That consisted half of elected burghers and half of aged burghers with the highest taxation. In 1860 the Hungarian administration called up the local court. A judge (the mayor), a vice-judge, at least two men in the jury and the notary formed the aldermen. Minor offences went through the court of the aldermen. The expression "judge" is translated from the Hungarian word "biró" and until today the mayor in Schandorf and other Croatian speaking villages is still called "birov". The last great change in the Habsburg Monarchy was the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. With that the Hungarian kingdom was alone responsible for the legislation and administration in West Hungary, today's Burgenland. In 1868 a new law brought equal rights to all nationalities. Hungarian was the national language. It was free to choose the language spoken at court, at church and in confessional schools. The Croatian language was taught in Schandorf. Municipalities, in which confessional schools didn't fulfil the laws anymore, were forced to install primary schools. In 1900 Schandorf achieved the highest population rate ever. In 1904 there were 130 school aged children in Schandorf. The Roman Catholic school became too small. After long discussions the municipal court agreed to build a new school. But it was not finished until l911. Therefore Schandorf had two schools until 1938 - a confessional one and a municipal school. Ever since the Croatians had settled in Schandorf, the village had always been a Croatian municipality with a Hungarian and German minority. Even after the Hungarian government had tried to magyarize the population with laws like -the Hungarian language must be taught at school because each child should be able to speak and write in Hungarian - the people in Schandorf still kept using their Croatian mother tongue. Years of insecurity for the population of Schandorf followed after the end of the First World War and the disintegration of the Danube monarchy. In the peace treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on Sept. 10th, 1919 the village was joined to Austria, but the Hungarians didn't agree with this decision. Only after long negotiations and incidents caused by Hungarian guerillas, Schandorf finally became part of Austria on Jan. 10th, 1923. Schachendorf and Schandorf became part of Austria, Felsö- and Alsócsatár, Nagy- and Kisnarda fell to Hungary. And so a border was drawn between the two close villages of Schandorf and Narda. This was a disadvantage for both villages in the following decades. The economic situation of this area grew worse because of the separation. The living conditions became increasingly worse also due to the general economic crisis. A lot of people from the Burgenland took a new chance by emigrating overseas. In 1923 the emigration had reached its height. A lot of people from Schandorf also left their hometown. The number of inhabitants declined enormously. From 1925 till 1927 the church was renovated inside and outside and six years later a concrete floor was paved. The political situation in the republic became critical and therefore in the Burgenland as well. The main point of ideological arguments in the new Burgenland was the question about school. The social democrats wanted national schools, the Christian socialists wanted confessional schools. Schandorf was quite involved in this argument. For one thing, there was not only a national school, but also a confessional school in Schandorf and for the other thing there was also the question about the language being taught and spoken at school. Two of the main political representatives in these arguments had close relations to Schandorf. One was Koloman Tomish, born in Schandorf, the later school inspector and a social democratic member of the Landesregierung (government in one of the States of Austria) - and the other one was Peter Jandrisevits, pastor in Schandorf and a Christian Socialist member of the Landesregierung. Both were representatives of the Croatians. Their tremendous and rather mean arguments deepened the gap between the "red" (Social Democrats) and "black" (Christian Socialists) Croatians. Although the worldwide economic crisis also struck the Burgenland, the effects weren't that dramatic because the economic structure, which was mainly farming, was rather weak anyway. After the Civil War in February 1934 all the institutions of the labour movement were forbidden. The pressure of Hitler and his National Socialists grew stronger. The result of the plebiscite in Schandorf wasn't any different from other villages in the Burgenland: 100 percent voted for the annexation to Germany. A lot of members of the Roma ethnic group had been living in Schandorf for quite a long time and they were also integrated in village life very much. On command of the head of the government, Tobias Portschy, they were forced to hard labour. Besides the Jews, the Roma were also a group of citizens in the Burgenland, who were systematically eliminated by the Nazi- Regime. Only a few of the 70 Roma people living in Schandorf survived the brutal persecutions. The men in Schandorf were called up to military service. Many dead, missing and wounded soldiers were the price the people of Schandorf had to pay for their Nazi war delusion. At the beginning of April 1945 the soldiers of the Red Army arrived in Schandorf. Two inhabitants were killed in a struggle between the German troops who were withdrawing and the Russian army. Four houses together with their farming quarters and four sheds were burnt down; four houses were damaged badly and thirteen slightly. The occupation forces were quartered in the village until Whit Monday. The situation slowly became normal again after the offical end of the war on May 8th, 1945. When in 1947 the newspapers and radio news mentioned a "population exchange" between Austria and Yugoslavia and that Croatians from the Burgenland were also supposed to be evacuated, the village council objected against these plans. During the intermediate stage of war, the political power was spread clearly among the Christian Socialists and other parties, but in the 50's the Social Democrats grew quite strong and for a short period there was even a Social-Democratic mayor. Due to the new communist regime in Hungary, the disadvantages of being a village next to the border increased. The contacts to the close villages across the border in Hungary vanished. The economic situation was very hard. Although basic living conditions were a little better in the countryside than in the city, poverty after the war made 27 inhabitants emigrate overseas. The treaty of 1955 gave liberty to Austria. A year later the revolution in Hungary forced many refugees across the border. Everybody in Schandorf supplied the refugees. The Iron Curtain, drawn by the Hungarians, made Schandorf to a village in a dead corner for many decades. A radical change in the economic structure followed and this also struck Schandorf very hard. More and more people were not able to survive by farming alone and so they were forced to look for a job as a commuter in congested areas. The consequence was more migration. The results can be seen in the population statistics. Within ninety years the population declined by more than half (1900: 712, 1991: 342). Surprising is the fact that compared to the average the population is actually overaged. The year 1971 brought a drastic change for Schandorf. Due to the law of a village structure improvement, a few small municipalities were joined to one bigger community. Since then Schandorf, Dürnbach and Schachendorf belong to the municipality of Schachendorf. As a consequence, the primary school in Schandorf was closed and the children of the new municipality were taught in the school in Dürnbach. The kindergarden in Schandorf remained and is available to all children of the three villages. In both the school and kindergarten, the children are taught bilingual. This is important because in the last decades German has been spoken far more than the original colloquial Croatian. The maintenance of the typical Burgenland-Croatian dialect of this region, spoken especially in Schandorf, becomes more difficult. People moving to Schandorf, who are not Croatians, the influence of the media and the youth not using Croatian as the village mother tongue are facts that endanger the substance of the Croatian language. The spoken dialect is Stokavian and has clear influences from the German and Hungarian languages. Investigations show that the Schandorf Croatian language, compared to the morphology, corresponds in a large amount to the Croatian literature in the Burgenland. Yet there are some characteristic deviations. In earlier days traditions were kept up intensively but nowadays only partly. Modern life and new social structures replace the old traditions which had their origin in the customs of earlier agricultural and religious life. A very important impulse for a possible new future of the village was brought about by the fall of the Iron Curtain at the end of June 1989. The traditional relationship to the nearby Narda came alive again. In spite of the negative results of the last decades, there's a chance for a positive development in the future. The policy of the municipality however must be specific and well planned to catch up and the population balance must be normalized again. A working village community is one of the main factors to realize the aim. More clubs and organizations could contribute greatly. Besides the fire brigade, which was set up in 1918, there is also a cultural association, which was created in 1981 and there is the tamburizza group. Furthermore, there is a money-savings organization and a tennis club. The political parties are the ÖVP and the SPÖ and both parties have one intention that is the separation from Schachendorf and to form a self governing independent municipality again. In a plebiscite more than two thirds of the persons entitled to vote voted for independence. In an independent Schandorf work would surely be more positive for the village itself. The aims of these efforts will be to bring young families to the area, to raise the quality of life and to raise the economic power in Schandorf. 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