Newsletter
Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 169
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
Our 12th Year - Issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold, BB Editor
November 30, 2007
(c) 2007 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved
~WE WISH YOU A HAPPY & BLESSED HOLIDAY SEASON~
Current Status Of The BB: Members: 1524; Surname Entries: 5037; Query Board Entries: 3817; Newsletters
Archived: 169; Staff Members: 15
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 forms available from our homepage
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
Homepage. There is also an archive of previous newsletters.
This first section of our 2 section newsletter concerns:
1. BB Research Area
2. BB Links To Other Websites
3. Szentpeterfa, Eberau, Winten, Kulm & Military Service Records
4. Marktgemeinde, Oppidum, Market Communities
5. Book Report - Von Trapp Family & Sound Of Music
6. Links To Haydn Saal & Festival
7. Related Ethnic Websites & Events Can Provide Ambiance
1. BB RESEARCH AREA
Recently the BB staff has again discussed the borders of our research area. We cannot do justice to areas where we
have no expertise so we try to limit the BB research area to the present confines of the Burgenland and the
immediate border areas in Hungary, the rest of Austria and Slovenia. A Slovenian or Hungarian village within a few
kilometers of the Burgenland border may appear to be no problem, but given the ethnic mix, they often do not link to
present day Burgenland families, even though they may have contributed many immigrants to the Auswanderung. (Had the
villages contained a heavy Germanic mix, they would have been included in the territory granted to Austria.) We thus
limit our area to about 10 kilometers from the Burgenland border. Please bear with us as we attempt to please
potential members.
2. BB LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
- from Anna Kresh
NOTE - BB INTERNET LINKS UPDATE: Our BB Internet Links web page undergoes periodic re-validation to remove "dead"
links or to find replacements or new addresses for "broken" links. This was done again on 10/8/07.
As you may have already discovered, several months ago non-Burgenland web site links, which can easily be found
elsewhere on the Internet, were removed from our online BB Internet Links and saved online in a "retired" web page.
This was done to make our Links page more Burgenland-specific and easier to traverse. The pre-04/01/07, retired,
unedited, BB Internet Links have remained available from our Links page, but they will be DELETED from our web site
on 01/01/08. If you wish to retain any of these older links, please visit the online retired list and save them in
your bookmarks/favorites.
Also, please share your resources. If you encounter any such Burgenland-related sites that might be of assistance to
our membership, please forward them to Anna Kresh to be added to our Links page.
3. SZENTPETERFA, EBERAU, WINTEN, KULM & MILITARY RECORDS
- from staff editor Steve Geosits
Steve writes: I recently assisted Colette Hinds, a new subscriber to the BB, in finding birth and
marriage information about her 3rd, 4th and even 5th great-grandparents. Fortunately, her ancestors are from the
Austrian villages of Eberau, Winten, Kulm, and Hungarian village of Szentpeterfa, and I have easy access to them
from transcriptions of the R.C. Church records of Szentpeterfa that I obtained from both microfilm at the LDS and
from jpeg photographs that John Lavendoski made many years ago.
At this point, she would like to know how to proceed in finding military records for her great-grandfather, Aloysius
Kantz, who was born in Kulm in 1884.
Perhaps questions similar to this have been posted to the BB before, but it probably would be worthwhile to revisit
it in case there have been any updates that you or some of our other editors may be aware. It would also be of
benefit to others whose relatives may have served in the Austrian-Hungarian military and are on a similar quest. See
her original question below.
colettemhinds(a)yahoo.ca wrote: "..... The person I am trying to locate the service record on is
Aloysius Kantz my great grand father. He was a cook serving under Franz Josef? and was apparently wounded two times.
One time in the face the other in the shoulder."
Margaret Kaiser responds: See www.familysearch.org
Click through to Family History Library Catalog. Do a Place Search for Austria.
Look at Austria - Military History & Austria - Military Records
(ED. Note: Use the BB Archives Search Facility after clicking on web page BB Archives from the BB Homepage. A
quick search on "military records" revealed that the following BB Newsletters may be of value in answering this
request: BB Newsletter Numbers 106, 108, 113, 114, 126, 145, 134, & 164.)
4. MARKTGEMEINDE, OPPIDUM, MARKET COMMUNITY
- M. Tighe-Brown, F. Königshofer, et al.
Staff member Maureen Tighe-Brown writes: "My" market town of Deutschkreutz (Németkeresztúr, prior to
1920-1921) was a Markt Gemeinde from 1295, according to the town's anniversary book published in 1995. However, I
can't find a legal definition, despite my perusal of Internet sources.
Reply: Maureen, You probably already know that permission to conduct a market was a jealousy privilege
of the Crown or in some instances the aristocracy of a given area. The early establishment of so-called "free towns"
(Freistadt) with market rights is a case in point.
The larger cities like Vienna, Buda, Eisenstadt, Rust, etc., gained their size and importance through establishing
markets - some weekly, others on various occasions. Vienna and Buda even received (from the Crown) the right to
force merchants to unload and offer their goods at those places (even though they may have been journeying
elsewhere, so-called "staple rights"). These larger markets became "fairs" and were mostly annual affairs of
international importance. I assume the weekly markets were a necessary adjunct. (A good summary of town development
will be found in "Budapest, A History From Its Beginnings To 1998" - Gero & Poor Editors, East European Monographs,
No. CDLXII, distributed by Columbia Univ. Press - 1997.)
Because of the economic value and tax benefits in holding a market, the right was often offered as a reward or
inducement for service to the Crown. As such, market communities or Markt Gemeinde were established throughout the
Germanic areas (and elsewhere as well).
I am not sure if the term "Marktgemeinde" in Burgenland has the same connotation today. Perhaps it is now merely a
historical designation? I do know that villages are still identified as Stadt, Marktgemeinde or Katastralgemeinde or
none of the latter. In the district of Güssing (28 villages and 28 Ortsteile) there is only one Stadt (Güssing which
has weekly market) but 7 Marktgemeinden; Eberau, Güttenbach, Kukmirn, Ollersdorf, St. Michael i. Bgld., Stegersbach
and Stinatz (from "Der Bezirk Güssing im Wandel der Zeit" - Kirsner & Peternell). A history of Güssing
(Stadterhebung Güssing 1973 - Festschrift-Grossdurckerei Leykam AG, Graz) has an early photo of the Güssing market.
I have not searched for its market history, although it had the status of a "castrum" in 1263 and an "oppidum" in
1391.
Probably in order not to dilute the benefits to be received, the larger District (Bezirk) or Gemeinde include
outlying villages in their "Markt" area as Deutschkreuz does the village of Girm. I am not sure if Marktgemeinde
status requires any governmental sanction today. All of my village books use the term Markt Gemeinde, for those
designated, as part of their identification. Below is one example of many:
Horitschon (village) - Marktgemeinde; Katastralgemeinde Horitschon, Unterpetersdorf. (from Burgenland Geschichte,
Kultur Und Wirtrschaft In Biographien-Edition Roetzer)
A. Kubinyi in "Urbanization In The East-Central Part Of Medieval Hungary" (included in "Towns In Medieval Hungary,"
page 120, The Problem of Market Towns, edited by L. Gerevich, Colombia Univ. Press, 1990) offers some insight (the 3
items in quotes below) into this question:
"The development and the status of a city, both of the Regalis Civitas Strigoniensis and of the Civitas
Archiepiscopalis (Aquatica Civitas) were ensured by their right to stop the traffic of the markets, beside and
belonging to the harbors, and to levy a toll on the goods...such tolls were gradually transferred into the hands of
the church."
My comment: Note while specifying riparian areas, this could also apply to the various "goods" roads that
crossed borders, streams or other natural barriers. The entire Burgenland border was a stopping and unloading place
for goods in shipment between Hungary and Austria. While much of this activity had to do with customs levies,
unloading often suggested sale of goods to preclude the cost of reloading and trans-shipment. The village of Zahling
(near Eltendorf in southern Burgenland) has a history of having once been such a village on the Salt Road from
Salzburg to Hungary and its connection to the Fürstenfeld, Styria, Austira-Körmend, Hungary road. Is this why nearby
Kukmirn is still a Markt Gemeinde?
"...the settlements in Hungary included not only the towns proper but also the so-called market towns (oppida),
enjoying more or less urban liberties....Hungarian scholars use the term market town (oppidum) collectively for
denoting the franchised settlements which were not free royal towns, and whose burghers were therefore serfs."
"The market town (a non-fortified town in its literal sense) is not a specifically Hungarian phenomenon. It is
readily comparable with the Bavarian-Austrian Markt."
I also get the feel that most markets may have been under the control of the local church since not only did they
receive tolls and taxes but the market places often are located near or by the church. How this all involves the
smaller villages of Burgenland is beyond me, but the similarity is there. I also find very early mention of market
privileges as you have (i.e. 1295). Kersner & Peternell state in Marktgemeinde Deutschkreuz (Bezirk Oberpullendorf
im Wandel der Zeit) "Wahrscheinlich schon einige Jahre vor 1429 war dem Ort das Marktrecht verliehen worden; in der
vorgenannten Urkunde wird Keresztur als "oppidum" (Landstadt) genannt."
An interesting question. I wonder how much "work & income" the Markegemeinde provided local villagers?
Fritz Königshofer also replies:
Wikipedia has a long entry (in German) on the terminology of the subject in Germany which is similar to the meanings
in Austria. The web address is
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemeinde_(Deutschland).
There is a shorter wikipedia entry on Austria, at
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemeinde_(Österreich)
Here is what I can pull from my head. The basic political unit has been, and is, the Gemeinde. The Gemeinde
traditionally had three tiers, namely, a normal Gemeinde, a Marktgemeinde or Markt (market town), and a
Stadtgemeinde or Stadt (translated as city?, Latin urbs?). Market towns had the right to hold markets. Cities had
even more rights, and inhabitants with home rights in the cities were not subject to the bondage by dominions.
Over the last century or so, the differences have been lessened, so that today the promotion from Gemeinde to Markt
or from Markt to Stadt, have more symbolic than real importance.
5. BOOK REPORT - VON TRAPP FAMILY & SOUND OF MUSIC
Hollywood has given us an engaging but fairy tale story of the Von Trapp family in the film Sound of Music.
The truth is slightly different, but this doesn't stop us from enjoying the film or the Austrians in the Salzburg
area from continuing the tale and benefiting by the tourist attraction. It is a portrayal of an Austria we would all
like to believe and experience. Our trips to Zell am See (early Trapp residence), Kloisterneuberg (interim
residence), and Salzlburg (final Trapp residence) involved tourist visits to their homes and film sites.
Elizabeth M. Campbell, a granddaughter of Georg von Trapp (1880-1947), the patriarch and bowdlerized father in
Sound of Music, has put the tale to rights by translating a book her grandfather wrote and had published in
Salzburg in 1935. Her book is called "Georg Von Trapp - To The Last Salute" (Univ. of Nebraska-2007) and includes
her introduction (much Von Trapp family data) as well as the translation of her grandfather's book "Bis zum letzen
Flaggenschuss" containing memories of Von Trapp's days as an Austrian U-boat commander in WW-I. His expertise was
wanted by the Nazis in WW-II and led to the family's escape to the United States in 1938. Von Trapp had no desire to
serve the Third Reich.
It is a most interesting story, not only of the family's saga, but also a vivid and heroic history of the Austrian
Navy's little known operations in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas during early submarine operations.
(Note: Another subject book is "The World of the Trapp Family" by William Anderson, which I have not read. Werner
von Trapp, the 2nd son and fourth child of Georg von Trapp, died at his home in Vermont on Oct 11, 2007 at the age
of 91.)
6. LINKS TO HAYDN SAAL & FESTIVAL
One of my best experiences in visiting Burgenland was a day spent with the director of the Haydn concerts in
Eisenstadt. His staff also maintain the Haydn Museum (Saal). Contact them for concert schedules when visiting
Eisenstadt. A concert at Schloss Esterhazy or a visit to the museum is not to be missed.
Haydn Festspiele Eisenstadt
Schloss Esterházy - 7000 Eisenstadt
Tel.: 02682-61866, Fax: 02682-61805
office(a)hadynfestival.at
www.haydnfestival.at
7. RELATED ETHNIC WEBSITES & EVENTS CAN PROVIDE AMBIANCE
BB members should be aware of the Burgenland ethnic mix and the historical and cultural background of each. German
ethnicity predominates but Croatian and Hungarian can also be a majority in some villages. However, it does not pay
to spend too much time visiting German, Croatian, Hungarian or even other Austrian websites. They can help in some
respects but they may not provide Burgenland data.
Subject ethnic groups in the United States may also have few Burgenland links. Nonetheless, these ethnic groups
(let's call them language cultural groups) can supply ethnic ambiance. You can find recipes, music, food, etc. of
interest to those with Burgenland origins. This newsletter does publish schedules of related ethnic activities and,
in this issue (section two), you will find an announcement of a "German" festival to be held in the Lehigh Valley of
PA. You will probably encounter Burgenland ethnicity here due to the large number of Burgenland immigrants who
settled there, but you will also find much Palatinate (PA Dutch) and other Germanic ethnicity. Of course strudel,
goulash, fastnachts, polkas, etc. encountered transcend ethnic geographic barriers; just don't be disappointed if
you are not always considered a landsman.
Newsletter continues as number 169A.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 169A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 12th Year - issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold)
November 30, 2007
(c) 2007 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved
~The BB is composed of "Genealogists researching the multi-ethnic heritage of the Burgenland of Austria and
adjoining areas of former West Hungary"~
The second section of this 2 section newsletter includes:
1. Message From BB President Tom Steichen
2. More Solar Family
3. Lehigh Valley, PA Ethnic Events
4. Vanished Grave Sites
5. Gourmet Magazine & Burgenland
6. Dr. Walter Dujmovits & Son Join The BB
7. Data For Village Of Unterkohlstaetten
8. Staff Member Frank Paukowits Returns From China
9. Burgenland Immigrant Obits
10. German Festival Will Start In Allentown, PA, June 2008
11. Austrian Culture Forum Exhibition In NYC
1. MESSAGE FROM BB PRESIDENT TOM STEICHEN
Dear BB Staff,
Sending you my wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. The BB is blessed by each one of you; we share a
fellowship that has given us the satisfaction of knowing our heritage, the joy of the quest itself, and the
opportunity to give back to those still on their own quest. Thank you for making the BB what it is today and for all
the effort you still make to keep it vital and useful for the days to come.
Yours in BB fellowship,
Tom Steichen
2. MORE SOLAR FAMILY
Correspondent rjs1220(a)comcast.net writes: Just thought this was too curious a coincidence not to
mention it. I read with peaked interest the latest Burgenland Newsletter regarding the Solar Family. I noticed that
in the 1930 census they lived at 616 Greenleaf Street (Allentown, PA). My great-grandparents, Louis and Rose Szita
lived at 617 Greenleaf Street as indicated on the same census, which should be directly across the street. I would
feel sure that they would have known each other. My grandmother was a fur finisher at H. Leh's. I remember the Koch
Brothers (men's clothier) being mentioned, and my grandfather previously did work as a weaver (many Buirgenland
immigrants worked in the large number of Allentown Silk Mills) for a time, until he ended up working for Mack's
(Mack Truck Co. - also employer of many Burgenland immigrants and descendants in the later period).
3. LEHIGH VALLEY ETHNIC EVENTS
- Bob Strauch
Sunday, November 11 - Jolly Joe Timmer's Grove: German Pig Roast: Joe Weber Orchestra and the
Naturalistix, 3:00 PM. $15, Point Phillips, Bath. (610) 865-1941.
Wednesday, November 14 - Lecture: ''PA-Germans, and All Those Other Hyphenated Germans'': Allen
Viehmeyer offers a slide presentation exploring the immigration story of Germans to North America. Noon. Free.
Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center, 105 Seminary Ave., Pennsburg. (215) 679-3103.
Saturday, November 17 - Bazaar, Our Lady of Hungary R.C. Church, 1324 Newport Ave. in Northampton,
(610) 262-2227. Hours: 10 AM - 3 PM. Gerschtlsupp'n (egg-barley soup), potato pancakes, assorted pastries.
Saturday, December 1 - Lehigh Sängerbund Christmas Concert at Egner Chapel, Muhlenberg College,
Allentown, at 4:00 PM. Dinner/dance at the Knights of Columbus, 15th & Greenleaf Sts., Allentown, at 7:00 PM.
Music by the Joe Weber Orchestra 7:30-10:30 PM.
Saturday, December 15 - Christmas Concert and Dance, Coplay Sängerbund, 205 S. Fifth St. in Coplay,
(610) 262-9937. Music by the Coplay Sängerbund Mixed Chorus and the Joe Weber Orchestra.
4. VANISHED GRAVE SITES
New member Donald Paulson writes: Franz Joseph Molnar was a schoolteacher in Mariasdorf in the 1890s.
He had eleven sons and one daughter, Karolina, who was my grandmother. She was born in Grodnau. She emigrated to
Chicago in 1902. Franz and his wife Rosina Teresa Weber lived in Oberschutzen in 1922. He died shortly after that
and was buried in the Oberschutzen cemetery. I have a photo of his gravestone. However, in Oct 2007 I found no
Molnar gravestones in the Oberschutzen (or Mariasdorf) cemetery.
Fritz Königshofer replies: Typically, there is a small annual fee for gravesites. If the fee was not
paid, it is possible that the grave of your great-grandfather was cleared away and the site reused by another grave.
The town hall (Gemeindeamt) of Oberschuetzen may have records of abandoned graves. Perhaps there is even a place
where the removed gravestones are kept.
5. GOURMET MAGAZINE & BURGENLAND
- Margaret Kaiser
Margaret writes: I just received email from Donna Durling, where she advises that she. . ."just found
a new article in this month's (November 2007) Gourmet Magazine on Burgenland (page 186+) entitled, Your
Own Private Tuscany, Austria's Burgenland has lush scenery, killer wines, fabulous food, and barely any tourists,
by Alexander Lobrano, photographs by Brown W. Cannon, III."
I reply: A few years ago, Gourmet also had another Burgenland (Austrian) article by then
well-known food author Lillian Langseth-Christensen. She did at least two other books on Austria - one of which was
an autobiography (her father was in Austrian import-export living in New York; they were quite wealthy). Lillian
studied in Vienna with the avant garde and later became a well known interior decorator in New York. She and her
second husband eventually bought a home in Styria where they retired and passed away a few years ago. She mentions a
local goulash which was half onions and half meat. The locals made a huge batch once a year and had the equivalent
of a "goulash festival" at their home. She also wrote a book of Austrian recipes which can have you in the kitchen
24 hours a day - all very-very posh Viennese - the type that starts "the day before, kill a chicken and ...!" I
recommend this cookbook (reviewed below) for its superb ambiance, pictures and associated articles as well as the
delicious recipes.
Gourmet's Old Vienna Cookbook (A Viennese Memoir)
by Lillian Langseth-Christensen, published 1959 by Gourmet Books, Inc., NYC. Reprinted 1964, 1968.
Partial menu: Vorspeisen (appetizers), Suppen und Suppeneinlagen (soups and garnishes), Fische und
Fastentiere (fish and shellfish), Fleischspeisen (meat), Geflüel (poultry), Wildbret und geflügel (game and game
birds), Gemüse (vegetables), Teigwaren, Kartoffeln und Reis (dumplings, noodles, potatoes and rice), Eierspeisen
(eggs), Käse (cheese), Salate (salads), Saucen (sauces), Brot und Germgebäck (bread and sweet bread), Gebäck und
Kuchen (Pastry and plain cakes), Torten (fancy cakes), Mehlspeisen und Süss-speisen (desserts), Getränke (drinks),
Menus and Memoirs.
A cookbook for kitchen food it is not but you'll find your Burgenland ancestors' favorites even though they may have
some sophisticated Viennese touches. One of my favorite pre-meal books, but when I tell Molly I'd like this or that
she invariably says "no, too much work unless you help." She does make some of our ethnic favorites on special
occasions.
This is not the first time someone has "discovered" the well kept secret of tourism in Burgenland. I hope it doesn't
lead to too many visitors and destroy the ambiance with service down and prices up!
Having been to Tuscany, I would not compare it to the Burgenland. Tuscany is fine but Burgenland it is not! Not
enough trees, no Neusiedler See, no nearby Hungary, wine superior to Burgenland (?) and of course a "pasta" paradise
not a "strudel" paradise. Many older ruins - city walls etc. - no Turkish-Hungarian destruction of villages. Nowhere
near the "Gmütlichkeit" - Molly says Tuscan pastry is superior while I don't agree. Of course Tuscany had Etruscan
and Roman civilization when Burgenland was still occupied by Celts and being overrun during the Volkerwanderung.
Some Italian touches (recipes for food and court protocol) were incorporated into Hungarian culture during the
medieval period.
Gourmet does a good job but I've always found them to be a little "too-too-much! Too much sophistication
turns me off unless I'm in the mood; I guess it's my southern Burgenland peasant background.
6. DR. WALTER DUJMOVITS & SON JOIN THE BB
Our membership editor Hannes Graf does a superb job of processing new members. I particularly like the way in which
he places new members at the end of the membership page for a few weeks before merging them into the alphabetic
list. This allows us to see who is new and who may have new data to add to our own family data. I make it a point to
check this list at least weekly. Sometimes it suggests a newsletter article.
I missed the addition of the Dujmovits clan until recently or I would have made a point of welcoming them
personally. Hofrat Dr. Walter Dujmovits, long-time president of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft and my alter ago
with regard to the Auswanderung, joined along with his son. I'm not sure the BB would have been started by me
without the spark struck during my first meeting with Walter Dujmovits. You need only review the BB archives to see
his many additions to our activities. He is also an active member and officer of various ethnic groups.
His son Walter, Jr. is also a member of the BG staff and writes an English language column for the BG magazine. He
is very active during BG affairs and often hosts visits to the Auswanderer museum in Güssing. Our heartfelt welcome
to both - below is their family data.
Dr. Walter Dujmovits - Stegersbach, Burgenland, Austria.
SPANITZ, Gerersdorf bei Güssing. Settled Coplay, Allentown, New York.
BRUCKNER, Gerersdorf bei Güssing. Settled Coplay.
All of my mother's siblings and all of my grandfather's siblings (including himself) emigrated to America.
Walter Dujmovits jun. -Eisenstadt, Burgenland, Austria.
SPANITZ, Gerersdorf bei Güssing. Settled Coplay, Allentown, New York.
BRUCKNER, Gerersdorf bei Güssing. Settled Coplay.
7. DATA FOR VILLAGE OF UNTERKOHLSTAETTEN
Member Jeffrey A Polster writes: "It has been a while since I have last been to the BB site. Please
thank all involved. I have recently pulled the microfilms for 1895-1920 birth, marriage and deaths for
Unterkohlstaetten (Also-Szegeneto, Burgenland film LDS # 665228-665229) and surrounding areas. Many of the records
contain house numbers for the time period as well. I have only pulled those records that appear to have a link to my
searches, so far about 150 TIFF files. If it would help anyone that may want them, I would be happy to send them on
disc so the info contained may be used for any and all on the site. I hope that this may be useful, regardless
thanks again to all for their hard work."
8. STAFF MEMBER FRANK PAUKOWITS RETURNS FROM CHINA
In addition to seeing China, Frank had hoped to see if he could find any Burgenland immigrants to this region.
However, before this was possible, his wife suffered a fall, hurt her back and they were forced to return. We hope
she is soon well. An instance of how your BB staff tries hard to bring you family data.
Frank writes: "Actually, before we left, I had decided to make my search for a Burgenlaender in Hong
Kong rather than Beijing since we had more free time in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, with this mishap I wasn't able to
get to the Austrian Consulate/Embassy in Hong Kong. I am disappointed in as much as I was hoping that I could find a
Burgenlaender and get him/her to join the BB. It would have been a first and have made for a wonderful article.
Maybe we can make another trip there."
9. BURGENLAND IMMIGRANT OBITS
- Bob Strauch
Hermine "Kitty" Donschietz, 86, of Allentown, died Saturday, November 17, 2007 in Fellowship Manor,
Whitehall. Born in Kroatisch Ehrensdorf, Burgenland, Austria, she was the daughter of the late George and Anna
(Marth) Kiss. Hermine was predeceased by her husband, Carl T. Donschietz in 1995.
10. GERMAN FESTIVAL WILL START IN ALLENTOWN, PA, JUNE 2008
A new four-day summer music and food festival celebrating the Lehigh Valley's German heritage will be held in June
of every year, starting in 2008. Sommerfest will feature German music, food, drink, crafts and culture at
Allentown's Cedar Beach, site of the Mayfair festival. The Lehigh Saengerbund, celebrating its 150th anniversary in
2008, is the principal sponsor of the event.
Sommerfest spokeswoman Danica Ettle, says ''The people I talk to are very excited about it. It is going to bring us
back to our roots.'' The valley's high school German language teachers are also helping with the program.
Organizers plan an authentic beer garden with music and German comfort food, as well as a wine-tasting area. The
festival will be mostly free, but admission will be charged for areas where beer or wine are sold and for major
international musical acts.
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski said the festival, scheduled for June 5-8, will bridge a gap in the city's summer
festival schedule. He feels it is long overdue, especially considering the number of people of German ancestry who
live in the valley.
11. AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM EXHIBITION IN NYC
- Klaus Gerger
Klaus writes: Mr. Hans-Christian Siess from Burgenland Tourismus asked me to inform our members
about the recent exhibition in the Austrian Culture Forum in NYC. The following links were placed on the BG site:
an article on the exhibition (English)
http://www.burgenlaender.com/wine/WineBoomExhibition.htm
and a German article (with many pictures)
http://www.burgenlaender.com/wine/BurgenlandGoesAmerica.htm
END OF NEWSLETTER
NOTICE (Terms and Conditions): The Burgenland Bunch (BB) was formed and exists to assist Burgenland
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