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Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History

Brieffreunde aus aller Welt in englischer Sprache wünscht sich Christine Poeltl, 7350 Oberpullendorf, Hauptstrasse 21

(Pen pals from around the world in English desires Christine Poeltl, 7350 Oberpullendorf, Hauptstrasse 21)

I got a into a lot of trouble with my parents for doing this. They considered this as very naughty. Anyway, I received 3 letters, one from Austria from a girl, one from a young man from Egypt and one from Canada. I exchanged 2 letters with the young man from Egypt but, when he wrote he wanted to visit me, I dropped writing to him immediately; he was just not my type.

It was another story with the young man from Canada. Herbert Rubba stood next to a banana tree and looked gorgeous. WOW. We started writing letters. I received my first letter from him in February 1963—I still have the letter—and we continued to write letters. All together 240 letters. I saved them. He visited me in 1965, during my Easter holidays, and stayed for 13 days. I was so in love and, I suppose, so was he, because the texture of our letters changed somewhat. But we made a deal: not to keep writing love letters but to continue to share our lives, ideas and daily events.

He visited me the second time in 1967, when he stayed for 3 months. We really got to know each other this time as we were together all the time. Herbert told me he would come back in a year. I was still very much involved with my Handelsakademie, which I wanted to finish successfully.

I should mention that the Handelsakademie finishes off with a Matura or Abitur, which means a written and oral exam of chosen subjects, mostly oriented in commercial fields, like a college. When I started the Handelsakademie, it had been increased from 4 years to 5 years. We were about 34 students starting out and, after five years, only 14 succeeded. I was one of them and very proud of my accomplishment. And I was in love. Herbert came while I was in the middle of studying for the final exams and then returned to Canada. I had assumed that he was going to hang around and stay until the end of my exams. He did not. He wanted me to come to Canada to see what it was like to live there. My parents did not approve of that.

I decided to go to Vienna, rent a room and work for an insurance company. I had an interview set up, a room almost rented and wrote all that to my beloved pen pal, Herbert. My parents insisted on reading that specific letter. The response to it was that Herbert called me by telephone and said he would come and we would get married in July 1968.

He came at the beginning of July. We went to Italy for 10 days holiday with my parents and brother and, on July 16, we got married in Oberpullendorf. Before we got married the Gemeindesekretär (municipal clerk), Herr Kovacs, told us that we had to go to Vienna to the Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court) so I would be allowed to get married. We had to pay 2000 Schilling for the permit. Today, interestingly enough, nobody believes us, when we tell that story. When we asked why we had to pay that money, which was about $100 Canadian, we were told that I was a taxpayer being lost or taken away.

At the Canadian General Consulate, I had a half-hour interview, half of it in English and half of it in French, which I passed with flying colors. Then I needed to get a lung x-ray for tuberculosis and only then I was allowed to immigrate on my own merit.

We got married in Oberpullendorf and, in August 1968, I entered Canadian soil in Montreal, where I saw the last remnants of the World Exhibition Habitat 67. Then we took the train across Canada to Edmonton where we lived then and still live today.

Read Part 2 - next month!

Bejegyeztetett az Allentown plébaniai hivatal által 1909 évi Januar hó 25 én Kelt házassági anyakönyvi Kivonatalapján

Registered by the Allentown parish office on 25 January, 1909 based on the marriage certificate.



Bejegyeztetett az észak Amerikában levo Boldogságos Szüz Mariáról Nagyasszonyáról nevezett plébaniai hivatal által Kiállitott és B. M. által Közölt házassági anyakönyvi Kivonatalapján.

Registered in North America by the Blessed Virgin Mary parish office and issued by B M. Published by the marriage certificate.

Joe Jarfas wrote: Indeed, Tom, you are not the only one who 'bypasses' those 'scratches' ...jam-packed, in tiny letters, on the long form! ;-) It's a pain in the butt to read them ...

The new pages started in 1907 but the problem with them is they left out crucial information compared to the old pages. But we do what we can to compile the missing information.

Since most (state) registrars used to be lawyers, their 'bureaucratese' shows! :-) I also have difficulty translating them! :-(

Bejegyeztetett az Allentovni plébaniai hivatal által 1909 évi Januar hó 25 én Kelt házassági anyakönyvi Kivonat alapján

Entered into this registry based upon an excerpted copy of the (Roman Catholic) parish marriage registry of Allentown dated 25 Jan 1909



Bejegyeztetett az Észak Amerikában levo Boldogságos Szuz Mariáról Nagyasszonyáról nevezett plébaniai hivatal által Kiállitott és B. M. által Közölt házassági anyakönyvi Kivonat alapján. (This is especially bad!!)

Entered into this registry based upon an excerpted copy from the (Roman Catholic) parish marriage registry of the Blessed Virgin Mary located in North America which copy was provided to and relayed by the Ministry of the Interior. (B.M. stands for Belügy Minisztérium = Interior Ministry.)

Why the vital records were entered into 'home' registries? Your first take is the main reason: Many people came out to make some money and to return, buy more land and live happily ever after. But there were other 'motivations' as well. The Hungarian Government—and the approved ministers of the churches (pretty much most all denominations)—were promoting the idea of not 'reneging' contact with the 'home' land and to give descendants an easier time to return, should they so desire (even the Communist governments followed this idea). 'Resettlement' is a long process (just like getting citizenship here): years of residency requirements, knowing the language, and doing lots of paperwork. But if one has registered his/her marriage here (actually anyplace in the world), the birth of their children—or even grand children—for them the resettlement is easy: they just point out their Hungarian registration and became citizens automatically.

With the establishment of the European Union (and getting access to the European labor market), many of these 'descendants' go through this arduous process to become 'European Citizens'—because their parents did not register them (I helped two Brazilian citizens to become 'Hungarian citizens' again). The same rules apply with the latest 'easier' requirements for Slovak Magyars, Romanian Magyars, Serbian Magyars, etc., to become Hungarian citizens also. If any one of the parents (or grandparents) was born in Hungary, he/she automatically becomes a citizen. The other half (and descendants) have to reside two years, take a test—and oath—before they become citizens.



I replied to Joe: Hi Joe, thanks for the translations and, even more so, for the explanation of why these recordings were done. I looked back and I see that I had mentioned the recent “loosening” of the citizen laws concerning “foreign” Magyars in newsletter http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/Newsletter/Newsletter209.htm#04 (April 2011). What I wasn’t aware of was that there were initiatives of this sort that went so far back! Again, thanks for taking the time to explain.



I wrote to the BB staff (actually, before hearing back from Joe, but this ordering works better for this article because it groups the conversations): Hi BB staffers, Joe Jarfas shared some “interesting” marriage records and proposed an idea for an article; I think it is a good one but could use your help in filling out the idea. What he noted, as you can see from his text below and the image he shared, were two marriages performed in the US but recorded in the Pinkamindszent registry. He suggests an article about this ‘transfer’ of records to the old country might be of interest.

For background, I’ll note that Fritz Königshofer has often mentioned US marriages, etc., being recorded in Burgenland records …but I’ve never noticed one. I suspect the reason I’ve not noticed these is that I’ve not explored the newer multi-events-on-one-page records as much as the older long-form records (my people were long gone and well settled in the US by the time such multi-forms were used)… and I suspect the US events are in the handwritten side text of the long forms, which are so much harder for me to decipher; I often only search out the names involved (if I even look at such text), so may not have noticed the location. (However, I have seen stuff like this in family records from regions my other ancestors came from).

I’m interested in your thoughts about the motivation behind recording such entries in the old country registries and any other thoughts you have on this general topic. Likewise, I’d be interested in other examples you have run across, be they birth, marriage, death or even side emigration notes. If you have images you can share, that would be great, though a verbal description will also suffice.



Margaret Kaiser wrote: I have seen these recordings often. They appear pre-1895 and post-1895. Actually, they are amazingly helpful. In the church records, the remarks are often in the right hand column where [other] remarks are found. Sometimes, notepapers are slipped between the pages with remarks. There are many of these entries in the post-1895 one-page records, where the form is generally not used and the remarks/text fill the inner left-hand-side blank part of the page. In the example given, you will find the location ("Allentown" here) in both the left-hand and on the right-hand column. Often the remarks are quite lengthy. Allentown area supplied many of these records. I've also seen Bethlehem, and most likely others.

I believe Fritz commented that the US church (possibly archdiocese or other) forwarded these records to the hometown church. Often these appear some years after the actual event, often grouped together, covering several years likely sent together. I would venture also that, alternatively, some entries were supplied by family members or friends in the hometown, who informed the authorities that their cousin, son, etc. had married in the US or elsewhere. You will occasionally see emigration date entries, but not that often.

It would take some time to assemble examples since I don't remember specifically who/where I have seen these, unless I browse various records for same. Hope this helps somewhat.

This information usually concerns Roman Catholic records. Off hand, I don't remember seeing this same type of recordings in the Evangelisch/Lutheran records, but I haven't looked at these lately with this concern in mind. US Lutheran records had many synods and these were separate synods.



Klaus Gerger wrote: Hi Tom, when you look at the Gerersdorf records... you can see red notes to the birth entries indicating a marriage in America. There are many of these in that book, but I do not remember seeing similar entries in the other books I research.

I gave it a try in Heiligenkreuz and found a single entry, but that was more difficult to spot. And also in Güssing I found some.



Fritz Königshofer writes: Tom et al, I have would have liked to find a person with the answer to the questions about these "foreign-origin" recordings. Foreign recordings might have been regimented when civil recording took over in Hungary in October 1895. Before civil recording, when the Churches were responsible, there apparently was little information exchanged over long distances, although the local parish (where the vital event happened) frequently mentioned the "origin" of a groom/bride/parent when this origin was not the local parish.

As for the rules that came with civil recording, the indications are that the reporting of foreign events happening to local people was mandatory or at least highly recommended. The responsibility for reporting the event may have rested with the people rather than the parishes. For example, in the case of a birth, the father or mother may have asked for a certificate which they then took with them, or mailed, to their local recording office in Hungary. There, the notary recorded the vital event as having happened to local people in a foreign country. Some notaries let the foreign reports accumulate until the end of the recording year, then entered all of them before closing the books for the year. On Joe's sample page, the registrar/notary appears to have recorded the events as they were received. The middle row is a fully local event where recording was more or less immediate. The first and third row report foreign events long after they took place, almost two years later in case of the first row.

It was likely in the mutual interest of Government and individuals and had to do with the concept of belonging, the predecessor of citizenship, and with the inheritance of property. Individuals belonged to a town. The town, in turn, provided resources like a poorhouse. If the birth was in wedlock, a newborn received the belonging from the father. In a wedding, the bride received the belonging of the groom. Towns could grant "belonging." My great-grandfather "belonged" to Neudau in Styria. After graduating from the teacher preparation school, the town of Olbendorf offered him a position including the required new "belonging." The next step was Hungarian citizenship. My other paternal great-grandfather was also a teacher, but belonged to Rechnitz and thus was already a Hungarian citizen. He never lived in Rechnitz again. However, all his children received through him a belonging to Rechnitz. When one of the daughters hopelessly failed in her life, she ended up in the poorhouse of Rechnitz. Therefore, my guess is that foreign event reporting was conducive to getting or keeping an official hometown, and make it easier to inherit property.

As Margaret mentioned, foreign events in the civil recording era were initially reported on the forms for local event reporting in prose without any regard for the entries on the form. Since I do not understand Hungarian, I used a similar method as Tom, scanning the entry with the eyes focused of finding the name(s) of the main actors. The record will typically say where the vital event was recorded. For this type of one or two pages recording in prose, the place had to be "foreign." This meant not only places in the USA or other far-away countries, but also places in "Austria" like Vienna, Niederösterreich (mostly near Vienna), or Graz. The one page forms (two pages for marriages) and prose for reporting foreign events were used from October 1895 till 1906. Starting in January 1907, reporting was streamlined by reducing the amount of recorded information and using a table format (rows and columns). From then onwards, foreign reporting used the same format as local reporting. Joe's page is a sample for the new forms and the unification of recording. When you look at the second page with the signatures of the notary and individuals, it has an additional explanation in prose. It would be good if one of the Hungarian speakers in our round could translate it. My guess is that the remark states that the official record of the vital event was made in the parish xxx town yyy in country zzz, and that the local record on the left page reflects the information in that official foreign-origin record.

I believe that vital events happening in the proper of Hungary were reported at that location without need for informing the home town, and thus with no recording there.

This is perhaps a good place to note that the fine-tuning of civil recording in 1907 also included adjustments in the location of recording places. Mostly, some additional new recording places were introduced and coverage adjusted. It would be expedient to slowly revise the civil recording places in our village list to reflect these shifts in the cases where changes occurred. For instance, Csörötnek became a civil recording district. Schachendorf (Csajta) received a civil recording office. Civil recording for Dürnbach moved from Markt Neuhodis to Schachendorf. Vaskeresztes (Grossdorf) lost its office which moved to Felsöcsatar (Oberschilding), but maybe kept the recording function for deaths (?). [Ed. Note: Per Fritz' suggestion, the edits listed above were made to our village pages.]

 

In investigated this further, I discovered that, quite logically, this recording in local records of foreign events is still being done... In fact, the webpage of the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, DC contains a link (to a page written in Hungarian) explaining how to do this for current marriages, births and deaths (see "6. Registration of vital statistics" on page http://washington.kormany.hu/consular). The Hungarian Embassy in London presents a corresponding English-language page at  http://www.mfa.gov.hu/kulkepviselet/UK/en/en_Konzuliinfo/registration_marriage_hu.htm.

Similarly, US citizens can register overseas marriages, etc. in order to have them be recognized for social security and tax purposes. Not surprisingly, almost every modern country appears to have analogous procedures. However, I could not find a specific page on the Austrian Embassy website describing the current Austrian procedures.



I personally perused the tabled civil marriage records (1906-1921) from Wallern and Halbturn in northern Burgenland. Interestingly, I found no US events in the Wallern records and only one in Halbturn's, a 1911 marriage in NYC where only one set of parents resided in Burgenland. This was found mixed into the local events but delayed about two years. Both villages had many records of marriages that were celebrated in Wien and a few from elsewhere in Austria, but none from any foreign country. I'll speculate that this lack of foreign events might relate to the fact that emigration from the north tended to occur much earlier (1880's) and tended to be by whole families, logically with no intent to return, thus no need to preserve a link to the old village during this later period.

Emigration from southern Burgenland tended to be more recent and tended to have more of the "seasonal" type workers who were in the US to make some money but intended (at least initially) to return to Burgenland.

I'd also speculate that reporting of such foreign events are likely to be clustered into particular villages since, if one ex- village member reported an event, it likely encouraged other members to do the same.



Lastly, I discovered a webpage about British Births, Marriages and Deaths Overseas. While this is not directly applicable to Burgenland records, it shows the extent to which the British government went in tracking vital events in foreign lands that involved British citizens. One can probably assume Hungary and Austria did something similar.

In total, it appears these entries were inconsistently made but were not infrequent. When they exist, they provide useful information—information possibly not available in US records—that the event occurred and that the individual or couple involved may have intended to return to Burgenland or may have been heir to property in Burgenland. Sources for the information appears to be the couple or their friends or family, the churches, and even the government through its consular channels.