^{The News}
Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History

Visit to North America by the Bishop of the Eisenstadt Diocese:

Ellis Island Museum Reopens:

It was thought that some of the soldiers of fortune who fought with the local forces against the Turks in the southern Burgenland area in the late 1600's were given land as part of their payment and settled down in the area. This might be the case with Gilly's, who are thought to perhaps be the descendants of soldiers of fortune from Ireland.

Looking through our BB houselist data, I see that the surname GILI was present in Neustift bei Güssing during 1669-1699 and variations GILLI and GILLY were present in Kukmirn, Tobaj, Heiligenkreuz and Deutsch Tschantschendorf in the 1850s houselists. The current Austrian phonebook still yields 2 GILLI surnames in northern Burgenland and 10 GILLY surnames in southern Burgenland."



Meanwhile, the BB staff was helping Peter Bach work through some of his family history, which involved his grandmother, Caecilia Gibiser, born 1885 in Kukmirn. Peter had an official extract (dated 1900) from the Kukmirn birth register that showed she was born illegitimate, but then officially legitimized when her natural father, Ferencz Gibiser, married her mother in 1887. Interestingly, the mother's name was Teréz Gilly from Zahling. We didn't know that at first because the English translation Peter had done showed her last name as Tilly. Peter suspected Tilly was wrong, so he both checked the German document and sent a copy to me; we both read it clearly as Gilly, not Tilly (and the Tilly surname is not present in Burgenland, but Gilly is, as shown above in my comments from last month).

Having ascertained that the mother's surname is Gilly, this brings into play Bob Strauch's italicized paragraph above... it may be that Peter, through his great-grandmother, Teréz Gilly, carries Irish blood by way of Burgenland! How is that for an interesting twist?



The story does not stop here but I will, instead, take it up at the end of Article 5, "The Right of Domicile," presented later in this newsletter. Caecilia's birth record carries another twist, which directly applies to the content of Article 5. However, you need to read that Article before I explain Caecilia's issue so you will understand the "twist".

In addition, Peter shared some other documents that relate directly to Article 5... I'll speak of those documents also at the end of Article 5... see you there!

A Follow-up to "Mein Tagebuch, 5-20 Sept 1983, Part II": In this article from last month, author Fred Schneidinger mentioned a "fund" and a "letter" that were part of a family mystery. I speculated that "...the 'fund' would likely be a 'Fund,' i.e., a 'finding'" and that it "...was an old letter that once conferred nobility on earlier family members." I noted that if anyone could shed further (or better) light on this mystery, Fred would be interested in hearing what you think.

In response, Stephen Dikovics wrote to say: Hi Tom, When you mentioned an "old letter that once conferred nobility" it reminded me of something similar that I learned of when doing my family history research.

My Grandmother's brother, Geza Eles, came to the U.S. around 1948. Sometime in the early 1990's, I found an old letter he had sent to my parents and I managed to find him in the Cleveland area and converse with him. He provided me with a copy of a document which he said he had always carried with him. It was basically a listing of all Eles family members going back to 1606! The really interesting part is that it begins with Istvan Bocskay (Bocskai) conferring some level of nobility upon Marton Eles. Bocskay was a Hungarian nobleman and Prince of Transylvania. More than likely, Marton had served in the military under Bocskay and had earned some sort of honor. Anyway, Geza told me that it was common to carry copies of this ("letter"?) with you as you traveled throughout Europe so people you came in contact with knew your status. I took his statement to mean that it was important to maintain a certain class status and respect, and that this paper document was evidence to others.

So perhaps that may be the same type of letter or document that Fred's relatives may be trying to convey to him, now lost over the years but still in their memories.

Best regards, Steve Dikovics




A Follow-up to "A Curious Grouping of 'Relatives'” 

Richard Potetz wrote to say: I see from A Curious Grouping of “Relatives” that I’m not the only one that has ancestors with puzzling relationships listed in the destination column of passenger manifests. I suspect the term uncle was also used for the uncle of a parent, spouse, or even an uncle that a sibling acquired through marriage. There was no reason to lie since those manifests have lots of examples identifying a friend as the immigrant’s destination contact.

Thank you too for the update on the Burgenland Catholic Diocese Digitization Project. I’m sorry to see it has been delayed though. Whenever it does become available, I’ll get involved; I already have a list of questions and records to look for. Richard




Hungarian Christmas Bazaar 2013: The Women's Club of Bethesda (5500 Sonoma Road, Bethesda, MD) is holding a Hungarian Christmas Bazaar on Saturday (1 - 7 pm) and Sunday (11 am - 5 pm), November 2 & 3.

They advertise it as "Great Hungarian Meals - Desserts - Pastries - Wine - Salami - Sausage - Christmas Candy - Folk Art - Crafts - Christmas Cards - Books - Raffle."

On Saturday at 3 pm, they will have a Scout Program, followed at 4 pm by Táncház.

On Sunday at 1 pm, it features opening speeches followed by the Tisza Ensemble and Fényes band for some folk dances and music; another Scout Program is at 3 pm.

For more information, contact Zsuzsa Takács at 301-907-8038 or Krisztina Hargitai at 703-589-3522.




Burgenland Air Quality: The Burgenland government automatically posts new air quality reading every half hour to page http://www.luft-bgld.at/Messwerte.html. As an example, the readings below were from earlier this month.

As you will see, none of the reporting stations comes anywhere near exceeding any of the limits except for particulate matter (PM10: very fine dust / soot / smoke). I'll comment more on PM10 below, after you have a chance to look at the numbers.

Definitions:
HMW     : half hourly average value        
HMWmax  : maximum half-hourly average value of the last 24 hours
MW01    : hourly average        
MW01max : maximum hourly average value of the last 24 hours
MW8     : moving eight-hour averaging
MW8max  : maximum moving eight-hour average of the last 24 hours
MW24    : moving 24-hour average
**      : no current reading (blank indicates not measured at that station)

PM10 levels are a European-wide problem and reduction efforts have been targeted in Austria since 2005. Not surprisingly, the most important source of particulate matter is emissions from road traffic (exhaust fumes and tire, brake and road particles). In certain areas, commerce and industry contribute but an important additional source for the formation of particulate matter are gaseous precursor substances, such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and ammonia, that can be transported large distances (500 km and more). Thus, while Austria can address and reduce local sources for PM10, reduction of the supra-regional sources require European-wide cooperation.

Nonetheless, my congratulations to Burgenland, both for transparently sharing this information with its citizens and for the air quality provided!




Burgenland Recipes: We continue with recipes reprinted by permission of the Austrian Donau Club in Connecticut. Our thanks to Dennis Kern, President of the Club, and to Hildegard Kohlmann, who provided this recipe! Burgenland deserts, especially strudels, were a favorite of Gerry Berghold, so I'm guessing he is smiling in his grave over this one!



WALNUT AND POPPY SEED STRUDELS  (from Hildegard Kohlmann)

1/2 c. granulated sugar     2 pkg. active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt                 1/4 c. warm water (105° to 115°F)
1/4 c. butter or margarine  2 eggs
1 c. hot milk               4 1/2 c. unsifted all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. butter, melted (for later)

Prepare dough: Stir sugar, salt, and 1/4 cup butter into hot milk. Cook to lukewarm. Sprinkle yeast over warm water in large bowl; stir to dissolve. Stir in lukewarm milk mixture; add 2 eggs and 2 1/2 cup flour. Beat at high speed with electric mixer 2 minutes. With wooden spoon gradually beat in remaining 2 cups flour. Knead with hand until the dough is stiff enough to leave the side of bowl. Place dough in lightly greased large bowl. Turn dough over to bring greased side up; cover with towel. Let rise in warm place (85° F.) free from drafts until double in bulk - about 1 hour.

Nut Filling:

3 eggs                          1/3 c. butter or margarine,
4 c. (1 lb.) walnuts,             melted
  ground or finely chopped      1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. light brown sugar, packed

In medium bowl, beat eggs slightly; add nuts, brown sugar, 1/3 cup butter, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir filling to blend well.

Poppy Seed Filling:

1/2 lb. poppy seeds, ground     Dash of cinnamon
1 c. hot milk                   1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. lemon rind, grated     2 to 3 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. raisins                  1 egg white

Cook poppy seeds in milk for 2 to 3 minutes; stir. Mix with lemon rind, raisins, cinnamon, sugar, and butter. Cool.
(Or buy one can of Solo Poppy Filling. One 12 1/2 ounce can will fill half of the dough; it is very good.)

Make rolls: Punch dough down. On lightly floured surface, turn out dough; cover with bowl. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll out 1/2 of dough about 15 inches wide and 20 inches in length. Spread with nut filling. Starting from the wide side roll up tightly, jelly roll fashion; seal by pinching edges to dough with fingers. Roll back and forth so that roll is even all over. Put on greased jelly roll pan.

Repeat with poppy seed filling and remaining half of dough, place next to first half; let both rise in warm place (85° F.) covered with towel, free from drafts, until double in bulk - 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Brush rolls with 1 tablespoon melted butter each. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until golden. Cool on wire rack.



Plum Dumplings Recipe Follow-up: Bonnie Lackner Schantzenbach, in a message titled "Please send thanks to Dennis Kern/Marilyn Miller" writes:

Dear Tom: Thanks so much for publishing these recipes. I was very excited to see the recipe for the plum dumplings. They look exactly like the ones my Grandmother used to make and I did not have the recipe. Thanks so much. Bonnie

So, Dennis and Marilyn (and your other recipe authors), on behalf of Bonnie and all of us in the BB, thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes!



I'll also note that I had written to Bonnie to thank her and to say I would include her message in the next newsletter (i.e., this one), to pass along her thanks. Further, I told her that that newsletter would have strudel recipes: "...walnut and poppy seed. Yummy!"  She replied:

Yummy is right! My grandmother used to make both walnut and poppy seed. Then she made a real thin dough and filled it with either turnip, cabbage, cherry, apple, or cottage cheese. Oh, it is morning and now I am very hungry.

She used to make a dark bread that I am so hungry for but cannot find the recipe. It was so soft in the inside but with a thick crunchy crust. My dad and I used to fight for the ends. It was dark wheat and had larger air holes then most breads. It was so good to smell the bread when it was baking and we couldn’t wait until they came out of the oven.

I had to smile at the "Oh, it is morning and now I am very hungry" line (her message was time-stamped 8:12 am), but strudels can do that.

Of further interest was her description of this dark-wheat, airy, crunchy-crusted bread. I looked through old BB Newsletters for a recipe but did not find one. Thus I ask you readers, if you recognize this bread, to share your recipe with me. I'll publish it for Bonnie's benefit, as well as for the rest of us!

(By the way, given Bonnie calls it a "dark bread," I assume it must have some rye in it, as I can't imagine wheat alone being described as "dark." Another thought, though, is that it may contain dark molasses or honey that is allowed to caramelize as it bakes, thus giving a dark color.)




Genealogical Tidbit of the Month:

Where does the word genealogy come from?

Wikipedia gives this:
     From the Greek: γενεά genea, "generation"; and λόγος logos, "knowledge".

Thus, knowledge of the generations... make sense to me!
 

I have not been able to find the place "Raaba Batthyán". It must be located near Jormannsdorf and Neumarkt an der Raab (Burgenland / Styria / Hungary), arguably one of Count Batthyány's possessions. Which parish? Seeking the death record of Joseph Eisenbach, who could have died there.

Margaret Kaiser had passed on the above note to me, asking if I had any idea about what he seeks. I replied to Margaret, who passed it on to Albrecht:

The only thing that makes any sense is a reference to the Batthyány castle at Körmend. It abuts the Raab River (in fact, a pond on the property was formed by cutting off a loop in the Raab). There was no city with a name like this and no other Batthyány seat was near the Raab.

The Eisenbach name appears upriver in Szent Götthard. However, according to gazetteers, there was no Eisenbach village, so Josef “von” Eisenbach makes no sense in reference to a place (at least in the 1800s or later).

Meanwhile, Margaret had consulted with another BB staff member, who replied:

Google Rababattyan. Lies in E. Vas Megye, between Sárvár and Celldömölk. May have been absorbed by another village.

Albrecht then replied to Margaret:

I write to you directly because my question is on something Mr. Steichen said:

First let me thank you very much for the information. Of course it could be Körmend. But I have to do my maths on the travel distances. I have a manuscript of memoirs of Josef von Eisenbach in my hands and try to figure out the mentioned places. Josef is a son of the 1789 enobled Augustin von Eisenbach, and his sister Maria married Franz Count Batthyány of Jormannsdorf. Josef travels between several Batthyány estates, one he always names as Raaba Batthyan, which very well could be Körmend. Is there a way to check if he died there? Do you know which parish that would be?

But Mr. Steichen mentioned Szent Götthard! I am researching the whole Austrian Eisenbach family. As far as I know, there were some Eisenbachs there, but I have no further information about this branch of the Eisenbach family. Does Mr. Steichen know more about this? What would be a source?

I know of an Augustin who was "Seifensieder" there and his sister Katharina married 1817 "Franz Piber, Bäcker in St. Gotthard in Ungarn". They would be relatives of the above named Josef, but were not of the enobled branch.

Anything helps! Thank you very much.

At this point, I replied directly to Albrecht (copying Margaret):

Greetings Albrecht (and also Margaret),

If you go to link surname=eisenbach birth_place=vas, hungary, collection_id=1743180 you will find it shows at least two Eisenbach families in Szent Gotthárd. This is my sole source of information (but, as Margaret suggests, the full microfilms will likely reveal more entries there).

As for Körmend parish, it is itself. See Hungary, Vas, Körmend for a listing of Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Civil and Military records available for there. Death records (except for 1895-1920) are not online so one would need to check the microfilm.

As for a place “Raba-Batthyán,” at least two online genealogies make mention of it, both being tied to noble family lines. See:

http://users.telenet.be/JoseVerheecke/link/afstamming/Bathori.txt

http://patricus.info/Rodokmeny/Barbo.txt

As for the place “Rababattyan” near Sávár found via link placeId=8156785, this is a “Geo location” that points to a small patch of trees between empty fields. There is no village that might have been incorporated into another.

Lastly, distances... Jormannsdorf to Sávár is about the same as to Körmend (73 km versus 65 km—and 61 to Szt Gotthárd). While not short distances by 1800 standards, these could be easily traveled in a day by horse carriage.

As Margaret suggests, one tool we have is to publish a question in our newsletter and open it up for answer by our 2000+ members. Often, there is at least one person who has researched the same obscure place name! We could try that with "Raaba Batthyán" if you so desire.

Albrecht replied, expressing interest in taking up my offer of posting his question:

Greetings to you as well, Tom,

Thank you for all the information. It is a pity that these records cannot be researched online. This is only starting, but up to now only for some parts of the Czech Republic, Lower and Upper Austria and Vienna.

If you could post my Raba Batthyán question in a newsletter that would be very helpful; thank you for the offer. If anyone has researched the family Eisenbach, I would be happy to get in contact with that person.

With research on microfilm, I have no experience (and in the end no time). I am recently in Sweden and have not yet built up my infrastructure.

Yours, Albrecht Zimburg

Thus we have two questions for you, our readers:

1) Are you familiar with a place once known as "Raaba Batthyán" (or something quite similar)?

2) Have you performed research on the Eisenbach surname or ran across it your research in the greater Burgenland area?

If so, please contact me and I'll pass along your note to Albrecht. Thanks!

Hi Peter, The documents you sent arrived today. In looking them over, I would say that the mother is recorded as Teréz Gilly, not Tilly.

Now for a slightly weird thing… the mother is listed as living in Zahling (Kis Körtvéyes) and the birth record is listed in the Kukmirn (Kukmér) records. However, Zahling Lutherans had their parish in Eltendorf (Körtvéyes), not Kukmirn. Normally, such a birth should be in the mother’s parish, Eltendorf in this case. Eltendorf is just 1.3 miles from Zahling while Kukmirn is 4.4 miles, so it would be much easier to get to Eltendorf.

So why is the birth recorded in Kukmirn? If Teréz was working in Kukmirn (or near there), then the birth might be recorded there, but it also should be recorded in the proper parish, Eltendorf. However, the document gives Zahling as the mother’s place of residence, not Kukmirn, so it seems she was not living in Kukmirn.

I wrote the above note before I researched the official rules about the "right of domicile." Given those rules, and assuming the birth was properly recorded in Kukmirn, this implies that Teréz Gilly held a "right of domicile" in Kukmirn (or elsewhere in that parish), despite residing in Zahling in the Eltendorf parish!

What this tells Peter is that he should look for Teréz Gilly's birth in Kukmirn parish rather than Eltendorf parish.

Adding support for this research strategy is the fact that our late 1850's houselists (the time period Teréz would have been born) show most Gillys being in the Kukmirn parish, as 4 of the 5 listed villages, Kukmirn, Tobaj, Deutsch Tschanchendorf and Neustift bei Güssing, are in that parish; the other, though, is Heiligenkreuz in Eltendorf parish.



The other documents that Peter sent to me (or has in his possession) are also of interest in the context of right of domicile and citizenship and help tell an interesting story.

I'll first repeat what we know about Caecilia before I continue: she was born in Sept 1887 and, in July 1900, at age 14, obtained an official copy of her birth record for some then-unstated purpose.

The next bit of evidence we have comes from what Peter wrote to me and a document he shared. He wrote (in part): "On the other side of the document [the birth record] that you have, it appears she renounced her citizenship in 1904 and that [renouncement] was granted later in 1904. Is that assumption correct?"

My interpretation of the mentioned document agrees fully with Peter's: Caecilia asked to revoke her Hungarian citizenship in 1904 (at age 18) and that revocation was granted on August 29, 1904. However, also on that document is what appears to be an address: Gerichtsbergen #32, Fürstenfeld (Austria).

The next bit of evidence comes only from what Peter wrote to me: "I have another document labeled RIGHT OF DOMICILE, dated 15 July 1910 which certifies CACILIE GIBISER as domiciled in Furstenfeld as a Kindergarten teacher."

So, at age 24, Caecilia is a teacher in Fürstenfeld in 1910 and has been granted a right of domicile.

We move on: Peter also writes of a 1913-dated document he has, "...which is a request to the Motherhouse of Deaconesses to leave the Kindergarten Zion Community Berlin to get married. Request approved."

Next, we have an Ellis Island passenger manifest, dated Oct 6, 1913 and showing the arrival of Cilly Gibiser, age 27, born in Zahling, single, a teacher, with last place of residence being Berlin, and listing father Franz Gibiser of Fürstenfeld, Austria, as next of kin. (Also on the ship is her husband-to-be, who she marries the next day, Oct. 7th!).

So what does all this tell us?

Although one cannot know for sure, reasonable conjectures are possible. The 1900 request for an official birth record, coupled with the 1904 renouncement of Hungarian citizenship and the Fürstenfeld address on that document, the 1910 "right of domicile" in Fürstenfeld, and the 1913 indication (from the passenger record) that her father lived in Fürstenfeld at that time, suggest strongly that Caecilia (and likely her whole family) were moving from Hungary to Austria in 1900 or shortly thereafter. She would have needed evidence of Austro-Hungarian birth to make the move, thus the birth record. By 1904, she (and likely her whole family) had decided to make Austria their official home, thus she revoked her Hungarian citizenship as a necessary step in receiving Austrian citizenship. Given the address on the citizenship revocation document and the subsequent documents, one can reasonably assume she (and likely her whole family) was (were) living in Fürstenfeld at that time.

Between then and 1910, she evidently trained as a teacher and, upon taking a teaching job in Fürstenfeld, was granted a "right of domicile" there, a privilege often granted to teachers at all levels (but required by law for university teachers).

By 1913, she was in Berlin (Germany) as a kindergarten teacher in what appears to be a religious-based community environment. One might reasonably conjecture that her teacher education was provided by a religious order and that she was considering taking vows in that organization. Clearly, she required a "release" from the community to get married, so it appears she had made at least some preliminary commitment to a religious life.

Nonetheless, by 1913 she had decided marriage was what she wanted and she and her husband-to-be, after her release from her religious commitment, departed Berlin and traveled together to the US (destination Saginaw, MI), getting married immediately after landing in New York. Quite the story, yes?

Woven throughout this story is evidence of how citizenship and the right of domicile played out in the 1900-1913 era. Caecilia required proof of Hungarian home rights and citizenship to move, had to revoke Hungarian citizenship to become an Austrian citizen, and obtained new home rights (right of domicile) via a teaching job. One would assume her father (and other family) eventually also acquired such Austrian rights according to the process the laws allowed, however we have no documentation for that.

I thank Peter Bach for sharing this interesting set of documents!