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Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History

Here is info on Rainer’ ancestor from his tree:

Jean Vandame
Born: FRANCE or BELGIUM 1780
Died: Grafenschachen, Burgenland, AUSTRIA 1855

What Rainer emailed to me was:

"Another branch gives my family tree some kind of an international touch, as my four-times great-grandfather Jean VANDAME was born in today’s Belgium or France (in the church records he is described as 'Gallus vagus', i.e. a stranger from France). Here in Burgenland his family name was misspelled as Fontan."

Tom, you know I’m a history buff, so this sort of thing makes me wonder, and I’m stumped by what would bring Jean Vandame to Grafenschachen. We know France under Napoléon Bonaparte came to Austria as a conqueror and then married his Austrian second wife to cement his connection to the Austria-Hungary Empire (second wife was "Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, Imperial Princess of Austria, Royal Princess of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia.")

Napoléon Bonaparte controlled Austria/Hungary for such a short time, fighting against Austria about 1805 to 1809, then fully in control until 1813. The Sankt Martin a/d Raab local history book skips over him, going from a Maria Theresia section ending about 1768, directly to the section beginning in 1848 on "Die Revolution 1848."

I know the story about how Napoléon forced Graz to destroy their Imperial city fortifications, allowing only the clock-tower in exchange for a ransom. But I never heard anything about the Burgenland area being impacted. Have you encountered any stories about the impact of that short era?

I replied: Hi Richard, I did a bit of studying on old maps and known battles leading up to the Austrian surrender near Vienna (Wagram) in July 1809. It appears that Napoleon’s forces congregated south of the Danube, crossing the Danube to the southeast of Vienna, heading north. The French troops were there because they had come from a battle near Regensburg and went southeast to Enns then east toward Vienna (the main Austrian army took a more northerly route, ending up northeast of Vienna). Some of the French troops were sent down to Graz but later headed north-northeast toward Vienna and Raab (Györ). Other French troops headed directly toward Raab but then were recalled and joined Napoleon near Vienna. It seems clear that the troops who attacked Graz and Raab (both in June 1809) had to pass through or near Burgenland to get to Vienna, thus putting lots of French troops near or in Burgenland villages, especially in the north.

Without a doubt, French armies moved through Burgenland or were stationed there but no major battles were fought there. However, after the treaty, French troops were again stationed in and near Burgenland (at the resident’s expense, of course). Napoleon is known to have personally “inspected” troops stationed in Kittsee and Mosonmagyaróvár (which troops were also known to scavenge supplies from the surrounding area and, sadly, to rape the local women). Sopron was also “host” to 8000 French troops from May to November 1809 and it is said it took many years for the city to recover.

After sending that reply, I did further research. One thing I discovered was that there was a second French army fighting in northern Italy and that the "Armée d'Italie" was recalled to join the "Grande Armée" at Vienna to confront the main Habsburg army of Archduke Charles of Austria, brother of Emperor Francis I of Austria. Elements of the Armée d'Italie under Marmont were sent to Graz to attack there but the bulk of that army under Eugène proceeded by way of Körmend, Szombathely, Sárvár, and Pápa (all in Hungary), chasing the Armee von Innerösterreich under Archduke John, another brother of Emperor Francis I of Austria and Archduke Charles of Austria, which led to a confrontation at Györ (then called Raab). Marmont later proceeded directly to Vienna by way of Wiener Neustadt.

Although I have not found definitive maps of Marmont's movements, it seems probable that he traveled in or just west of Burgenland on his way to Vienna given that he is known to have gone through Wiener Neustadt. Eugène's route likely went through Burgenland in the Lafnitz valley to Körmend, before making its way north along the east side of Burgenland. Further, other elements of Napoleon's "Grande Armée" were headquartered in Sopron and joined in at Raab, which suggests strongly that those units passed through the Mattersburg or Eisenstadt districts of Burgenland. Finally, after the French victory at Raab, most of the French troops moved northwest along the southern bank of the Danube to Pressburg (Bratislava) and on to Vienna, thus cutting through the Neusiedl district of Burgenland.

A second thing I discovered was that one of the French generals in the Danube campaign terminating at Vienna was Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme! This surname is curiously close to that of Jean Vandame, the French ancestor of Rainer Saurer that motivated this article. Wikipedia reports that he was "a brutal and violent soldier, renowned for insubordination and looting. Napoleon is said to have told him, 'If I had two of you, the only solution would be to have one hang the other.' Napoleon added that he would give Vandamme command of the vanguard were he (Napoleon) to launch a campaign against Lucifer in Hell."

After the restoration of Louis XVIII of France in 1815, Vandamme was exiled to America and settled in Philadelphia with other exiled French military, but he was allowed to return to France in 1819. He died in his native village, Cassel, in 1830. Vandamme is one of the names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Given all this, Richard Potetz commented "We should be surprised Burgenland Bunch members don't have more of a French connection. And to think I was surprised that Rainer Saurer had a French ancestor." He also commented on General Vandamme, saying "It's no wonder Jean Vandame chose to live in Burgenland."

As for Vandame himself, it should be noted that he may have come to Burgenland for reasons that had nothing to do (at least directly) with Napoléon's armies. Richard points out that "when Jean Vandame was born in 1780, he could have lived in the Austrian Netherlands, moving to Grafenschachen within the same Empire. For that matter, when Napoléon took control of the Austrian Netherlands in 1809, he also controlled Grafenschachen, so again both places were ruled by one person. We are not surprised that, within the Roman Empire, Saint Martin of Tours was born in Szombathely and went on to live in France. Maybe we should not be surprised to find Jean Vandame living in Burgenland."

Lastly, I inquired of Frank Paukowits on whether he had found a noticeable strain of French DNA in the Burgenland DNA project. He replied, "As far as I can tell, there is no noticeable strain of French DNA in Burgenland. I'm sure that, given the historical events, somewhere there is French DNA present. However, you must realize that our sample, while significant at 130 participants, is relatively small, especially for detecting what I believe is the small amount of French DNA that is likely present in Burgenland. Compounding this is the fact that our sample draws far fewer people from the north, where the likelihood of French DNA would be more apparent."

Nonetheless, should you choose to have your DNA done and find a curious French connection, now you may know why!