|
The
|
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 326 December 31, 2021, © 2021 by The Burgenland Bunch All rights reserved. Permission to copy excerpts granted if credit is provided. Editor: Thomas Steichen (email: tj.steichen@comcast.net) BB Home Page: the-burgenland-bunch.org BB Newsletter Archives: BB Newsletter BB Facebook Page: TheBurgenlandBunchOFFICIAL Our 25th year. The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter is issued monthly online. The BB was founded by Gerald Berghold, who died in August 2008. |
 |
| Current Status Of The BB: * Members: 3093 * Surname Entries: 9035 * Query Board Entries: 5874 * Staff Members: 13 |
This newsletter concerns: 1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER 2) THE YEAR IN REVIEW: ORGANIZATION 3) THE YEAR IN REVIEW: NEWSLETTER 4) ETHNIC EVENTS 5) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) |
1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen)  A
Happy 2022 To You!This annual, abbreviated, year-end review and summary report newsletter is provided to gather together information about the BB organization and its newsletter during 2021. Our regular essays and features return next month, however, our sections reporting Ethnic Events and Burgenland Emigrant Obituaries are included in this edition. Again, we thank you, our members and readers, for your interest in the history and genealogy of the Burgenland and wish you great joy during this holiday season and many successes in the new year. And, to the BB Staff, I extend my personal thanks for all you do, as well as thanks from the membership. You are always helpful and knowledgeable! I'm wishing you well in this holiday season and in the new year to come! May it be much better than the last few years!  Check, Update E-mail Address: This is a new, now-regular feature of my year-end BB wrap-up newsletter: an annual request that you review your e-mail address on our pages and, if it is no longer correct, that you send in a correction using the BB's Change Form found here: the-burgenland-bunch.org/change. Your e-mail address is the only way other BB members (even BB staff) can contact you; if it is invalid, you may as well not bother to list your family data with us. The Change Form also allows you to update your other information... but the starting point is a valid e-mail address, so please check it! How do you check it: Go to our Members Pages at the-burgenland-bunch.org/Members, select the correct section of the alphabet, find your entry in the alphabetical listing, then click your name; that should open a blank e-mail with your e-mail address on the "To:" line. If the listed address is obsolete/wrong, copy it then go to our Change Form and paste that wrong address into the 3rd box on the form (we want the wrong address so we know we are fixing the right problem!). Then fill out at least boxes 1, 2 and 4, answer the "human-verification" question at the bottom of the form, then click the "send" button. We'll take care of the rest!  Burgenland Church Records:
The long-awaited Eisenstadt Diocese Church Records website opened in late December 2018, sort of as a
Christmas present to the world... but three years later it remains a rather incomplete site. When it opened, it held digital
images of the records for 58 of the 172 parishes in the diocese. During its first two years of for-pay operation, 11
parishes were added, bringing the count to 69 available parishes. Over the most recent year, an additional 10 parishes were
added, so now the total is 79 parishes... but that leaves 93 parishes unavailable and, at the initial three-year-average
rate of additions, it projects to be another 13 years before the project is complete. Sigh! The German-language website (still the only version) is here: matriken.at, with a list of available parishes at: https://matriken.at/node/24. These pages (and a few others) can be viewed without a paid subscription, but you must subscribe to view actual images. One thing I noted when reviewing the "free" pages for this note was that an addition was made to the fee schedule. In the past, the 15-day, 3-month and one-year subscriptions were limited, respectively, to downloads of at most 15, 50 and 200 images (but you could view an unlimited number with any subscription). Now it is possible to purchase additional downloads at rates of 15 images for €3, 50 images for €8 and 200 images for €34. However, there remains an admonition that "Download of complete matrices is forbidden!"  Corona Virus in Burgenland:
There are a number of Corona-in-Burgenland-related topics worth mentioning this month.First, back in November, Burgenland announced a "vaccination" lottery intended to encourage people to get vaccinated. Among 1,000 non-cash prizes there were four new cars, but all prize awards were dependent on at least 10,000 more Burgenländers being vaccinated. Within the first month, 12,911 "new" vaccinations were administered and, so far, two of the cars, a Hyundai Ionic and a Mini Cooper convertible, have been awarded. The winner of the third car, a VW Golf GTI, has been chosen and will soon take delivery. There remain a house, an electric car, a kitchen, and many smaller prizes to be won. Provincial Councilor Schneemann said, "I congratulate all the winners of the vaccination lottery. In reality, however, we all won in Burgenland, so my thanks go to all those who have already been vaccinated. To all those who have not yet decided, I would like to say: Please get vaccinated – especially now, when we already have to expect an Omikron wave."  Second, as I reported last month, Burgenland is in the midst of a 22-day Corona lockdown that closed all hotels, restaurants, bars, museums, Christmas markets and cultural facilities, as well as trade (except shops for vital daily needs). Per an earlier order, unvaccinated/unrecovered (i.e., non-2G) individuals were confined to their homes except for essential needs. However, Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein recently announced a partial lifting of the lockdown for non-2G individuals in that they would be allowed to participate in family celebrations of at most 10 individuals on December 24, 25 and 26, as well as on 31 December. Individuals with 2G proof could gather in groups up to a maximum of 25 people. Apart from the days mentioned, the existing measures continue to apply. Mückstein stated that "We have to make Christmas possible in a family setting... I cannot and will not rule anything out for January, but I can assure you that we will monitor the situation very closely." Third, Burgenland was considering new, stricter entry rules for arrivals from Great Britain. The new entry regulation was to be based on the recommendations of the EU disease authority, ECDC, however, I was unable to determine if this change took place. For now, I'll note only the above and suggest it may prove to be a foreshadowing of stricter rules for all movement into Burgenland. What I can confirm is that the general entry rules for Austria require what they are now calling 2G+ proof... that is a vaccine certificate or acceptable proof showing: - a completed two-shot course of vaccination within the last 270 days plus a Covid PCR test or a booster shot; - a single J&J shot within 270 days (but only until January 3rd), thereafter entry will also require a booster or a Covid PCR test (even if you are within a J&J 270-day window); - you have had COVID and have received one vaccination dose (proof of past infection required). - you have recovered from Covid within 180 days. For people arriving from the United Kingdom, a NHS email / text message that you tested positive is not considered sufficient. Travelers who show only a negative PCR test (not a vaccine certificate or proof of a past infection) are not allowed to enter Austria. Exemptions apply for Austrian citizens and those with residency in Austria, but they need to self-isolate for 10 days and can end such quarantine early with a negative test after 5 days. Lastly, I had also mentioned that Austria had decided to make vaccination compulsory, starting February 1, for anyone without a valid health exemption. According to the draft law, vaccination exemptions are to be issued by general practitioners and specialists, which has caused the Austrian Medical Association to fear that opponents of vaccination could exert pressure on doctors to issue inappropriate certificates. According to the Ministry of Health, a vaccination exemption may be issued: in the case of confirmed allergies to ingredients, up to six months after an organ transplant, up to three months after a stem cell transplant, in an acute relapse of a severe autoimmune disease, in children and adolescents under 14 years of age. In addition, pregnant women are initially exempt, but vaccination from the second third of pregnancy is expressly recommended. What has placed doctors in a difficult position is that the law also specifies high penalties for issuing invalid exemptions (often euphemistically called "certificates of convenience" or "courtesy certificates"). Thus the Medical Association is arguing that the draft law should be amended to centralize issuance of exemptions, making them more uniform and removing them from routine patient-doctor relationships.  The
Facebook Bunch (from Vanessa Sandhu): Greetings Burgenland Bunch! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday! We had a fun, festive time in our Facebook group this month. Lots of traditional music and recipes were shared, as well as lots of warm wishes from Austria and abroad. We have grown to an astonishing 1757 members this year. If we are still missing you, please come chat with us! facebook.com/groups/TheBurgenlandBunchOFFICIAL/ We enjoyed lots of beautiful music... although Christmas Day has passed, I like to think of Christmas as a season. I am still listening to my Christmas CD in the car. Please enjoy some of these lovely songs! Our first selection is courtesy of MV Stadtkapelle Güssing: Stille Nacht https://youtu.be/oQTBwjGucRw Member Janet Kroboth-Weber shared a great Advent concert from the parish in Güssing. It was nice to hear many of the songs my grandparents would play at their house around Christmas. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1241683032 Our own Alex Meixner performed a beautiful medley of “Leise Rieselt der Schnee / Heidschi Bumbeidschi” https://youtu.be/wj4u8ZAsdJQ. Alex also performed the “Schnee Walzer” https://youtu.be/s-14AKQRGng We had some nice discussions about St. Nikolaus and the Krampus, and talked about Christmas Eve legends involving talking animals. We shared recipes and memories of our families. Member Sandra Simon Perkin shared a link to a great website showcasing Austrian delicacies. You can view it here: austria.info/en/things-to-do/food-and-drink/recipes Members Fred Knarr and Terry Gabriel Hurst shared modern-day photos of their ancestral family homes in Burgenland. Fred’s family hails from Neuhaus in der Wart. Terry’s family is from Woppendorf. We have one connection request this month. It comes from member Suzanne Salsbury Mooney. She is looking for information and old photos of the DULD family from Kukmirn. She writes “My great grandfather was Franz DULD born in 1861. His parents Franz born 1826 and Maria Ernst born 1828. His wife Theresia Braun born Rudersdorf 1865. Her parents Joseph Braun and Julia.” If anyone has any information or photos that they’d like to share, please contact me at HooftyRN@msn.com and I will be happy to connect you with Suzanne! I am wishing each and every one of you a very Happy New Year filled with lots of good health! Vanessa Words for Thought: Back in December 2014, member Nina Egert sent me an email with subject "Happy 12-13-14." She explained:
So, as one year ends and another begins, I say: use every day well as we’ll never have it again! |
 2)
THE YEAR-IN-REVIEW: BB ORGANIZATIONThe BB, as an organization, is alive and well, still attracting members, surnames, questions and even new staff members! The statistics below document the changes in each of these areas: 2021 Beginning Status Of The BB: 2,996 Members, 8,884 Surname Entries, 5,848 Query Board Entries, 13 Staff Members 2021 Ending Status of the BB: 3,093 Members, 9,035 Surname Entries, 5,874 Query Board Entries, 13 Staff Members 2020 Growth: 97 Members, 151 Surname Entries, 26 Query Board Entries, 0 Staff Members I'll point out the continuing decline in new message entries posted on our Query Board. We had just 26 posts this year (compared to 62 last year and the 100+ of most prior years) and I credit that to the increasing use of our Facebook page for this type of help. Our new Member growth is actually up this year but, as you will see below, we continue to experience a decline in visits to the BB website. Again, I'll credit that to our Facebook page being a viable alternative for active researchers. As for a Year-End Count of BH&R Honorees documented on the BH&R sub-site, the count last year at this time, was 25,010. Over this year the team added 677 honorees, raising the total to 25,687. My congrats to project leader Frank Paukowits and teammates Bob Strauch and Margaret Kaiser. As for a Year-End Count of BB Facebook Members, Vanessa Sandhu reported the current membership count as 1757, meaning that 246 members joined the Facebook page in 2021. This continues the slowing of growth (~16%) relative to the previous years: ~31% increase in 2020 versus ~51% in 2019, a result that is expected as a group matures. Still, my congratulations to the BB Facebook administrators and members for creating a welcoming and productive knowledge-exchange environment! As for Access to the BB website, a look at the Unique Visitors data shows that the number of visitors per month to the BB website has continued its decline of the past few years, a trend that I attribute to the availability and usefulness of the BB Facebook page. In 2020, we averaged 7,144 unique visitors per month. This year, it has fallen to an average of only 5,489 per month. As you can see from the chart on the left below, our average monthly visitation trend rose in years 2013 (the first year I recorded this statistic) to 2017, where it reached just shy of 9,000, and then began a decline. We affiliated to our current (much more active) Facebook page in 2016, which likely gave an initial boost to our website visits but has since, I surmise, proved to satisfy at least some of the research needs of visitors and caused them to forgo additional visits to the BB website. 
 Last year, I attributed some of the 2020 effect to the Covid pandemic. As you can see from the chart on the right above, monthly visitor counts to the website were surprisingly high in the early months of 2020 (which I attribute to people initially working from home, forgoing physical external social activities, and using us as an alternative social activity) and then settled down to a lower but fairly constant rate that continued into 2021. Only in mid-year 2021, when most pandemic restrictions were lifted, do we see the fall in visits that drove our overall 2021 decline in average visits. It is my expectation that these counts will flatten out to a new steady state, as we continue to provide useful information on the website that is not available from the Facebook page. We offer both resources because each does some things better than the other, they complement each other... and I do not see that changing. As for the other statistics that I have reported in past years, I have chosen to stop providing them. The reason for that is because the statistical data reported by our ISP (internet service provider) for such things has become largely irrelevant. The list of identified operating systems and web browsers has not been updated for many years (2008 is the last update) so does not allow us to observe accurately the services that you members are likely using. I have made educated guesses in the past few years but no longer wish to continue to guess how Windows 10 or Microsoft Edge, for example, might be counted (if at all); thus it is time to stop reporting such questionable data (and, yes, I have requested that the reporting software be updated but that request has, so far, been ignored).  About the BB Staff: As I have noted many times, the BB staff is a fluid collection of individuals who, over varying tenures, voluntarily give back to our community a bit of what they have learned while on their personal journey of family-history discovery. In an exceedingly rare circumstance, the BB staff membership has now stayed exactly the same for over two years running! The current 13 staff members remain: Tom Steichen, Klaus Gerger, Bob Strauch, Margaret Kaiser, John Lavendoski, Frank Paukowits, Alan Varga, Wilhelm Schmidt, Terry McWilliams, Johnny Santana, Patrick Kovacs, Vanessa Sandhu and David Hofer (listed in order of joining the staff). In addition, we remain blessed to have ongoing assistance of additional individuals who, though not on the formal staff, still provide regular service to the organization and its members. Current such individuals are Julia Szent-Gyorgyi (Hungarian transcriptions and translations) and the leadership of the BB Facebook page. I'll close this section by saying that the BB would not exist without the giving, knowledgeable people named above! My sincere thanks go to all our BB staff members and supporters, both former and current.  BB Website Events: Here are the more significant items from 2021: ►BH&R Milestone: In January, project leader Frank Paukowits reported that BH&R (Burgenländers Honored & Remembered) reached 25,000 honorees in its database. It is most appropriate that this accomplishment occurred in the 100th anniversary year of Burgenland becoming a province in Austria. ►DNA Project Milestone: February marked the 10th anniversary of the Burgenland DNA Project. When Frank Paukowits launched the project, it was a male-only Y-DNA project; in later years it incorporated mtDNA and autosomal DNA, opening it to all interested persons. ►House Number Translation Lists: We discovered in 2021 that the Kukmirn Translation List was incorrect. Rather than correlating/translating the 1850s-era house numbers (Konscription numbers) to current street addresses, we learned that our list correlated house numbers from a renumbering that took place in the 1936-1947 era (exact year unknown) to modern street numbers. Our replacement List now properly relates the 1857 house numbers to the modern street and orientation numbers... and, as a bonus, relates the 1936 and 1947 house numbers to street and orientation numbers too, as well as providing the names of owners in 1936 and noting where the 27 houses demolished by 1936 once stood. ► Vital Record Transcriptions on the BB Site: During 2021 we were pleased to add a number of vital record transcriptions to our collection. ■ Rotenturm an der Pinka: BB member Christian Saurer, who works for the Rotenturm municipality in the Oberwart district, with assistance from daughter Nicole, provided civil marriage records for years 1921-1945 for the Rotenturm an der Pinka (Vasvörösvár) civil recording district. This recording district also included the villages of Siget in der Wart, Spitzzicken and Jabing. Please note that the years covered are not available at FamilySearch, making this a rather special resource! ■ Sankt Michael im Burgenland: BB staff member Patrick Kovacs provided civil marriage records transcriptions for 1895 to 1921 for the Sankt Michael im Burgenland (Puszta-Szent-Mihály) civil recording district. This recording district also included the villages of Gamischdorf, Güttenbach, Neuberg, Rauchwart and Schallendorf, and, from 1895 through 1906, Deutsch Tschantschendorf, Kroatisch Tschantschendorf and Tudersdorf. ■ Großpetersdorf: BB staff member Patrick Kovacs provided a transcription of the Großpetersdorf (Nagy-Szent-Mihály, Nagy-Német-Szent-Mihály) Catholic marriage records for the years 1828 to 1895. The Großpetersdorf Catholic parish included itself and the villages of Jabing (before 1852 only), Kleinpetersdorf (after 1858 only) and Miedlingsdorf. ►Other Notable But External 2021 Events: ■ Burgenländische Gemeinschaft: I can't do a year-end wrap-up without acknowledging the significant change that took place this past year at the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft (BG). After working at the BG for 63 years, including 36 years as President, Walter Dujmovits announced his retirement. Eduard Nicka, a retired teacher, a member of the Burgenland parliament from Bad Tatzmannsdorf and a long-standing member of the BG board, was duly elected to replace him. We welcome Eduard and wish Walter a peaceful retirement. His many contributions to Burgenland emigrant history will not be forgotten. ■ FamilySearch: Announced in 2021 that they had completed the Digitization of their Microfilm Collection. That collection consisted of 2.4 million rolls of microfilm from over 200 countries and principalities in more than 100 languages. As a next step, FamilySearch will begin digitizing the 335,000 microfiches in its collection and will continue to capture digital images of additional original records.  ►"The Burgenländer
Emigration to America" (by Dr. Walter Dujmovits): As expected following the outstanding 2014 first-year sales of 763
copies of the book, the sales rate slowed but with a still encouraging 189 copies purchased in 2015, 163 in 2016, 111 in
2017, 129 in 2018, 105 in 2019, 101 in 2020, and now 59 in 2021. Current total sales is 1627 copies.As you may recall, the BB sells the book at its wholesale production cost of just $7.41 (plus any tax & shipping), as our goal is wide circulation rather than profit (we earn absolutely nothing from book sales but you get an inexpensive opportunity to learn about the forces that led your ancestors to leave their homeland). The book is the definitive history of the emigration of Burgenländers to the Americas, written by the leading authority on the subject. The BB remains pleased to have been instrumental in bringing this material to English-reading audiences and we recommend that you treat yourself to a copy, if you have not done so already... call it a late Christmas present for yourself! |
3) THE YEAR-IN-REVIEW: BB NEWSLETTER The newsletter had yet another productive year but, again, I am most proud of the contributions from BB members.  Member John Lostys provided two articles and non-members Louise Bugbee and Josef Muszits each provided one interesting article for your reading pleasure. As always, BB staff members provided ideas for articles or have had parts of their communications with members turned into reports or news items that I wrote. When totaled up over the ten full editions and one abbreviated edition published this year (counting this one as abbreviated), there were: ► 8 formal articles ► 10 "updated" historical BB Newsletter articles ► 66 news items ► 11 BB Facebook reports ► 12 "humor" or "thought" items ► 6 Burgenländische recipes ► 22 emigrant obituaries ► 47 ethnic events (none before June). As Editor of this newsletter, I know that providing a year's worth of articles would not have been possible without all the contributions of those I mention above. I am indebted to them and hope you have been entertained and enlightened by their efforts. Again, I say thanks to each and every one of them! The list below shows the breath and magnitude of a year of the BB Newsletter. If you wish to review any of them, click on the "(Month:Number)" link to go to the appropriate newsletter. Basic Information (Sep:323) A Curious Letter (Mar:318) Getting to Know Anna Laura (Louise Suppan Bugbee) (Aug:322) History, Decay and Reconstruction of St. Emmerich’s Church (Josef Muszits) (Oct:324) A Correspondent Writes about Covid (Oct:324) Updated List of Digitized Church Books (Matriken) (Nov:325) What Should We Believe? (Nov:325) Covid... and Travel To, Within and From Austria (by John Lostys) Member-Contributed Articles (Jan:316) An American’s First Time in Burgenland, Part II (John Lostys) Historical BB Newsletter Articles (Jan:316) A Name is a Name, Right? (Feb:317) Terms Zsellér And Coloni - Revisited (Mar:318) Resettlement of West Hungary, Post-1700 (Apr:319) Orphanage Near Kukmirn? (May:320) The Creation of the Burgenland (by Matt Boisen) (Jun:321) Member Research - Vienna (Aug:322) The 1646 Raid on Neumarkt an der Raab (by Richard Potetz) (Sep:323) BH&R-Based Research (Oct:324) Endonymic Minority Names in Burgenland (Nov:325) News of the Weird |
4) ETHNIC EVENTS January 1: Pork & Sauerkraut Dinner at the Lancaster Liederkranz. Accordion music by Don Bitterlich. Info: www.lancasterliederkranz.com January 9: Josef Kroboth Orchestra at the Coplay Sängerbund. Info: www.coplaysaengerbund.com January 14: Kermit Ohlinger at the Reading Liederkranz. Info: www.readingliederkranz.com January 15: Schweinshaxen- & Eisbeinessen at the Reading Liederkranz. Info: www.readingliederkranz.com January 16: The Jolly Bavarians at the Coplay Sängerbund. Info: www.coplaysaengerbund.com January 16: Schneeball at the Lancaster Liederkranz. Music by Maria & John. Info: www.lancasterliederkranz.com January 22: Schnitzelfest at the Reading Liederkranz. Info: www.readingliederkranz.com January 23: Emil Schanta Band at the Coplay Sängerbund. Info: www.coplaysaengerbund.com January 28: Kermit Ohlinger at the Reading Liederkranz. Info: www.readingliederkranz.com January 30: Dave Betz Band at the Coplay Sängerbund. Info: www.coplaysaengerbund.com |
5) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) (none) |
| END OF NEWSLETTER (Even good things must end!) |
NOTICE (Informal Terms and Conditions): The Burgenland Bunch (BB) was formed and exists to assist Burgenland descendants in their research into their heritage and, toward that end, reserves the right to use any communication you have with us (email, letter, phone conversation, data upload, etc.) as part of our information exchange and educational research efforts. ● If you do not want your communication to be used for this purpose, indicate that it is "confidential" and we will attempt to abide by that request. ● Correspondents who communicate with the BB without requesting confidentiality retain their copyright but give a non-exclusive license to the BB allowing us to forward to BB members, publish in our monthly newsletter or on our website, and/or subsequently and permanently archive all or parts of such communications. The formal Burgenland Bunch Website Usage Agreement can be found here: Agreement The Burgenland Bunch homepage (website) can be found at: the-burgenland-bunch.org Burgenland Bunch Newsletter, copyright © 2021 by The Burgenland Bunch All rights reserved. Permission to copy excerpts granted if credit is provided. |
News