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Burg
Was (Pinka)Óvár (old Hollókö), (Kroat: Porka); village in Oberwart district, Southern Burgenland.

Burg is a village close to the Hungarian border, the Pinka river is joined by the Tauchen river here, and the Eisenberg, a hill covered with vineyards which produce some of Austria's best red wines, adds to the beauty of the picturesque landscape. Small wonder that people have already settled here thousands of years ago. Of course the Romans have been here too - lots of archeological findings have been unearthed.

The German village name "Burg" translates to "castle", the Hungarian "Ovar" to "old castle". And a large castle must have been there indeed, but today nothing is left of it. The oldest document mentioning the village Burg dates from 1244. The Hungarian King Bela IV handed it over to the family of CSEM, who rebuilt the destroyed castle. They called themselves OVARI in later years, and Burg became the center of a small domain. In 1455 King Ladislaus V gave the domain Burg to the powerful warlord Andreas BAUMKIRCHER, who annexed it to his domain Schlaining. In 1517 the castle already was destroyed. The village suffered in 1532 during the Turkish siege of Güns (Köszeg).

The Urbarium of 1539 counts 8 half farms and one deserted farm. The owners of the half farms were Georg SZANKO, Matthias KISS, Simon KISS, Jakob KISS, Gregor MIHALKO, Georg LIENDL, Hanns SCHWIERER and Michael SAUER. The deserted farm had been owned by one Nikolaus KORNFEIND. Two mills also belonged to the village, one operated by Hanns MUHR, the other by Sebastian MÜLLER.

In 1544 the BATTHYÁNY family purchased the second half of the domains Schlaining and Rechnitz. They already owned the first half since 1527. So from 1544 onwards Burg was owned by the Counts Batthyány. Like most villages of our region, Burg suffered during the Bocskay uprising (1605-1606), so in 1609 it consisted of only about 6 farms.

Lutheran priests are known to have served here 1618-19 (Johann STURM), 1623-24 (Johann SUMMERAUER), 1649-52 (Martin SCHNAB), 1659 (Andreas BINDER). Lutheran ecclesiastical life came to an end ca. 1670. Most inhabitants probably remained hostile towards Catholicism, and so in 1697 the vicarage is reported to be in a bad condition. The church (St Andrew) is described as a small church built by the "old catholics" (ca. 15th century). In 1713 Archdean Scacchi reports that the church is empty and in an appalling condition.

In 1720 42 farmers lived in Burg. Baptism records of Hannersdorf parish start in 1721. In the years 1721-1730 they mention the following surnames for Burg: MUHR, BESENHOFER, GUTTMANN, DORNER, SCHMIED, SCHLÖGL, STEIRER, WACHHALTER, FORBERGER, SIMON, PFANDBAUER, WENDL, KOLLER, GABRIEL, DUNKL, MEISTER, STREMPFL, KREN, MAYER, DANKL, FELDHOFNER, ZOGMANN, TEUSCHLER, PFEFFER, WAMPL, HORVATH, POMPER, WEBER, PILLER, HUBER, PRANGL, JUGOWITSCH, HAISANI, LUTTENBERGER, WAGNER, DEUTSCH, KLEPITSCH, EBERHART and GREITNER.

In 1749 an Urbarium was compiled for one half of the village (owned by the so- called younger line of the Batthyány). The following farmers are listed: 7 MUHR; 6 STEURER; 4 GUTTMANN; 3 TASCHLER; 2 DORNER, SCHMIED; 1 MEIER, WOLLHALTER (WACHHALTER), SCHLEGL, KOLLER, BESENHOFER, AUGUSTIN, HORVATH, POMPER, STREMPFEL, WAMPEL (WAMSMACHER), FELDHOFER, FASZBERGER and GREUTER. Söllner names are: WAMPEL, POMPER, GUTTMANN, MUHR, PFEFFER, SCHMIED and SCHLEGEL.

According to the church records of Hannersdorf, members of the following families were buried as "acatholic" (Lutheran) in the years 1723-1750: GREITNER, WACHOLDER, LUTTENBERGER, SCHMIED, STEIRER, MUHR, POMPER, GUTTMANN, DANKL, WAMPL, HUBER, SIMON, ZOGMANN, STREMPFL, VORWÄGER, TEUSCHLER, DORNER, MEISTER, PFANDBAUER and MÜLLNER.

Teachers: Josef PETZ (ca. 1815-1828), Andreas PETRIKOWITSCH (until 1833), Matthias DECKER (1833-37; from Rust; was 58 y in 1836); Andreas DECKER, probably son of Matthias (1837-1867); Franz KAPPS (1874); Johann REINDL (1876); Julius GRAF (1880-1921; born 11th April 1858 in Olbendorf; married twice, 10 children).

In 1863 Burg was inhabited by 61 farmers and 19 lodgers ("Söllner"). Farmer names: 11 MUHR; 6 DORNER, BESENHOFER; 5 GUTTMANN, WACHHALTER; 4 STEIRER; 3 PILLER, FALLNBERGER, SCHMIDT, SCHLÖGL; 2 PRANGL, GRANTNER, POMPER, PFEIFFER; 1 KORNFEIND, WOPPEL, TASCHLER and MARTON. Söllner names: 4 MUHR; 3 GUTTMANN; 2 VORBERGER, SCHMIDT; 1 UNGER, BESENHOFER, DORNER, SCHLÖGL, KORNFEIND, WINDISCH, STEIRER and HOSTRITSCH.

More teachers: Adolf BURGER (1921-22; from Vienna); Josef RICHTER (1922-27; from Türnitz); Emmerich PAWETITSCH (1927-38; from Güns); Josef HASSLER (1938-41; from Hannersdorf); Alois NÄHRER (1941-44;45-46; from St. Georgen); Julius HASLER (1946-48); Franz REICHER (1948-54; from Kleinpetersdorf); Josef HANEL (1945-55; from Neumarkt bei Schlaining); Stefan DEUTSCH (1955-?).

Statistical data: 1833: 80 houses, 485 inhabitants; 1900: 92 houses, 542 inh. (8 Hungarians, 538 Germans, 3 Croats; 542 Catholics, 4 Lutherans, 3 Jewish); 1923: 447 inh.; 1951: 95 houses, 403 inh., all German and Catholic. [Note: In 1971 Burg became a part of the community Hannersdorf.]

Source: Dr. Josef Loibersbeck's series "Um den Eisenberg", published in "Volk und Heimat" 2-7/1967; summarized and translated by Albert Schuch 10 Nov 1999

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