THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 44
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY
(issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold)
September 30, 1998
(all rights reserved)

"No man is responsible for his father. That is entirely his mother's affair."
-Margaret Trumbull, Alabaster Lamps

This first section of the 3 section newsletter features the villages of
Neudauberg and Burgauberg, Translations of Latin Terms, Immigrant Language as
a Clue, Lost Village of Gschorrholz, More Terms, Burgenland Districts
(Bezirk) and Email Message from Heinz Koller in Güssing.

***NOTICE***NOTICE***
THERE WILL BE NO NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED OCTOBER 15
THE NEXT EDITION WILL BE DATED OCTOBER 31
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH OFFICE IS CLOSING FOR A LITTLE REST
Our circulation is now 222!


STAFF MEMBER NEWS

Ernest Chrisbacher has agreed to join the Burgenland Bunch staff as a
contributing editor. His specialty will be western Hungarian border
villages, particularly in the Bakony region immediately east of the Burgenland.
Ernest is preparing a data base of German-Hungarian families and villages in
the Bakony area.

Albert Schuch; Burgenland Editor, will not be able to receive email or answer
questions until further notice. Albert entered Austrian military service on
September 28 for 8 months of duty. He has our best wishes and we hope for a
speedy return to our staff. The good news is that Albert completed the Father
Leser Village Translations and they will continue to be featured in the
newsletter.


BURGENLAND VILLAGES (the Father Leser series, translated by Albert Schuch
-may be the earliest Burgenland document which shows your family name)

38) Neudauberg
South of Hackerberg. Always belonged to the Güssing domain, but to Neudau
(Styria) parish. The Urbar of 1693 for Neudauberg ("a Najgoj Hegyben") names:
TRAGNER, KAPFER, GASSNER, SCHALK (2 each), RUS, HOANDL, SPANNER, CSAR (1
each). For the "Bers Berg" area: SUMMER, BOLFART, KAUFMANN, CERFUSZ,
HAOFFNER, REICHHART, PIKKL, RING, PAJTER, ROART, POGER, SCHWARZ, NEUBAUER (1
each).

The Urbar of 1732 names the following "Neudauer-Bergholden"-families (i.e.
Söllner-families in the Neudau hills): POHLMLLEN (3), GOTTHARD, RESCH,
LASCHALT (2 each), RUISZ, BUMHALTER, GLATZ, PAUER, HABERSACK, KLAR, KNECHTL,
GOGER, FREYTAG, FRENZ, KUROKISCH, JANOSCH, HAMMER, CSAR, HALPER, SCHTTL,
WINKLER, PUIKL, GNOSER, FELKISCH, PFEIFER, TAUCHER. In 1750: GURTHET (3),
FREYTAG, POHLMLLNER, GOGER (2 each), SCHALK, PFEIFFER, FELKISCH, SCHUTZL,
GRLL, RATH, PROMISLER, HERBST, GRUMHOLZER, REYSMUTH, CSAR, HABERSACK,
BAUMGARTNER, WOLF, FUX, REICHL, HAMMER, KNECHTL, LASCHALT, PUIKL, TAUCHER,
BREINER, GARTNER, RESCH, HARMANN, LUIFF, GLATZ.

Has a school since 1878, built by the Hungarian government. [Note: Obviously
the government didn't like to see Hungarian pupils attending Styrian (in this
case: Neudau) schools.] Teachers: Georg KUNTSCH (1878-1913), Alexander GRAF
(1913-1918; lost his job because he supported the Communists in 1918), Julius
NEMETH (1918-19), Artur ZANYI (1920-21), Josef SCHWEIFER (1922), Adolf
WERTSCH (1924-), second teacher Elise POFSCHEK since 1929.
(source: V+H Nr. 12/1958)

39) Burgauberg
Many inhabitants have ancestors in Burgau, Burgauberg is also a part of the
parish Burgau (Styria!). In 1644 Michael GRISLER, administrator of the domain
Burgau, receives three vineyards in Burgauberg to cover a debt from the times
of the Turkish wars. Owners of neigbouring vineyards are: Hans SAMER, Peter
LANGHEIMBER, Andreas SIX, Rieperl SCHITLER, Georg GRUBER and Count Maximilian
HERBERSTEIN. The Güssing Urbarium of 1750 names as "Burgauer Bergholden"
living "auf der Hungerischen Seiten in dem Weingebirg" (= small-holders from
Burgau, living on the Hungarian side [of the border, i.e. of the river Lafnitz]
in the vineyard hills) the following families: VEIGL (3), PRUNNER (3), SODL,
HIRSCHBK, PESSINGER, RUESZ, WAGNER, PFINGSTL, SCHWARZ, PROSCH (2 each),
FRHLICH, TOMPF, NEUBAUER, HOECKL, MUIK, PUIKL, HNDLER, PAUER, STRK,
ZOTTER, LOIPERSBCK, RABER, PFSTER, PLTZL, SCHABHTL, REITHER, KRAMMER,
REISSENHOFER, LUKICS, HAISLER, RATHMANN, LAMPL, LAMMINGER, SCHUSTER, SCHTZL,
WIPPERL (1 each). These 49 families own 46 houses, 27 oxen, 55 cows, etc.,
and the Urbarium says about them: "These Styrian "Bergler" (= people living
on the hills) have acquired property with the permission of the Count
Batthyány, they have come over from the Styrian side [of the border] from
time to time. Their number is at times higher and at times lower. They own
nothing except for a few vineyards and fields."
Number of inhabitants: 1870: 606; 1930: 772 (in 123 houses). Part of Burgau
parish. Two chapels. Teachers: Franz SCHLEGEL (1870-1911), Julius NEMETH
(1911-14), Flora CHAKANY nee PECZLY (1914-21), Robert HOLPER (1921-29),
Andreas MEDEK (1929-), second teacher Mathilde SEELIG (1923-). (source: V+H
Nr. 12/1958)


TRANSLATIONS OF LATIN TERMS APPEARING IN BURGENLAND RECORDS
(email from Anna Kresh, Albert Schuch, Fritz Königshofer)

Ed. Note: Latin was the official language of Hungary for centuries.
Definitions may differ from those found elsewhere. It would be well to make a
list of what is printed here if occupations are part of your genealogies.

Anna writes: Here are several occupations I found in the Nemet Csencs
(Deutsch Tschantschendorf) Hungarian church records. I'm including the
gender of the persons listed. I have also added the translation as found in
my Latin/English dictionary. Can you add anything more to these? I am aware
the 'us' endings are masculine, and the 'a' endings are feminine. What
translations would be applicable for Vas Megye during the 1800s?

OCCUPATIONS:
ancilla (f) - maid servant;
carnifex (m) - executioner, hangman;
famulus (m) - servant, famula (f) - handmaid;
figulus (m) - potter;
ludimagister (m,f) (ludimag., ludim.) - no translation found;
molitor (m) - builder;
molitorifsa or molitorissa? (f) - Maybe the 'fsa' should be 'ssa', but it sure looks like an 'f';
praefectus horrei (m) - overseer/superintendant of barn, granary, storehouse?

NAME OF CHILD:
proles mortua - could this be "stillbirth"? It's usually listed in the
column for 'name of child'. In many cases the names of the Godparents are
missing. Is there any differentiation between a stillbirth and a child who
lives for just a short time? Under what circumstances would there be no
Godparents?

Waldburgus (m), Waldburga (f) - name of a child - for example: Theresia
Waldburga, although most of the time Waldburgus/a is used alone without any
other given first name. The child is always illegitimate. I have not found
this name given to a legitimate child. Never heard of this name and can't
find anything on it.

LOCATION:
Prom. - I also am finding the abbreviation Prom. preceding the birthplace (or
residence) of the parents, for example: "Prom. Nemet Csencs N. 4". I
understand that this means they lived at house number 4 in Deutsch
Tschantschendorf, but what does the Prom. mean? All I can find in the Latin
dictionary that might fit is Promontorium (a mountain ridge).

Albert replies:following are some comments on your Latin terms:
> ancilla (f) - maid servant
> famula (f) - handmaid. These are very similar. Both can be translated as
"Magd" (maid) into German. If there is a difference, then I think it will be
the following: The "ancilla" might have worked on the farm most of the time,
whereas the "famula" might have worked in the house most of the time.
> carnifex (m) - executioner, hangman; more likely: knacker (called "Schinder"
or "Abdecker" in German; removes dead animals for their hides, bones, etc.)
> famulus (m) - servant;
> figulus (m) - potter - nothing to add on these two; correct translations
> ludimagister (m,f) (ludimag., ludim.) = teacher
> molitor (m) - builder - more likely: miller
> molitorifsa or molitorissa? (f) - Maybe the 'fsa' should be 'ssa', but it
sure looks like an 'f', the correct female version of molitor would be
"molitrix"; but I think if it reads "molitorissa" it will still mean
"miller's wife"
> praefectus horrei (m) - overseer/superintendant of barn, granary, most
likely: granary overseer or storehouse overseer

> NAME OF CHILD:
> proles mortua - could this be "stillbirth"? - yes, it is "stillbirth"

> LOCATION:
> Prom. - I also am finding the abbreviation Prom. preceding the birthplace
(or residence) of the parents, - most likely this is correct; the Latin
"Promontorium" seems to be the equivalent to the German "Bergen"

(ED. note:Fritz is in Europe on a business trip but finds time and
opportunity to check his email)

Fritz writes: Let me send this message to you via replying to Albert's very
good comments. Greetings to all of you. I am in Almaty, Kazakhstan where
for a few precious days I have access to my e-mail. Unfortunately, I'll be
without access once again all of next week, when work will take me to Astana,
the capital of Kazakhstan (the former Zelinograd) in the north of the
country. Unexpectedly, I might have to go to Budapest for a day or so, before
returning to Washington on the 20th or 21st of this month. The
communications with you fellow bbunch members and friends, and the
newsletter, were the most cherished things in my mail.

On "carnifex," Albert's explanation of "Schinder" makes very good sense. I
had thought of butcher, but this is normally given in Latin as "lanio." It
would be unlikely that a small village like Deutsch Tschantschendorf had a
hangman.

The ending -fex indicates somebody who manufactures something, typically a
member of a trade. For instance, panifex is a baker (bread maker), and
artifex a general term used to describe a member of the trades, a craftsman.

"Molitorissa" might well have been used to describe the widow of a flour
miller, because as long as the husband lived, the family status was usually
entered after the man (i.e., molitor). Since Latin and German show the
female form in the ending of the word, a small ambiguity gets introduced,
because the female ending can indicate a carrier of the profession, or the
wife or widow of a man who is the carrier.

A widow after (or the wife of) the village teacher was usually described as
ludi magistra. Other terms used to describe the teacher were ludi rector, or
docens. For young teachers, I believe the term "praeceptor" was used, also
docens. I am not completely sure as I have to work from memory.

In my search, I found that stillbirths usually had no godparents. The same
could happen to some children who died very soon after birth. Perhaps the
name used for illegitimate girls in N.Csenc was Walburga, also spelled
Waldburga or Walpurga. This is a relatively rare female name.
Interestingly, this summer a far away relative in Graz suggested to me that
some catholic parish priests had the habit (in former times) of insisting to
provide the name for illegitimate children, in order to stigmatize them
(make everyone realize for life that the person had been illegitimate). Some
priests often insisted that the child be baptized in the name of the saint
whose nameday was on or near the day of the child's birth. This then
produced names such as Dominik, or Pankratz. I wonder whether the priest of
N. Csenc might have used the name Walburga to mark girls born out of wedlock.

I fully agree with the interpretation of promontorium as "Bergen." Another
such term was praedium, often abbreviated as P. before the name of the
location. This then described a Maierhof (manorial farm) of the village.
The Latin word for the overseer of such a farm was usually spanus or spanus
dominalis, in Hungarian ispan or major gazda.

Later: Last Saturday, I had a few hours in the Szechny Library in Budapest
and used the opportunity to check the Latin dictionaries in the reference
section there. These are what I found:

[1] "Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis Regni Hungariae" (glossary of
middle and earlier (?) Latin in the kingdom of Hungary), by Anton Bartal
(Ed.), Teubner, Leipzig, 1901.

[2 "Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae" (lexicon of middle-ages Latin
in Hungary), by Jnos Harmatta and Ivn Bornkai (Eds.), Akadmi ai Kiad,
Budapest, 1987 and following. This is in several volumes, of which the issues
up to the letter H have been published so far.

[3] "Glossarium Vocum in Politicis ac Juridicis negotiis" (glossary of [the
language] spoken in political and legal affairs), by Antal Szirmai, Cassova
(Kosice?), 1801.

[4] "Dictionarium Latino-Hungaricum et Hungarico-Latino- Germanicum," by
Priz Ferenc Ppai, Budapest, 1995.

[5] "A Latin nyelv Sóztára" (dictionary of Latin language), by Dr. Henrik
Finly, Budapest, 1884.

What do these books say about carnifex? Number [1] defines the word as
"lanius qui carnes vendit et facit" (butcher who sells and produces meat).
The Hungarian equivalents are given as mészáros and hentes, German
"Fleischer," i.e., butcher in English. No other meanings are provided.
Number [2] states the meanings as follows: (1) bakó, hóhér, kinvallató;
meaning hangman, executioner, or torturer; (2) hóhérlelk, gyilkosá; which I
translate as "execution-style murderer"; and (3) mésázros, hentes; which we
already had as meaning butcher. Numbers [3] to [5] translate the word only
into the meaning of hangman or executioner, with the Hungarian words hóhér,
hengr, börtön (prison-ward), and bakó.

As you can see, we have no clear answer from these Latin dictionaries!
Interestingly, the Latin word lanius translates to executioner as well,
besides the (more common?) meaning of butcher. I think it still remains most
likely that the term in the records of Nemet Csencs referred to the meaning
of butcher or perhaps knacker/flayer as Albert has suggested. If you can
follow the related person into one of the periods where the Hungarian
language was used for entries, then you might find the pastor's Hungarian
equivalent for his use of carnifex in Latin.


IMMIGRANT LANGUAGE AS A CLUE TO ORIGIN (Gerry Berghold)

While stuck in the mid-1600's, as far as expanding my own genealogy is
concerned, I continue to pursue subjects that may aid the search. Recently
I've been reading "In Search of the Indo-Europeans", J. P. Malloy, Thames &
Hudson Publisher, 1997. Tracing the origins of each of the Indo-European
peoples of Europe and Asia from both Neolithic and Eneolithic periods and
using current archaeological and linguistic evidence, it is a fascinating
story: a "prehistoric genealogy," as it were. A modern scientific appraisal of
what used to be considered the migrations of the descendants of Noah's sons,
Shem, Ham and Japheth. A point made by the author suggested this article.
Paraphrasing his remarks slightly. "Languages upon the point of extinction
are normally carried to the grave by the older members of the community when
the younger members have failed to learn it. This process can happen within
three generations. An immigrant family in (the United States), may speak
exclusively (German) while their children become bilingual. They in turn
decide to raise their children exclusively in English. Within three
generations grandparent and grandchild can no longer communicate."

This applies to our research in two distinct areas. Since we have three major
language groupings in the Burgenland (i.e. German, Croatian, and Hungarian, plus
some Romany and Yiddish), we must always consider what language our
individual immigrant ancestors used in the early days of their emigration.
Why waste time looking in exclusively German villages for ancestors who spoke
Croatian or Hungarian full time, or vice-versa? If we don't know what language
they spoke, we may find some documents or perhaps the US Census may tell us
(1910 and 1920 carry this data). We can then look in which villages the
particular language was spoken. We can find information in the LDS holdings
as LDS microfiche 6001476 "Topographical Lexicon of the Communities of
Hungary Compiled Officially in 1773". Our area is mostly covered in the
section under "Comitatus Castriferrei" (an older name for Vas Megye).
Villages are listed under Latin, Hungarian, German and Croatian (Slavonic)
names, by parish. Chief religion and principle language is then shown. While
many of us know the primary villages of our ancestors, the above may also
help in locating others.

One could say that this isn't very helpful given that 85% of Burgenländers
are German. However even here one can differentiate between those who spoke
(speak) Hianzisch and those who did not. The former are probably from the
southern half of Burgenland. Likewise there is a group in the Bakony Hills of
Hungary (see previous newsletters) who speak something similar. Hianzisch is
a softer language, slurred a little like a US southern accent and full of
strange words and "o", and "oa" endings. To us, if it looks or sounds like
German but differs from what we learn in US schools, it's probably Hianzisch.

The second area of relevance involves pre-Burgenland place of origin. Here
also, language can play a part. I wouldn't look in Bavaria or Styria for
ancestors who spoke Croatian or Hungarian. Even in the Germanic lands there
is a possibility that the dialects spoken in Burgenland (like Hianzisch) may
point to particular regions in the Germanic or Slavic lands. In other words,
narrow the choices. Language within the framework of general family grouping
is a clue to origin just like culture, music, food and folktales. Think about
it as you search for that elusive village.


LOST VILLAGE - GSCHORRHOLZ & SOME MORE TERMINOLOGY

Ed. Note: There are villages whose names no longer appear as post offices or
in phone books. These villages for the most part have been absorbed by
others. Their names may still designate an area within the absorbing village.
Here is one that gave us some trouble:

Part of e-mail sent to Roman Weber by Albert Schuch. "Until you wrote that
Gschorholz was also part of Pilgersdorf parish, Hap (Anderson) and others
thought maybe it was Kirchschlag parish. G. Berghold didn't know ...Until
very recently, I also had no idea. This is how I found out: In an antiquarian
bookshop I bought an "Ortsverzeichnis f
ür Burgenland" as was used by the
Austrian disability insurance company. It was compiled at a time when all of
their payments went through the local post offices. It includes even the
smallest of small settlements and gives the information to which post office
it belonged. Once I know the post office, I know the Gemeinde (community). By
the way, in this book Gschorholz is spelled GSCHORRHOLZ, with two "r's". It
seems that today the name Gschorholz is no longer used. This area is now just
a part of Pilgersdorf.

Some More Terminolgy
>Leser refers to "Rottgr
ünde" as compared to village "Sessionsgründe"<
For Fritz (& other "Terminology Bunch" members), you are definitely on the
right track this time. The "Rottgr
ünde" are areas cleared of wood and turned
into farming land. I think that at the time the Urbarium was set up (in the
1760's) these were still forests owned by the domain. The word "Anger" as I
know it refers to an area inside the village, usually in the center.

> A term I don't recall from the Burgenland, but certainly used a lot in
neighboring Styria is "Leiten," typically meaning a pasture on the side
(slope) of a mountain or hill. < This term is used in the Western parts of
Southern Burgenland (i.e. at the or close to the Styrian border). For
example, my Stegersbach ancestors lived in an area called "Leitenwald".


BURGENLAND DISTRICTS (BEZIRK) by Gerry Berghold

You should be aware of the Bezirk to which your villages belong. Various
types of records may be found there. When visiting Burgenland villages, be
sure to also visit the Bezirk if for nothing more than historical
association. Many immigrants often refered to the Bezirk as there place of
origin. I have seen US census records which gave the district as place of
foreign origin. I always furnish new members with the name of the their
village district. There are now seven Bezirks (Districts) Which Comprise
Burgenland (North to South): Neuseidl, Eisenstadt, Mattersburg,
Oberpullendorf, Oberwart, Güssing, and Jennersdorf.

The Hungarian or pre-1921 districts also included the above (excluding
Jennersdsorf) plus: Ungarisch Altenburg (Magyarovar), Ragendorf (Mosonrajka),
Ödenburg (Sopron), Güns (Koszeg), Steinamanger (Szombathely), Körmend and
Szentgotthard.

Within these districts are many Gemeinden (communities) which may include a
single village or a group of villages. Gemeinden may be further identified as
Freistadt (free cities), Marktgemeinden (market or business communities) or
Katastralgemeinden (land record communities). Political structure may
continually change as villages develop or combine or share their administrative
functions.

You may find also find references to the Hungarian counties (Megye) from
which Burgenland was formed - Vas (Komitat Eisenberg, earlier Comitatus
Castriferrei), Sopron (Komitat Ödenburg) and Moson (Komitat Wieselburg).


EMAIL MESSAGE FROM HEINZ KOLLER IN GÜSSING

There will be some interesting events in Güssing next year (1999): The
"Burgspiele Güssing" (historical drama performed at the castle every summer)
from June 24th til July 17th will be concerned with the theme "Amerika - hin
und retour"! Dr. Walter Dujmovits, president of the "Burgenländische
Gemeinschaft" is a member of the committee for awarding prizes for the best
three of ten submited projects. For stage management we could gain
Burgschauspieler Frank Hoffmann, a famous dramatic actor, who already knows
America very well. I hope you will be interested in giving this news to the
members of the Burgenland Bunch.

Refering to Rosenberg: I was born in Langzeil, my wife in Rosenberg. Her
Mother's name was Gerger, her father - Alois Sammer - is one of the brothers
of the former landlord Johann Sammer in Langzeil. One of my mother's sisters
was married to Alois Artinger in Langzeil. In the 50's my family lived in the
hous of Johann Sorger in Güssing, Josef-Reichl-Strae, who owned some plots
of land in Rosenberg... Maybe its interesting for you! I should be glad to
meet you on your next journey to Austria. By the way: My parents will go to
New York next week to visit two sisters (Rosy Schmidt, Margaret Yost) and the
brother (Frank Koller) of my mother.

And last I will tell you of my new homepage "Heinele's home", where you can
find a lot of words and expressions "Hianzisch":
http://members.xoom.com/Heinele
With best greetings, Heinz Koller, A-7540 Güssing, Bergstrae 13;
http://www.bnet.at/guessing

(Newsletter Continued As No. 44A)


THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 44A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY
(issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold)
September 30, 1998
(all rights reserved)

This second section of the 3 section newsletter features an excellent and
revealing report of a recent Trip to Austria and Hungary. An enlightening
genealogical excursion to the "Heimat", with some sad yet happy overtones.
(note-diacritical marks have not been used on Hungarian names). Thoughts on
Scanners For Genealogy and a Little Humor follow.


VISIT TO HUNGARY AND AUSTRIA; AUGUST 1998
(by Ernest Chrisbacher)

The purpose of my trip was threefold: 1. To attend the 50-year reunion of the
ethnic German people expelled from the village Bakonyjako, Veszprem County,
after WW-II in 1948, the town where my grandfather was born; 2. Go to
Eisenstadt to do research for ancestors in the Diocesan Archives of
Burgenland; and 3. Visit several small parish villages around Oberwart in
south Burgenland for research in their old baptismal and marriage records.

Day 1, Thursday, Aug. 13, 1998: Weather clear, sunny, hot, humid, temp. 93
deg. F. I arrived at Budapest Airport at 11:00 a.m. on Malev Hungarian
Airlines, having left Kennedy Airport on Air France yesterday at 5:30 p.m.
and with a three-hour layover at Paris. I slept six hours on the initial
flight so I was not affected by jet-lag. I picked up my rented Mitsubishi
Lancer with AC and drove into Budapest. The roads and highway signs are very
good but the street signs in the city are difficult to see and read while
driving because they are located high up on the corners of buildings. With
the help of a city map I found No. 50 Jozsef kort, the apartment of my
correspondent friend and genealogist, Dr. Sandor Harmath. We sipped some
Tokaj wine and discussed plans to travel to Austria for research at
Eisenstadt and at several villages in the vicinity of Oberwart. It was
agreed that we would meet Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. in Papa where I had a
reservation at the Hotel Griff. I left Budapest at 5:30 p.m., headed
southwest and found the M-1 Autobahn, then drove to Gyor City and then Papa,
a two-hour drive. The hotel Griff is in the main city square opposite from
the double-domed Roman Catholic Belvarosi Cathedral. My room was clean and
very comfortable so I showered, shaved and had supper. It was tender Beef
Stroganoff with potato croquettes, salad and two glasses of rather good dry
Riesling wine, cost was 1,400 forint, about $7.00. Watched CNN and retired
at 11:00 p.m.

Day 2, Friday, Aug. 14, 1998: Weather clear, sunny, hot, temp. 85 deg. F.,
morning showers. Up at 6 a.m., continental breakfast at 7 a.m., then I walked
down the main commercial street of Papa to the post office for some stamps.
There are a hundred shops and the streets are crowded with shoppers and the
hustle and bustle of productive activity. Then I drove 35 km to Veszprem
City and visited the Queen Gizella museum which displayed many old garments,
regalia and jewels worn by Hungary's rulers. I walked through the old castle
section of the city where some of the buildings are 700 years old and are
situated at the top of a commanding hill with beautiful views of the
surrounding city and countryside. I visited the Dezso Laczko Museum which
displayed artifacts of Hungary's history from the stone age up to modern
times. There was a straw-roofed ethnic German farmhouse (Bakony Volk Haus)
from the 18th century next to the museum building which displayed typical
period furniture, cooking utensils, smoke kitchen, bedroom and toolroom. I
walked all around this beautiful old city observing the commercial activity,
construction, old and new buildings, the tourists, the vitality of the place
and the apparent flourishing business and prosperity of the inhabitants; a
stark contrast to the poor, depressed, drab, gray downtrodden people that I
had seen here under Russian Communist domination when I visited in 1973. Many
of the people spoke German with me, also in stark contrast to the situation
in 1973 when no one would dare to speak German. But the bureaocrats in the
county offices speak only Hungarian so I was unable to obtain maps of the
German villages which I wanted. After many photographs I returned to Papa
where at six o'clock I had a glass of Riesling wine at a table in the
sidewalk cafe of the Hotel Griff . Three marching bands came by to start off
the festive weekend celebrations of the city. It was very pleasant, crowded
with happy people, a beautiful small city enjoying its freedom and looking
forward to future prosperity. I found out that next weekend is a four-day
holiday for the Hungarian people beginning on Thursday, August 20th as the
1000-year anniversary of the crowning of the first king, St. Stephen.

Day 3, Saturday, Aug. 15, 1998: Weather partly cloudy, clearing, hot, temp.
90-95 deg. F. At 9 a.m. I drove east 15 km to Bakonyjako, the village where
my grandfather, Joseph Grisbacher, was born. This was the weekend of the
50-year reunion celebration of the German people who were expelled from the
village in 1948 after WW II. Because the population of Bakonyako was at that
time 95 percent ethnic German, almost all of the people had to pack up what
they could carry on their backs and leave their homes. A drummer marched
down the main street the morning of January 6, 1948 and a list was posted at
the town hall. Only those who were sick, pregnant, with babies, or old and
unable to work were allowed to remain. Tragically, these innocent peasant
farmers, descendants of Germanic settlers who colonized and opened up the
land for productivity 200 years earlier, were ruthlessly forced from their
homes, families were put in wagons, carried to the Varoslod train station 12
km to the south, loaded into boxcars and shipped to East Germany where they
had to live in camps until they could be resettled and find jobs. Today, 50
years later, they were coming back to their home town to revisit their lost
homes and to renew old friendships. At 9:30 a.m. people started to gather at
the sport hall of the village school. By 10:30 a.m. there were perhaps 250
people greeting one another with smiles, hugs, kisses and tears. Starting the
ceremonies was difficult because of the highly emotional nature of the
reunion. The mayor, Hans Szabadi, greeted everyone in German and Hungarian.
Then a memorial speech was given by Franz Heilig, head of the regional office
of German minorities. He gave a very moving talk in German about the history
of settlement and the expulsion. There were not many dry eyes. After the
introductions a small band played German dance music, waltzes, marches and
polkas, and lunch was served of sandwiches, beer, wine and soda. I
introduced myself to many people and spoke German with them, taking notes and
taping the conversations. Joseph Leitner invited me to his aunt's house,
Lizzi Heller, who served us (seven people) a very large meal of chicken
noodle soup, chicken paprikash, noodles with tomato sauce and six different
kinds of pastries and coffee. We ate and drank wine all afternoon. At 4:00
p.m. we went back to the sport hall for more meeting of friends, a big
goulash party and entertainment by a group of majorettes and athletic dancers
from the village. After that everyone went to the culture house where the
street was roped off and dance music was playing and dancing started in the
main street at 8 p.m. I met several people with whom I had corresponded but
had never seen before: distant cousin Joseph Griesbacher, Andrew Gabriel from
Fairview Hts., IL, distant cousin Maria Griesbacher Tillich from Canada,
Joseph Steiner from Germany. I asked Mayor Szabadi if I could go to the town
hall to get a map of the village and see if I could find information which
would enable me to correlate the old house numbers with the new house
numbers. That would enable me to find the house where my grandfather was
born since the old number was included in his baptism record.

Day 4, Sunday, Aug. 16, 1998: Weather partly cloudy, rain,. 85 deg. F.At
9:00 a.m. there was a small group playing music at the Kultur Haus as people
began to gather for the morning services. At 10:00 a.m. a wreath-laying
service was held during a rain shower at the memorial monument for those who
were lost in WW I and WW II. An introductory speech was given by Mayor
Szabadi and a memorial speech by Dr. Zoltan Kovacs, member of Parliament,
about the role played by the German people during the wars. At 11:00 a.m.
high holy mass was celebrated at the newly renovated Holy Trinity church by
Bishop, Dr. Gyula Marfi, of the Arch Diocese of Veszprem to a
standing-room-only crowd with full orchestra, organ, choir and a large
overflow of people outside of the church. This was a very beautiful and
moving ceremony with the bishop speaking about the expulsion of the German
people and asking forgiveness of the Hungarians. It was a very emotional
service with plenty of tears including mine. Following mass there were more
than 300 people at the school sport hall for lunch which included Hendlsuppe
mit Knudeln (chicken noodle soup), Rindfleischgulasch mit
Petersillie-Kartofeln, beer, wine, soda and pastries. There was plenty of
time to mix and talk to newly-found distant relatives. The weather cleared
to a humid 95 degrees F and I went with Joseph Steiner to the house of Emilia
Maria Griesbacher Andl, age 77, where I reviewed my genealogical charts to
determine that we are fourth cousins once removed. Her daughters, Emma Andl
Sas, Anna and Eva are fifth cousins to me. Then back to the sport hall for
more meeting, greeting and talking. At 5 p.m. there began a cultural program
in the courtyard of the school which included: 1. a song by Barbara and
Katharin Sas, cousins of mine, 2. Jaka Margareten children's dance group, 3.
German Nationality Choir of Totvazsony, 4. Dance group from Totvazsony, 5.
Frauenchor from Ganna, and 6. Brass band from Soskut. The celebration ended
with "auf wiedersehen" which became a very emotional and long farewell. These
expellees are mostly 60 years old or more who were childhood friends. They
came back to their birthplace from many locations, including the USA, Canada,
Germany and Austria, where they have made a new life. Saying "until we meet
again" was difficult knowing it probably will never happen. Although I am a
second generation American, they made me feel like one of their own, a native
German-Hungarian, and I found it hard to keep a dry eye when saying goodbye.
I am probably distantly related to many of them.

Day 5, Monday, Aug. 17, 1998: Weather partly cloudy, hot, humid, 90 deg.
F.This morning I drove to Bakonyjako again to try to get the key to the old
house numbering system, but the clerk was unable to provide it . He did,
however give me a copy of the list of about 300 names and addresses of the
respondents to the advertised notice for the 50th reunion celebration. He
also showed me maps of the village and I was able to obtain an address of a
company which prepared them. Then I drove through town and saw Zoltan and
Elizabeth Kungl Bergmann who invited me into their house for a drink of wine.
They tried to help me with the question of old house numbers but without
success. Zoltan is a hunter and has several antler trophies on his walls.
He is now retired but worked as a foreman at a scientific sheep breeding
operation with 4,000 ewes. After saying good-bye I decided to photograph
more of the villages of Veszprem County for my book, so I drove through
Bakonyszucs, Bakonykoppany, Bakonybel, Penzesgyor, Lokut, Harskut, Marko,
Band, Herend, Szentgal, Urkut, Nagyvazsony, Vorosto, Barnag, Azsofo, then to
Tihany, a beautiful peninsula jutting out into Lake Balaton with the double
domed cathedral of the Benedictine Abbey at the pinnacle of the hill, and
then along Lake Balaton, Europe's largest fresh-water lake, with its crystal
clear blue water and thousands of vacationing swimmers. Back to Papa at 7:30
p.m. for supper.

Day 6, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 1998: Weather clear, hot, 90 deg. F.At 8:00 a.m. Dr.
Harmath, arrived from Budapest, with his son at the Hotel Griff and we drove
to Eisenstadt, Burgenland, Austria to research in the Archives of the Diocese
Eisenstadt. We spoke to Dr. Hans Peter Zelfel, head of the reference
matricals , and asked about three parishes: Allhau, Neumarkt and Rotenturm.
Dr. Zelfel telephoned the Priest at Neumarkt where the original old books are
still kept, and he set up an appointment for us at 2 p.m. We had lunch at a
local biergarten and drove to Neumarkt near Oberwart arriving at 3 p.m.
Father Mach was very understanding and helpful and allowed us to look through
the old baptismal and marriage registers from 1698 through 1760 where we were
hoping to find my GGGGGGrandfather Johannes Carolus Grisbacher or any other
Grisbacher names. Unfortunately we had no results. Dr. Harmath and his son
returned to Budapest and I went to Stadtschlaining for a hotel room and
supper which included a very good dry Riesling wine, veal cutlet with
mushrooms and wine sauce, cucumber salad like mother used to make, raspberry
marmalade filled Palatschinken, also like mom's, and good strong coffee. The
cost was 162 Schillings (about $14).

Day 7, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 1998: Weather clear, hot, 90 deg. F.Today I drove
to eight village parishes in the vicinity of Oberwart to look at old church
Baptismal and marriage books for possible clues to my Griesbacher ancestors.
Most of the priests were away on summer vacation or just not in. Some of the
parishes had their Pfarramter (offices) at other locations. I was told that
the records of St. Martin and of Rechnitz were now stored at the Eisenstadt
archive. Had a late lunch at Rechnitz consisting of Nuckerl Suppe, beef
Goulash and Apfelstrudel not even close to Grandma's. Then I drove to
Oberwart where the traffic in town was very heavy and I found out that it was
market day. There were hundreds of merchants set up with their stalls and
wares all along the main street and thousands of shoppers rubbing elbows and
jostling along on the sidewalks. I had to drive around the back of town to
get to Gasthaus Neubauer. I had a late supper in the garten restaurant with
excellent Riesling wine, breaded fried fish cutlet, mixed salad, potatoes and
coffee. Food and merchandise cost about twice as much here in Austria as in
Hungary. The Cookoo birds actually say 'cuckukaruk' and there are large
stork's nests on tops of telephone poles or roofs in most of the country
villages.

Day 8, Thursday, Aug. 20, 1998: Weather clear, warm, 80 to 90 deg. F.I drove
to the Evangelical Church of Markt Allhau where the secretary said that the
Roman Catholic parish office is in Wolfau. To Wolfau where the priest was
not at home. Following is a list of the parishes that I visited:1. Allhau,
records at Wolfau parish, Priest away; 2. Rotenturm, Records at parish begin
1688, Priest away; 3. St. Martin, Records at Oberwart begin 1725, Priest
away; 4. Stadtschlaining, records since 1727, Priest away;5. Tatzmandorf,
records at parish, Priest away;6. Pinkafeld, Looked at oldest book beg. 1752,
Prior to that records burned;7. Rechnitz, Priest said books begin1676 are at
Eisenstadt; 8. Mariasdorf, Records since 1682, Priest away; 9. Mischendorf,
Records since 1719, Priest away; 10. Lockenhaus, Records since 1660, Priest
away;11. Hannersdorf, Records since 1721, Priest away.The lessons to be
learned from this are: Do not try to visit parishes in Burgenland during the
month of August when most of the priests are on vacation, and call ahead to
make appointments with the priests. Unfortunately I had to schedule my trip
around the 50-year reunion celebration at Bakonyjk_. In late afternoon I
left Oberwart and drove 4-1/2 hours through the border town of Hegyeshalom to
the Hotel Art in Budapest where I had a supper including white wine,
mushrooms stuffed with goose liver surrounded by a fruit salad of bananas,
grapes, orange slices, pear and kiwi slices; a mixed salad of pickles,
peppers, beets, slaw, cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce; mushroom-covered pork
tenderloins with rice and peas. I had no room for dessert but had my eye on
sour cherries over cake. The cost including tip was 2530 HUF (Hungarian
Forints), or about $12.00.

Day 9, Friday, Aug. 21,
1998: Weather cloudy, scattered showers, clearing by noon.At 7:00 a.m. I met
Dr. Sandor Harmath at his apartment and we drove the M-1 Highway at 140 km/hr
(85 mph) with plenty of cars passing us. This is an excellent highway but
there is a very high toll of $8.00 at the newly-constructed western 40
kilometers in Hungary. We drove to the village Furth-an-der-Triesting in
Lower Austria. The travel time was 3-1/2 hours. We had a quick lunch of
wurst platter with vegetables, beans and French fries washed down with the
excellent local bier. The priest, a Pole, allowed us to look at the old
marriage records (1740-1750) but again unfortunately we did not find the
marriage of Johannes Carolus Griesbacher to Eva Maria Pantzenpeck as we had
hoped. We then drove to nearby Pottenstein and phoned Mr. Leo Wirtner, a
local historian and genealogical correspondent of mine whom I had not yet
met. We were cordially invited to his house at 1 Einsiedler Weg and there we
discussed my lost ancestor problems. He said that possibly Eva Maria might
have been born in Rohr, that he would look at the records and write to me of
his findings. We then drove to Vienna to visit Lazslo Kovi, another
researcher and correspondent of mine and of Dr. Harmath's, whom I had not yet
met, but unfortunately he was not at home. It took us only 2 hours to drive
to Budapest and after I drove Dr. Harmath to his apartment where his wife
awaited him, I had a nice supper at the Hotel Art consisting of wine, duck,
parsley potatoes, red kraut, and coffee followed by sour cherries on vanilla
ice cream.

Day 10, Saturday, Aug. 22, 1998:
Weather cloudy, steady rain, clearing in afternoon.I took a 3-hour tour of
Budapest on Ibusz Bus Tours, the highlights of which were the Danube River,
Parliament Building, Margaret Bridge, Chain Bridge, The Royal Castle on the
Buda side, Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, The Citadel on top of
Gellert Hill with its beautiful views overlooking the city, Heroes Square,
The Opera and St. Stephen's Basilica. I then walked around the city for a
couple of hours taking plenty of photographs and had supper at the sidewalk
Bistro Jardin at the new and very posh Hotel Kempinski. It included
Riesling wine, mixed salad, rabbit in paprika sauce, Esterhazy Tort and
coffee. It was expensive but excellent. Then I went to a concert at the
beautiful Duna Palota (Danube Palace) where an excellent orchestra played
Liszt, Brahms, Strauss, Lehar, Bartok and Berlioz ending with the popular
Radetzky March where the audience claps on cue with the music. The taxi
driver who drove me the 2 km back to the Hotel Art wanted $25 but I was
outraged and gave him $10 which he was apparently happy to get.

Day 11, Sunday, Aug. 23, 1998: Weather cloudy, clearing in afternoon, 80
degrees F. I drove to Varoslod in Veszprem County by way of the Pannonhalma
Monastery where I got some good photos. In Varoslod I visited Dr. Michael
Roth, a correspondent of mine for 15 years whom I had not yet met. We had a
bottle of good white wine and lots of good German conversation which I needed
to improve my language skills. Michael has written two books about the
village Varoslod. The first is a history of this German settlement which is
very interesting to me because many of my ancestors lived there. The second
is an 800-page as yet unpublished, computerized list in alphabetical order
containing all of the baptisms and deaths of the original German settlers of
Varoslod including findings from the earlier books at Kislod, Veszprem City
and the Spessart villages in Germany where many of the settlers came from.
Michael has accomplished a great deal of important work concerning the
history and genealogy of Varoslod and has established a partnership between
Varoslod and Wiesthal-Krommenthal in Bavaria, Germany where many of the
surnames are still the same as those of Varoslod. The people of both
villages have visited each other with singing and dancing groups and have
celebrated their relationships together. Michael is a retired chemist who
lives in Germany but spends a lot of time running his ceramics factory in
Varoslod. He gave me a tour of the facilities showing me the processes from
forming the raw clay, drying, baking in electric ovens, hand painting and
glazing. He produces beautiful hand-painted dishes and various other
pottery. We also toured the archaeological dig ongoing at St. Michael's
Roman Catholic church. It is the most important archaeological site in
Hungary and the excavated foundations and floors of the former Cartesian
Monastery are over 600 years old. When the German people settled here in the
early to mid 18th century they used the stone blocks from the ruined
Cartesian Monastery to build their new Catholic church. At 5 o'clock I left
Varoslod and drove 2 hours back to Budapest and took an evening stroll along
the Danube River for some photographs. There was a bazaar with hundreds of
small white tent stalls displaying all kinds of merchandise for sale and
thousands of people strolling along the sidewalks and streets closed to
traffic. There were many sidewalk cafes and many groups of musicians playing
along the way. The bridges, Royal Castle, hotels and other buildings are
lighted at night and graceful tour boats glide along the Danube River for a
spectacular scene. At a sidewalk bistro I had tender veal goulash Bakony
style and wine while I watched the people strolling by with strains of Gypsy
music in the background.

Day 12, Monday, Aug. 24, 1998: Weather clear, 75 degrees F. Checked out of
Hotel Art and drove to Budapest Airport to turn in rented car which I had
driven a total of 2,530 km or about 1,500 miles. My flight to Paris took off
almost an hour late so I had to scramble in Paris to make the connecting
flight. They had to hold the airplane for me, and for my stressful troubles
Air France put on First Class. It was a great trip home and I got my money's
worth with champagne, hors d'oeuvres single-malt scotch, salad, a lamb chop,
a great Bordeaux wine, plenty of room to spread out, a personal TV screen and
instantaneous service from the flight attendants. Somewhere over the North
Atlantic Ocean I began to think about my next journey to Austria which will
be better planned to utilize the records at the Eisenstadt archives and to
make appointments with local parish priests. End Of Trip Report.


SCANNER FOR GENEALOGY

Member Tom Glatz was looking for a good scanner that would allow him to share
material in his library. He asked about a particular model. Many of you may
not know that charter member Mike Spahitz is a professional graphics designer
(he did the BB homepage logos for us). He provided Tom with the following
answer: "I have the Microtek ScanMaker E6 which has the same 1200x600 dpi
resolution. It is GREAT! And the price is great at $179.00! I can't
recommend the next one up that does 1200x1200 because I would get jealous!
Just kidding, I think that you won't need that high of a resolution
especially if you are going to use it for scanning things for the web which
only need 72dpi or for personal use at tops 600dpi? Anything over 300dpi is
really getting into the graphics field and you'll need LOTS of hard drive
space! I think the 1200x600 would be more than sufficient even if you have a
printer that does 600pdi or 720dpi (like mine, the Epson Stylus Color 800).
DPI= dots per inch. If you have ANY more questions about graphics, feel free
to email me!


A LITTLE HUMOR (forwarded by Mary Montoya-I'm still laughing)

The Smiths were proud of their family tradition. Their ancestors had come to
America on the Mayflower. Their line had included Senators and Wall Street
wizards. Now they decided to compile a family history, a legacy for the
children. They hired a fine author. Only one problem arose----how to handle
that great-uncle who was executed in the electric chair. The author said he
could handle that chapter of history tactfully. The book appeared. It said
that "Great-uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an
important government institution and was attached to his position by the
strongest of ties. His death came as a real shock."

Newsletter Continued as No. 44B.


THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 44B
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY
(issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold)
September 30, 1998

The third section of this 3 section newsletter features Results from Our
Recent Reader Poll, articles about Contacting New Members, Old Newspaper
Clippings, Burgenland Memories of the War Years and "Alter Sprach".


READER POLL RESULTS

We had a 25% (43 people) response to our reader poll. A little disappointing
but comments were very favorable. These will help guide future decisions
about Burgenland Bunch development. I conclude from the poll that the
Burgenland Bunch fills an ethnic need. We'll continue publication and plan no
major changes.

o All respondents read each issue of the newsletter and most print or save
copies; most share copies with others and all but 3 felt the bi-weekly
frequency was just right. We'll continue biweekly issues of the current size,
material permitting.

o The village series is the favorite subject, followed by Burgenland
history, trip reports, translations of old publications, lifestyles and
culture and genealogical help and aids. Many members said they enjoyed
everything.

o Only half add newsletter material to their genealogies although all but two
said that their family names or villages had appeared in articles. I stress
that family names appearing in Urbars or Visitations are primae facie
evidence of early family origin. Should become part of genealogy notes.

o Over half access the archives and use the URL lists, archive catalog and
member lists. All but one contacted other members. Most everyone visits the
homepage at some time, some very often. These tools require a lot of staff
work and maintenance but as long as they are used, we'll try to continue
them. I get the impression that some members are reluctant to use the
internet.

o Only five members were also members of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft.
This may indicate that few members know any German. Half plan to visit
Burgenland, some in the near future. Only 7 have libraries of Burgenland
source material, but another 6 say they have limited material.

o No one has technical problems with the newsletters but many are still
struggling with the umlaut problem. All but 8 have used LDS microfilm. Most
everyone says their questions get answered. Sixteen members plan to
contribute an article for the newsletter.


CONTACTING NEW MEMBERS

In my first response to new members, I try to copy ("cc") other members who
are researching the same areas. I also copy those who I know are researching
the same family names. This is the first opportunity to match kin. It's not a
fool proof match as I use my AOL Email Address File which doesn't show me
much detail. We hope that new members will scan our homepage or member
changes in the newsletters looking for contacts. I also copy staff members
who may have an interest. While I hope those copied will email new members, I
don't really know if they do or not. Recently, I in turn was copied, and the
email was so typical of a good new member greeting that I'd like to share it.
It's the perfect way to build a file of genealogical correspondents.

Sept 17th 1998
Hello Audrey, My name is Therese Knaus Cameron and I lived in Newington, Ct.
for many years. I now live in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. My grandparrents on my
father's side were Josef and Fanny Poglitsch Knaus who came from Minehof
Liebau, Austria to New Britain, Conn. in the early 1900's. They had a farm in
Newington, Conn. My mother's maiden name was Prem who came from Vienna and
Feldbach, Austria. My father was Carl Knaus and my mother was Victoria Prem
Knaus. Do any of the names ring a bell? Also family spoke of Jennersdorf
many times. My grandmother's sister was Theresa Poglitsch Kern who lived in
New Britain. My grandmother had a nephew, Dr. Poglitsch, who married a
Jewish girl and sadly, she and their son were burned in the tragic circus
fire in Hartford in the "40's. I don't know what happened to him after that.

We have been to Minehof Liebau twice but didn't check any geneology at that
time. I wish we had. Also stopped in Feldbach at the Gasthaus Kern. Berta
Kern was married to a Prem. He died and she married a Kern. He died and the
son, Rudy, now runs the Gasthaus. I would like to hear from you. Therese Knaus Cameron


OLD NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS - TOBAJ & POPPENDORF (from Fritz Königshofer)

When browsing the hardcopies I made from Der Volksfreund, I noted a tiny (but
very nice) item from Tobaj, and then found that one of the names in the story
relates to a name you are searching. VF issue of October 6, 1906, page 5:
"Run-away girls. The 14-years old Eleonora Schweitzer and the 16-years old
Josefa Tepler made off from Tobaj (near Nmetujvr- 'Güssing') from the house
of their parents, in order to proceed to America. Quite incredibly, they
successfully, without passport, reached Hamburg, where they then also managed
to get on a ship."

Some of you are searching "Unger." Another little VF story about an Unger
from Poppendorf is the following, from page 7 of the issue of October 12,
1901: "Funeral. On the 6th of this month, the far and widely known
veterinary doctor ["Viehdoktor.... cattle doctor?)] Josef Unger was buried in
Patafalva. For his practical knowlegde of cattle diseases and for his open
character, Unger was respected and loved by old and young alike."


BURGENLAND MEMORIES FROM THE WAR YEARS
(as told to Gerry and Molly Berghold by Gertrude Schlener)

My wife and I had a most delightful experience a few days ago. We received a
visit from my second cousin Gertrude Schlener. She came to the door with a
plate of tasty apple and plum strudel! She had recently found us and we
corresponded for the first time through the Burgenland Bunch. Her Langasch
grandmother and mine were sisters. She was just a young girl living in
Heiligenkreuz during WWII and has vivid memories of southern Burgenland as it
was prior to emigrating to the United States in the 1950's. A sister remained
in the "Heimat" and she has visited often. She showed us some prewar family
photos of her happy and attractive family in their Sunday best.

Gertrude remembers a beautiful blue glass oil lamp that used to provide their
light. Electricity arrived late in the Burgenland and when it did come, as a
naked bulb hanging from the ceiling, it was nowhere near as nice or romantic
as the soft glow of the oil lamp. Her father was drafted into the German army
in the 1940's although he claimed he was much too old for that sort of thing.
Fortunately he survived the war having been sent to Styria, some distance
from the major battle areas.

During this period, the villagers still socialized by gathering at homes and
sharing in the work necessary to provide food and comfort. They would gather
to process pumpkin seeds for salad oil "Kernoil". First seeds were removed
from the pumpkins and dried. The pumpkin flesh that wasn't eaten (often made
into a cream soup or baked with sour cream) became feed for livestock. After
drying, the seeds were sprinkled with water which caused them to split. The
husk was then removed and the inner seed bagged. They were taken to a mill
where they were roasted and pressed. The resultant oil has a distinctive
flavor and is a great favorite. Very expensive when purchased. Enough was
made to provide the family with their yearly salad oil needs.

Wagon loads of corn would be husked with the help of neighbors, friends and
relatives. Usually the work would be completed in one evening but sometimes
it carried over to the following day if the harvest was an especially good
one. On average there would be 20 people on hand. The whole thing turned into
a sort of social affair, people would tell jokes and stories. It was so much
fun that you hardly took notice that around 10 pm the huge pile of corn that
everyone had been sitting on at 6:30, had dwindled away to almost nothing.
Afterwards, there was usually a little new cider or wine, apples and bread.
In a few days, the whole thing would be repeated at another house. As for
removing the kernels from the cob, that was often done in mid winter when
farm work was not quite so pressing. You would press two cobs together to
start loosening the kernels, once started the kernels came off the cob quite
easily. Some was fed to animals but most was ground into corn flour, out of
which many tasty dishes were made.

Large quantities of "down" were required to fill pillows and comforters. A
true down comforter is a marvelous thing on a cold night. The down (very fine
feathers) was prepared by removing the side feathers from the larger central
feather quill. A fingernail was used. When it gets too warm, you shake all
the feathers to one side of the comforter and use the cover as a sheet. (The
recently published book "Zahling" has a picture of women preparing down).

Quilting and sewing were other group projects, the ladies with their children
rotating through all of the homes in the village so that everyone received
help with their busy work. Naturally refreshments were available and gossip,
songs and stories enlivened the work. Gertrude says that falling asleep to
the murmur of adult voices in the shadows cast by oil lamp light gave one a
wonderful feeling of comfort and security.

Field work was an all day venture and a lunch and liquid refreshment were
carried. I showed Gertrude a small antique pottery bottle from the Güssing
area and she said she carried water in one just like it, closed with a cork.

In late 1945, the thunder of Russian and Wehrmacht artillery came ever closer
to Heiligenkreuz. (One Russian Army Group swung south of Budapest to Lake
Balaton, then split and swung west to the Austrian border.) When the flash of
the guns was finally seen, Gertrude's mother gathered her children and went
to an Aunt's home in Poppendorf just a few kilometers west. A fortunate
decision on her part. Gertrude says that load noises made her tremble for
years and once when her picture was being taken she cried because she thought
she was going to be shot.

Heiligenkreuz is an important crossroads border village and was an important
military objective, probably the first in southern Austria. The Germans
defended it. The village was shelled, burned and heavily damaged. There were
civilian casualties among those who didn't leave. Their names can be found on
the war memorial. Poppendorf, much smaller and not near a crossroad, escaped
much damage, although the next two villages, Eltendorf and Konigsdorf were
shelled. When the fighting moved west, the Schlener family returned to their
home to find it bullet scarred, damaged and full of holes. Most of their
possessions were broken or gone. A creased photo was one memento recovered
from the mud of battle. The bad times, the hungry times started. For a short
time their home was the office of the Russian "Kommandanteur". Much trauma,
partially relieved by the slow return of the men from the military.

For some time there was nothing to buy, nothing to eat. Everything was in a
state of chaos. The Russians were of some help but they did what they
pleased. Some packages began arriving from relatives and friends in the
United States and were much appreciated. Finally early in the early 1950's,
the Schlener family had enough, decided to leave the old "Heimat" and
emigrated to the United States.

We discussed the present situation in Burgenland. How prosperous it seems to
be, automobiles, roads, evidence of plenty, everything neat and well
maintained, modern conveniences-a far cry from 1945. A Phoenix reborn from
the chaos of war. I wonder if the villagers still socialize with busy work? I
did see a group of Poppendorf ladies processing pumpkin seeds as late as
1993. Hope it continues. I'd gladly exchange television for some old
fashioned socializing.


SOME THOUGHTS ON HIANZISCH & "ALTER SPRACH" (Fritz Königshofer, Albert
Schuch, Yvonne Lockwood responding to a thread initiated by your editor)

ED. Question: This prompts a question concerning Hianzisch or Burgenländische
as Dr. Dujmovits calls it. Is it an early form of German dialect which has
been corrupted like Pennsylvania Dutch (with an admixture of Hungarian and
Croatian) or is it a pure remainder of the original dialect spoken by the
germanic colonists who migrated to the Burgenland many years ago? If the
latter, wouldn't we be able to find the main region of their origin by
looking for the place where that dialect was used? I believe Albert said it
was similar to dialects in use in south Bavaria. What about that used in the
Graz region of Styria? The mountain regions of Styria and Lower Austria? I've
also recently read that the Croatian used by Burgenlanders is a purer form of
Croatian than that used by the Croatians of Dalmatia (the homeland). (Yvonne,
do you agree with this?). Could it be that Hianzisch has also remained pure?

Fritz writes: Greetings from Budapest, where I am unfortunately only today
and quite tired from the long journey from Almaty. To my limited knowledge
(and leaving the more erudite explanations to Albert), the Heanzisch dialect
is German throughout, i.e., not mixed with Hungarian or Croat words. In my
youth, I read with great enjoyment the poems by an author Ponstingl (don't
recall his first name), who might still be alive. I believe he wrote the
poems, or most of them in Heanzisch.

The problem with the Styrians (and other Austrians except those in the
Vorarlberg) is that they also originated in Bavaria and Franconia. The
German settlement of Styria happened not too much earlier than the settlement
of what is now Southern Burgenland. The area where the Königshofers come
from, namely Ratten in Northeast Styria, was only cleared for settlement
(Ratten = Roden which means "cleared land") after the turn of the first
millenium. Therefore, the Heanzisch might have had as much chance for
further development into a separate dialect, as had the Styrian, which (for
us in Styria and for other Austrians) is very different in sounds from the
Bavarian, yet retained many words in common. According to the discussions I
had with my father, I believe that the origin of the Heanzen is still a
matter of debate. However, one of the first overlords of Güssing was a
Heinz or Henzo of Wildon (Wildon lies south of Graz and has an old castle
hill, now in waste). One theory for the name Heanzisch relates the word
itself to this Heinz of Wildon, who is said to have brought settlers with him
-- which would have to be from the region to the south of Graz -- when he
assumed the reign over the Güssing area.

A perusal of my little atlas of the German language revealed very little on
the question of the Burgenland dialects. For the most part, this area clearly
forms part of the southern German dialects, and is even not distinguished in
words and forms from the Eastern part of Austria. The maps are also not
detailed enough to show any difference between Northern and Southern
Burgenland, though we know this difference does exist. The only major
deviation I noted was in the form -ui- for the vocal -u-, such as Muider (for
mother), which is -ua- in the adjoining parts of Austria, like Muader. The
form -ui- is otherwise only documented for the northern part of Lower
Austria, i.e., the northern Weinviertel, but I doubt that this implies any
deeper connection. I asked my father and he essentially said the same thing
as Albert, namely that Heanzisch included some words from the Hungarian
language. He particularly mentioned words used in football (soccer) playing.
No Croatian word in Heanzisch came to his mind.

Albert writes: Hianzisch does include words of Hungarian origin - this I know
for sure. I am not sure about Croatian, but I think there will also be some
words. I don't think that all the original colonists came from one single
place. Also, the German dialects of Burgenland vary from region to region.
For instance, the language in the Raab valley has a few special
characteristics. Poet Josef Reichl (who had traveled quite a lot in his
younger years) wrote in 1912 in an article on the Raab valley, that the
language spoken there reminded him of the language spoken in or near
Frankfurt am Main. The Burgenland area was never totally separated from the
adjacent Styrian and Lower Austrian territory. There were certainly social
contacts at any time.

The Hianzen-name first appeared in print in 1778, when Slovakian-born
geographer Johann Matthias Korabinsky published his "Almanach von Ungarn auf
das Jahr 1778". Therein he wrote about an area called "Hienzey" in the Güns
(Koszeg) area. Spelling varies between Hienzen - Heanzen - Hianzen - Heinzen.
I wrote about the inclusiion of Hungarian words in my answer to Gerry. The
full name of the Hianzen author is Hans Ponstingl. I think he was born in the
Jennersdorf area. He died in 1977, aged 67.

The Burgenland has to be divided into several separate dialect areas. I
mentioned the Raab valley. Another example is the Seewinkel (Lake Corner): It
is not easy for me to understand people from let's say the Seewinkel village
Apetlon. An example: For 11 (eleven) we (in the south) say: "(l)v" or
"(l)ve". In Apetlon they say "alave" - very similar to English.

Yvonne Lockwood reponds: As a trained folklorist/historian (with only a bit
of work in linguistics) I have some thoughts on language change that I'd like
to express here. Change is not always negative (Ed. question had negative
connotations)....Language is a part of culture and as such, changes as does
culture. These continue to meet the needs of the people they serve. As long
as there are folks who understand and share these cultural expressions, they
live. Nothing is static....

As for the Croatian dialects in the Burgenland, they still maintain much of
the linguistic structure of the language before the major language shifts
that took place in what is Croatia today back in ca. 16C. The reason being
that for the first centuries there probably wasn't much (if any) contact
between the immigrants and their linguistic peers in the south. The Croatian
dialects of today's Gradiscanski Hrvati contain a large number of German
words. And in some areas and within some families German has made deep
inroads. I know families where the wife had to literally brush up her
Croatian in order to speak with me (whose German is that of a babe), while
her husband spoke a pure Croatian (i.e., he always knew the Croatian word,
even though in everyday speech he and the other villagers used a German word
instead) and often had to give her that word. As for their children, one
taught grammar school English and Croat Croatian (and her Burgenland Croatian
is excellent as well), one spoke some Burgenland Croatian but was primarily a
German speaker (she later married a local whose identity as a B.Croatian was
strong and she has since relearned Croatian, which is now their first
language). There is still a debate among the intellectuals about whether
their literary language shouldn't be Croat's Croatian, but I have noticed a
prevalence of Burgenland Croatian in the weekly newspaper, the periodicals,
the Kalendar, and books. Given that sto, ca, and kaj are all present, they
are also all represented in print from time to time. I am hoping that the
literary language embraced is Burgenland. Yes, Gerry, it is a beautiful
language to the ear (even with the German words, despite what the purists
say). It is an absolute pleasure to talk with octogenarians (plus) and hear
their speech (and often they use a lot of Hungarian words).

You referred to the language as Croatian (Serbo-Croatian). It is Croatian.
(Scholars from Croatia (Serbia) have considerable trouble understanding
Burgenland Croatian at first. There is a learning process for them, albeit
shorter than folks from other languages.) Serbo-Croatian is the official
language of the former Yugoslavia. S-C is now a political term. Though
Croatian and Serbian of the former Yugoslavia are virtually the same (it IS
one language, from a linguistic point of view), with the breakup of the
country, the languages of the respective countries are called Croatian and
Serbian. Croatia proper is attempting to actively change/adapt their language
so that it differs as much from Serbian as possible. Their language police
are creating new words like their lives depend on it.

I should add also that all Burgenland Croatians speak German (high and local
dialect) and many, especially older ones, speak some Hungarian. The older
farmers used to laughingly tell me that they speak the local German dialect
to their cattle, because that's what the cattle understood (or stated another
way, that's all it was fit for!). But this has to do with being an
unrecognized (for centuries) minority in a sea of German speakers and
striking back in the only way possible at that time. That sentiment was
stated in the 1970s, and a lot has happened in terms of ethnic recognition
and rights in Austria since then. Well, this has been a wonderful diversion
from my current focus of Arab American culture (an exhibit I have curated).
Thanks!

END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD