THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 152
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 11th Year - Issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold)
June 30, 2006
(c) 2006 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)

~50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BURGENLANDISCHE GEMEINSCHAFT~

Current Status Of The BB: Members-1306, *Surname Entries-4498, *Query Board
Entries-3541, *Newsletter Subscribers 1039, *Newsletters Archived-152, *Number
of Staff Members-16

EMAIL RECIPIENTS PLEASE READ: You are receiving this email newsletter because
you are a BB member or have asked to be added to our distribution list. To
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send email to this newsletter. If you have problems receiving the newsletter
as email, it may be read, downloaded, printed or copied from
the BB Homepage. There is also an archive of previous newsletters.

This first section of our 3-section newsletter concerns:
1. 50th Anniversary Burgenländische Gemeinschaft
2. How To Join The Burgenland Bunch - Anna Kresh
3. 1300 Members & Some Remembrance - Hannes Graf
4. A Much Better Method For Searching Immigration Records - Bob Unger


1. 50TH ANNIVERSARY BURGENLÄNDISCHE GEMEINSCHAFT

In 1956, Dr. Toni Lantos, a Burgenland educator, established the Gemeinschaft
(BG) in order to provide a link with the many Burgenland emigrants and their
descendants throughout the world. Through the use of trans-Atlantic visits, a
surface mail newsletter and various social affairs, the organization has grown
and prospered. It sponsors an annual picnic and links with Burgenland ethnic
clubs. A few years ago, it established an internet website and both the
website and the newsletter have articles in both German and English. In 1985, Dr.
Walter Dujmovits, educator and author, became president and moved the BG
headquarters to Güssing. Under his leadership, the organization has become a premier
Burgenland link between the old and new worlds. In 1993, I met with Dr.
Dujmovits and the seeds of the Burgenland Bunch (BB) were sown. Since that time,
both organizations have worked in tandem to provide information and data
concerning Burgenland ethnicity. In 2001, a meeting between the leaders of the two
organizations established ways to further the goals of both organizations. BB
Burgenland editor Klaus Gerger (also a member of the BG board of directors with
the responsibility for the BG website) was appointed as liaison between the
two organizations.

On July 2, the BG will hold its 50th Anniversary picnic in Moschendorf,
Burgenland. Representatives from Burgenland groups throughout the world will attend
including members of the BB. The BB will be officially represented by Chicago
BB editor Tom Glatz (also vice-president of the Chicago BG), who will present
Dr. Dujmovits with a plaque supporting the following proclamation:

50TH ANNIVERSARY PROCLAMATION FOR BURGENLÄNDISCHE GEMEINSCHAFT
On this day of July 2, 2006, the Staff and 1300 Worldwide Members of the
Burgenland Bunch wish to honor and congratulate the Staff and Members of the
Burgenländische Gemeinschaft on the occasion of their 50th Anniversary. We view the
Gemeinschaft as the senior organization forging ties with Burgenland
immigrants and descendants throughout the world. Through your efforts, you have kept
the spirit of the Heimat alive in all those who have roots in the Burgenland.

We especially wish to honor Hofrat Dr. Walter Dujmovits for his lengthy and
diligent service to this organization as well his contributions to and
support of the work of the Burgenland Bunch. This plaque is given as a token of our
great esteem and hope that both organizations may continue to pursue their
worthwhile work for many years to come.

Given under my hand and with the best wishes of our organization.

Gerald J. Berghold
Founder & President
Burgenland Bunch Staff & Members

Auf Deutsch:
Grussbotschaft anlässlich des Jubiläums "Fünfzig Jahre Burgenländische
Gemeinschaft"

An diesem heutigen Tag, dem zweiten Juli zweitausendundsechs, möchten die
Mitarbeiter und eintausend-dreihundert Mitglieder des Burgenland Bunch dem
Vorstand und den Mitgliedern der Burgenländischen Gemeinschaft anlässlich des
fünfzig-jährigen Jubiläums ihre Ehrengrüsse und Gratulationen übermitteln. Wir
sehen die Burgenländische Gemeinschaft als die anerkannteste Organisation für das
Bilden und Erhalten von engen Beziehungen zu burgenländischen Auswanderern und
Nachfahren überall in der Welt. Durch Ihre Anstrengungen haben Sie den Geist
der Heimat in allen jenen am Leben erhalten, die ihre Wurzeln im Burgenland
haben.

Insbesondere ist es uns auch ein Anliegen, Hofrat Dr. Walter Dujmovits für
sein langes und pflichtbewusstes Wirken im Dienste dieser Vereinigung zu ehren,
sowie für seine Beiträge zur, und seine Unterstützung der, Arbeit des
Burgenland Bunch. Wir überreichen die Plakette als ein Zeichen unserer übergrossen
Wertschätzung und sprechen die Hoffnung aus, dass beide Organisationen ihre
wertvollen Aktivitäten noch viele Jahre lang werden fortsetzen können.

Diese Grussbotschaft kommt von meiner eigenen Hand, zusammen mit den besten
Wünschen von uns allen.

Gerald J. Berghold
Gründer und Präsident,
für die Mitarbeiter und Mitglieder des Burgenland Bunch


2. HOW TO JOIN THE BURGENLAND BUNCH (from Anna Kresh)

Anna responds to a friend's question: At the AACS Board meeting you asked me
how to join the Burgenland Bunch. The Burgenland Bunch has reached a great
milestone. Gerry Berghold (founder) has just released the 150th issue of our BB
newsletter. Since this was a special issue (#150), many of the BB staff
members wrote special articles for it. There were so many that Gerry had to put it
into five email sections, instead of the usual two per month. They are sent
on the last day of each month.

You can read/print the current newsletter (150th) from our BB Home Page, at:
http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/
Each month the new current issue will be available there on the Home Page,
even to non-members.

On that home page are the following links:
~ Read the 150th Anniversary Newsletter here . . .
http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/Newsletter/Newsletter.htm

~ Burgenland Bunch Invitation Letter
http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/Help/BB_Invitation.htm
Anyone proposing to join the BB should read this invitation letter.

~ Join the Bunch using the New Member Information Form
http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/MailOpen/new-member_vq.html
You simply click on "Send" to submit your data.

~ All of our past newsletters are available online


3. 1300 MEMBERS & SOME REMEMBRANCE (from Hannes Graf)

Hannes writes: Hello all, this should have been sent for the 150th
Newsletter, but better now then never.

Today I reworked the member list and added the 1300th Member! I checked it a
second time and it is exactly 1300! I then remembered how it all began for me
and I searched my old hard disk, because I am like a squirrel with Alzheimer's.
I don't delete anything, all is saved, but sometimes I don't remember where.

It all began with the BG Moschendorf-Picnic in 2001. After coming home on
July 8, I was euphoric about the BB and considered what I could do. I had no idea
about how to do other programs, except AutoCad, Microsoft Works and Word by using
WIN95. So I begin to learn Frontpage and the first thing I did, was to
download the BB members' file from Hap Anderson's web site and sort it
alphabetically. There were 717 members in the file. I worked for some days and sent
it as an attachment to Hap on July 17th. He answered me and asked if I would
like to become the members' page editor, but I had no idea about FTP or
Webspace or other technical software. I only knew how to sort a member-list.
(:-))))))

But I learned and the NEXT day the members' list was online at the
lagraf-account. So at this time I wasn't "learning by doing", I was "doing by
learning"! After some rework, the members' page was online July 20 and the first
version of Gerry Berghold's award page was online on the 21st.

So you can see, that only 3 days is necessary to go from being a BB fan and
an absolute internet idiot to a fulltime BB working page editor.

This is what I remembered with a smile and some melancholy thoughts. The
following emails (edited) are from the hidden squirrel's nest.

This is the original of my very first email in July 2001:
Dear Hap, Puuuh!! This was a hard work. You know what I mean? No, you don't.
My name is Johannes Graf and I live in Vienna. I do some research for finding
relatives, but yesterday and today I do something else. I have reworked your
member list of the BB. I have sorted the names in alphabetic order. I have put
Gerry in first place, than all others alphabetically. I deleted some duplicates.
I don't know how to correct the "Umlaut" problem, so I let it go for now.

I hope you enjoy my work with Frontpage. I renamed it in BURGENNEW.HTML. If
you need more help, let me know.

PS: Best wishes for your picnic 2001, last week I was in Moschendorf by BG
PICNIC 2001, and met GERRY BERGHOLD (ED. Note - and an auspicious meeting it was,
from which the BB has benefited enormously!)

And this is 32 hours later: 18. July 19:30
Dear Hap, Some things we can do yesterday, some things take a week, some
things one day. I have used the whole day to find out about MY webspace. If you
want to see what I mean go to: (links are now broken)

And this at 20.July 2001 11:13
Dear Hap The final address is as follows:
/BB-members/index.html


4. A MUCH BETTER METHOD FOR SEARCHING IMMIGRATION RECORDS (from Bob Unger)

When the Ellis Island records became available via the Internet I was so
excited - at last, immigration records were available on line - at least that's
what I thought at the time. I immediately searched for my relatives, found
some, but couldn't find others. So I came to the conclusion that the ancestors
that I couldn't find searching the Ellis Island records, must have arrived via
some other port of entry. A day of enlightenment arrived when I recently
attended a local meeting of the German Research Association here in the San Diego
area, and heard a presentation by Joan Lowrey about web site, www.stevenmorse.org.
This web site greatly enhances the search capabilities offered by Ellis
Island. I thought that I had found something new, but when I checked the BB
internet links - there it was, Anna Kresh had written:

"Ellis Island - Stephen P Morse - One of the best sources for accessing Ellis
Island records; use portal site developed by Steve Morse; especially use his
white or gray form to search for arrival manifests; may need to establish an
account with password (no charge) when you click to the Ellis Island site; many
other genealogy links."

The lesson learned here is that there is so much information available within
the BB Web Site that we often are not fully aware of all the resources
available. One purpose of this article is to enlighten our members regarding the
wealth of information to be found on the BB web site and to take this opportunity
to commend our BB web site internet links editor, Anna Kresh, for doing a
fantastic job.

Dr. Morse is an amateur genealogist who has been researching his Russian-Jewish
origins for the past few years. His web sites on searching the Ellis Island
database and the 1930 census have attracted worldwide attention. In his other
life, he is a computer professional who has made a career doing research,
development, teaching, consulting, and writing. He is best known as the designer
of the Intel 8086 microprocessor (grandfather of today's Pentium processors)
which sparked the PC revolution twenty years ago. He has a Ph.D. in electrical
engineering from MIT, and enjoys tinkering with electronics.

Dr. Morse first tried using the Ellis Island search engines and found them to
be inadequate - saying that he could do better. Since that time, Dr. Morse
has created many unique search techniques, and today includes over 100
web-based tools divided into eleven separate categories ranging from genealogical
searches, to astronomical calculations and Israeli phonebook lookups. Dr. Morse
provides this service free with the aid of several of his colleagues. In
addition, links are provided for searching the USA census records.

A few of the valuable tools offered by this web site are:
*Search filters making it now possible to enter only part of a persons'
surname. We are reminded that those who recorded the immigration records often
made many errors in spelling - so by entering two or three letters of the
surname, the results can be very revealing. Another search filter provides another
option to the normal male/female searches. It has been found that at times the
recorder did not make a check mark for either male or female. In that case,
if you were searching for a male ancestor, and male was not checked on the
immigration record, an unsuccessful search would result.

*Search techniques and links are provided so one can search the Family
History records and the US census records. To obtain copies of the census records,
a link is provided to www.ancestry.com - membership may be required or one can
go to their local Family History Center and use their computer system which
often includes free access to the ancestry.com files.

*The web site provides references and cross references to various
genealogical film numbers.

*Finding the census district for your ancestor is also made easier using this
web site.

*The census takers used coded letters - Dr. Morse provides meaning to those
codes - allowing us to decipher them.

Take the time to explore this fascinating web site- it could be most helpful.

To accurately assess the benefits of this web site, I filled in the
information about my Grandfather on Dr. Morse's search form - bingo - there appeared
the response that I had spent years looking for. I next logged onto the Ellis
Island web site, inserting into their search form the same data about my
Grandfather - no match - no useful info. To me, that proved that Dr. Morse had
indeed found better techniques for searching the Ellis Island records.

I next tried to find information about my Grandmother's immigration records.
Again, I had previously tried using the Ellis Island records with no success.
But, using Dr. Morse's search form, I inserted my Grandmother's first name
Marie, and only the first three letters of her surname, plus the approximate
years of arrival, age, etc., and got two responses, one of which I consider to
have a 95% probability of being my Grandmother's immigration record.

This proved to me that Dr. Morse's web site www.stevenmorse.org is far
superior to that offered by the Ellis Island web site. Dr. Morse and his
colleagues have developed tools, that can find Ellis Island information that cannot
be obtained by using the Ellis Island search engines. If you want more
thorough information about your ancestor's Ellis Island immigration records, try this
exciting web site.

Newsletter continues as number 152A.


THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 152A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 11th Year - Issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold)
June 30, 2006
(c) 2006 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)


This second section of our 3-section newsletter concerns:
1. Take Your Research To New Heights - With A Burgenland Tour
2. More Use Of The Steven Morse Website (from Bob Unger)
3. Burgenland Keppel Descendant Pitching For The Big Leagues
4. Austrian Student Prepares Immigrant Questionnaire
5. Surnames Ending In "its" Again
6. Burgenland Immigrant Rail Trips To Embarkation Ports
7. Taste Of The Burgenland - Baked Buckwheat Sterz


1. TAKE YOUR RESEARCH TO NEW HEIGHTS (by Tara Loftus)

You've done the research. Now make the journey.

Greetings Burgenland Bunch members and friends. My name is Tara Loftus and I
have been a member of the BB since 2001. I discovered the BB while researching
my Bavarian German ancestors from Illmitz, a small village located in the
Northern Burgenland near the Neusiedler See. My ancestors were Schwarzbauers and
Grafs and they immigrated to St. Paul, Minnesota through Ellis Island in the
late 19th century. I am indebted many times over to Gerry Berghold and his
"team" of compilers for their extensive and diverse resources on this area. My
research truly came alive with the help of the BB!

When I'm not doing genealogy, I organize international group tours for Group
Travel Directors, a travel company based in Minneapolis. Thus, I find myself
in the delightful position to marry two of my lifelong loves: genealogy and
travel.

I've proposed to Gerry Berghold the idea of a BB-sponsored tour to the Burgenland,
highlighting a specific district, be it Gussing, Jennersdorf or Neusiedl
am See or one of the other four districts. With BB members researching
hundreds of surnames in 425 villages, we agreed such an ancestral tour would be of
interest to many. In addition to villages, churches, cemeteries, local
wineries, and the Burgenland Immigrants Museum in Gussing, the nearby capital cities
of Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest would also offer spectacular sightseeing
opportunities. There's no doubt the sunny Burgenland and its vicinity have much
to offer visitors!

I am seeking feedback on this idea. Would you be interested in a group tour
to the Burgenland? Perhaps you have area expertise and would like to lead a
tour to a certain district? If this is the case, please contact me by phone
(800-747-2255, ext. 109) or e-mail. Personally, I can't think of
a better way to celebrate the sense of community the BB has fostered over the
last ten years.

Group Travel Directors has been enriching lives through travel since 1982 and
would be thrilled to organize a tour for the BB. After taking 22 members of
my own family back to Illmitz in 2004, I cannot return to the beautiful
Burgenland soon enough!

In the spirit of Gemütlichkeit,

Tara Loftus, Group Tour Specialist
Group Travel Directors
Minneapolis, MN
800-747-2255 or 952-881-7811, ext. 109
www.gtd.org

(Note from Gerry Berghold: I often thought about taking a group of BB members
to the Burgenland. It would require some expertise not ordinarily found in
tour concerns. Members will want to see their villages of origin and sights
known to their immigrant ancestors. In order to meet expectations it may be
necessary to limit attendees to a particular district (one of seven). It would be
difficult (but nor impossible) to visit many villages in the north, middle and
south of Burgenland on the same tour. Likewise it would be hard to guarantee
visits to record archives, but the tour could guarantee that you would see the
places familiar to your ancestors, walk where they walked, worship where they
worshipped, visit historical sites they saw and experience what is left of their
culture. My age and health precludes my leading a tour. If any of you would
like to lead one or have Group Travel Directors lead one, please contact Tara
Loftus. I will be glad to advise any group contemplating such a tour. Capital
cities should be included.

The BB has no commercial connection with Group Travel Directors or any other
firm and cannot be held accountable or responsible for their actions. The
above offer is published only as a courtesy and an item of interest to members.
You take part in such a group tour at your own risk. If interested, we suggest
you contact Tara soon.)


2. MORE USE OF THE STEVEN MORSE WEBSITE (from Bob Unger)

The following is a bit of personal family data concerning the use of the
www.stevenmorse.org website. The search revealed, from the ship manifest, that my
Grandfather, Johann Unger, was one of a group of five men coming from and
going to the same location:

Bauer, Sameul age 32
Kogelmann, Joseph age 29
Vollmann, Joseph age 18
Unger, Johann age 20
Wagner, Josepf age 39

I checked the Burgenland Bunch surname list and found that a member was
researching the surname Vollmann. I emailed this member, Craig Vollmann, and
learned from him that the Joseph Vollmann listed was his Grandfather, and that he
was also a resident of Rudersdorf - the exact same village as Grandfather
Johann Unger. So, it appears that these five men knew each other and left the
Rudersdorf area at the same time to come to the USA. Grandfather Unger journeyed
on from Allentown and ultimately settled in the Pittsburgh area.

Joseph Kogelmann (above), raises another interesting question. My research
shows that one of my Grandfather's sister's grandchildren married a Kogelmann,
from Rudersdorf. I'm now checking to determine the relationship between the
Joseph Kogelmann listed above with the Kogelmann's I know are my relatives.

Genealogy sure is interesting - there is always something new to learn.

(ED. Note - Bob and Alice Unger will soon be celebrating their 60th Wedding
Anniversary on a Grand Circle Travel barge touring Alsace-Lorraine.)


3. BURGENLAND KEPPEL DESCENDANT PITCHING FOR THE BIG LEAGUES

A BB member writes: Robert Keppel, who is descended from Keppels who came from
Strem, has made his debut in the majors. See the following link to the Kansas
City Star. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/14731575.htm
This Robert Keppel has no known close ties to my family, but Strem is very
close to where my Köppel antecedents came from, namely Inzenhof. However, his
family lives in our neighborhood and they go to our church.


4. AUSTRIAN STUDENT PREPARES IMMIGRANT QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear member of the Austrian community in the US. My name is Stefan Lerch, PhD
student at the Department of History and Political Science at the University
of Salzburg. One part of my PhD-thesis in History is a study on Immigration,
Integration and Identity of Austrian Immigrants in Traditional Immigration
Societies; such as the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, etc.
during the Second Half of the 20th Century. Since it is not possible to go to
every single of the above mentioned countries, I decided to base one big
part of my study on a questionnaire sent by email. The idea is to get personal
life stories of Austrian immigrants who found their way to the States in the
last 55 years and I am sure that every single story is worthy of being told (so
don't think yours is not). Your life before you left Austria, the motivation
to do so, difficulties with integration in the US, etc.; all these stories of
your life as an immigrant are of interest. Therefore I created a questionnaire,
that is mainly based on questions which are open ended; so write as much as
you like.

The idea of the project is not to get filled out forms from every single
Austrian immigrant to the States (the analysis puts the emphasis on the
personal life stories and not on statistics and numbers), but for sure that does
not mean that a huge number of response letters would not make me happy (so if
you know other Austrian-American friends or acquaintances, fell free to forward
this letter and the questionnaire by mail or printed). Finally I want to say
THANKS to all those who help me to get the project realized.

Yours sincerely, Stefan Lerch

Surface mail: Stefan Lerch, Oberkrimml 4, 5743 Krimml, Austria

P.S. The questionnaire is attached to the email (in German and English).

(ED. Note: The questionnaire is too large to be included in the BB
newsletter as it would take up more than a full section. If you are an immigrant and
would like to take part in this study, please contact Stefan Lerch and request
an email copy of the questionnaire, available in both German & English.)


5. SURNAMES ENDING IN "ITS" AGAIN

Correspondent writes: Do you know anything about the surname Zarahovits? Is
that usually Jewish? Are all surnames that end in "vits" Jewish?

Reply: No - some surnames ending in "its" are Jewish but not all. To understand
this you must know something about how surnames have developed. Hebrew
surnames are Hebraic in scope - biblical (the name given at birth). In the 14th & 15th
centuries when surnames were required for common people, the Jews were not
interested in giving up their Hebraic names (i.e. David ben Israel). They were
forced to do so, many taking names of places they resided (i.e. Rosenberg),
items in nature (i.e. Stern or Star), etc. Those who didn't assume a name were
given one by the authorities. Some also took names similar to the non-Jews
where they lived. In Slavic regions, they used the "son of - child of" method;
"its", "vits", "ovich", "ovits" endings mean "child of." Thus Zarahovits means
descendant of Zarah. Many orthodox Jews in Christian countries still recognize
two names - biblical and common.

Most Burgenland Croatian names end in "its" but I have not encountered
Zarahovits thus it may well be Jewish. If Jewish the Zaraovits may have come from
the Balkans (Croatia) but they also may have come from Eastern Europe - Poland,
Czechoslovakia, etc. - so-called Ashkenazi as opposed to the Spanish and Balkan
Sephardin Jews. The only way to know for sure is to trace your family. If
Jewish, you should certainly check out a Jewish website - getting back to us if you
find your family also resided in the Burgenland area or in the Austro-Hungarian
Empire. On the other hand, if your family is Roman Catholic, you should check
a Croatian website.


6. BURGENLAND IMMIGRANT RAIL TRIPS TO EMBARKATION PORTS (suggested by Anna Kresh)

Anna asks about the rail routes used by immigrants.

Reply: Anna, after looking at some old Baedeckers, I'd ignore Innsbruck as a
stop on your immigrants' journey - it looks more like Vienna-Linz-Salzburg-Munich-
Cologne-Brussels-Antwerp - my German Baedecker is from 1883, an Austrian one
from 1900. The 1883 shows some proposed lines which may have been used
connecting to Innsbruck, but I doubt it as they swung too far south connecting
Zurich-Strasbourg-Paris-Le Havre-Brest. Dujmovits evades this issue - his book shows
only broad arrows connecting Vienna with the major ports. There were three major
routes; north to the Bremen - Hamburg ports via Passau, the western one I show
above to Antwerp and later LeHavre - Brest and even later a southern one
Zagreb-Graz-Trieste to Genoa. Some ships stopped at Southhampton as well. I'm sure the
steamship agents supplied the route as well as the tickets, using the cheapest
available. It would be nice to find some exact itineraries. Most of our
immigrants knew little geography and most probably had only the foggiest notion of
their route other than village of origin - Budapest-Vienna - port of
embarkation - New York-Allentown, etc.

In earlier days the river routes - Danube-Passau-to Ulm, then overland to the
Main and the Rhine were also used but not economical or fast enough after 1890.


7. TASTE OF THE BURGENLAND - BAKED BUCKWHEAT STERZ (Berghold & Strauch)

Correspondent writes: I was reading your Burgenland Bunch archives - and
noticed a mention of buckwheat sterz - the baked dish - all my aunts remember it
but noone has the recipe. I would greatly appreciate your sending it to me.

Reply: Sterz is about as plain a food as you can prepare. Flour (buckwheat,
corn, wheat) and water (milk) fat and salt cooked different ways. See Schmidl
recipes following this article. None of my books carry this baked version.
Nonetheless, my grandmother (in Allentown, who was from the Güssing area) made a
baked version like you describe, her recipe follows:

4 slices bacon (or equivalent amount of lard)
2 cups Buckwheat flour
1 quart regular milk (water may also have been used)
1 or 2 tsp salt

Fry bacon until crisp (reserve 1 tbsp of bacon fat for batter). Mix flour,
milk, salt and 1 tbsp fat into a batter (note-the batter should pour but not be
too runny.) Heat remaining fat in baking pan (11x17). Pour batter in hot pan
(fat should sizzle) and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour. Sterz
should be browned and crisp on top, bottom and edges. Remove pan and cut Sterz
in squares-lift out with spatula. Eat immediately. We never used jelly on
Sterz, but why not. We also added bacon bits from above to batter, but not
necessary. It is my experience that amount of fat is critical-too much and it's too
greasy-too little and it doesn't brown. Lard may be best. Bacon gives nice
flavor. We ate this with soup.

Alois Schmidl in his cookbook "The Cooking of Burgenland" has the following
(not baked):

Buckwheat ""Sterz" - "Hoadnsterz)

1 pound buckwheat flour
1'2 pound pork fat
1 1/4 cups water
1 tbsp salt

Add salt to water and bring to boil. Add flour all at once-big dumpling. Cook
for ten minutes-turn over and cook for another ten minutes. Drain leaving 1/2
cup water in pot. Using two forks, tear dumpling apart into samll lumps. Heat
fat until hot and pour over sterz, stir and fry until hot. Serve immediately.

(ED Note: I ate this version on a trip to Jennersdorf-it was served in a bowl
with the soup course I ordered. I was told to spoon it into the soup as an
"einladen.")

Variations; cook poppy seeds in butter and sprinkle over Sterz; serve Sterz
with milk; make Weinsterz by pouring hot wine over Sterz cooked as above and
steam in oven until wine has evaporated.

See BB news numbers 81B, 82B, 126 and 127C for more Sterz recipes.

Lehigh Valley BB Editor Bob Strauch then sent me the following:

A Sterz which consists of a batter baked in the oven is generally called an
Ofensterz. In the Steiermark they are called a Tommerl or a Nigl, depending on
region, and can be made with or without yeast.

The following recipe is from "Vom Essen auf dem Lande" by Franz Maier-Bruck,
the bible of Austrian regional cooking and culinary lore.

Ofensterz/Ofentommerl

250 grams buckwheat flour or cornmeal
1/2 liter liquid (milk, water, buttermilk, mineral water)
pinch of salt
1 egg (optional)
100 grams fat

Mix all the ingredients except the fat to form a thin batter. Pour into a
greased pan to a 1/2 - 3/4 inch thickness. Bake.

Yeast is often added, especially if the flour used is fine-textured. For the
yeast variety, add to the above ingredients: 20 grams yeast, dissolved in
lukewarm milk and a little sugar. Leave rise in pan for 1/2 hour before baking.

Newsletter continues as number 152B.


THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 152B
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(Our 11th Year- Issued monthly as email by G. J. Berghold)
June 30, 2006
(c) 2006 G. J. Berghold - all rights reserved)


This third section of our 3-section newsletter concerns:

1. Second Trip To Burgenland & Vicinity - A Good Itinerary
2. More On Hannersdorf & Croatian Migration
3. Recent Obituaries Concerning Ethnic Burgenland Families
4. Meixner Ethnic Music Site Refurbished


1. SECOND TRIP TO BURGENLAND & VICINITY - A GOOD ITINERARY

Member Barbara Groh sends the following (edited):

Our European Trip May 3 - 14, 2006

This was our second trip to Burgenland, having visited in September 2001.
During that first visit we visited all the churches and cemeteries of my
ancestors. All four of my grandparents were born in Burgenland. We revisited many
of our relatives again during this trip.

Wednesday, May 3rd
We had departed the previous evening at 6:15 p.m. from JFK on an Austrian Air
flight to Vienna. My cousin (through a second marriage of my great aunt),
Rainer was there to meet us at the Vienna airport. We stopped to see St. Laurent
Roman Catholic Church in the Simmering district, where my great grandparents,
Franz and Marie Ertl, were married in 1897. We drove to a mountain on the
north side of the city where we could see the entire area; however it was a
little hazy. After driving around the Ring section of Vienna, we returned to
Rainer's apartment where we had a snack and prepared for the following day.

Thursday, May 4th
Left Vienna about 7:30 a.m. and drove to Eisenstadt, the capital of Burgenland.
We viewed the Esterhazy Castle and walked around the village. It was very
quaint and clean. We drove through the village of Rust and saw the storks on
the chimneys. We visited the Neusiedler See where we observed the little
cabins used by vacationers. Many of these cabins are accessible only by small
wooden walkways. We crossed into Hungary and first visited Fertod. We toured
the Esterhazy summer palace, built in the 1700's. It had been abandoned by the
Esterhazy family many years ago but it is now being restored. It also was
used during World War II. We then drove to Sopron and walked around the old
town section. We then visited Koszeg. This was another old historical city that
had many beautiful buildings. It had a Heroes Gate and Jurisica Castle. We
then headed back to Austria where we were to have supper in Bocksdorf (village
of my maternal grandmother) with Luise, Oma (who is actually my great aunt)
and Rainer's parents, Rosa and Hans. After a nice visit, Luise and Rainer
drove us to Luise and Franz's chalet where Ron and I would sleep for the next
four nights. The chalet was located in their orchards.

Friday, May 5th
Rainer picked us up at the Chalet and we had breakfast with Luise and Franz.
We toured Frelichtmuseum Ensemble in Gerersdorf which is an open air museum
that features many old buildings. The buildings were transported there from
various villages in the area. Many had thatched roofs which were common in
Burgenland (my grandmother said their house had a thatched roof). There were
barns, typical period houses, pigsty, wine cellars, winepress house, smith and
joiner workshops and other buildings. After this tour we went to lunch in a
nearby village. After being here several days we realized many Austrians have
their big meal at noon. We tried to visit the Emigration museum but it was
closed. We tried to visit the Burg, however the elevator to the top was not
working and we decided it would be too strenuous to walk up. We then drove to
Mogersdorf and visited the site of a huge battle with the Turks in 1664. The Turks
were on one side of the Raab River and the Imperial troops were on the other
side during this battle. The Turks lost this battle along with 12,000 men.
The Christians only lost 2,000. There is a huge cross on this site.

Afterwards we visited the wine trail in Heiligenbrunn. Here there were many grape
orchards and small wine houses. Many of the buildings had thatched roofs. We
stopped at one and we had a couple of wine spritzers and snacks. Ron and I had
Topfenaufstrichbrot which was a buttery cream cheese and chives on a large
slice of delicious bread. We then returned to Franz and Luise's and shortly
afterward went to the chalet for the night. Franz had put wood in the big ceramic
stove so it was nice and warm.

Saturday, May 6, 2006
We visited the Stubits family in St. Kathrein (village of my maternal
grandfather). Rainer and Daniela Stubits, did a great job translating. We had also
visited them in 2001 at which time we visited the cemetery and church. Eduard
and Josephina Stubits then took us to lunch at a local restaurant.

Afterwards we headed to Gussing. We visited the Emigration Museum which had pictures
and artifacts of Burgenlanders who emigrated to America. The person who gave
us the tour turned out to be a schoolmate of my cousin, Luise. We then drove
to Tobaj to visit the Richters (Julia Dergosits Richter is related through my
father's mother's side.) Afterwards we went to Rainer's parent's house and
visited with them.

Sunday, May 7th
We visited the cemetery and walked to the church in Bocksdorf. (This was the
church of my grandmother, Mary Ertl.) A special mass was said for the
volunteer firemen. Afterwards we went to the firehouse for frankfurters and
beverages. There was a big family gathering in Bocksdorf. Later in the afternoon,
several of us went for a walk by the woods. They showed us their plots where
they get the wood for their stoves. Many families have wood plots outside the
village.

Monday, May 8th
We left the chalet at 6:30 a.m. and stopped to say our goodbyes. We then
headed to the Danube Bend. Riding through Hungary was not particularly scenic.
What we thought would take four hours took 6 1/2 hours, since there was a lot
of traffic near Budapest and we mistakenly took the wrong road at one point.
We finally arrived in Szentendre, Hungary. I checked out some shops and
bought a table cover and paprika. We drove to Visegrad where we toured the castle.
The view from the castle was beautiful. We stopped briefly in Esztergom.
We visited the cathedral (the largest in Hungary). We couldn't find a restaurant
so we decided to head towards Gyor. We stayed at the Hotel Kalvaria where
we had a very delicious meal.

Tuesday, May 9th
We headed for Bratislava (Slovakia). The inner city was beautiful and dates
back to 907. Many buildings were over a thousand years old. We took a half
hour bus tour where we saw many of the back streets, and the buildings'
histories were explained. We then walked up to the Bratislava Castle, built around
the 9th century. It is very large and overlooks the town. Afterwards we
returned to Old Town and had lunch at an outdoor café (there were many). We then
stopped at a few shops and left Bratislava. After crossing the border into
Austria we stopped at Carnuntum, site of a Roman winter camp dating back to 6AD.
The site developed intro a metropolis and at one time had 50,000 inhabitants.
There we saw ancient foundation ruins of some of the buildings erected by
the Romans. We also saw the Heidentor which was once the southwest entrance to
the Roman city. This is also a popular spa area.

Wednesday, May 10th
After breakfast, we left for the Wachau region of the Danube Valley. Our
first stop was Krems. We toured the historic district, although there were a lot
of modern stores in the old buildings. We saw the Steinertor (gate). We
then drove to Durnstein. We walked around this village and saw many beautiful
buildings including a blue church. There was a castle on the mountain above the
town, but it would have been too strenuous to hike the trail. Richard the
Lionheart was once imprisoned in this castle. We passed many impressive grape
orchards while driving to our next stop - Spitz. Again, we toured this
village, which has been occupied since Celtic times, and first mentioned in records
in 830. The local church, St. Maurice, contained beautiful statues of the
Apostles from 1380. We crossed the Danube near Melk to visit Burg Aggstein, a
12th century castle. This was a very interesting self-guided tour. There was
also a magnificent view of the Danube valley. We then drove to Melk to visit
the Benedictine Abbey. This palace was built in the late 900's and was the
residence of the Babenberg's, Austria's first ruling family. It was given to the
Benedectine monks in 1089. We drove to Friestadt where we thought we would
spend the night, but we could not find a room (there was some sort of legal
convention). So we drove to Rainbach, several miles north, and found a gasthof.

Thursday, May 11th
We headed to Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic where we spent some time before
heading back to Rainbach again - this time at the Gasthof Greul.

Friday, May 12th
Drove to Linz and visited Postlingberg outside the city. We visited a large
baroque church from the 18th century. We then drove to Mauthausen, east of
Linz. There is a quarry in this area and because of this, the Germans had a
concentration camp nearby during the years of World War II. Over 100,000
prisoners died or were executed at this facility. We returned to Rainer's apartment
in Vienna after which we took the streetcar downtown to see a concert at
Rathausplatz, located between the City Hall and Burg Theatre. I finally tasted a
Sachertorte.

Saturday, May 13th
After breakfast we took the streetcar to the Nachtsmarket and Flohmarket. It
was very crowded. I bought pumpkin oil, a couple of table covers, and a
small bottle of wine. We then took a streetcar to the area around St. Stephen's.
We stopped for ice cream across from the cathedral and enjoyed watching the
people and gazing at the cathedral.

Sunday, May 14th
Had breakfast with Rainer and headed for the airport. I purchased three
boxes of candy at the duty free shop. The check- in lines were long and once you
went through the security line you were not allowed to leave the area.

The trip was very enjoyable. We had good weather every day, except for the
first Sunday when it was a bit cool and drizzled for the first half of the day.
Austria has so many small quaint villages. We noticed that many farmhouses,
especially in Upper Austria, are built in a square with courtyards in the
center. Many of the buildings were quite large, but the animals were also housed
in sections. We were very fortunate to have a family member with us during
our tour. Rainer did all of the driving and was our translator. We will
indeed have many good memories of this trip.

It always amazes my husband that most Europeans do not use ice in their
beverages. Some restaurants did give ice if you requested it. Bottled water is
very popular and comes with various degrees of carbonation. When shopping in
grocery stores most people bring their own bags as they aren't provided unless
you pay for them. You place your groceries into your bag while the cashier is
ringing up your order. They don't have the super size grocery stores we have
here in the U.S. as most people buy enough only for several days. The rolls
we had throughout Austria were FANTASTIC. One more tip - don't forget to bring
washcloths if staying at pensions or at a gasthof as they generally are not
provided.

(ED Comment: What is most interesting about this trip is that the Grohs were
not only able to visit the Burgenland but the surrounding area as well. This
is a good itinerary for anyone capable of driving a car overseas. It would be
well to know a little German. The Grohs were fortunate in having a relative as
chauffer and interpreter.)


2. MORE ON HANNERSDORF & CROATIAN MIGRATION

John Kornfeind writes: Thank you again and again for you very fine newsletters.
I anxiously await your comments and the other contributors work, even if
it does not pertain directly to the research I am doing. My understanding grows
each and every time I view these writings.

I appreciate your answer to the gentleman from Georgia on Hannersdorf, where
my Burgenland ancestors originate. I knew some of this, but not the whole
story as you related it. Thanks!

In relation to your piece on Croatian Migration, I just finished reading a
translation of "Die Deutschen in Syrmien, Slavonien, Kroatien und Bosnien" by
Dr. Valentin Oberkersch, translated by Henry A. Fischer

This is off the DVHH - Danube Swabian Heritage site - for the village of
Hrastovac - Eichendorf. The site is maintained by village coordinator Rosina T.Schmidt.

This comes from researching Marie Hockl - my grandmother's ancestors in the Banat.

Page 1
http://www.dvhh.org/hrastovac/historical/Valentin-Oberkersch.htm
Page 2
http://www.dvhh.org/hrastovac/historical/Valentin-Oberkersch-PartTwo.htm
Page 3
http://www.dvhh.org/hrastovac/historical/Valentin-Oberkersch-PartThree.htm


3. RECENT OBITUARIES CONCERNING BURGENLAND ETHNIC FAMILIES (from Bob Strauch)

Anna T. Walakovits, 82 of Allentown, formerly of Catasauqua and Whitehall,
died Saturday May 27, 2006 in Cedarbrook, South Whitehall Township. She was the
wife of the late Joseph Walakovits Sr. Born in Mogersdorf, Burgenland, Austria
she was the daughter of the late Edward and Ida (Kloiber) Schrey.

Elsa K. Farr, 92, of Allentown, died June 17, 2006 in her home. She was the
wife of the late Harvey L. Farr, who was the owner and operator of the former
Farr Brothers shoe store, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and Reading. Born in
New York, she was the daughter of the late Josef and Theresa (Czar) Berghold.


4. MEIXNER ETHNIC MUSIC SITE REFURBISHED (from Al Meixner)

It took quite a bit of work but I finally got the new 2006 #2 catalog online.
The bright blue color on the home page should really open your eyes. By the
way, that's how you can tell a new catalog season has begun... new background
color on my home page. www.almeixner.com

I'm sure you'll find something to your liking in the catalog. We have new
releases by Tom Brusky & Dick Tady and we even have a 2 CD set of tamburitza
music. Be sure to check out the news & reviews page in the Al Meixner Trio
section of our site. I'm trying to keep up to date with comments about our tour
travels around the country.


END OF NEWSLETTER

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