Newsletter
Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 186
April 30, 2009, (c) 2009 by The Burgenland Bunch
All rights reserved. Permission to copy excerpts granted if credit is provided.

Our 13th Year, Editor: Johannes Graf and Copy Editor Maureen Tighe-Brown

The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter, founded by Gerry Berghold, (who retired in Summer, 2008, and died in August, 2008), is issued monthly as email and is available online at http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org

Current Status Of The BB:
* Members: 1708 * Surname Entries: 5517 * Query Board Entries: 4087
* Newsletters Archived: 185 * Number of Staff Members: 14


This first section of our 3-section newsletter includes:

1) HOMEPAGE NEWS
2) EDITOR'S NOTES
3) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen)
4) A NEW SOUTH BEND INDIANA INFORMATION SOURCE (by Gary Gabrich)
5) LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA (by Margaret Roosdahl)

News:

1) HOMEPAGE NEWS

The homepage growth: now there are 2923 files online. 1253 html, 1542 pics (jpg, gif, bmp, tif,...) and 128 other (pdf, mid, wmv, js...)


2) EDITORS NOTES

If you don't receive the NL, please look at your spam-folder. Some members tell me that their programs don't allow the sending-address for whatever reasons.

Some of these Newsletter articles are shortened, because I had so much material. So I will develop some of the themes more extensively in the next few Newsletters.

I will attend the Stiftungsfest in Allentown, PA, USA on June 28, 2009


3) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen)

Behind the seemingly placid website of the Burgenland Bunch, a not-so-placid Staff of fourteen highly involved individuals lurks. The Staff feeds and nurtures the site and acts as interface to members and potential members alike. Because of his role as BB Newsletter Editor since August of 2008, you likely know staff member Johannes Graf best. Hannes, based in Vienna, Austria, is also a BB Vice President, the Members Page Editor, co-Homepage Editor and manager of our web-server. He developed or played a role in developing numerous other pages reachable from the homepage; the Songbook and Pictures Pages come immediately to mind. Hannes has been with the BB since early 2001.

Recently, there has been an animated email and phone discussion among the Staff "advising" that it is time I make my presence as President more apparent. Truth be told, I made a conscious decision to remain in the background while Hannes found and established his voice as Newsletter Editor. I am pleased to say that he has done so--and it is truly a unique voice! His Austrian nationality and close proximity to Burgenland allow him to spice his literary offerings with authentic flavors. Thank you, Hannes!

However, as every manager knows, a good leader must pay attention to the advice of his staff. Their advice, coming also from Hannes, is that I establish a by-line in the Newsletter and speak out from time to time on issues that interest me and on BB policies and positions. This article is the first under my new by-line, "The President's Corner." While I will not promise to fill my "corner" every month, I'll try to be a fairly regular correspondent.

The issue that prompted the BB Staff to push me to speak out concerns the relationship of the BB to the BG, the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft. Apparently, there is some confusion about our relationship so I shall set the record straight. Here goes...

THE BB AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE BG AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

Gerald (Gerry) Berghold, grandson of four Austro-Hungarian immigrants, established the Burgenland Bunch in 1997. Since then, the BB has grown to include over 1,700 members, has published 185 newsletters, has documented over 5,500 Burgenland surnames and has established an English-language-based web archive of Burgenland-related material that is second to none. Organizational "seeds," planted in the early 1990s and nurtured by a conversation Gerry had with BG President Walter Dujmovits in 1993, bloomed in 1997 when Gerry published his first official BB newsletter. Since that time, the BB and BG have worked side-by-side to provide information and support to those interested in Burgenland heritage. However, it would be incorrect to say that the BG either controls or was responsible for the creation of the BB. In fact, it would be offensive to the memory of Gerry to diminish his accomplishments by implying such.

The BB and BG have complementary but divergent goals. Perhaps the easiest way to elucidate this is to provide a little background on the BG. The Burgenländische Gemeinschaft was established in 1956, after the end of the WW-II Allied occupation, to provide a link for the many Burgenland expatriates and emigrants throughout the world. A quarterly German-language newsletter--also called the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft and now over 400 editions in number--was the first tool devised to establish this link. It served as the "home town" newspaper for those who fondly recalled their earlier years in Burgenland and their relatives still there. Soon thereafter, the BG became involved in organizing and sponsoring low-cost trans-Atlantic charter flights to assist Burgenländers in visiting their emigrant relatives and emigrants to visit their Burgenland homeland. The BG also established an annual picnic in Burgenland to serve as a special occasion to draw emigrants home. These tools plus various social affairs, both in the US and Burgenland, later became a way for children of emigrants to maintain their link to the homeland.

The Burgenland Bunch, however, started from a somewhat different premise: our goal was to help individuals who originate, perhaps unknowingly, in Burgenland and are searching for roots. As an extension of that goal, we provide background into the multi-ethnic heritage of the region. Our new members (with a few exceptions) are not maintaining a connection to Burgenland; they are discovering that connection! In the process, they discover connections to each other and then help each other explore Burgenland history and heritage. BB members tend to be three or more generations removed from Burgenland. We are, first and foremost, American, Canadian, Australian or citizen of whatever other country we were born in, and then we are Burgenländer, but we are proud to call ourselves Burgenländer too! Many members are similar to me: one-quarter Burgenländer, one-quarter Luxembourger, and half German--but that does not dilute my pride in the Burgenländer part. This, then, is the first and likely key difference between the BB and the BG: the BG serves to maintain a connection to Burgenland; the BB serves to help discover that connection.

Clearly, we differ in how we go about providing our services. The BG is a formal organization with a street address, legal standing, employees and a budget. Conversely, the BB is an informal gathering of like-minded souls willing to exchange information. We have no address (unless you count www.the-burgenland-bunch.org as an address), are not incorporated or defined in any legal manner and have no treasury. The BG collects dues and receives funding from the Burgenland government; the BB collects information (that is the sole price of membership!) and all our actual expenses are voluntarily borne by the Staff itself (so rather than receiving pay, we choose to pay when necessary to accomplish our mission). Ultimately, the BB is merely the "central exchange" for a group (dare I say, "Bunch") of people who freely share a discovery and education process.

Nonetheless, we are not without structure. Gerry Berghold always recognized that he could not operate without support... and he found friends willing to provide it. Over the years, various individuals have served as web master, homepage editor, and interfaces to the membership via email or the Burgenland Rootsweb Message Board (Gerry was Board Administrator but other Staff members provided help to posters). As Gerry's health declined, he started planning for the future of the BB. In April of 2007, he stepped down as President of the BB, retaining only the role of Newsletter Editor. In his place, he installed me as President and Hannes Graf, Anna Kresh and Klaus Gerger as Vice Presidents. He did so to keep the physical structure of the BB functioning while he carried on as Newsletter Editor (the role he was most happy and productive in).

Personally, I thought of this group, the new President and VP's, as Managing Editors and the other ten Staff members as Contributing Editors. I preferred the managing/contributing terminology mainly because the "managerial" group physically managed the BB website while other Editors were involved in member contact and contributed material that we managers added to the site. However, maintaining the organizational image in Burgenland required the more-formal title structure of President and Vice Presidents.

I have already spoken of Hannes' website contributions. Klaus Gerger, also based in Vienna, Austria, was and is responsible for our extensive Maps pages and the information contained about villages and houses; he is still actively adding information to that part of the site. Klaus also serves as liaison to the BG (and has the inverse role as a member of the BG Board: he is liaison to the BB). Anna Kresh, from Butler, PA, has maintained the BB Internet Links page for many years. If it relates to Burgenland or genealogy, Anna has a link!

Myself? I live in Winston-Salem, NC, far from any US Burgenland enclave; but I was born in Minnesota, albeit one of the smaller destinations for Burgenländers. I started as Surnames Editor in 2000, revamping and updating those pages, and later took charge of the Villages pages and became co-Homepage Editor with Hannes. It was mostly Hannes and I who planned and developed the new website, transferring all parts of the old websites (which previously resided on separate, personal servers) to a single server, and we implemented software to protect member email addresses. If pushed, I would probably admit that I had somewhat more technical knowledge related to website development and took the lead on implementation ideas ...but Hannes has closed the gap in these intervening years.

So why did Gerry anoint me as President and not Hannes, Anna or Klaus? Probably the most honest answer is that Gerry wanted the BB President to be an American, and Anna felt her age and health precluded her from taking on the role. This was not a slight to Hannes or Klaus, of whom Gerry had deep respect. Rather it was recognition of the unique perspective of the Burgenland Bunch among Burgenland-related organizations, a perspective Gerry did not wish to see change. Simply put, at our core, we look back to Burgenland, not out from it. Gerry wanted a leader who saw the BB's relationship to Burgenland in the same manner he did; he did not want the BB to become just another Austrian expatriate organization.

Therefore, as President, I strive diligently to maintain the Burgenland Bunch as a unique and independent Burgenland organization, willing to work side-by-side with related organizations with respect and friendship, but not beholden to nor dependent on anyone. I cherish the strength and depth that a joint Austrian and American staff provides--it enriches contacts with our membership and enhances our knowledge base. Uniquely American born and bred and designed as an information exchange, the Burgenland Bunch looks back to Burgenland, not out from it. It is a perspective we will maintain.


4) A NEW SOUTH BEND INDIANA INFORMATION SOURCE (by Gary Gabrich)

Longstanding BB Member Gary Gabrich writes to say: I have a new source of information from the South Bend, St. Joseph Co., IN, area that will be of interest to our fellow Burgenland Bunch members doing research on ancestors who immigrated here. A friend of mine, Chris Kovach, spent the good part of the last three years indexing many births, marriages and deaths from the churches where the Burgenländers attended; mainly St. Mary's German Catholic Church and Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church. Also included is information from Nemeth and Zahoran Funeral Homes.

The information can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~instjose/.
Now scroll down to "Hungarian Immigration Collection" by Chris Kovach, which will open up to a world of information. Of particular interest will be the Vital Statistics area; just search for your the family name surname of interest. Just below that is the OLH Jubilee booklet with many pictures of Burgenland families, although the majority had moved to the suburbs by that 1972 date. If a member needs further details of the information found, simply contact: Rootsweb - USA - Indiana - St. Joseph Co. and post a inquiry. Someone local will surely help."

And, in a follow-up message, he added: "I (also) have a contact person that has the old books from the St. Anthony Club, which was formed by Burgenland Croatians and, get this, she has index cards of all Burgenland Croatians who ever lived and died here -- with family members (second generation) listed -- but she won't give me it until she has reviewed it since she said there were a few corrections to be made.... I'll keep you informed."

Editor: Many thanks, Gary (and Chris). Your fellow Indiana-originated BBers will benefit from this exceptional database and the index cards have special relevance to our BH&R project. We will look forward to updates about them when appropriate!


5 ) LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA (by Margaret Roosdahl)

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html

This is the link to the English side of the website (those who prefer French side can click on "francais" and look there).

The LAC has made quite a few changes lately, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it easier to look through. The best part is that you can put in the name of interest in the "ancestor search" box. It then pulls up all the instances where that name comes up, including immigration, naturalizations, land records, census and marriage bonds. If the name is a common one, a sidebar will appear with the types of records the name was found in, and how many times the name appeared. After choosing the type of record (by place and time frame), you can see the exact reference for your chosen person. The complete reference will then appear, including (for immigration records) name, age, sex, nationality, date of arrival, port of arrival, ship, reference, volume, page #, and microfilm reel. Back at the opening page of the LAC site the side bar at the left has links to the all-important "How to access LAC records". There is a link to the microfilm in other institutions - mostly libraries and archives in Canada, but also to the Allan County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The FHL also has some of the microfilm, and the LAC shows how to find the available FHL holdings. You can also order copies of any documents you have found. I ordered the homestead records for my grandfather and a couple of uncles through the Saskatchewan Archives.

In addition, 'if' those folks with the Ancestry.com world edition, or the edition that includes Canada can find a lot of the information there. Many public libraries have a subscription to Ancestry.com - mine here in Golden, BC subscribes to the USA-Canada-World version. The expanded version has the 1916 prairie census online.

I hope all this is of help.

Margaret

Newsletter continues as number 186A

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 186A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
April 30, 2009
(c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved

The second section of this 3-section newsletter includes:

1) THE LAKE CORNER (SEEWINKEL)
2) THE SPRING OF ST. BARTHOLOMÄUS IN ILLMITZ
3) TINANA.AT - GIRLS FASHION ONLY
4) WHY WINE? (by Josef Wurzinger & Pia Ehweiner)
5) LAKE NEUSIEDL - SEEWINKEL NATIONAL PARK
6) THE WINDMILL OF PODERSDORF AM SEE
7) HALBTURN CASTLE
8) NEUSIEDL DISTRICT LDS FILMS (by Ed & Frank Tantsits)
 

Main theme: Lake Corner

1) THE LAKE CORNER (SEEWINKEL)

The lake corner was the most hidden place in Burgenland. In Pre-Burgenland times, there was only a swamp in the south and a lake in the west. After the building of Burgenland, this lake corner became a border in the east, too. The next bigger town was Vienna, to which many people immigrated. Before the border between Austria and Hungary was open, people could only travel around the Lake-Corner by going around the north side of the area. Since Hungary joined the European Union a few years ago, the Austria-Hungary border has been open.  Now people can also drive around the south side of the Lake-Corner.  For example, it's closer to get from Tadten to Eisenstadt by driving around the south side of the Lake-Corner.

In earlier days, the Lake Corner was a very dangerous area to live. Several times, plagues such as diphtheria or cholera killed many people and shrank villages' populations. The main cause of such plagues was the swamp on the south side of the lake and beside it. Many insects and an almost moist landscape brought other plagues.

Also, the nearby flat lands (or "Puszta", in Hungarian) were used as a herdsmen's grounds, with many herds of horses, pigs, and sheep, which caused the collapse of clean drinking water. Many wells' water was poisoned, as a result, and both people and animals died. Finally, the houses were roofed with reeds, so if one rooftop burned, the whole village would burn down.

But after recognizing the connections, the problems became solvable. Also, to dry the swamp at the so-called "Hansag", the area between some villages like Tadten or Andau and the southern border to Hungary made the land useful, producing many crops. The houses changed from mud huts to real stone or brick, built with a tiled roof.

After the start of the tourism about 1960, everything changed. Many areas beside the lake become camping areas. Some restaurants were established, every house got some bed-and-breakfast rooms, and water sports' grew. Everybody looked to establish their own part in this business. Some new factories started, like yacht builders and sportswear manufacturers. The crops also changed, from grain and cereals to wine and fruits, mostly apples. Many farmers changed everything and, as a result, they needed new engines and vehicles. The Puszta disappeared and the rest of the swamp became a national park, devoted in part to saving some species of birds. Thus, the park became an attraction for ornithological tourists.
 

2) THE SPRING OF ST. BARTHOLOMÄUS IN ILLMITZ

The unhygienic drinking water of the very shallow housing wells in Illmitz was the reason for the annual summer sickness of the whole population. Also, typhus sometimes affected the village. The water had a very high concentration of Kalcium (1200mg/l) and Nitrate (1500mg/l). For example: the Viennese water currently has a maximum of 8mg/l! For this reason, the mayor of Illmitz began to charter a drilling team in 1929 that would search for fresh water. They found an artesian spring and established a spring house, where everybody could come to take the water they needed. The mineral water is named "Arteserwasser," and has now been available for free since 1931. As a result, now the population is largely free of sickness and cancer. (ED: I always take some bottles with me to take some water back to Vienna. It's really good for the kidneys & prostate.) The spring of St. Bartholomäus is a "Natrium-Hydrogencarbonat-Mineral-Trinksäuerling" with a constant temperature of 15.6° Celsius, at 201.3 meters below ground. In 1996, the Burgenland Government declared it to a mineral spring. (Heilquelle) In between, other drillings bring the result, there is the biggest European mineral water lake under the Lake Corner, with a total area of about 250 square kilometers, equal to 96.53 square miles.
 

3) TINANA.AT - GIRLS FASHION ONLY

Tinana is a brand new fashion label for girls, created in Austria. One of the windiest areas in this country is a lake near the Hungarian border, called the Neusiedler See. We are the first and only fashion-label from this sport-paradise. This is a hot spot for all wind- and kite-surfers, as well as for others who want to enjoy the easy lifestyle in this relaxed part of Austria. No surprise that this is the home of TINANA. After two years of being on the market, the acceptance of the brand is increasing rapidly. The main focus of the label is on girl's wear.
Function:
* Provides a high level of comfort;
* Little extras make life easier (secret pockets, hand warmer, extra fabric for comfort when using a backpack);
* Quick to put on and take off—be well dressed in seconds.

(ED) The example of fashion-for-girls shows how much this area and job opportunities have changed over the years. www.tinana.at
 

4) WHY WINE? (by Josef Wurzinger & Pia Ehweiner)

Good question! We won't make you wait for the answer: With every good meal, from 12:00 P.M. on, you can enjoy wine. Some people are concerned with which wine goes with which meal. The decision however, of which wine complements which occasion and which company, should be decided by one's pleasure. Wine belongs to all cheerful companies, ceremonial gatherings, but also to sad occasions. It can be a treat or a food, but also an elixir and even medicine. Wine can settle you down and help you unwind, but it can also stimulate philosophical discussions. Wine is a valuable cultural asset of Burgenland, with a history of 200 years. Finally wine is also joie de vivre and a bread-and-butter job for winegrowers (like us here in Austria).

Far away from where?

Simply Pannonian
...where only on particularly clear days are mountains seen in the west, and to the east, the sky seems virtually infinite.
...where the first spring awakes and warm, dry, southern winds sweep over the land.
...where in various places up until the silvery Indian summer, busy bustling reigns in the vineyards.
...where in the winter, the icy wind can almost take your breath away.
...where we live and work, where we find peace and ideas on how to do even better. And simply Pannonian are our wines: fresh, fruity, ripe, and full-bodied. Some say our vineyard lies in the remotest corner of Austria. Others say that where we are, everything starts. We truthfully don't say more than: it lays in Tadten, Obere Hauptstrasse 11, and it is an attractive, quiet place with ideal possibilities all around and sites to produce wines like we imagine them.

Since the quality, which comes from the vineyard, can only be preserved in the wine cellar, we should start there. Our vineyards are all to be found in the municipality of Tadten and, according to the soil and conditions, we strive to place the most appropriate variety. Our sites are Ried Oberzick, gravel, very mineral and chalky, warm and permeable. Ried Unterjoch, sandy clay and gravel, Upper soil: moderately heavy with some coarse-grained soil. Warm. Some limestone. Ried Kreuzjoch, slight gravel, mineral-rich, moderately heavy. Upper soil: brown soil with slight coarse grain. Dry location. The climate determines the entire period of vegetation, every year. For this reason, it is important for us to pass on some information. The northern Burgenland is affected by the Pannonian climate. Harsh winters; mild but sometimes also very warm spring days; very hot and dry summers; and often stable autumn weather—all results in an average of 2000 hours of sun per year. In the southern part of the Seewinkel, two climatic factors play an important role. On the one hand, the huge expanse of water of the Neusiedlersee and the Lacken; on the other hand, the Hansag, formerly a large swamp. The lake is a natural heat accumulator, especially in autumn, whereas the Hansag provides for cooler nights in the summer and with these influences, the aroma develops. Here, on the edge of the Hungarian lowlands, where the countryside seems to be graceful and infinite, is the National park, Neusiedlersee, that is considered a rare treasure, due to the unique flora and fauna.

(ED) This winery belongs to my cousin Josef Wurzinger and his wife Pia Ehweiner.  www.weingut-wurzinger.at
 

5) LAKE NEUSIEDL- SEEWINKEL NATIONAL PARK

This steppe national park that crosses international borders was established in 1993. One part of its territory belongs to Austria (100 km2, or 38.61 square miles) and one part to Hungary (150 km2, or 57.92 square miles). The park ranks among the most fascinating natural areas of Europe: the open water and reed-covered zones of Lake Neusiedl, the meadows close to the water, the pasture land, and the saline and periodically dry pools are the habitats that this park has to offer. www.nationalpark-neusiedlersee-seewinkel.at
 

6) THE WINDMILL OF PODERSDORF AM SEE

The town of Podersdorf am See is located in Burgenland Seewinkel, an offshoot of the Hungarian Plain. There is no creek for the operation of water mills. Therefore, the people in this area always have been dependent on the force of the wind. For this reason, here as in the whole Hungarian area, windmills were built. Originally, there were seven windmills in Seewinkel, but the only still completely intact one is located in Podersdorf. The windmill is about 160 years old. It is still privately owned by the family Lentsch. During 2001, the "Podersdorf windmill club" was formed. It is committed to conservation and renovation of the windmill, and to the organization of the visitor operations that ensures and organizes activities. Opening times The windmill is open daily, from the beginning of May until late October. Tours are available daily during this period around 7:00 p.m. www.diewindmuehle.at

7) HALBTURN CASTLE

Halbturn Castle, the most important Baroque building of Burgenland, was once used by the Habsburg emperor's family as a hunting and summer residence. Today, it is one of the most valuable historical tourist destinations in the country. It offers an expansive park, a wide range of the Halbturn restaurant's menu, and the castle winery, and also some annual events in arts and culture. The castle is situated in the northern Burgenland, near the Neusiedler See. It was built in 1711 by Lucas von Hildebrandt, one of the most important Austrian representatives of the late Baroque architecture, in the reign of Emperor Charles VI. Through his daughter, Maria Theresia. Halbturn Castle came into the private possession of the family Habsburg Lothringen. They bought it from the Hungarian crown and gave it to their favorite daughter, Archduchess Marie Christine, for her wedding to Duke Albert Casimir von Sachsen-Teschen, the founder of the graphic arts collection of Albertina in Vienna. As a result, the Halbturn castle remained in the ownership of this line of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen. Today the castle is owned by Halbturn Baron Paul Waldbott-Bassenheim, a direct descendant of Archduke family. He and his wife, Marietheres, née Countess of Wickenburg, have created a diverse experience for visitors.

CENTRE OF ART AND CULTURE: Art and culture have always played important roles in the Halbturn castle. Featured annual exhibitions can be found every year from April to October. Also, contemporary art exhibitions are held in the castle Halbturn.

THE CASTLE PARK: Under Emperor Charles VI and his wife, Elisabeth Christine, is the first evidence of a garden design. This magnificent baroque garden did not change substantially until the 19th century. The park of today reflects the reshaping of 1900, as built by Archduke Friedrich. Landscaping at the Garden was done by the then-Director of Schönbrunn, Anton Umlauft. The park, the only park in the northeastern Burgenland, is now a fully developed landscaped garden in an unchanged beauty in all seasons and a haven for relaxation seekers. http://www.schlosshalbturn.com/
 

8) NEUSIEDL DISTRICT LDS FILMS (by Ed & Frank Tantsits)

Newsletter continues as number 186B.

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 186B
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
April 30, 2009
(c) 2009 - The Burgenland Bunch - all rights reserved

The third section of this 3-section newsletter includes:

1) ESTHER'S STORY (by Tara Fields)
2) KARL'S STORY (by Tara Fields)
3) GERMAN LINGUISTS DISCOVER UNIQUE HERNDON DIALECT (by Tara Fields)
4) PEOPLE ON THE BORDER (by Johann Dobrovich)
5) ETHNIC EVENTS MAY 2009 (courtesy of Bob Strauch)


The following 3 stories were originally written by Tara Fields, reporter for the Rawlins County Square Deal newspaper in Atwood, Kansas.


1) ESTHER'S STORY (by Tara Fields)

Herndon native Esther Hartner Pennington has roots that run deep in the Burgenland, a region in Austria near the Austria- Hungary border of old Europe. Esther’s father, Mathias Hartner, came to Herndon with his family from Gols, Austria in 1882 when Matt and Herndon were only 3 years old. Esther was born in a dugout northeast of Herndon.

“It was said that my grandfather only had 25 cents left when he got here,” she said. She said she believed her grandparents “probably heard how good the things would be over here,” and decided to emigrate. She said railroad representatives traveled Europe to find settlers for small towns along the tracks.
Esther’s Herndon upbringing was an innocent one, where imaginations were at work, curiosity bloomed, pranks were frequently played and life was simple. It was very different than the life of her ancestors in the old country. “After the war, anyone with a German name was driven out of Austria and walked to Germany,” she said. “During World War II, my father would get letters [from distant cousins] asking him to send shoes because they had to leave bare-footed,” Esther recalled. In 1979, Pennington and her sisters found the letters their father had received and decided to make contact with distant relatives who had asked for shoes. They went to their homeland twice and also paid for tickets for two of their relatives to visit in 1987.

The Burgenland lives

“Hoppa Schimmel,” a popular German song Esther learned as a child, is the same song she sang as she bounced her grandchildren on her knee years later. Esther recalls the English translation of the song as: “Get up horse…Tomorrow we are going to plant…The next morning, we are going to haul barley…And if the horse won’t go, they would give it a whip!” Growing up, Esther worked as hard as the song describes. She vividly remembers breaking her arm as a curious child while putting up alfalfa with her father. “I saw this conveyer belt going up and around, so I wanted to touch it. It lifted me off the ground and someone yelled, ‘Matt, I think there’s something wrong with your girl,’ as I hopped around with my arm broken,” she recalled. The family never had an indoor toilet, Esther said, because her mother thought it would smell in the house.  During the Depression the family often mixed rabbit meat with their pork to stretch it. Esther said times were sometimes tough, making the family appreciate the things they had. “Every fall, the gypsies would come up to get hay, eggs and milk and Mom said they’d steal it anyway if we didn’t give it, so she always gave it away,” she said. “Then she always told us kids that if we didn’t behave, the gypsies would steal us, too.” Esther passed on recipes to her children that reflect tight times, where families survived on little. In the Hartner family, “Schmarrn,” a pancake-like batter, is browned, then served with cucumbers, cream and vinegar atop in the Hartner family. According to Esther’s daughter, Ann Solko, other families prefer to use peaches on top of Schmarrn for dessert. As a child, mother and grandmother, Esther has always celebrated Dec. 6, the traditional European St. Nicholas Day, in her household. Esther notes her shoes have always been filled with fruit and a little candy on this day because she has never misbehaved, she said behind an ornery smile.

“Austrian” dialect

Esther remembers there were many people in Herndon who spoke in an “Austrian” German.  The fourth of 10 children, Esther said her older brother and sisters started school, where they were forced to speak English, without knowing a lick of the language. She said their church had two services — one in English and one in German. The older children taught the younger children English and soon it was the language of the house, though sometimes her parents would speak German to each other when they were alone. Esther left Herndon after high school to pursue a nursing career and travel the world on a cargo ship. She raised four kids, who appreciate their heritage. Esther, now 94, and Karl Wendelin, almost 95, are the two remaining classmates in the area from the Herndon graduating class of 1931.


2) KARL'S STORY (by Tara Fields)

Karl Wendelin, who will turn 95 Dec. 30, can still recite the Lord’s Prayer in German. He also has the ability to sing and recite a variety of other quotes and songs from his youth. The German dialect researchers who were in Herndon this last summer noticed a distinct dialect shift from the Burgenland, where Karl’s family originated. Karl spoke High German when he met his wife, Edna Holle of Ludell at a church "Mission Festival." The people of German ancestry in Ludell spoke more Low German, or Plattdeutsch, but they could understand both High and Low German dialects relatively well, Karl said. "We’d go up to her parents’ for a visit and she’d use her Plattdeutsch if she didn’t want me to understand," Karl said. In time, Karl’s dialect probably modified to include a mixture of High and Low German, the researchers said, noting a shift in vowels in particular. Karl’s ancestors came from a village named Gols, about 40 miles east of Vienna, Austria. His mother’s side came to Herndon in 1883 and his maternal grandmother lived with them until 1937. Karl said they spoke Austrian dialect as much as English in the home. Karl said his family was disappointed by the land when they arrived, noting it wasn’t everything representatives from the States had promised. "When they got to Herndon, there was a hill full of grass and they said, ‘OK, settle here and make a living,’" Karl said. "There was many a tear shed the night before they left their home in Austria and many a tear shed here."

Christmas memories

Karl said his family’s Christmas celebration was simple. They had a tree from Northwest Mercantile Company with popcorn and cookies that his mother and grandmother made for decorations. "We ate sauerkraut and wienies, of course!" Karl said with a hardy laugh, indicating he was joking. "There wasn’t the variety we have now," he said more seriously. "It was a daily dinner magnified. Mother always kept geese, so Christmas dinner was probably a roasted goose and potatoes." His favorite gifts were from his father and his grandmother Rosina.  Karl's father, Lorenz, was a talented blacksmith. He said his father, the "iron artist," made him a sled. The gift from his grandmother was a harmonica, which he still plays. "Every gift was appreciated — even clothing," he said. "We didn’t expect anything much and you knew what you would get. "Your expectations weren’t too high," he said. Karl said he can remember being young and in love with his fiancée. He brought her to his family’s Christmas, where Karl remembers his mother’s homemade wine being served. His mother used wild grapes from the Beaver Creek to make her potent concoction. "As a matter of courtesy, we had to say it was very good," he said, recalling he and his fiancée agreed the wine was horrible and very sour tasting. Karl and Edna, a union of different backgrounds, though only separated by 10 miles, decided to marry. "I had dated her five months," Karl remembered. "I was in Atwood and she was working in the store in April 1942. "A tornado tore through Oberlin and we could see the storm, but we still went out to eat that evening," he said. "That was the night we decided to get married."

Marriage

Karl fondly remembers the domestic talents of his wife, her hard work and her ability to prepare "company dinners" after church for the many guests that visited their home.  Karl’s granddaughter, Heather, said she can still remember her grandmother, the late Edna Wendelin, and her sister, the late Erma Niermeier, starting a phone conversation in English. When things "got heated," the language was changed to German. Karl and Edna spoke English and German in their home throughout their years of marriage. He said he can still hear the words of German in his head, but it is difficult to remember how to speak fluently. Heather believes her grandfather could pick it back up if he had someone speaking with him daily, the way he and his wife did before she died in 1986.

The music will never die

Karl, a music lover, who cranks his record player up to deafening volumes, can still sing the melody to one of his favorite childhood songs, which translates to English: "Fox, you have stolen my goose. Give it back to me or the hunter will take care of you with his gun!" Karl's love of music came from his father, who had a great appreciation for music. His extensive collection of music from the Big Band Era and his many volumes of Montavoni are the source of conversation and happiness.

Karl, a lifelong resident of Herndon, has done his part to keep the stories of his youth and his heritage alive. His recollections have been featured in past issues of both the Rawlins County Square Deal and the Oberlin Herald.


3) GERMAN LINGUISTS DISCOVER UNIQUE HERNDON DIALECT (by Tara Fields)

Herndon, though roughly 20 miles away from its county seat of Atwood, can seem like a half a world away, speaking linguistically, to those who are not accustomed to “the speech island.” Two German lecturers, Dr. Fred Wildfeuer and Dr. Nicole Eller, teamed up with the University of Kansas German language department to seek and find Bavarian speakers in this part of the United States — typically those German speakers who originated from the border area of South Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Bohemian regions of Czechoslovakia. The German lecturers had become aware several years ago that German speakers from what was then Austria-Hungary had settled in the Herndon area. According to the Germanic Languages department chair at KU, Bill Keel, there are places in Kansas, such as Herndon that are known as “speech islands” for Bavarian speakers who were displaced after World War II. "The Burgenland is more in the east of Austria along the Hungarian border and that appears to be where many of the so-called Hungarian Germans in your area came from,” Keel said. This past summer, while in Ellis County, Kan., conducting a granted study on migrants from the Bavarian and Bohemian Forests, the German researchers decided to head west to Herndon, a place they suspected still had speakers from the old country.  In Herndon, the team of German researchers met with Esther Hartner Pennington and Karl Wendelin.  The research team tested the Herndon natives by speaking dialects of High German, or Hochdeutsch, and Low German, or Plattdeutsch. It was found that both Pennington and Wendelin spoke High German. Wendelin also had traces of the Low German dialect.
This dialect exercise maps original settlement location in Europe. High German refers to geographic high points in the lay of the land where that dialect was spoken, though it is often mistakenly construed as the superior dialect.
It is also mistaken as a ranking system for class. Some people also assume speakers of High German typically occupied the Northern regions, but the truth is that they typically lived the Southern region of Germany.  The German linguists will travel the world in search of Bavarian-rooted dialects. It is a project that will take years to complete before they publish their findings. They plan on returning to the United States next year.


HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Editor: This is part of our monthly series designed to recycle interesting articles from the BB Newsletters of 10 years ago. Our current newsletter includes an article by BB President, Tom Steichen, about what makes the Burgenland Bunch unique among Burgenland organizations. The following is an extract recycled from an April 1999 Newsletter article that epitomizes the unique character of the BB, a character that clearly was already well-established at that time.

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS No.55A APRIL 15, 1999

4) PEOPLE ON THE BORDER (by Johann Dobrovich)

Translated by Frank Teklits (with assistance of Albert and Inge Schuch) and distributed to BB members via email by permission of the publishers.

Editor's Foreword: When the Burgenland Bunch was started in 1997, the purpose was to provide an organization wherein Burgenland researchers could correspond with one another for mutual help and assistance. While the subject of Family History was paramount, broader issues of history, geography and culture could also be addressed. The organization and its newsletter would thus provide a media for questions and answers and a place where topics could be discussed and literature distributed. Our experience over the last 28 months has not changed that purpose, but our effort has progressed far beyond expectations. Our original eight members have now grown to over 300, our archives are bursting at the seams and, unlike many genealogical archives, ours contain much original research of which we can be justly proud.

The Burgenland being first a Hungarian province and later an Austrian one, it follows that the literature pertaining to that region is generally found in languages other than English. Some members have utilized their translating skills to bring us English extracts of the available foreign literature. Rarely published in English, some is now becoming available to English readers for the first time. Burgenland Editor Albert Schuch, Austrian Editor Fritz Königshofer and others have been assiduous in their searches for material in Austro-Hungarian archives and libraries. Their findings and subsequent translations have provided much of this new material. This has enabled the Burgenland Bunch (BB) to share in a pioneering effort in the field of Burgenland Family History. Now Croatian Editor Frank Teklits joins that group of translators and brings us a definitive history of Croatians in Burgenland from a recognized authority.

Family history is more than a compilation of our ancestors. To be meaningful it must include their origins, migrations, religious history and culture... their "total story," as it were. Frequently lost or unavailable without intensive search, such information, when found, is invaluable. We now have one "total story" of the Croatians in the Burgenland. I hope similar material will become available for all ethnic Burgenland groups.

Frank Teklits has devoted much time and effort in translating this work, without thought of compensation. It is a labor of love and does honor to his ancestors. His acknowledgments specify the sources to which he has turned for help. I feel we can rely on the exactness of translation. He has kept us advised of his progress from the beginning and many of the answers to his questions have been thoroughly discussed within the BB and have already found their way into the newsletters as articles and definitions of archaic terms.

I am full of admiration for Frank's efforts and the help extended to him by other members. His translation joins the urbar, visitation, village data and early newspaper translations as part of BB original research. My thanks join his, especially to the Burgenländischen Landesarchiv for their permission to publish this translation.

Gerry Berghold

Acknowledgments by Frank Teklits: My personal thanks to the various contributors and supporting individuals. In any successful endeavor, there are many contributors that deserve recognition for their contributions. In the translation of the text "Volk an der Grenze ..." (People on the Border) by Johann Dobrovich, special thanks are in order to the Burgenländischen Landesregierung Landesarchiv und Landesbibliothek and Dr. Felix Tobler for their permission to make this translated text available via the Internet to the members of the Burgenland Bunch.

Special thanks are also in order for the constant support & contributions made by Albert Schuch, without whose inputs this effort would never have been completed. Inge Schuch also deserves thanks for her significant input in the translation of many of the later chapters when Albert was called to serve his country. Thanks are in order to John Lavendoski for providing the original text of Dr. Dobrovich's work, from which, the kernel of a thought to translate came about. Thanks are also due my cousin Stephen (Mooney) Frisch for his challenging statements concerning a probable Croatian ancestry that led directly to my commitment to translate Dr. Dobrovich's text. Last, but not least, a very special thanks to my wife for her patience, understanding and support during many long days and nights of work.

Introduction - Frank Teklits

Dr. Dobrovich's text "Volk an der Grenze", which is volume 47 within the series "Burgenland Research" (Burgenländische Forschungen), was released and published by the Provincial Archive of Burgenland in 1963. The book is based on the migration of the Croatians and is the result of two decades of research by the author on the reasons for the Croatians leaving their original homeland and migrating into the Province of Burgenland. The text begins with the earliest origins of Croatia, and progressively walks the reader through the tragedies of the Ottoman Wars and into the new Croatian homeland in the various Districts and villages of Burgenland. The author's findings are the result of researching numerous Urbars (Land Registration Records), Visitations (ecclesiastical inspections) throughout Burgenland, and other historical sources. A chapter is devoted to the three Croatian dialects used within Burgenland and areas of Croatia where these same dialects are still used today. Based on these dialects, the author draws some conclusions of various Burgenland regions or villages deemed likely to be the descendants of Croatians and from which areas they stem. There are 8 chapters devoted to either specific Districts of Burgenland or Regions of the Province. The Chapters on the Districts of Güssing, Oberwart, Oberpullendorf, Neusiedl, and Northern Burgenland provide extensive coverage of the various Domains & associated villages. Throughout the book, Dr. Dobrovich has sprinkled determinations that allude to areas within Croatia that may have been the original homeland of the Croats who migrated to specific villages in Burgenland.

A Village Register was compiled by the author and contains well over 600 different names of Burgenland villages, Croatian names for many of the Burgenland villages, as well as for other names. Each village and or city is referenced to a specific page(s) within the text for the ease of finding the text associated with a village.

The BB staff has decided to make the text available via the Internet as a part of the biweekly BB newsletter. The staff's thoughts are to make the various Chapters on the Districts of Burgenland available initially to the membership, and gradually to include all of the chapters in the text. It is also planned to provide to the membership, via the newsletter, a separate listing of each village named in the BB Homepage and whatever information, if any, is provided in the translated text for the specific locale. This effort will be completed on an alphabetical basis over a period of time.

(The original article, truncated here in this reprinting, includes the table of contents, forward, and first three chapters of the translated Dobrovich text; it can be read via our Archives. Subsequent editions of the BB Newsletter contain the remaining chapters and are also in the Archives.)


5) ETHNIC EVENTS MAY 2009 (courtesy of Bob Strauch)

Saturday, May 2 - Maibaumtanz/May Pole Dance @ Coplay Sängerbund. Dinner at 5:30 PM followed by mini-concerts by the Coplay Sängerbund Mixed Chorus and the Hianz'nchor. Music from 7-10 PM by the Joe Weber Orchestra. Also, crowning of Maikönigin (May Queen).

END OF NEWSLETTER

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