^{The News}
Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History

DIGITAL CHURCH BOOKS: BB member Thomas Seltsam, of Vienna, Austria, wrote to share some websites. He said:

Dear Mr. Steichen, as some of the members of BB may also have relatives in other parts of the former K.u.K. monarchy I would like to recommend the following homepages:

http://matricula-online.eu/?lang=en - The site contains digitized church books of nowadays Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Vienna. The number of books is steadily increasing. Some of them are surprisingly easy to read and if available also the indices were scanned and published. As mentioned in the current newsletter you can not view data which is younger than a hundred years.

http://actapublica.eu/ - This site has the digitized church books of some parts of nowadays Czech Republic and some parts of nowadays Lower Austria. They also scanned available indices. On clicking the magnifier to the top left you come to the search site. On top you can choose the region in the first field you can enter the name of the village.

With kind regards, Thomas Seltsam, Vienna, Austria

MORE DIGITAL CHURCH BOOKS: In another note, László Békési wrote to say:

Hello Tom, good news for researchers: the parish books of diocese Györ are available on-line at http://www.gyeleveltar.hu/.

Registration, costs: http://www.gyeleveltar.hu/?q=content/regisztracios-adatlap.

The presently uploaded villages: http://www.gyeleveltar.hu/?q=node/9.

Hope it helps a lot of us. Best regards, László B.

AIR TRAVEL:

If you click on a particular returned record, you get a slightly more expanded index, like this:

The actual obituaries are not online but can be viewed at the Library. Alternatively, the Library staff can access, copy and mail obituaries (or do other genealogical research) for an hourly fee (currently a reasonable $10/hour with a $5 minimum, even if they find nothing; copying and postage included free). They note that they can typically process 10 obituaries/hour, so bundle multiple requests together if you have such.

See http://www2.sjcpl.org/obits/search_form.php to carry out an index search.

 

HELPING OUT THE US GOVERNMENT: It seems we've had US Embassy staff members (Information Resource Officers [IRO] of the American Reference Center [ARC]) from the Austrian Embassy in Vienna "trolling" our BB website... in this case, however, the trolling was a positive thing.

I received emails from two IROs, one of which said: "Next year, the U.S. Embassy will celebrate 175 years of US/Austrian diplomatic relations and, in this context, we are planning an exhibit, a video clip, a commemorative booklet as well as events throughout the year circling around this anniversary." The message went on to say that they were collecting images for use in the exhibit, video and booklet and would like to use one that appeared in our 2008 Christmas newsletter.

The specific image in question was one of the Chicago Burgenländer Manner Chor, an image provided to the BB by member Mike Mittermann. Given this use differed significantly from the purpose Mike submitted it for, I decided to ask Mike for permission for this extended use, which he graciously granted, saying "I'm thrilled that a small piece of my history will help shed some light on my roots." (His grandfather sits at the front left corner.)

The message from the other IRO (sent not knowing that her colleague had already emailed me), repeated most of what the first message said but went on to say that the exhibit, etc. will be used "...for educational outreach with Austrian schools, libraries and cultural organizations" and indicated that they may wish to use other material from the BB site. I, of course, said we will cooperate however we could.

That said, I'll try to remember to see what the Embassy puts out next year and, if I do in fact check on that, I'll share it with you. Until then, know we are doing our small part toward US / Austrian diplomatic relations!

All this, though, prompted me to wonder why 1838 was, apparently, the year we established diplomatic relations with Austria (2013 - 175 years = 1838). Some searching reveals that the Austrian Empire first recognized the United States in 1797 when it accepted Conrad Frederick Wagner as U.S. Consul at Trieste, a city under the jurisdiction of the Habsburgs. Prior to that, the US Congress had commissioned William Lee, on July 1, 1777, as U.S. representative to Vienna; however, Austria did not officially receive him nor recognize the United States as it would have put them in the difficult position of recognizing a country that had rebelled against a monarchy—a dangerous precedent given similar unrest in the Habsburg domains at the time.

It would wait until 1829 for a U.S. Consulate to be established in Vienna. Even then, formal diplomatic relations would not commence until 1838, when Henry A Muhlenberg presented credentials as the first U.S. Minister to Austria and was accepted on November 7. Correspondingly, the Empire established a legation in Washington, with Baron de Mareschal being accepted as the Empire’s first Minister to the United States on October 13, 1838.

The Consulate was closed in 1917, after the Austro-Hungarian Empire severed diplomatic relations with the United States during WW-I. It was reopened in 1921—but now establishing a diplomatic relationship with the independent country of Austria. Likewise, the Consulate was closed due to WW-II, from 1938 to 1946.

Thus, next year's celebration will recognize 175 years since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations with Austria and its antecedent Empire; the actual years of diplomatic relations, as so often occurs, is less.

 

GENEALOGICAL SILLINESS: I'm My Own Grandpa

How many of you have read some version of the genealogical nightmare called "I'm My Own Grandpa"? It's been many years since I first read it but something this month caused me to look further into it. Turns out it was based on a 1947 novelty song written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe. Jaffe was a songwriter and bandleader who composed more than 250 songs. Latham was a singer with The Jesters, a popular trio of the time known for their novelty songs and bits of spoken humor. Latham remembered an anecdote, attributed to Mark Twain, that described someone who became his own grandfather by marrying his daughter's stepmother. Together, Latham and Jaffe expanded the idea into a song, which became a hit for Lonzo and Oscar.

So, here is a YouTube clip of a televised performance of the original hit song. This version skips a few verses so I'll put the full lyrics below.

Your mission readers, should you decide to accept it, is to fill out the appropriate family groups sheets and pedigree charts! (As always, should you or any of your team be caught or killed, the BB Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions! This video will [not] self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck!)



I'm My Own Grampa
  by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe

It sounds funny I know, But it really is so,
I'm my own grandpa!

Many, many years ago When I was twenty-three
I got married to a widow Who was pretty as could be.

This widow had a grown up daughter With flowing hair of red.
My father fell in love with her And soon the two were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law And changed my very life.
Now my daughter was my mother, For she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matter Although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father Of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became A brother-in-law to dad,
And so became my uncle, Though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown up daughter, Who of course was my step-mother.

Father's wife then had a son Who kept them on the run,
And he became my grandson For he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother And it makes me blue
Because although she is my wife, She's now my grandma too.

If my wife is my grandmother, Then I am her grandchild
And every time I think of it It simply drives me wild.

For now I have become The strangest case you ever saw,
As the husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa!

I'm my own grandpa! I'm my own grandpa!
It sounds funny I know But it really is so,
I'm my own grandpa!
 

I tend to give FIRST the village name in the language of the country the village is in NOW. If in Burgenland, that would be the German name; if in Hungary now, the Hungarian name. However, because much of the research of our members is from times before 1921, I often include IN PARENTHESES the Hungarian name (for villages in Burgenland) and the German name, for villages still in Hungary. When a village is in Hungary, I almost always include ", Hungary" after the village name.

However, many of the entries in Surnames and Villages are from before the time when I started doing these sections, so those entries may not follow my convention. I've edited some of them as I see them but have not systematically edited all of these. I also sometimes forget to add the additional information. I do try, though, to name the village by its current name, regardless of the name the member may include in their member submission.

I'm interested in the thoughts of all the staff on this: how should we name villages given the complex naming history in the West Hungary area?



Alan Varga wrote: I agree with your convention of using the language of a village's current country, and referring to the other one in the opposite language. It is critical to use the cross-reference tables on the Villages pages, as well as old maps, to locate the correct records for this time period.

I recently came across some information on the other side of my family that points me to Slovakia (Upper Hungary). Because of my research in western Hungary/current-day Burgenland, I know how to locate the correct records for Slovakia as well.



Fritz Königshofer wrote: Hi Tom, Alan, Hannes, and others,

Tom's way of using the German names for towns which are in Burgenland and the Hungarian names for towns that remained in Hungary, and add the other version in parentheses, makes eminent sense. The rule is simple and effective in providing value for the genealogical researcher, just as Alan states. Besides, it's surely the right approach for the BB's website. Having said that, there are many practical situations where less formality passes muster as long as we keep a generous spirit and are not fixated on making political statements with the names. Here are some thoughts.

The most important cities often have different names in different countries. The Austrian capital city is a good example. For German speakers it is Wien, for English speakers Vienna, and for Hungarians Bécs. In this case, the language providing the context determines the name, e.g., a Hungarian speaker or writer will nearly always use "Bécs" when referring to Vienna. However, many German or English speakers might not know that Bécs and Wien are the same thing. A similar situation obtains regarding Budapest. The German name of Buda was Ofen which, after the amalgamation with Pest in 1871 and the new name Budapest, was carried over in the German name Ofenpest. Today, the name Ofen has become obsolete and the capital of Hungary is called Budapest in most, if not all, languages. Another variation of the same story happened with the name of the capital city of China. Most of us grew up with the name Peking, until the Government of China determined that the pronunciation provided by "Peking" was not close enough to the Chinese original and requested the world to change the spelling to Beijing. Currently, "Peking" lives on in the name of the rightly famous dish known as Peking Duck.

Sometimes, the geographic name used in other but the original language is derived from Latin, such as Styria and Carinthia for the Austrian provinces of Steiermark and Kärnten. Should the Latin versions (which are also the English versions) be used or the Austrian (German) ones? For me, this question does not have an entirely satisfactory answer. As for Burgenland, there exists no alternative.

As Tom indicated in his call for comments, the town and village names in Burgenland and the somewhat larger area of former West Hungary represent a special problem stemming from the region's multi-ethnicity, the virtual independence of Hungary following the compromise with Austria of 1867, and the re-drawing of borders after the First World War. There was, first of all, a long tradition of using German and Hungarian place names. For many places, Croat names also existed, as well as a few Slovak names in the north and Slovenian names in the South. Secondly, in the 1890s and early 1900s, Hungary embarked on a project to make all town/village names Hungarian-sounding and unique across Hungary. As the weekly Der Volksfreund (published in Szombathely) wrote in its issue of March 11, 1893, the Government decided that "from the begin of the next year onwards, the German place names would be deleted, and only the Hungarian names would be used." The last adjustments of place names were made in 1907. Thirdly, when Burgenland was created in the wake of WW1, it reintroduced mostly the former German place names. Let's look at some examples.

1. There was a small village called Füchselsdorf in the south of former Vas county near the border with Styria where, starting in about 1900 the father of my maternal grandmother had his last assignment as a teacher. In the census of 1910, all 300 inhabitants reported German ethnicity. The Hungarians called the village Füxlincz. This name must have sounded insufficiently Hungarian, because the village emerged from the renaming exercise described above as Kismáriahavas. The latter, therefore, is the name one must look for in most of the era of civil recording. Today, the village is in Slovenia and has the official name Fiksinci.

2. Stinatz was and is a major Croat settlement in Vas county, today in Burgenland, in the district of Güssing near the Styrian border. Probably due to it always being 100% ethnic Croat, the Magyars called it Stinacz. Once again, this name apparently did not look Hungarian. In the last wave of place name changes in 1907, Stinacs received the probably artificial new name Pástorháza. As one can see, this phase lasted just over ten years, but family researchers need to be aware of the short existence of the new name.

3. The famous pianist and composer Franz (or Ferencz) Liszt was born in Raiding in Middle Burgenland. The Hungarian name of this settlement is Doborján. Despite Raiding being in Burgenland since 1921, Magyars will almost uniformly use Doborján as the name of Liszt's birthplace. Germans do it vice versa, as long as there has been a traditional German name for the place.

4. Recently, I was contacted by a Hungarian who is a university professor in England. He has a Tivalt/Tibold line in Rechnitz around 1830, just as I do. His question was whether I had data that could show a relationship. I am not finished with researching the question, but it currently looks that a relationship, if any, would have to be at least two further generations (or about 50 years) back, i.e., in the 18th century. It was evident that for him the name of the town was Rohonc, while I most of the times use Rechnitz. I think we both tried to throw in the other's name a few times.

My conclusion is that while it is expedient to follow a scheme when working with family trees and data bases, there should be ample leeway to use our own approach and style when and where uniformity and simplicity are not priorities.

Regards, Fritz



With the above as food for thought and as an initial basis for a naming convention, I started exploring our Member and Surnames pages, as they are the pages with the most errors and the ones in most need of a convention for both new entries and corrections.

I'll use my Member entry as an initial example:

Thomas Steichen (tj.steichencomcast.net); Winston-Salem, NC. HALBAUER, TRAUTNER, Wallern, WEISS, Halbturn, LASSL (Mosonszolnok, Zanegg, Hungary; WEISS, HALBAUER settled in Stearns Co, MN.

The first thing I'll note is an aside: my city and state are listed wrong! I know I sent in an email address change but I obviously failed to include the changes to city and state. (Hannes, can you switch those to Greencastle, PA for me? Ya, ya, I know better; I'll use the membership forms and make a proper change request.)

Lets get back to the villages... We list Wallern, not Valla, as village name for my Halbauer and Trautner surnames, as Wallern is the current official Austrian name. Valla, of course, was the Hungarian name for the village when it was part of Hungary. An acceptable approach would be Wallern (Valla), which gives the current name first and then the Hungarian name in parentheses. There is no need to list Burgenland or Austria, as we assume Burgenland and Austria if nothing is mentioned.

Likewise, Halbturn could be listed alone or as Halbturn (Féltorony), but this one raises another question: what to do with accent marks and umlauts?

I propose that we accept names with or without accent marks, but with a preference for including accents. Thus I prefer Halbturn (Féltorony) over Halbturn (Feltorony), but accept either.

As for umlauts, again the preference is for using the umlauted characters, but the insertion of an "e" is also acceptable. Thus, for example, Deutsch Schützen is the preferred form and Deutsch Schuetzen is OK, but Deutsch Schutzen is clearly less acceptable. As Fritz has said before, the lack of recognition of the umlaut, by not using the dots or the appended e (as in his last name, Königshofer/Koenigshofer vs. Konigshofer), is disturbing to a German-speaker. We should try to avoid that. Yes, if you write "Fritz Konigshofer" or Deutsch Schutzen, we'll know what you mean, but it would be a misspelling (and none of us like our name misspelled!).

My village listing for the third surname group, Lassl, seems to be a mangled mess! To follow the convention, it should be Mosonszolnok (Zanegg), Hungary, as the village is in current-day Hungary and Zanegg was its German name. We include , Hungary because the village is not in Burgenland. I would also find Mosonszolnok (Zanegg), Györ-Moson-Sopron, Hungary as acceptable, as including the County/Vármegye is informative.

I do not list a village in Austria that is not in Burgenland, but if I had, say, Fürstenfeld, which is in Steiermark (in the German form) or Styria (in its English form), we would list this as Fürstenfeld, Steiermark or Fürstenfeld, Styria. Like Fritz, I have no great preference for or against Steiermark over Styria, Niederösterreich over Lower Austria, etc. Again we'll assume Austria and not list it.

Note that we use parentheses only to list alternative-language village names; and we use the comma to separate a village name from a listed governing unit (County, State, Country).

So this raises the question of how do we separate multiple villages. In the past, we've used a mish-mash of commas, semicolons, parentheses and what-not. I propose we use the semicolon for this purpose.

Thus, if all my villages and Fürstenfeld were needed for a particular surname, I'd list them as: Wallern (Valla); Halbturn (Féltorony); Mosonszolnok (Zanegg), Hungary; Fürstenfeld, Steiermark.

I'm sure situations will arise where this convention does not satisfy every need; if so, we'll have to adapt or invent as the situation requires, but I don't want so many "rules" that even I can't remember them.

As Fritz said, "...there are [also] many practical situations where less formality passes muster," but for listings on our BB website, I think the above convention is clear and functional; I'll try to move our listed entries toward that form. [Toward that goal, I can report that the "A", "B" and "C-E" sections of Surnames have been converted to follow the convention. Given they held ~130, ~550 and ~400 village names respectively, almost all of which required editing in some manner, it was a time-consuming process, so do not expect to see everything converted quickly!]

However, I'll freely use whatever variation is convenient when writing for the newsletter, including freely switching from one name to another for the same place if that contributes to understanding or flow, or dropping part of the convention if context does not require it; you should too. [An example of that adaptation is in the first sentence of the next article, where I give multiple name variations for a single town.]
 

Joe's crucial change was from “ben” to “bír”, which strengthens, in important ways, the father's tie to village Makunióv… he not only “was a resident”, rather he "is a resident" or “belongs as a resident.”

As Joe said, "The translation pretty much remains the same. The word 'bír' is a possessive verb here, expressing he belongs there." Joe also went on to say, "We all know the place names were written phonetically..." which is why he did not belabor the exact spellings of the village or district.

This correction plays directly into Fritz' comments in the last newsletter about the concept of citizenship being based on the "place of belonging," the place obligated to provide you shelter when you were destitute. After the last newsletter was complete, we also found the marriage record of those parents; it had almost identical comment text, exchanging only "groom" for "father." So, again, the place of belonging was explicitly noted. This suggest that you should review the comment box in civil records; it may have important information.

Many thanks to Joe for refining the reading and translation of this text.

 

The Typed Text

The text I sent to Joe was something Joy Minns shared with me as part of her investigation into the Osztovics surname (she reports on part of her investigation in article "Researching the Osztovics Family Stump," which was also in last month's newsletter, #225. This particular piece contained summaries of the careers of three priests named Osztovics (Joy did not mention the name of the source document but I'm sure she'll share if others have interest in it). I'll quote the text later but first speak of what I sent to Joe so you can see how I floundered in working through these summaries.



I wrote to Joe: Hi Joe, we have a BB member that pulled some information, written in Hungarian, about some priests potentially related to her family line. She would appreciate an accurate translation. My quick look says it is fairly straightforward (birth info; service info, death info, then another paragraph on capabilities and/or achievements). Where I run into trouble is all the abbreviations and church-related terms. I'm hoping you might be able to easily decipher these things. If you can, I'd appreciate your assistance.

My guesses for abbreviations are (in order that they appear):

Sz. = született = born
Felsz. = felszentelt = ordained
pléb. = plébános = parish priest
adm. = adminisztrátor = administrator
u. o. = ugyanott = in the same place
ker. = kerület = district
esp. = esperes = dean/deacon
u. a. = ugyanaz/ugyanakkor = the same/at the same time
t. = tag = member
id. = idösebb = senior
plébh. = ??? = ??? (obviously related to pléb, though)

Other abbreviations appear to be month names.

Also, there appear to be some endings on place names that I'm not sure about... like Sirokányban - what does the 'ban' part mean? Or the 'on' in Szentkúton? The 'n' at the end of Apátistvánfalván?

Also, some words:
vendül = ???
Káplán = chaplain
foesperesévé = Archdeacon
kamarássá = Cabinet

The complete text is below. Any help you can give will be appreciated by both the member and me. Thanks, Tom Steichen



Joe replied to me: No problem, Tom,

I think the simplest way is to break 'those guys' apart and translate each of their sections right underneath (and you can just copy and paste for the questioner).

Most of your 'translations' were just fine, except of "id."; in this case means 'ideiglenes' or temporary. I almost missed "plébh.", which is 'plébános helyettes' or assistant pastor.

Now, trying to explain the intricacies of Hungarian is pretty much beyond my 'expertise'! :-) (And some of this church 'hierarchy' words give me trouble as well. Dean and deacon are quite distinct: dean is a title given to priests [usually] for 'time served'; also certain R.C. orders and schools are lead by deans. Deacons are not priests, can't serve the sacraments - or some such distinctions. Just like chaplains are not exactly parish priests, but I don't quite know their specific functions. [Just like assistant priest is different from chaplain and the parish priest position as well.])

OK, in Hungarian - almost like in Latin - we combine different adverbial, adjective and prepositional cases, which can alter the object as well as the verb. That's why those short letters are added to place names, because they designate either 'in' or 'on' or 'to/from' some times - depending on the sentence structure. This aspect of the language makes it so difficult to learn for non-native speakers! :-( Not like in German where 'der', 'die', 'das' has to be learned for each word; in Hungarian almost every word can have numerous prefixes and suffixes added, which modify, of course, those words. "We" picked it up with mother's milk! ;-) For everybody else is a 'Herculean' task! :-( Joe



Having read what Joe wrote about the Hungarian language, I'm sure you see why I refer to "subtleties." Core words can be looked up in a dictionary... but you have to be informed enough to be able to detect the core word buried between the prefixes and suffixes. And abbreviations! As Joe reports, I guessed most of those correctly but, for the one I missed, "id.", the list of possible interpretations is long... and I knew the senior (idösebb) version from working with house lists (it appears a lot in those to separate house ownership from the juniors!). "Senior" seemed to be a reasonable interpretation, so I didn't look further... but there is a big difference between a senior priest and a temporary one... so I blew it in this case! Oh well.

Also, if you look closely in the translations that I soon present below, you will see that my "dictionary" interpretation of some words does not begin to match the ecclesiastical use of these words. I don't know any good way around that problem (other than to have a good buddy like Joe!).



So, here are the three original Hungarian summaries and Joe's translations:

Hungarian: Osztovics György

Sz. Sirokányban 1817. szept. 23-án Osztovits (sic!) István és Erzsébet szüloktol. Felsz. 1841. aug. 4-én. Káplán volt Belatincon (1841-49), pléb. Szentkúton 1849-tol 1873-ig. Ekkor nyugalomba ment; Sirokányban élt 1883. május 5-én beköv. haláláig.

Németül, horvátul és vendül is beszélt.

Translation: György Osztrovics

Born in Sirokány 23 Sep 1817 to István Osztrovits and Erzsébet (no maiden name given). Ordained 4 Aug 1841. He was chaplain in Belatinc (1841-49), parish priest in Szentkút from 1849 to 1873. Then he retired; lived in Sirokány 'til his death on 5 May 1883.

Spoke German, Croat and Sloven.

--------------------

Hungarian: Osztovics István

Sz. Sirokányban 1870. júl. 23-án O. Károly és Milosits Anna földmuves szüloktol. Felsz. 1895. júl. 14-én. Káplán volt Incéden (1895-97), Szenteleken (1897-99), adm. u. o. (1899-1905), pléb. u. o. (1905-7), pléb. Németlövon s egyben ker. esp. (1907-30), pléb. Rohoncon s egy ben ker. esp. 1930 óta; u. a. évben Délburgenland foesperesévé, 1932-ben pedig pápai t. kamarássá neveztetett ki.

Horvátul és németül is beszél.

Translation: István Osztovics

Born in Sirokány 23 Jul 1870 to Károly O(sztrovics) and Anna Milosits farming parents. Ordained 14 Jul 1895. He was chaplain in Incéd (1895-97), Szentelek (1897-99), then administrator same place (1899-1905), then became parish priest same place (1905-7), transferred as parish priest to Németlövo, while at the same time he became district dean (1907-30), transferred to Rohonc and stayed district dean after 1930; then the same year he became Archdean for South Burgenland, and in 1932 became papal Privy Councilor.

Speaks Croat and German also.

--------------------

Hungarian: Osztovics József

Sz. Sirokányban 1880. márc. 16-án O. Károly és Milosits Anna földmuves szüloktol. Felsz. 1903. jún. 28-án. Káplán volt Szepetneken (1903. aug. 20.-1904. aug. 20.), Belatincon (1904. aug. 20.-1908. júl. 20.), id. adm. Apátistvánfalván (1908. júl. 20.- szept. 30.), káplán Felsolendván (1908. okt. 1.-1909. márc. 5.), plébh. Újhegyen (1909. márc. 5.-1911. szept. 23.), pléb. Ölbon 1911. szept. 23. óta. 1928. jan. 1. óta a sárvári felso ker. esperese.

Horvátul és közepesen németül is beszél. Ölbon 1912-ben új plébánialakot és melléképületeket emeltetett, az építési költségekhez 3000 K-val járult hozzá. 1914-ben megépült a 3-ik tanterem. 1919-ben ifjúsági egyesületet alapított.

Translation: József Osztrovics

Born in Sirokány 16 Mar 1880 to Károly O(sztrovics) and Anna Milosits farming parents. Ordained 28 Jun 1903. He was chaplain in Szepetnek (20 Aug 1903 - 20 Aug 1904), in Belatinc (20 Aug 1904 - 20 Jul 1908), temporary administrator in Apátisfalva (20 Jul 1908 - 30 Sep), chaplain in Felsolendfa (1 Oct 1908 - 5 Mar 1909), assistant parish priest in Újhely (5 Mar 1909 - 23 Sep 1911), priest in Ölbo since 23 Sep 1911. Since 1 Jan 1928 became the dean of the upper Sárvár district.

Speaks Croat and middle level German. In Ölbo in 1912 he had built a parish house and associated side buildings, supporting it with 3000 Crowns of his own money. In 1914 the third school (class) room got finished. In 1919 he founded a youth group.



While I was able to understand much of the original Hungarian (but only with the help of the online translators and some good dictionaries), there were things that still eluded me (and I attempt this frequently). So, if you feel lost in some text, send it my way and I'll try to help out... and if I can't, I'll try to find better help (like Joe). It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway ;~), it is the cooperation of the whole BB team, staff and members, that makes us the effective research group we are. So give yourselves a hand (and an extra one for Joe)!