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Subject: [BURGENLAND-NEWSLETTER-L] BB News No. 36A dtd 30 may 1998 (edited)
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 07:33:45 EDT

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS -No. 36A
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY
(issued biweekly by )
May 30, 1998
(all rights reserved)

This edition contains the last section of Bob Unger's AustrianTrip Report and
covers time spent in the Burgenland.

AUSTRIA - A TRIP REPORT TO THE HOME OF MY UNGER ANCESTORS
Part #5 - Our Wonderful time in Burgenland (By Robert F. Unger)
Brief recap: Part #1, Burgenland Bunch (BB) News No. 16, provided general
information about the Elderhostel program. Part #2, BB News No 17A, focused
on European history and Elderhostel Vienna events. Part #3, BB News No. 20A,
continued with European history and Elderhostel events in Vienna. Part #4
told of the trip from Vienna to Salzburg and Elderhostel activities in
Salzburg, see BB Newsletters #34A and #35A. Following is the 5th and last
section of my May-June 1997 Austrian trip report.
.
May 25, 1997Sunday: This was our last day with the Elderhostel group.
Most would be flying back to the USA, while others, including my wife and I
would be starting off on personalized journeys. At 06:30 a.m., a Mercedes
taxi took us from our Hotel to the train station. (I mention the Mercedes
taxi because in the USA one hardly ever sees a Mercedes taxi, but in Austria
they are very common. Our Elderhostel coordinator had made arrangements to
have a porter meet us at the train station to help with our luggage. (This
was our first experience using a train in Europe - so we felt more
comfortable with some pre-planning and help.) The porter met us as
scheduled, but he did not speak any English and our taxi driver spoke very
little. Collectively we tried to convey our wishes, while the porter went off
on a motorized cart with our luggage, waving us off in the opposite
direction. My wife then remarked, "I hope that's not the last we see of it."
But much to our relief, shortly after we settled ourselves into the
compartment, the porter arrived with our luggage and helped us settle in. We
were assigned a compartment which normally accommodates 6 passengers, but we
were the only occupants. The train left at 07:10 a.m., on schedule, and
maintained an exact schedule throughout the 317 km, 3 hour and 25 minute trip
(Salzburg to Vienna), with seven two to three minute station stops along the
way. Arrivals and departures were so exact that one could set one's watch by
the timetable. The train ride was extremely comfortable and very quiet -
with no clickity clack sound one normally associates with train travel. Later
I learned that the rails did not have gaps where joined. We arrived on
schedule in Vienna at 10:35 a.m. and found the airport bus to meet our son,
Bob, who was joining us for our travels in Burgenland.

After Bob arrived with his baggage, we rented a mid-size Mitsubishi Turbo
Diesel car and drove to Eisenstadt (about 30 miles South of Vienna), where we
checked in at Gasthof Kutsenits. We drove around the area a bit, then had a
veal cutlet (schnitzel) dinner at the Gasthof. After dinner we walked around
the neighboring area, observing the different types of houses, yards,
vegetation, etc. One interesting observation, the cork-screw like steel
tomato stakes in many of the backyard gardens.

May 26, 1997Monday: Drove to the central area of Eisenstadt, bought
goodies in their super market - poppy seed cake (mohn strudel), coke, and
bananas for our lunch later in the day. (I was raised on poppy seed cake as
a kid, love it, but can't find it in USA stores anymore. However it was
plentiful in the stores of Burgenland, so I ate my fill.) We next checked
out possible sources for records about the Esterhazys, but it was difficult
with our language problems to explain the difference between music records
and genealogical records. I had learned that my grandfather's brother's
family had lived and worked on the Esterhazy estate for many years around
1890, so I was trying to find some record of their stay, but was
unsuccessful. Had a guided group tour of Schloss Esterhazy. We were the
only English speaking persons in the group. The guide fortunately was
bilingual, first speaking in German, then in English. The gift shop had an
English edition guide booklet which we bought which provided much additional
information. Next we drove further South and visited Burg Forchtenstein, a
formidable fortress built in the early 14th century. When we arrived, we
were hoping to go on a tour of the fortress, but were told that tours were
not given for less than ten persons. So we decided to have an early lunch
and take in all the
beauty of the area on foot. A short time later several cars arrived and the
occupants of those cars with the three of us made up the required ten persons
for the tour. It took about one hour and it was extremely interesting, even
though the guide spoke virtually no English. Picture taking, both video and
stills were permitted. We again purchased an English edition guide booklet.
(I would highly recommend buying English guide books because they provide
much more detail than is offered by the tour guide, plus they contain
excellent photographs, including aerial views.

We drove further South to Bernstein, in search of the Burg Bernstein. I
learned about Burg Bernstein during my research in preparation for this trip.
Construction on the Bernstein fortress started about 860 A.D. In 1953 a
small part of the castle was made into a hotel, and one can rent a room. As
we approached the village of Bernstein we could see the fortress high atop
one of the hills. But somehow we drove completely through this small village
without finding it. (Burgenland is not cluttered with commercial signs, as in
most places in the USA, so one needs to know locations or ask directions.)
We backtracked to the village and asked directions. We found the castle
located off a side street, adjacent to the village serpentine (a type of jade
for which the region is known) museum. We drove up a long beautiful driveway
and were met by a charming lady, who spoke some English. We were awe struck
by the beauty of the grounds and the intriguing rambling castle. The thought
of staying and sleeping in a castle/fortress for the first time was a chance
of a life time! So we checked into Burg Bernstein and were shown to a large
sleeping room filled with antiques and an adjacent large bathroom with modern
facilities. The bathroom was so large that it also contained a single bed
which offered the option of having our son sleep on the bed in the bathroom
or request a separate sleeping room. He decided that the bed in the bathroom
would be great - then he could tell his friends that not only did he sleep in
a castle for the first time, but also, as a first, slept in a bathroom. We
were their only guests for the night, so we toured the grounds extensively
-what a thrilling experience. Dinner was served in their spacious private
dining hall with its antique furnishings. At dinner we met the owner of the
castle, Andrea Berger, who spoke English very well. In the course of our
conversation we learned that Herr Berger had had the title of Count prior to
Austria's becoming a federal republic. So, this added to our "first"
experiences - we were served dinner by a Count. We also learned that the
Count's wife was a renowned chef of Europe, but stayed at the
castle raising their family and cooking only for her family and guests.
Needless to say we enjoyed a most excellent meal - one most could only dream
about. There was no menu, so we were served the chef's gourmet full course
meal.

May 27, 1997Tuesday: My wife, Alice, got up early for bird watching.
Later we had the opportunity to further explore the castle-hotel - using much
film. Had breakfast in the private dining hall. Walked around the village
of Bernstein. Self guided tour of the local serpentine mine. Drove further
South to the village of Bad Tatzmannsdorf, home of the South Burgenland
Open-Air Museum, displaying a variety of many old buildings from the
surrounding area which had been moved to that site for tourist's convenience.
We ultimately arrived at Rudersdorf - the village where my Unger ancestors
lived from the 1700s. Rudersdorf is located about 120 km south of Vienna,
and about 50 km east of Graz. Burgenland Bunch newsletter #12 provides:

"RUDERSDORF; (Radafalva); 0 33 82; 7571-District of Jennersdorf. S, on the
E66 at the border with Fnrstenfeld, Styria. Includes Dobersdorf. Pop. 2,002,
houses 631. Municipal office, police, post office, high school, special
school. Bnrgermeister names from 1921, Karner, Braun, Weiland, Ko"nig,
Winter, Schabhu"ttl, Brunner, Hirmann, Fro"hlich, Katzbeck. Mentioned in
records as early as AD1336. Aristocratic family, Batthyany. Shelled and
evacuated in 1945 (WWII). RC went to church in Kaltenbrunn, AG to Eltendorf.
Early emigrant, Josef Braun, 1892. Civil, LDS 0700489-498."

We drove slowly through the main street of Rudersdorf, then continued on to
Eltendorf where we had reservations at the "Gasthaus zum Kirchenwirt." At
the Gasthaus we were met by Matthias, a young man of 19, the son of the inn's
owner, Rudolf Mirth, who is the Eltendorf Bu"rgermeister. Gerry Berghold
had suggested that we consider staying at the Gasthaus zum Kirchenwirt
because of its good food and lodging and convenient location, just across the
street from the Lutheran Church where the original records of my Unger
ancestors are located. We decided to make the Gasthaus our home base,
traveling each day to and from the places we wanted to see. This arrangement
worked very well and we would highly recommend it to others. In preparation
for our trip to Burgenland I had made arrangements, via a contact I found on
the www, for hiring a guide/translator. Unfortunately he never showed, so we
had to quickly make alternate plans. Matthias, who speaks quite good
English, appeared at first to be our answer, but he had to decline because of
his many Gasthaus duties and responsibilities. However, Matthias found the
time to be our primary German/English translator, plus helping us in many
ways, such as assisting us in arranging appointments, learning local customs,
etc. The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter #10 provides:

"ELTENDORF; (Ko"rtvelye's, Oko"rtve'lyes); 0 33 84; 7562-District of
Jennersdorf. S, on Route E66, halfway between Szentgotthard, Hungary and
Fu"rstenfeld, Styria. N of Jennersdorf. Pop. 993, houses 353. Includes
Zahling and Ko"nigsdorf (this may soon change). Post office, school,
municipal office. Martin Luther Kirche ( Lutheran church). WWII artillery
damage (1945). Bu"rgermeister names from 1921, Tapler, Gaal, Hallemann,
Leitgeb, Gamler, Flamisch, Peischl, Mirth. About 200 emigrants from 1890
period to Allentown, PA. First emigrants in 1890 Johann and Mathias Duld.
Mentioned in records as early as AD1428 as "Elekfalva". Burned during the
Bocskay Rebellion (1608). Aristocratic family, Batthyany. LDS 0700737-9
(Lutheran; Catholics attended church in Heiligenkreuz); 0700435-9."

After checking in at the Gasthaus, we asked Matthias if there were any old
cemeteries in the area, hoping to find graves of my Unger ancestors. Matthias
pointed out the nearby cemetery, so we went in search of information for our
genealogical files. We located many Unger graves, but none matched my family
tree or the reference data that I had previously gathered. I soon learned
that over time there were many, many Ungers that lived in the area - my task
was to find a link between my known Unger ancestors and the other Ungers.
(Analogous to a Smith family in the USA trying to find Smith relatives in
another major city.) I soon learned that there are really no old cemeteries
in Burgenland, because cemeteries require maintenance and care and, after a
few generations pass, graves and even cemeteries are abandoned. Thus current
cemeteries have few if any really old graves. We then drove to Rudersdorf
searching for house numbers 58 and 177, known residences of my Unger
ancestors which I had obtained from the church records. We learned that many
houses in Rudersdorf have two address plaques, one for the old house number
and the other for the current number. Initially houses of the village were
assigned a house number in order or sequence of construction. Thus house
#58 could be at one end of the village while the next number 59 could well be
at the other end of the village. We quickly located old house number 58,
finding it on the main street of the village, but could not locate #177. As
evening approached, we returned to the Gasthaus for a delicious veal cutlet
dinner - another dish that I had often as a kid and still like very much, but
good veal cutlet is hard to find in the USA.

May 28, 1997Wednesday: Up early to start the day. The Church bells
across the street rang and rang at 6 a.m., awaking the village for a day of
activity. We learned that church bells are used extensively in Burgenland to
let people working in the fields know the time of day. We had breakfast at
the Gasthaus, which is included in the cost of the room. Matthias had his
Father call an official at the Rudersdorf Gemeinde Amt, and arranged for us
to meet with one of the village officials, Herr Tauss, at 09:30. (There is
nothing like having the Bu"rgermeister calling in your behalf to arrange for
an appointment - the response is immediate.) Herr Tauss fortunately spoke
English, so he quickly checked the village records and provided us with
official stamped copies of the death records for both my Great-grandfather
and Great-grandmother. Great-grandfather died 5 August 1920 at the age of 83
and Great-grandmother died 13 May 1924 at the age of 80. Herr Tauss also
gave us a copy of a book, providing the 600 year history of Rudersdorf - in
German. We inquired about records for Rudersdorf house numbers 58 and 177.
He gave us a copy of the records relating to house #58 and told us that we
would need to contact Herr Frank Stiener about the status of house #177 -
giving us Herr Stiener's telephone number in Eisenstadt. Learned that the
local farms are not one large plot, but consist of small strips scattered
over a wide area. Drove to Gu"ssing, but found a parking problem - all the
cars parked used a clock card on the dash board, and we had no card. (Later
Matthias gave us a parking clock card.) Stopped at a large super market at
the edge of Gu"ssing for another poppy seed cake, banana and coke lunch.

At 3 p.m. we had an appointment with the Eltendorf Lutheran Pastor to look at
the old church records. We spent most of the remainder of the day searching
through the records, gathered much info, and copied records using a computer
scanner - also made back-up copies by photographing records using high
contrast film.

May 29, 1997, Thursday: Up early again - church bells rang as usual at 6
a.m. Breakfast at the Gasthaus. We then drove to Graz, the second largest
city in Austria. Prior to leaving for Graz we made arrangements to meet with
Ingrid Unger at 7 p.m. that evening. (In preparation for our trip I obtained
the names and addresses of every Unger in Rudersdorf and wrote to the 6
Ungers listed. Ingrid was the only person who responded.) In Graz we took
an English/German guided walking tour of the city - most interesting and
informative. Visited the Graz armory and had the good fortune to talk with
one of their English speaking officials. After some discussion he asked if we
would mind if he assisted us with our tour. Thus we had our own personal
guide who showed us and explained, in English, the many, many items of armor
located on 4 floors of the building. Normally one is not permitted to touch
any of the items, but, he being one of the key officials, he picked up some
of the items to show us some of the fine detail. (He used white gloves while
handling the items so as not to cause any finger marks or damage.) He also
allowed us to use both our video and still cameras. This guided tour proved
to be one of the high points of our Austrian trip. We also purchased an
English version guide book, which provided additional information and many,
many excellent pictures.

Got back from Graz too late for dinner - so went straight to Ingrid's house,
she was waiting for us in front of her house at the appointed time.
Unfortunately Ingrid spoke very, very little English. Alice did her best
using our English/German dictionary as we struggled through our
conversations. We were served cake and wine. Met her 98 year old Aunt.
Ingrid drove us to house #58, met her son and 2 grandchildren, then had a
tour of the property. Since my ancestors also lived there, there is a high
probability that Ingrid and I are related. (The house and property were
typical for those built in the 1800s - structured in the form of a large
courtyard with buildings on all four sides. One side faced the main street
of the village, having a large entry door. Other buildings served as living
quarters for the family. Adjacent to the living quarters were the structures
for the farm animals. The large farming areas were located in other areas of
the village. Apparently the village consisted of a cluster of these
courtyards, formed in a manner which provided a means of protection during
the years of troubled times in the area.) Ingrid then drove us around
Rudersdorf, pointing out places of interest, including a stop at the
cemetery. Many Ungers were buried there but no positive link to our family
tree.

May 30, 1997Friday: Trip to Gu"ssing. There is a tourist information
office located in the center of the town, with an attendant who spoke
English. Visited the adjacent Burgenlandische Gemeinschaft headquarters (an
organization devoted to the history of those who left Burgenland and went to
the USA). Made arrangements for a Saturday meeting with Dr. Dujmovits, the
head of the organization, and the head of the Gu"ssing school system. Visited
the local Catholic Church. While looking for the church office, I asked a
lady for directions, to my surprise she spoke English very well, telling me
that she once lived in New York. She immediately took me to the church
office and introduced me to the Priest. He was most friendly and helpful -
quickly finding the birth record for Mary Unger, the Mother-in-law of my
Grandfather's brother, Frank Unger. (I learned that Mary Unger was not a
blood relative of her husband Frank Unger - but their marriage was a joining
of two separate Unger clans.)

We walked up the hill to the Gu"ssing Castle - unfortunately there were no
English speaking tours available. Drove around the area, visited a wine
museum and bought 2 bottles of wine. Drove to Fu"rstenfeld, located about 2
miles West of Rudersdorf to explore the city and to check out the Hitzl
family - my Great-grandmother's maiden name was Hitzl. There we located a
large Hitzl hotel and talked with the owners (most friendly and cooperative),
but could not establish a direct link to our family tree. Dinner at our
Gasthaus, and later joined by Ingrid for drinks and dessert. With the
assistance of Matthias, our translator, we had a friendly and interesting
conversation.

May 31, 1997, Saturday: Matthias made arrangements for us to meet with Herr
Sattler, a historian of Rudersdorf and the publisher of the Rudersdorf
newspaper. He lived near Ingrid, so when we arrived at Herr Sattler's house,
Ingrid was looking out her front window, so she joined us for our visit with
Herr Sattler. Herr Sattler spoke English very well. During our conversation
he told us that he had an index relating old Rudersdorf house numbers to new
house and street numbers. His list showed that old Rudersdorf #177 was now
Blumengasse 7. He also pointed out in the Rudersdorf 600 year history book,
it lists that Judge Augustin Unger owned one barnyard in the year 1576. (I
now have a copy of that book - written in German.) He also told us that in
the olden days it was very easy to become a baker since it required getting
up very early in the morning and not many people wanted to get up that early.

At 1:30 pm we met Herr Erwin Weinhofer, who was Dr. Dujmovits assistant. (One
thing I quickly learned in Burgenland is that one must be prompt for
appointments - so we always made sure that we were on time.) Herr Weinhofer
spoke English very well and answered many of our questions. Later we were
joined by Dr. Dujmovits who spoke little English - but fortunately Herr
Weinhofer could translate. During our conversation I told Dr. Dujmovits
about the newly formed Burgenland Bunch and its activity on the Internet.
That really triggered his interest - so we spend the next hour plus
discussing Internet features. Dr. Dujmovits was also very interested in
learning that Grandfather Unger came to the USA in 1891, because that could
possibly make him the earliest person from Rudersdorf to come to the USA.
Later Herr Weinhofer took us to the Burgenlandische Gemeinschaft Museum, a
very impressive place. The museum is filled with pictures and documents
about those who emigrated from Burgenland.

Returned to the Eltendorf Lutheran church for further research of the
records. Ingrid was already at the church, trying to find a positive link
between our Unger families. The purpose of this second look at the records
was to find the siblings for Johann Unger, born 1836. Because all the
records are in Hungarian script, it was an extremely difficult task. We
found only one positive sibling, Theresa Unger, born 25 March 1835.

Ingrid next took us to Blumengasse 7, the old Rudersdorf #177. Luckily there
was a couple in the side yard doing gardening. Ingrid talked with this
couple and found that they were the current owners of the property, the same
person (Frank Stiener) that we were told to contact in by Herr Tauss at the
Rudersdorf village records office. In deed, Herr Stiener does live in
Eisenstadt, but he and his wife often come to Rudersdorf to work on the
property, fixing it up for future rental. Herr Stiener is 83 years old and
his wife is 48, and he has traveled the world extensively and spoke some
English. During our conversation Herr Stiener told us much about the history
of the house. Finding Herr Stiener at old Rudersdorf #177 made this our
lucky day.

We returned to the Gasthaus for dinner with Ingrid as our guest. During the
meal we had a new salad dressing made from the oil extracted from pumpkin
seeds. It was very good. Ingrid noticed how much we liked it, so off she
went, came back with a bottle of the salad oil, called "Ku"rbis kerno"l", our
parting gift from Ingrid. That evening we said our goodbyes to Ingrid, since
we had travel plans for the next day, Sunday, and were leaving for Vienna on
Monday.

June 1, 1997, Sunday: Got up about 15 minutes before the church bell started
clanging at 6 am. Looking out our room window I awaited for the front doors
of the church to open, because I wanted to take my camera and video recorder
to take pictures inside the church. Church started at 10 am, and there were
only about 25 in attendance. It was a communion service and we participated.
This was a very emotional experience, attending church services and taking
communion as my ancestors did over 100 years ago.

Drove to Jennersdorf, the district headquarters for Rudersdorf and
surrounding areas. Walked around the village and took some pictures. We
next drove to the Gu"ssing Castle in hopes of finding an English speaking
tour, They had none, so we elected to go with a German speaking tour. After
having had many great tours in a variety of castles and fortresses in
Austria, we found the Gu"ssing Castle tour considerably different - they
tried to give the tour a modern flavor through the use of mirrors, modern
lighting and musical effects, etc. and in so doing lost much of the charm
associated with old castles. But after some thought one can understand the
finances involved for the upkeep of large castles and fortresses. So in all
probability the management is exploring methods whereby they can use their
facilities to attract more attendance.

We next drove to Fu"rstenfeld for a walking tour about the city. While there
we paid particular attention to the railroad station, possibly the station
where Great-grandfather Unger left Rudersdorf for his trip to Vienna as a lad
only 14 years old. We made a last visit to Rudersdorf, taking more pictures
and buying more pumpkin seed oil at the processing facility, located near an
old mill.

June 2, 1997,Monday: Got up early and, after breakfast left on the 1 plus
hours drive on the autobahn from Rudersdorf to Vienna. Our goal was to find
the hotel where we stayed initially for the first week of the Elderhostel
program. We got lost in Vienna, primarily because our map lacked the details
for driving. Stopped at a gas station for directions, plus a better map.
Found the hotel and checked in. Walked about 1/4 mile to the Schloss
Scho"nbrunn and took the English speaking 40 room extended tour through the
castle. We then walked back to the hotel andfound that there was another
Elderhostel program in session. Met the Elderhostel coordinator and bought
senior subway passes from her for our journey to the center of Vienna.
Introduced son Bob to the Vienna subway system. We walked all around Vienna,
showing Bob all the sites we had discovered during our previous Elderhostel
tour. We eventually stopped at the music museum and took that tour. An
interesting feature of that tour was that head phones were provided, enabling
one to hear music played on specific old instruments being displayed - very
interesting. We next walked to the restaurant/hotel where Grandfather Unger
received his apprenticeshiptraining and had dinner there. After dinner we
continued our walk around Vienna and eventually took the subway back to our
hotel.

June 3, 1997, Tuesday: Up at 6 am, breakfast at 7 am, and then off for the
airport. Having gotten lost on the way to the hotel, we did not know how
long it would take us to get to the airport. But, with directions from the
hotel desk clerk, and our new detailed map, it was no problem to find the
airport. We arrived about 9 am, two hours before our 11 am departure.
Check-in and security was much easier than expected. The flight from Vienna
to Atlanta was only 60% full, so we had 5 of the 7 seats in row #40 all to
ourselves. The movies were good and the food was better than average.

Conclusions:
We found Burgenland to be a very beautiful and friendly place. It retains
the charm of what I imagine old Austria was like. One quickly senses and
appreciates the calm, unhurried, friendly mode of life. There is no evidence
of commercialism, yet commercial needs are readily available. The rolling
hills and flat lands are picture perfect in their grandeur - with no evidence
of trash or graffiti. The people are friendly and caring. Ah, Burgenland is
truly an unspoiled wonderland - a place that should be visited time and
again.

Traveling in Burgenland was a joy, especially when I had my son do all the
driving. All roads are well maintained and well marked. Our rental car
provided a very comfortable ride. Diesel fuel was readily available at every
service station, and was considerably cheaper than gasoline. A "must" for
traveling in Austria is a good map. While still in the USA we purchased a
detailed map published by Michelin and found it most useful. It was the only
map we found that includes most villages. Austrian currency is most
economically obtained via ATMs using bank debit cards. We found their use
more convenient than travelers' checks and their exchange rate is much
better. If at all possible, use one location or inn as a home base. It is
much more convenient than unpacking and repacking each day. A home base also
enables one to get a true feeling of Burgenland. Do your homework well before
getting on the plane. Develop an itinerary, one that allows for flexibility
in the event you find planned events are no longer available or that new more
interesting events materialize.

Lodging: Early in our travel planning stage we obtained a copy of the
current Burgenland hotels, Ferienwohnungen (Vacation-apartments), and pension
booklet. It lists hotels, apartments, etc. in alphabetical order of city or
village, with their associated zip codes, i.e. A-7562 Eltendorf, and prices.
That booklet was most helpful and is highly recommended. Slow down, and truly
enjoy Burgenland. Try it, you'll like it. Comments and/or suggestions are
appreciated. <>

END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD, Contact
for information about the Burgenland Bunch.

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• [BURGENLAND-NEWSLETTER-L] BB News No. 36A dtd 30 may 1998 (edited) by <>