BURGENLAND-NEWSLETTER-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: [BURGENLAND-NEWSLETTER-L] BB News No. 72 dtd 15 Jan 2000
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 13:40:09 EST

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS -No. 72
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(issued biweekly by
January 15, 2000
(all rights reserved)

A NEW YEAR-A NEW CENTURY-A NEW MILLENNIUM-A NEW GENEALOGY?


THANKS FOR THE NUMEROUS HOLIDAY GREETINGS RECEIVED FROM MEMBERS!

Note to recipients. If you don't want to receive Burgenland Bunch
newsletters, email with message "remove". ("Cancel" will
cancel membership, homepage listings and mail.) To join, see our homepage. We
can't help with non-Burgenland family history. Comments and articles are
appreciated. Please include your name with email, otherwise we must search
four very large membership lists to establish who is contacting us. This
first section of the 3 section newsletter contains Information About the
Homepage Surname List, articles concerning Reformed Hungarians in Oberwart,
More Translations from "Der Volksfreund" and Burgenland & the National
Geographic.

HOMEPAGE SURNAME LIST VOLUNTEER STILL NEEDED

Member Ralph Nielson sends the following message to Anna Kresh:

< I believe (you are) responsible for updating the list of surnames being
researched by members. On browsing through the list, I discovered that my
main one, STRODL, is absent. May I ask that you kindly enter that for me,
and in addition enter the surname of (we are not quite sure of the
spelling;- originally we thought that it was WCSINGERIN; but Albert Schuch
advises that it could well be WURZINGER, or WIESINGER. >

Member Bob Geshel writes: < Re E-mail links in the Burgenland Bunch Surnames:
Both Geschl and Magdits have my outdated AOL E-mail address. The correct
E-mail address for me is: >

In a message dated 1/6/00 5:46:43 PM Eastern Standard Time, ARKRESH writes to
G. Berghold:

<< Would you please forward this to the BB member who handles surname
updates. I don't know who is doing this now. Thanks. Anna >>

G. Berghold replies: SORRY, THE SURNAME LIST HAS BEEN FROZEN INDEFINITELY
SINCE WE DON'T HAVE A VOLUNTEER TO MAINTAIN IT. WE NOW HAVE A YEAR'S BACKLOG
OF CHANGES. HAP ANDERSON IS MAINTAINING THE MEMBERSHIP LIST, BILL RUDY IS
MAINTAINING THE VILLAGE LIST, ANNA KRESH HAS THE URL LIST AND I'M EDITING
NEWSLETTERS. THE REST OF OUR SMALL STAFF IS BUSY WITH RESEARCH. UNTIL SUCH
TIME AS WE HAVE A VOLUNTEER, YOU CAN FIND MEMBERS WHO ARE RESEARCHING
PARTICULAR FAMILY NAMES BY SEARCHING THE MEMBERSHIP LIST (ALL 400+ MEMBERS).

INTERESTED VOLUNTEERS MAY CONTACT HAP ANDERSON FOR DETAILS OF WHAT'S
INVOLVED. FAMILIARITY WITH HTML REQUIRED. YOUR EDITOR SUPPLIES THE FAMILY
NAME DATA AS RECEIVED FROM NEW MEMBERS-THE LIST VOLUNTEER REFORMATS IT AND
CHANGES OR ADDS IT TO THE LIST. CHANGES AVERAGE 15 TO 20 PER MONTH. THIS LIST
HAS BEEN A HELPFUL TOOL BUT SINCE THE SAME DATA IS AVAILABLE FROM THE
MEMBERSHIP LIST (ALBEIT MORE DIFFICULT TO FIND) WE ARE ASSIGNING ITS
MAINTENANCE VERY LOW PRIORITY. IF NO VOLUNTEER COMES FORWARD, WE MAY
EVENTUALLY DELETE THE SURNAME LIST.



HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH-OBERWART REGION

In past articles we've addressed some of the minority ethnic and religious
groups which make up today's Burgenland. Some may find it painful to read
about some of the old animosities, but knowledge of the past provides clues
as to the possibility and location of old records. We firmly support today's
ecumenical efforts and have no wish to stir up old conflicts. We also hope
that archives everywhere may become available for research, regardless of
religion or ethnicity. One religious group we haven't covered are the
Hungarian Calvinists (Reformed Church)who were part of the Protestant
movement of the Reformation. Carol Sorenson raises some interesting questions.

Carol writes: "...With your latest issue of the BB, you have me thinking in a
more expansive way when we search our family history. I have always thought
of my family as Hungarians living in Burgenland. From my trip this summer I
found my Croatian/Czech/German roots all in the Oberwart district. I
immensely enjoy your articles, and I now know how these ethnic groups got to
Burgenland, however, is it possible you could address more of the Hungarian
(especially the Calvinist/ Reformed) presence in Oberwart?

Most all of my family there, and in the district, speak Hungarian...as their
family language. My family in Oberwart seems to dead end after 3 generations
back from current day relatives...of course the name is spelled various ways,
but from "Die Obere Wart" book, I see a Fayth in Unterwart in 1549. Any clue
as to where Fajt, Fait, Faijt (as I have seen from church records) came from?
(The Hungarian pronunciation is like "fight" in English) Today it is spelled
Faith. I believe the adding of the "h" is a decree for Hungarian families in
the area. Am I correct? Happy Holidays! Carol Sorensen"


Answer: Hello Carol. Although I closed the BB office for the holidays I can't
resist reading my mail and when I find an interesting question I'm moved to
comment. As you probably know the Burgenland population is composed of about
84% German, 13% Croatian and 3% Hungarian. There is (was) in addition less
than 1% "other" (Hebrew, Roma, Slovene, Slovak etc.)

Unfortunately, being of German extraction, I'm not as versed in the other
ethnic and religious groups as I am in German Catholic and Lutheran. We do
have some member experts in the other groups, however, so I'll pass your
request on in the form of an article in the newsletter. Our Croatian members
have been most active, maybe we can stir up some Hungarian members.

I'll mention the little I know. Given the small number of Hungarians in the
Burgenland, we must again split them into Roman Catholic and Hungarian
Reformed, an even smaller group. In the 1500's, the protestant movement
quickly spread through Austria and Hungary; Lutheran in Austria proper and
along the Hungarian border (Gssing, Oberwart, Pinkafeld, Kobersdorf,
Mattersburg, Gols, and Mrbisch am See among others becoming Lutheran
centers) and Calvinism (Reformed) in the Hungarian speaking villages and
Hungary proper. With the advent of the Counter Reformation in the 1600's, the
pendulum swung the other way and Catholicism returned when the aristocracy
reverted to the older faith. There were isolated pockets of protestants who
refused to convert and some had to migrate. Fortunately for them, both the
Batthyany and Esterhazy aristocracy were fairly tolerant in matters of
religion and the Burgenland region (both sides of today's border) became a
haven for some of these religious refugees. Today's existing Lutheran
enclaves as well as a small presence of Hungarian reformed in Austria are the
result. There were; however, Hungarians in the "Wart" regions before the
Reformation and these too probably switched to the Reformed faith.

Some questions arise. Why did Lutheran tenets appeal to German speakers and
Reformed tenets to the Hungarians? Was it a simple matter of language (most
Lutheran reformers spoke only German and Latin) or is there a more
significant reason? Were Reformed tenets more appealing to the Hungarian
(Magyar) desire for independence? Why did the Croatians (for the most part)
continue in the Catholic faith during the reformation? Was it because there
were no protestant pastors who spoke Croatian?

All of the above has significant meaning to those of us who may have
protestant ancestors in our genealogy. It means we must search the records of
both faiths. You will find family attending both churches and there was
intermarriage, even though there could be strong ethnic and religious
animosity right up to the present day.

A quick scan of 1873 Hungarian Gazetteer pages from LDS microfilm 6000840
shows that in Vas Megye, there were only five Reformed (REF)churches. They
were (numbers refer to Reformed population):

In the district of Kormend: Radocz (Egyhazas) 343; Szecsod (Teresyyen) 17

In the district of St. Gotthard: Kercza (Kercsa) 272; Szazafo (Ori St. Peter)
589.

In the district of Felso-Eor: Er (Oberwart) 1480.

The LDS has Oberwart microfilm records from 1828 as film number 0700667.

In Moson Megye there were no REF churches but Sopron Megye had eleven:

District of Csepregh: Geresd (Nagy) 302.

District of Kis-Varga: Berencs 422, Dombrad 1777, Dghe 1014, Gyulahaza 726,
Kanyar 629, Karasz 327, Kekese 492, Komoro 445, Laskod 290, Litke (Fenyes)
821.

The LDS records for the REF villages that remained in Hungary post 1921 start
in 1783 (after the Edict of Toleration). This means that the REF records
filmed for those villages in today's Burgenland were filmed from the 1828
government copies in Budapest. The earlier records are undoubtedly with the
churches in the Burgenland. Even older records may be in Catholic archives
which date from when the protestant churches were converted!

It follows that until these earlier records are copied the only way to get
pre 1828 data is to visit or write the parish.

Carol replies: I didn't expect to see your message...thanks and Merry
Christmas! ...My mother has translated from Hungarian, a booklet about the
history of (the) Reformed Church in Oberwart. I need to work on it to get it
into workable sentences, but I shall delve into it after the Holidays.
Perhaps it will be of some value to you. It goes into how the Reformed
congregation had to literally hand over the keys to the Catholic church, and
even negotiate in Vienna to allow to continue. There are names of people who
were influential...especially a woman(!) in the very early history. The
church had to be rebuilt near the Pinka river (as decreed by Maria Theresa)
so that when it flooded it would take the church away...it still stands. I
did not realize what a minority my Hungarian relatives were. Ed. Note: We
hope we can eventually publish the translation mentioned.



TRANSLATIONS FROM "DER VOLKSFREUND" OF THE LAST CENTURY (from Fritz
Knigshofer)

o When I recently browsed old issues of the weekly Der Volksfreund in the
National Library in Budapest, I ran across an article printed in the issue of
December 3, 1887. The article reported that on November 21, the 20-year old
Anna Tamedl of Eltendorf danced with such verve that she suffered a heart
stroke and died on the spot. This article indicated that there was a Tamedl
family living in Eltendorf.

o Der Volksfreund of September 18, 1886 carried the following story which I
believe refers to the name Mahr, despite the different spelling. The story
said that Karl Mar, until now teacher in St. Michael im Burgenland, had been
elected, by acclamation, into the teacher position in Wrterberg.

o Der Volksfreund of August 14, 1886 carried the following story: On July 26
several cattle-dealers from Poppendorf went into the "Wendische" [the area in
the southwest of old Vas county where Slovenian was spoken, now part of
Slovenia] to attend a fair. On the way back, they stopped at an inn. It
came to a brawl, in the course of which one of the dealers, Michael Mdl,
received a heavy blow to his head. He died on the cart which carried him to
Poppendorf. Michael Mdl left behind a widow and 4 underage children.

o Der Volksfreund of February 20, 1886 carried an article on the golden
wedding in Pinkafeld of the Lederermeister (master tanner) Johann Supper, 84,
and Katharina nee Eitner, 69. According to the article, the couple had
married on January 9, 1836, and had 10 children of whom six were still alive,
all married. There were 14 grandchildren.

o The reprint of the Gludovacz story no. 1 (see below) in the most recent bb
newsletter reminded me that there may be a connection to the story from the
Volksfreund which I sent recently. Upon reflection, I also believe that the
father of the groom may have had the first name Simon rather than Armin.
While Arnim is a name used in Germany, it would have been rather uncommon at
the time in the area of the Burgenland. Still, it is not impossible.
However, there is now the alternative interpretation that the name might have
been Simon. Further, it appears that the family of the Gludovacz in southern
Burgenland lasted at least through two or three generations of teachers.

Story no. 1:
=========

[Yesterday], when I did my own searches in the film with the records of the
rom.-cath. parish of Kukmirn (Kukmer), I saw a Gludovac entry and noted it
for whatever interest it may have. Accordingly, this was the marriage of a
Gludovac Alajos, "mester" (master) from Rehgraben, 23 years old, the son of
Gludovac Armin (not sure, would be a very unusual first name) and Niklosi
(not sure) Maria, with Terez Rober, 18 years, of Kukmirn. The witnesses
were Gyorgy Rober and Ferenc Schlegl.

Kukmirn is in the Southern Burgenland, near Gssing, and Rehgraben is nearby.
Kukmirn was mostly Lutheran, and the rom.-cath. parish was rather small in
the size of the congregation. My interpretation of the "mester" is that
this Alois (Louis) Gludovac was the schoolmaster of Rehgraben. The marriage
of Alajos Gludovac and Terez Rober happened on February 16, 1871.

Story no. 2:
=========

When I [recently] looked through further issues of the weekly Der Volksfreund
in the Hungarian National Library, I noted an obit about the death of the
retired teacher Simon Kludowcz. The article appeared in the issue of Jan.
30, 1886. The article says that Simon K. died (probably, as it is not made
explicit) in Grossmrbisch on January 18, nearly 80 years old, after many
recent ailments. He had been the rom.-cath. teacher in Grossmrbisch for
more than 50 years. Despite all these services of a lifetime, the article
continues, Simon's wife had had to petition the parish to pay her husband a
pension, and reluctantly 100 florins per annum eventually were paid to him.
The article is signed K.B__l, which I interpret as Karl Beidl, a (younger)
teacher colleague.


BURGENLAND & THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (G. Berghold)

I've been a member of the National Geographic Society for over half a
century. I joined when my 7th grade geography teacher (a well liked Mr.
Peters, Harrison-Morton Junior High School in ethnic Allentown) sponsored a
group in our class. In those days membership meant more than just subscribing
to a magazine. You had to be sponsored. Once my children left home they
received a Geographic subscription every year as a Christmas present. As a
result I like to think that my grandchildren are not geographical
illiterates, like many today who don't know where Austria is, much less the
Burgenland! I recently asked if I should discontinue the subscriptions and my
children vociferously said "no". At the time I retired, I was faced with the
task of moving almost 500 saved Geographic magazines to our new home. I kept
only a few and gave the rest away. Ever since I've sorely missed their
research value.

This Xmas I treated myself to "The Complete National Geographic, 110 years on
CD ROM." The last few days I've traced various subjects, particularly in the
earlier issues. As advertised, the CD's contain the complete magazine, cover,
articles and pictures including advertisements, which in themselves can be
interesting research items. There is a tool bar and a search engine and of
course the first subject I searched was "Burgenland". I was disappointed when
the search came up blank, but then I never remembered seeing an article
solely about the Burgenland. (This seems to be the case in every English
language magazine I've ever read except for one or two articles in some
travel and food magazines. If I was younger, I'd publish one, similar to the
newsletter!) I next searched on "Austria" and "Hungary" and was much more
successful, finding 20 Hungarian and 32 Austrian articles.

The articles included only a few pages about the Burgenland, but the earlier
pre WWI ones provide fascinating glimpses of the Europe of our ancestors. The
area was still quite backward and rural with little, other than the castles,
recognizable today. I found that tracing these countries through 110 years of
history is quite a journey. I'd recommend it to anyone. Windows 95/98 and a
Pentium 90 MHz or faster computer are required. Macintosh Power PC, System
7.5 or higher is also supported. I would also suggest a large screen monitor
(17 inch or larger) for optimal viewing although the CD installation will
adapt to your hardware. There is also an internet connection. The CD-ROM set
can be purchased for $99.95 from the National Geographic Society by calling
toll free 1 888 225 5647. They also have a mail order catalog of fine gift
items. Purchases help support their activities. They are on line at
www.nationalgeographic.com.

Scanning the pages via CD-ROM requires the use of the tool bar to move
vertical pages to horizontal scan. It's also necessary to zoom to different
screen sizes to maximize picture and print clarity. A little tedious but not
overly demanding. I printed a few pictures including a Mrbisch am See street
scene and Burgenland dancers in Oslip. I also printed some articles which
print as pictures (graphics).

The Austro-Hungarian National Geographic articles I've found to date are:

HUNGARY
August 1907- St. Stephen's Fete in Budapest
December 1912- The Land of Contrast: Austria-Hungary
October 1914- Hungary: A Land of Shepherd Kings
February 1917- Bohemia and the Czechs
October 1917- Flags of Austria-Hungary (and others)
December 1929- The Danube, Highway of Races
June 1932- Budapest, Twin City of the Danube
June 1932- Hungary, a Kingdom Without a King
April 1935- A Sunday in Mezokovesd
January 1938- Magyar Myth and Melancholy
December 1945- A Tale of Three Cities (Budapest, Vienna and Prague)
March 1957- Freedom Flight from Hungary
July 1965- Down the Danube by Canoe
April 1971- Hungary; Changing Homeland of a Tough, Romantic People
August 1975- The Pious Ones (Hasidic Jews-Hungary to Brooklyn)
October 1977- The Danube: River of Many Nations, Many Names
February 1983- Hungary's New Way: A Different Communism
December 1988- Hungary: A Static Society
March 1991- Dispatches From Eastern Europe
June 1991- East Europe's Dark Dawn

AUSTRIA (also see some of the above)
April 1915- Austro-Italian Mountain Frontiers
February 1921- The New Map of Europe
January 1923- Vienna-A Capital Without a Nation (post WWI scenes)
December 1929- Alpine Villagers of Austria
March 1932- Entering the Front Doors of Medieval Towns
October 1932- Styria, a Favored Vacation Land of Central Europe
August 1936- Merry Maskers of Imst
April 1937- The Salzkammergut, A Playground of Austria
April 1938- Austrian August--September
December 1943- Over the Alps to Brenner Pass
July 1945- This Was Austria
January 1947- What I Saw Across the Rhine (post WWII scenes)
June 1950- The Vienna Treasures and Their Collectors
June 1951- Occupied Austria, Outpost of Democracy
September 1951- A Stroll to Venice (the historic Salt Road)
September 1958- The White Horses of Vienna
February 1959- Building A New Austria
August 1960- Salzkammergut, Austria's Alpine Playground
July 1961- Tirol, Austria's Province in the Clouds
September 1965- The Alps: Man's Own Mountains
June 1968- Vienna, City of Song
April 1985- Those Eternal Austrians

(Newsletter continues as no. 72A)

This thread:

• [BURGENLAND-NEWSLETTER-L] BB News No. 72 dtd 15 Jan 2000 by <>